Both parties have their 'hands in the till'

There something very insidious occurring in campaign funding.  Both parties are claiming they have ‘grassroots’ funding support, but the problem is that both Democrats and Republicans have their ‘hands in the till’; Republicans apparently more than Democrats, but this is debatable.  While Republicans are obviously under the influence of the One Percent, the Democrats are not much better. Many of the same corporations fund both parties with intent that they will be granted political favors. (The notion that they are doing out of good will for the American political process is Pollyannish.)  Although according to the latest data, corporations (particularly energy-oriented ones) are leaning more toward the Republican Party than the Democrats. (By the way, you can tell I am not a member of the Tea Party, as I am interested in data and facts.)  The data for campaign contributions by corporations can be found at: http://www.opensecrets.org/overview/topcontribs.php .  There is little doubt who is determining the agenda for the Republicans.

However, this lack of overt funding of most Democrats does not mean that they are not influenced by corporations, particularly those involved in the military-industrial complex.  The problem for the lack of direction in the Democratic Party is the adherence to Neo-New Deal philosophy which is assoiciated with minorities, unions, the poor, the Middle Class (this is a new constituency which is being courted away from the Republicans.)

 The Young Turks of the Democratic Party,those  being associated with the Progressive Movement, represent the ‘new’ Democratic Party.  They number among their ranks in Congress those such as Bernie Sanders, Al Franken and Allan Grayson, who appear to be the most vocal.  (Nancy Pelosi claims to be a Progressive Democrat, but I would more classify her as an opportunistic, former Blue Dog Democrat who has no idea of what is it like ‘outside the Beltway.’) There are those on the outside such as Elizabeth Warren (hopefully to be elected to the US Congress) and Russ Feingold (former Senator from Wisconsin—the birthplace of the Progressive Movement—and founder of Progressives United.) who also could be considered as part of the Young Turks of the Democratic Party.  These represent women and men of conviction, honesty, ethics, intelligence who know that the U.S. needs major reform.  

 Contrast these individuals with many in the Republican Party who are bitter, sexist, elitist, and dogmatic.  And, you wonder when the US electorate will have their ‘I could have had a V-8’ moment.’  Hopefully, it will be sooner than later, but for now many Middle Class Tea Party followers are being blinded by the populist propaganda being meted out by the Republican Party (of course serving the interests of the One Percent.)  ( For those who forget history, the populist propaganda of the Republican party has the same ring of that of George Wallace and Huey Long, but made politically correct and minus the tirerades of Huey Long against the oil companies, which by the way still control Louisiana.) The Middle Class Tea Party followers are totally unaware that they are supporting their oppressors, much in the same way the initial followers of Hitler were captured by his rhetoric.

May Day 2012: the beginning of the American Spring

Liberty leading the People" by Eugène Delacroix 

There were many May Day celebrations connected with the Occupy Movement around the world Was this May Day the ‘spark’ for more actions to come?   No.. it was not a 'call to revolution' as probably anticipated by some, but a visible symbol of the transformation and broadening of the Movement. Maybe this is a disappointment to some who may have imagined a 'storming of the Bastille.' According to the Huffington Post on 2 May 2012, the mainstream liberal establishment joined forces with the Occupy Movement  this May Day (see http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/01/may-day-protests-occupy-wall-street_n_1469229.html .)  There was an eclectic mixing at May Day. Overall, it was not violent, but peaceful..which is the hallmark of the Occupy Movement.  What can one make of these diverse groups coming together on this May Day?

  Some of the comments for this article indicate various reactions to the slant of this article from indicating that this is a positive move, to those stating the Democratic Party as co-opting the movement and on the far end of the other spectrum dominated by adherents to the Far Right stating that the participants at this May Day represent the unusual suspects of radicals (Socialists, Marxists, Anarchists. ) In my hometown as in others around the nation, the day passed without fanfare.

My perspective on the assembly of various groups involved with May Day and the centrality of the Occupy Movement in this day represents not disorganization, but a subtle but significant transition. One, the Occupy Movement has moved away from the mere occupation of public places.  Two, there is now a broad and amorphous coalition around the tenets of the Occupy Movement.  Three, the Occupy Movement did not on this May Day repeat the historic clashes (with some exceptions) of one dominated by the labor movements and the police, indicating that this movement intends on bringing a peaceful resolution to themes such as income inequality, domination of politics by the One Percent, and unsustainable development. Four, the Movement is global as May Day in the US was connected with Occupy Movements around the world.  

Ultimately, the Occupy Movement has become like a good painting, one that represents many things depending on the perspective of the individual.  At the center of this painting is hope.  Hope that one segment of global politics and economics (the One Percent) will cease to dictate all aspects of economy, politics, and culture.  Hope that the Ninety-Nine Percent can start to ‘write the history’ of this century and beyond. Hope that we can have true democracy in all nations.  Hope that the differences in income can be diminished and that everyone can share in prosperity.  Hope that the continual warfare that has been the hallmark of the nation-state systems will stop. And the list goes on….Juxtapose this with the angry voices (i.e., the Far Right including the Tea Party) denouncing the Movement who are mostly white middle class holding on to their traditional and fading values and threatened by the message of the hope held up by the Occupy Movement and how it is stagnating and hopeless—just a continuation of the present system—and it is apparent that the Movement will not go away, but grow.  This May Day, although not dramatic, represents that we will see a blossoming of the Occupy Movement that will be a transforming factor in the coming years.

May Day 2012

Solidarity with those who are protesting around the world!

George Carlin on the American Dream

The Late George Carlin, known for his acerbic and insightful humor stated, "It’s called the American Dream, because you have to be asleep to believe it." (See http://shoqvalue.com/george-carlin-on-the-american-dream-with-transcript#ixzz1qjLILQNJ  for a transcript of this now classic comedy bit.) Carlin expressed what many Americans now know is the reality despite propaganda by the Left and Right. The American Dream ceased to be a reality thirty years ago, yet the myth pervaded and drove consumer spending and debt until the system collapsed in 2008. Both sides are is denying that our country is no longer a democracy, but a plutocracy, run by corporations and the extremely wealthy (the One Percent.) The One Percent wants Americans to uneducated and follow their program which has made the majority of Americans economic slaves. Carlin recognized this many years before the Economic Crisis of 2008 and the Occupy Movement brought this blatant reality to the forefront of most Americans.

Is capitalism in crisis?

Until the 1970s, American real wages were increasing and standards of living was improving. Starting in the late 1970s to the present, the real American wages have reminded stagnant while the One Percent gained by a very large amount. Meanwhile,
Americans have never been more productive. Why did they not share in the greater profits that companies were making? The reason lies, as Wolff states because the corporations and financial institutions realized they could take this enormous profit and lend it back to the Middle Class at exorbitant interest rates.


Robert Wolff, Visiting Professor at the New School, reveals the details of why the Economic Crisis is a temporary blip, but it a structural problem of the plutocracy dominating the U.S. and global eonomy.

Repost from Alan Grayson; Relevance of words of Robert F. Kennedy to racial tensions in Florida over death of Trayvon Martin

The following is a re post from an e-mail that was sent to me from the Office of Alan Grayson (Dem-FL)  on 26 March 2012.   Grayson is the kind of voice we need in Washington. Help support the reelection of Grayson

Alan Grayson states:

I live in Orlando, so a number of people have asked me what I think about the death of Trayvon Martin. Trayvon, a teenager, was shot dead by a "neighborhood watch" member as Trayvon was walking home from a convenience store. Trayvon was armed with nothing but a bottle of iced tea and a bag of Skittles. For me, it calls to mind the sentiments in the speech that Robert F. Kennedy gave from his heart on April 4, 1968, in Indianapolis, after Martin Luther King, Jr. was killed. This is what Robert F. Kennedy said:

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I'm only going to talk to you just for a minute or so this evening, because I have some – some very sad news for all of you – Could you lower those signs, please? – I have some very sad news for all of you, and, I think, sad news for all of our fellow citizens, and people who love peace all over the world; and that is that Martin Luther King was shot and was killed tonight in Memphis, Tennessee.

Martin Luther King dedicated his life to love and to justice between fellow human beings. He died in the cause of that effort. In this difficult day, in this difficult time for the United States, it's perhaps well to ask what kind of a nation we are and what direction we want to move in. For those of you who are black – considering the evidence evidently is that there were white people who were responsible – you can be filled with bitterness, and with hatred, and a desire for revenge.

We can move in that direction as a country, in greater polarization – black people amongst blacks, and white amongst whites, filled with hatred toward one another. Or we can make an effort, as Martin Luther King did, to understand, and to comprehend, and replace that violence, that stain of bloodshed that has spread across our land, with an effort to understand, compassion, and love.

For those of you who are black and are tempted to be filled with hatred and mistrust of the injustice of such an act, against all white people, I would only say that I can also feel in my own heart the same kind of feeling. I had a member of my family killed, but he was killed by a white man.

But we have to make an effort in the United States. We have to make an effort to understand, to get beyond, or go beyond these rather difficult times.

My favorite poet was Aeschylus. And he once wrote:

Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget
falls drop by drop upon the heart,
until, in our own despair,
against our will,
comes wisdom
through the awful grace of God.

What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence and lawlessness, but is love, and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or whether they be black.

So I ask you tonight to return home, to say a prayer for the family of Martin Luther King, but more importantly to say a prayer for our own country, which all of us love – a prayer for understanding and that compassion of which I spoke.

We can do well in this country. We will have difficult times. We've had difficult times in the past, but we – and we will have difficult times in the future. It is not the end of violence; it is not the end of lawlessness; and it's not the end of disorder.

But the vast majority of white people and the vast majority of black people in this country want to live together, want to improve the quality of our life, and want justice for all human beings that abide in our land.

And let's dedicate ourselves to what the Greeks wrote so many years ago: to tame the savageness of man and make gentle the life of this world. Let us dedicate ourselves to that, and say a prayer for our country and for our people.

Thank you very much.

Courage,

Alan Grayson

Do rap and hip hop popular performers serve the One Percent?

This morning I was switched on my radio while in my car to a radio station that plays top ten selections.  This time there was a current hip hop song playing.  I listened to the lyrics and they concerned the usual:  abusive references to women, drugs, and money.  Hip hop and rap have long since ceased to be a Post-Modern critical vehicle of the ills of  post-industrial urban life  and the plutocracy, but one that encourages uber-consumerism and the opiates of sex and drugs. Religion is not the opiate of the masses now. It has been substituted by the plutocracy with the basal desires of humans and has elevated them to the status of a religion.  The One Percent never allows anything that would lead to a disintegration of their control.  They own the majority of media and therefore have co-opted performers to serve their needs.  However, as with anything which is presumed to absolute, chaotic elements emerge to upset them.   As the Occupy Movement grows, there will be an opposing group of musicians, writers, actors and artists what will soon come to the forefront to bring the message to the general public, despite all that can be imposed by the One Percent.