A vote for either Obama or Romney will be an endorsement for a war with Iran.
Both evil Romney and supposedly lesser evil Obama are committed to more war in general and committed to obliging Israel’s strident insistence for a war with Iran.
All American citizens should think of this as they cast their ballots. Think of their own participation -- their enabling -- the greatest crime against humanity -- WAR.
There are third party anti-war candidates but corporate media has been rigorously thorough in omitting any mention of them and the moral and humanitarian alternatives they offer the US citizenry. Omitting mention of legitimate options granted to us for our precious votes. Corporate media has successfully convinced far too many citizens they should not begin to consider foregoing one or the other of the moneyed, legacy parties.
The TOTAL blackout ensuring NO mention of these candidates and their pro-people, pro-planet, pro-peace platforms shows just how shameless a megaphone for corporate propaganda mainstream media -- even supposedly “progressive” media -- has become. It also shows how passive and easily seduced Americans are to such a media.
David Swanson writes about “less evil politics” and the horrifying stifling of conscience too many Americans do oblige their leaders with, in exchange for what they rationalize as a “lesser evil” compromise. Swanson writes:
“We often forget that war is the worst thing there is. Hence our government's shift in policy back to outsourcing a lot of the torture and insourcing the "cleaner" approach of assassination without torture. Hence, also, our common fantasy that war can be used to solve a problem that is somehow worse than war.”
snip
“In fact, this is what Lesser Evilism amounts to. A Lesser Evilist today is not choosing less evil policies, but the same policies in what he or she hopes will be lesser amounts."
"That might be a rational calculation within a polling place. But living it prior to and after an election, apologizing and cheering for one of two teams, as if self-governance were a spectator sport, is nothing other than complicity in the most hideous forms of cruelty and murder. That complicity is insidious. Evil begins to look like something else, because the Lesser Evilist, within his or her own mind, comes to view the Lesser Evil forces as good, if not glorious, if not saintly.”
Please consider the reality. An upcoming war with Iran! Are we as citizens so cynical or so burned out or so "learned helpless” we are not horrified and outraged at this very real possibility? Too disconnected from conscience not to consider rejecting its perpetrators at the voting booth this November?
Netanyahu’s lit fuse bomb diagram presented to the 67th session of the UN General Assembly last week was straight out of a Bugs Bunny cartoon, though it was far from funny.
Bibi with his handy dandy little red marker dramatically drew a line across the illustration very near the lit fuse. Get it -- the “red line”? A literal red line echoing all those “red line” references of the “engineering-consent-for-war”-politician-pundit-group-think-speak now infiltrating the colluding national media.
By the way, Netanyahu’s proportional estimate of Iranian nuclear weapon capability was a colossal lie. Theirry Meyssan writes:
“The most ridiculous, however, was his use of a diagram aiming to sew confusion in the general public. He claimed that Iran had already achieved 70% of a nuclear military program, despite Teheran having only uranium enriched at 20% for civilian use while a military program requires uranium enriched at 85% and upward."
Justin Raimondo addresses the mendacity and manipulativeness of Netanyahu’s speech:
“The Israeli Prime Minister may have been addressing the UN General Assembly, but he was really talking to the Americans, whose fear and loathing of the perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks can always be counted on to raise them to new levels of hysteria. Outside that context, however, equating the Iranians with Al Qaeda makes about as much sense as likening the late unlamented Saddam Hussein to Osama bin Laden – and, hey wait, didn’t we hear that equation made endlessly in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq? Yet this was not a time for subtlety from the Israeli Prime Minister – the cartoon “bomb” ended all hope of that – but for the crudest sort of propaganda, which is, of course, war propaganda."
One of the passages from Netanyahu’s speech:
“Today a great battle is being waged between the modern and the medieval. Israel stands proudly with the forces of modernity. We protect the right of all our citizens, men and women, Jews and Arabs, Muslims and Christians, all are equal before the law.”
I suppose Israel can be considered “modern” only in the sense that it is capable of stockpiling 400 of its own technologically sophisticated nuclear weapons.
As quoted above, Netanyahu emphasized Israel protects "the right of all citizens." In his speech, Netanyahu also declared that Israel “cherishes peace."
Raimondo writes:
“Yes, Israel protects the rights of all citizens – unless they’re Palestinians who happen to own property coveted by the “settlers,” in which case it doesn’t. And the key word here is citizens: of course, the Palestinians in the occupied territories are not citizens, but helots, with no rights, and no protection from fanatical Jewish fundamentalists who have launched hundreds of attacks on their homes, and sought to displace them at every opportunity, with the active complicity of the Israeli government."
David Swanson discloses that Patrick Clawson, Director of Research at the Washington Institute Of Near East Policy, recently joked about “stepping up the pressure” for an Iran war using a covert, black-ops-nudging or even "false flag" operation....
"Crisis initiation is really tough. ...
snip
We could step up the pressure. I mean, look people, Iranian submarines periodically go down. Someday one of them might not come up. Who would know why? [LAUGHTER FROM AUDIENCE] . . . . We are in the game of using covert means against the Iranians. We could get nastier."
Swanson’s response:
“This is serious advocacy for manufacturing a "defensive" and "humanitarian" war. This is not a war critic or a Yes Men prankster. The position of most elected officials in Washington, including the President, fits well with this. That position includes the ultimatum that Iran must cease doing what U.S. National Intelligence Estimates say it is not doing, namely building nuclear weapons. The goal at the bottom of all of this is war. The purpose of the war is not related to any of the excuses for it. The purpose is something else entirely. But it's ugly, so it's easier not to look."
Swanson exposes the heart of darkness of our “deciders” over mass life and death and their chronic and discordantly dissonant CRAZYMAKING propaganda spewing forth at us 24/7 via THEIR not our national media.
IRAN MUST CEASE DOING WHAT IT IS ACTUALLY NOT DOING!!!
And,
THE REAL PURPOSE OF THE US/ISRAEL et al. LAUNCHING A WAR WITH IRAN HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE EXCUSES BEING MADE TO DO IT.
How insanely craven, dangerous and dooming!
Raimondo:
“The ticking-bomb theme, which has been used to justify everything from torture to the invasion of Iraq, permeates Israeli propaganda in the US and was a cental[sic] theme of Bibi’s speech. His message was clear: “the hour is getting late.” We must act without giving too much thought to the possible consequences. Don’t delay, don’t think, act now – before the fraud is exposed, and we discover that – as in the case of the Iraqis – those “weapons of mass destruction” were just a figment of our easily manipulated collective imagination.”
I see Netanyahu as an auctioneer for the two desperately ambitious, competing, soul-selling corporate/money/war political party candidates, Romney and Obama, not to guarantee that a war with Iran will occur, that is pretty much a given, but to bid against each other vying for Netanyahu’s and Israel’s good will and support over the terms of the timing, intensity, scope and duration of such a war -- to commit to the extreme degrees they will go. Yes, the bidding is now open ... or, rather, not open but behind closed doors. Considering how Congresspeople from both sides of the aisle knock each other over for an opportunity to kiss Netanyahu’s ring on any occasion, there is all the more likelihood of an Iran War sooner rather than later.
Barry Grey of wsws writes:
“Netanyahu sought to create the impression that he would be willing to forgo an Israeli attack on Iran prior to the US elections in exchange for a clear commitment from Washington to launch a war next year."
It really is a win/win scenario for Bibi and a lose/lose for humanity. Both U.S. corporate party candidates are willing to mendaciously justify, threaten and launch or at the least support a war with Iran for and/or by Israel really for control of vast Middle East resources -- and hang the lives of millions of human beings.
The candidates and their corporatist overlords would prefer the learned helpless US citizens not seriously focus on War with Iran. They don’t want us, as we naively tried to do in 2008, to issue a serious, anti-war mandate to the candidates and our corporate-captured government. Granted with five weeks to go before the election such a passionate, eleventh hour mandate would be a long-shot.
An exhibition of mass citizen sensibility of morality and justice would be bothersome and inconvenient to the sociopathic one percent profits uber alles ruling class elites. It would interrupt their cake-walk to establishing full-out or “lesser evil” degrees of fascism in America.
As Barry Grey points out, Iran’s nuclear enrichment program is legal within the terms of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty that Israel has refused to sign and ignored, itself, defiantly building over 400 nuclear warheads. Netanyahu’s ridiculous Bugs Bunny cartoon version of a ticking bomb more accurately represents the short-fuse, war-trigger-happy Netanyahu himself and Israel’s tragic and destructive present administration. Tragic, as is our own administration, since there is little hope of US-war-criminality ending after the November election.
Grey reminds us that long ago it was the UN that outlawed pre-emptive-strike launching of wars as had been practiced by the Nazi Third Reich in the 30s and 40s. These strikes were also condemned by the Nuremberg Tribunals as war crimes. THEY ARE ASSUREDLY BACK!!! And embraced by .... wait for it .... the supposed world’s champion of democracy (cough, cough ... choke) and the very government supposedly representing the people and descendants of the people who were most viciously persecuted by the Nazi Third Reich!
Both Obama and Netanyahu brazenly threatened their intention for such a pre-empive strike, this colossal war crime, in the very halls of the UN that outlawed such behavior decades and decades ago.
The international community -- I mean, the real international community, not the one that Obama and Netanyahu pretend they speak for -- know far better than we, the encouraged to be ignorant citizenry, that there is more than political saber-rattling going on right now. Grey contends the plans for war with Iran are profoundly advanced. Grey also suggests that we address the real threat of detonation of nuclear weapons. Nuclear weapons would not, of course, be used by a non-nuclear Iran. He writes:
“There is the real danger that the US or Israel would resort to nuclear weapons. One newspaper report noted that Israel has enlarged its submarine force, which is reportedly equipped with nuclear weapons.”
Grey exposes what is happening at this very moment in the Persian Gulf.
“Meanwhile, the US, Israel and allied countries are carrying out war exercises in the Persian Gulf in preparation for a military attack. Last Thursday, naval forces from 25 nations completed a 12-day mock battle in the largest-ever military drill in the Gulf. Included in the armada with the US were Britain, France, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and others."
“This month, the US and Israel will hold war games involving simulated attacks against Iran and Syria. According to the Israeli newspaper Maariv, the exercise will be named “dress rehearsal.”
“According to various press reports, the US attack will be anything but narrowly focused and brief. Israeli newspapers in August reported that US National Security Adviser Thomas Donilon had briefed Israel on US plans that began with an initial launch of hundreds of cruise missiles to demolish “Iran’s air defenses, intelligence bases and radar stations.” This would be followed by a wave of B-52 bombers that would “drop bunker-buster bombs on all of Iran’s nuclear facilities.”"
“The influential Washington DC military and intelligence think tank Center for Strategic & International Studies last month published a lengthy analysis of the likely dimensions of a US attack on Iran. The report listed eight missile bases and twelve industrial and research facilities that would be bombed, in addition to Iran’s five main nuclear sites.”
Grey quotes a Washington Post column written by a DC military/intelligence think tank called the Iran Project:
“...a US attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities could quickly escalate into a massive deployment of US ground troops and spark a regional war “involving Syria, Hezbollah, the Palestinians and other Arab states and terrorist groups.”
Grey spells out the realpolitik.
“As in the previous wars of the twenty-first century, the real war aims are being concealed. Iran is being targeted not because of its nuclear program, but because it has vast oil reserves and is deemed the biggest regional obstacle to US hegemony in the Middle East and Central Asia. The US is determined to monopolize control of the world’s oil resources in order to counter its global economic decline and weaken the position of its main rivals, first and foremost China.”
Shouldn’t war be a DEAL BREAKER for us citizens to no longer support either corporate legacy party? Shouldn’t we have some memory of the garden path we were led down to that war with Iraq?
Maybe that is why Netanyahu drew a cartoon bomb and not a mushroom cloud. Wouldn’t want to risk having us citizens connect any historical and moral dots.
[cross-posted on correntewire and sacramento for democracy]
-------------
"...and supposedly lesser evil Obama..."
That was funny, Libby. I don't think Obama is ever going on your good list! I am curious myself to see what happens next, regardless who is in power. I am curious about the different reactions from the world's big powers to different scenarios. Is it going to be a unilateral action? Always informing, Libby; thank you. R
That was funny, Libby. I don't think Obama is ever going on your good list! I am curious myself to see what happens next, regardless who is in power. I am curious about the different reactions from the world's big powers to different scenarios. Is it going to be a unilateral action? Always informing, Libby; thank you. R
It truly is amazing how so many supposed "liberals" or "progressives" who were anti-war when Bush was in office, line up behind our current commander-in-mass murder as he orders drone strikes from his kill list and expands our wars of terror across the Middle East and Africa, starts an arms race in Asia, and brings martial law to America.
Thanks for stopping by Thoth.
I was not intending to be funny re Obama as supposedly lesser evil.
I worked for Obama at the end. i had been working for John Edwards but when he pulled out I looked around and because of Obama's anti-war commitment I worked for him rather than support Hillary. Edwards was the only one speaking up seriously about the poor and the homeless. A populist. I think Obama and Clinton both began talking more populism because of Edwards. But Obama clearly was not serious I discovered when he got into office. Not serious about practically any proactive thing he had promised.
When Obama got into office I was shocked not only by his choices immediately but shocked by the shameless way he felt he owed no explanations for going back on all those campaign promises and platform.
His decision on telecom immunity, his ignoring the violent Gazan war, the economic advisers he went with, his what first I thought was procrastination about doing something serious about Bush's torture program and the restoration of habeas corpus. His promise to close Gitmo. His support of single payer health care as a senator evaporated.
Re his passivity about the torture prosecution, I began wearing a black arm band out of impatience it was taking him so long to actually do something to prosecute the deciders and perpetrators of that ethical nightmare program. I thought I would wear that arm band for a short time, it was cathartic for me and asserted my inner grief and horror and anger that my country could have done such things to innocent or even guilty people. Weeks went by and months and then years. i wore that damn band pretty much for three years. (Why did I stop you may ask? Hmmm. I did beginning wearing at times peace sign earrings, and a peace sign pin on my knapsack that I recently lost -- sigh -- and a big round Jill Stein for Prez button on the same knapsack. Also, sometimes in the security badge I need for work that hangs around my neck, I insert into the plastic area in the holder a small note that says "tax the *@#!* rich" which subway riders at times notice and give me a thumb's up. :-)
I thought people would engage me as to why I wore that armband during the time I wore it. I feared they would but wanted them to. I think three people asked in those three years. That's all. I am sure people gossiped at work about eccentric me and my black armband. But pretty much nada. When I first put it on I visualized myself having opportunities to bring up the torture subject with fellow citizens. I overestimated a willingness to talk about morality in national terms or any terms I guess. But the black arm band reminded me not to forget and to continue being awake to what happened and was so serious and WRONG.
Outside Dachau prison camp now museum there is a profound and provocative large abstract statue of people entangled in barbed wire. I visited Dachau some decades ago. I remember somewhere nearby or in front of the statue was a tiny bowl of purple violets which were a hopeful counterpoint to the stunning pain evoked from that extraordiary statue and the words "nie wieder" or "wieder nie" which means "never again."
I was counting on Obama having moral disgust for what was perpetrated by the Bush administration. A moral compass. I saw and continue to see no evidence of that. No serious capacity for empathy. I see a gamesman not a statesman.
But it is not Obama who makes me despair the most. It is the majority of citizens and myself sometimes who are passive and enabling -- the proverbial "good people doing nothing."
Glen Ford calls Obama the more "effective" evil and Ralph Nader concurs. I see Obama as one more puppet leader. I can't understand why all the flip flopping he has done has not been called out. That is what I think is funny as in odd and troubling. How he stays on people's good lists since what he does and supports is so horrifying. I know you know the list of things people cite him for so I'll spare you.
An amiable smile and an appealing sound bite personality? I think he has been dangerous and will be even more so. Torturers get a free pass but those who whistleblow about torturers get prosecuted? Banksters and extorting corporatists get rewarded with more taxpayer dollars but 1 out of 4 children live in poverty, 1 out of 3 children if they are black or brown? Yes, the Republicans are obstructionistic but come on!
The Congress is what 11% richer than they were when the economic crash happened and the rest of us are falling fast. How shameless and revealing is that???? The life expectancy of Americans is dropping what are they saying 4 years because of poverty. Money goes to wars not education and other social systems.
Glenn Greenwald wrote a column about how the real fear of Iran having nuclear weapons for the powers that be who are ignoring the real will of the people of the US and the planet is that a nuclear armed Iran could not as easily be attacked and bullied, made to heel and exploited, by the US and its gangster fellow countries and they don't want that. AND that is why countries want nuclear weapons, to keep US and NATO countries and Israel and SA and Qatar, etc. aggression at bay.
Paul Craig Roberts interviewed ex-Congressperson Cynthia McKinney, whom he claims was politically felled by the Jewish lobby for supporting the Palestinians. I appreciated especially what McKinney said below:
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article32624.htm
"We have an increasingly authoritarian structure that countenances no dissent. The only thing is that we, the people, don't know who really operates the structures. The ones we elect to represent us provide no leadership and tell us no truths. Their names appear on the ballot, but they are not the ones in charge calling the shots. Everything has become a joke that is not even funny. The repercussions for those of us who try and inject love, vision, compassion and common sense into the political discourse are quickly discredited, chewed up, and expectorated. Only those with the biggest hearts will take this path. Now, why are people like me cast aside? Because we know that we can win this titanic struggle. We know that the people can overcome this tyranny. We know that the true power lies with the people and that we are the majority. That's why the others have to work so hard with their propaganda, psychological operations, disinformation, and mind control tactics. Heaven forbid if the people would actually turn off the television and think. There would be a revolution tomorrow. And the rest of the world could finally live in peace and Mother Earth could reclaim her dignity. All of that depends on the voters of the United States to accept their responsibility to change the policies in Washington, DC, that are killing hope here and killing people abroad."
end of quote
I popped off at another fellow oser who tried to josh me about disliking Obama and I am sorry for that. I should have been more civil. But I think having strong feelings and not numbing out and minimizing what the reality is is important.
Aren't you glad you didn't share even more in your comment? You wouldn't be done reading my comment yet!
take care. best, libby
I was not intending to be funny re Obama as supposedly lesser evil.
I worked for Obama at the end. i had been working for John Edwards but when he pulled out I looked around and because of Obama's anti-war commitment I worked for him rather than support Hillary. Edwards was the only one speaking up seriously about the poor and the homeless. A populist. I think Obama and Clinton both began talking more populism because of Edwards. But Obama clearly was not serious I discovered when he got into office. Not serious about practically any proactive thing he had promised.
When Obama got into office I was shocked not only by his choices immediately but shocked by the shameless way he felt he owed no explanations for going back on all those campaign promises and platform.
His decision on telecom immunity, his ignoring the violent Gazan war, the economic advisers he went with, his what first I thought was procrastination about doing something serious about Bush's torture program and the restoration of habeas corpus. His promise to close Gitmo. His support of single payer health care as a senator evaporated.
Re his passivity about the torture prosecution, I began wearing a black arm band out of impatience it was taking him so long to actually do something to prosecute the deciders and perpetrators of that ethical nightmare program. I thought I would wear that arm band for a short time, it was cathartic for me and asserted my inner grief and horror and anger that my country could have done such things to innocent or even guilty people. Weeks went by and months and then years. i wore that damn band pretty much for three years. (Why did I stop you may ask? Hmmm. I did beginning wearing at times peace sign earrings, and a peace sign pin on my knapsack that I recently lost -- sigh -- and a big round Jill Stein for Prez button on the same knapsack. Also, sometimes in the security badge I need for work that hangs around my neck, I insert into the plastic area in the holder a small note that says "tax the *@#!* rich" which subway riders at times notice and give me a thumb's up. :-)
I thought people would engage me as to why I wore that armband during the time I wore it. I feared they would but wanted them to. I think three people asked in those three years. That's all. I am sure people gossiped at work about eccentric me and my black armband. But pretty much nada. When I first put it on I visualized myself having opportunities to bring up the torture subject with fellow citizens. I overestimated a willingness to talk about morality in national terms or any terms I guess. But the black arm band reminded me not to forget and to continue being awake to what happened and was so serious and WRONG.
Outside Dachau prison camp now museum there is a profound and provocative large abstract statue of people entangled in barbed wire. I visited Dachau some decades ago. I remember somewhere nearby or in front of the statue was a tiny bowl of purple violets which were a hopeful counterpoint to the stunning pain evoked from that extraordiary statue and the words "nie wieder" or "wieder nie" which means "never again."
I was counting on Obama having moral disgust for what was perpetrated by the Bush administration. A moral compass. I saw and continue to see no evidence of that. No serious capacity for empathy. I see a gamesman not a statesman.
But it is not Obama who makes me despair the most. It is the majority of citizens and myself sometimes who are passive and enabling -- the proverbial "good people doing nothing."
Glen Ford calls Obama the more "effective" evil and Ralph Nader concurs. I see Obama as one more puppet leader. I can't understand why all the flip flopping he has done has not been called out. That is what I think is funny as in odd and troubling. How he stays on people's good lists since what he does and supports is so horrifying. I know you know the list of things people cite him for so I'll spare you.
An amiable smile and an appealing sound bite personality? I think he has been dangerous and will be even more so. Torturers get a free pass but those who whistleblow about torturers get prosecuted? Banksters and extorting corporatists get rewarded with more taxpayer dollars but 1 out of 4 children live in poverty, 1 out of 3 children if they are black or brown? Yes, the Republicans are obstructionistic but come on!
The Congress is what 11% richer than they were when the economic crash happened and the rest of us are falling fast. How shameless and revealing is that???? The life expectancy of Americans is dropping what are they saying 4 years because of poverty. Money goes to wars not education and other social systems.
Glenn Greenwald wrote a column about how the real fear of Iran having nuclear weapons for the powers that be who are ignoring the real will of the people of the US and the planet is that a nuclear armed Iran could not as easily be attacked and bullied, made to heel and exploited, by the US and its gangster fellow countries and they don't want that. AND that is why countries want nuclear weapons, to keep US and NATO countries and Israel and SA and Qatar, etc. aggression at bay.
Paul Craig Roberts interviewed ex-Congressperson Cynthia McKinney, whom he claims was politically felled by the Jewish lobby for supporting the Palestinians. I appreciated especially what McKinney said below:
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article32624.htm
"We have an increasingly authoritarian structure that countenances no dissent. The only thing is that we, the people, don't know who really operates the structures. The ones we elect to represent us provide no leadership and tell us no truths. Their names appear on the ballot, but they are not the ones in charge calling the shots. Everything has become a joke that is not even funny. The repercussions for those of us who try and inject love, vision, compassion and common sense into the political discourse are quickly discredited, chewed up, and expectorated. Only those with the biggest hearts will take this path. Now, why are people like me cast aside? Because we know that we can win this titanic struggle. We know that the people can overcome this tyranny. We know that the true power lies with the people and that we are the majority. That's why the others have to work so hard with their propaganda, psychological operations, disinformation, and mind control tactics. Heaven forbid if the people would actually turn off the television and think. There would be a revolution tomorrow. And the rest of the world could finally live in peace and Mother Earth could reclaim her dignity. All of that depends on the voters of the United States to accept their responsibility to change the policies in Washington, DC, that are killing hope here and killing people abroad."
end of quote
I popped off at another fellow oser who tried to josh me about disliking Obama and I am sorry for that. I should have been more civil. But I think having strong feelings and not numbing out and minimizing what the reality is is important.
Aren't you glad you didn't share even more in your comment? You wouldn't be done reading my comment yet!
take care. best, libby
AP!!!! Thanks for the "reality check". You know, I was sure by this time such a wonderful candidate as Stein would be at least a household name, even if she is outnumbered and outspent. But the craven media won't talk about her. They won't give her any attention. Like how they got about Ralph Nader after he did so much for this country, they iced him out of the national conversation. Wouldn't let him in the debate and scapegoated him for Gore's loss.
With the blackout of Jill Stein it is like how Rumplestiltskin's name was not said out of FEAR (I think they should fear her morality and integrity and lack of corporate pimped-ness). The Obama administration screwed up getting her her matching funds earned for her campaign in a timely way. I mean, they are shameless!!!
The NewsHour the other night interviewed college kids about who they were voting for. They made it seem once again that there are only 2 options. Stein has a lot of support among that group. They interviewed NO ONE who spoke about Jill Stein. Just like they don't speak of anyone left of Obama. it is chilling. Jill Stein has 2 million plus people who have committed to voting for her according to a CNN poll.
But the dirty tricks of the Republican party so intense with Karl Rove are being replicated by the Dem party. The dirty Dems! I guess they figured if you can't lick em, join em. Winning uber alles, even if you sell out the soul of the Party and the representatives. And you can always point to the Repubs who are more evil, it seems.
Thanks for commenting. best, libby
With the blackout of Jill Stein it is like how Rumplestiltskin's name was not said out of FEAR (I think they should fear her morality and integrity and lack of corporate pimped-ness). The Obama administration screwed up getting her her matching funds earned for her campaign in a timely way. I mean, they are shameless!!!
The NewsHour the other night interviewed college kids about who they were voting for. They made it seem once again that there are only 2 options. Stein has a lot of support among that group. They interviewed NO ONE who spoke about Jill Stein. Just like they don't speak of anyone left of Obama. it is chilling. Jill Stein has 2 million plus people who have committed to voting for her according to a CNN poll.
But the dirty tricks of the Republican party so intense with Karl Rove are being replicated by the Dem party. The dirty Dems! I guess they figured if you can't lick em, join em. Winning uber alles, even if you sell out the soul of the Party and the representatives. And you can always point to the Repubs who are more evil, it seems.
Thanks for commenting. best, libby
How dare You resort to facts to build such a spurious case?
How dare You suggest that attacking Iran might not be a good idea?
How dare You allow a "sarcastic" comment like "IRAN MUST CEASE DOING WHAT IT IS ACTUALLY NOT DOING!!!" on Your post?
How dare You imply that bibi might be disingenuous?
There's a lot of pathetic sloganeering in this blog, Libby, and there are those amongst us who will resent Your for it.
Lesser of two evils - I know someone who thinks that "The entire "lesser of two evils" thing is being way, way overdone this election. Neither of these guys are evil...neither of the parties are evil."
I'm sure he'll stop by to excoriate You shortly.
Oh, btw - I'm voting for Jill Stein.
-R-
How dare You suggest that attacking Iran might not be a good idea?
How dare You allow a "sarcastic" comment like "IRAN MUST CEASE DOING WHAT IT IS ACTUALLY NOT DOING!!!" on Your post?
How dare You imply that bibi might be disingenuous?
There's a lot of pathetic sloganeering in this blog, Libby, and there are those amongst us who will resent Your for it.
Lesser of two evils - I know someone who thinks that "The entire "lesser of two evils" thing is being way, way overdone this election. Neither of these guys are evil...neither of the parties are evil."
I'm sure he'll stop by to excoriate You shortly.
Oh, btw - I'm voting for Jill Stein.
-R-
Awwww, how I've missed you. A droll and pithy comment from Markinjapan, all is right with the world. Except for, well, you know ... the list of things from this "ethical freakshow of a universe", eh Mark? Someone wrote an article entitled "Orwell is spinning in his grave". I must read it just for the title. Thanks and great to see ya!!!! love, libby xxx
Thanks, Libby, I Love and miss You, too, although I DO continue to read EVERYTHING You write and comment on. Only one thing disappoints me about this piece, and that is the absence of even a single "rat-bastard" strategically placed somewhere.
I hope You can find a way the next time You decide to write a piece about the circus the plantation owners are performing for "our benefit."
I hope You can find a way the next time You decide to write a piece about the circus the plantation owners are performing for "our benefit."
sauve qui peut, lib, the war is lost.
[r] Mark, hah! you are missing my rabid rat bastard phrase, eh? it will definitely be back. I appreciate your fighting the good fight on your turf(s). Hope all is well. Also appreciate hearing you have stayed abreast of my blogging adventures at open salon, though there was a period I hoped you missed. Sigh. It wasn't pretty but it was an adventure and an education. Character building? Or as they say, I'm having an AFGE (another friggin' growth experience!)
Always exciting and comforting to have you around, my friend. You kept encouraging me to spout off here. I'm holding you responsible! :-) And we both keep the same hours. You are great company for my vampire schedule!
love, libby xxx
Always exciting and comforting to have you around, my friend. You kept encouraging me to spout off here. I'm holding you responsible! :-) And we both keep the same hours. You are great company for my vampire schedule!
love, libby xxx
al -- Tout est perdu fors l’honneur
much to be said for honor!
much to be said for honor!
So as not to inspire a chapter length response after reading your book length blog, all I'll say is.....
"Rated"!
;-)
.
"Rated"!
;-)
.
Libby, I witnessed the whole spectacle, and You handled matters just as
I would expect You to. I was VERY proud of You.
Vampire schedules, eh.
What Ya' doin' tonight pretty young Vampiress said the ugly old(e) vampire to Her?
encouraging You to spout off? I plead guilty your honor, with extenuating circumstances.
I would expect You to. I was VERY proud of You.
Vampire schedules, eh.
What Ya' doin' tonight pretty young Vampiress said the ugly old(e) vampire to Her?
encouraging You to spout off? I plead guilty your honor, with extenuating circumstances.
I guess some people see evil everywhere…
…and with like “logic” they suppose the cure for the “evil” will be someone like Jill Stein.
Jill Stein doesn’t have a chance…and if she ever could pull it off would most likely be a bigger disappointment for this left-wing Tea Party than Obama was.
The problem with America right now is not that this party or that party is evil, but rather it is the fact that Americans, who arguably enjoy more personal freedom than any people ever before on planet Earth, have become ungovernable. They stew and fret about all decisions…and second-guess the politicians to death. The politicians, understandably, don’t even bother to pay attention to them, because they realize the unrealistic expectations of most are unrealizable. Better to go after the money.
But the problem truly is not with them. It is with the people who can never be satisfied…who do not understand what governance truly is.
…and with like “logic” they suppose the cure for the “evil” will be someone like Jill Stein.
Jill Stein doesn’t have a chance…and if she ever could pull it off would most likely be a bigger disappointment for this left-wing Tea Party than Obama was.
The problem with America right now is not that this party or that party is evil, but rather it is the fact that Americans, who arguably enjoy more personal freedom than any people ever before on planet Earth, have become ungovernable. They stew and fret about all decisions…and second-guess the politicians to death. The politicians, understandably, don’t even bother to pay attention to them, because they realize the unrealistic expectations of most are unrealizable. Better to go after the money.
But the problem truly is not with them. It is with the people who can never be satisfied…who do not understand what governance truly is.
i simply MUST get you and Big Sister & her Hippy King Paramour
Bobby I. together. I thought THEY were the last true black&blue
Liberals, til i read you!
Iran, hm? I have no doubt in the world that plans are in place
for war with them, for their oil. I am utterly naive enough, though,
about the decency and intelligence of the American People
however, that after a decade of nightmarish carnage,
it simply would be the last fucking straw.
Especially if it involved more American boys being
blown up and mutilated and mentally unhinged.
There simply is a limit to this . Isnt there?
~
this phrase, ethical freakshow, is resonant to me.
i hereby appropritate it. iran!
iraq! israel!
~
My prognosticators tell me , yo, dont forget about Pakistan!
oh what a miserable mess is on the horizon.
Is it too late to return to isolationism?
As a nation, probably. Personally, i picture myself going that route.
This doesnt mean i shan't snark from the sidelines.
Bobby I. together. I thought THEY were the last true black&blue
Liberals, til i read you!
Iran, hm? I have no doubt in the world that plans are in place
for war with them, for their oil. I am utterly naive enough, though,
about the decency and intelligence of the American People
however, that after a decade of nightmarish carnage,
it simply would be the last fucking straw.
Especially if it involved more American boys being
blown up and mutilated and mentally unhinged.
There simply is a limit to this . Isnt there?
~
this phrase, ethical freakshow, is resonant to me.
i hereby appropritate it. iran!
iraq! israel!
~
My prognosticators tell me , yo, dont forget about Pakistan!
oh what a miserable mess is on the horizon.
Is it too late to return to isolationism?
As a nation, probably. Personally, i picture myself going that route.
This doesnt mean i shan't snark from the sidelines.
This citizen will not be goose-stepping anywhere.
rootsaction.org has petitions against weaponized drones.
rootsaction.org has petitions against weaponized drones.
This citizen will not be goose-stepping anywhere.
rootsaction.org has petitions against weaponized drones.
rootsaction.org has petitions against weaponized drones.
I preDICKted the cockroach would appear, although it took him eight hours to get here. I thought You told him several times to stay away from Your blog.
sky! funny and true.
I have to work my way back to my last blog and enjoy comments at end of that! Rarely do I have time to spout off as much as I want but when I do I really do.
thanks once again! best, libby
I have to work my way back to my last blog and enjoy comments at end of that! Rarely do I have time to spout off as much as I want but when I do I really do.
thanks once again! best, libby
Mark!
Thanks for returning. Such a treat to have you on campus! :-) We have 12 hours difference, is that it? Did we take turns with our vampire times or maybe caught each other at the ends of our vampire shifts! hah!
I think I told you the boss from hell is GONE GONE GONE. The staff threw TWO parties in celebration. Nurse Ratchitt has left the building! Whew!!!!
Re that troubling time here and your comforting words (thank you), I have to say I felt very tested and didn't always pass, very uneven from the button-pushing and I regret some of my responses and withdrawals from confrontation -- some self-disappointment for sure and broken and ended opportunities with some people here that had potential, sadly.
A strange phenomenon experiencing such intense crony negative group think coming at you. At one point you feel alone as if in the eye of a hurricane, your reality so removed from a furor you can't fathom the scope and intensity of. Weathering the storm and doing the serenity prayer and trying to get your poor ego through it, too, which can always use some humbling, given the nature of the ego and mine in particular. Some residue paranoia, sadly, but so it goes. :-)
Mark, there are some really new strong voices challenging the status quo politically now on os, joining in with some of the long-time great voices like yours. Isn't it great?
Take care, my friend! love, libby
Thanks for returning. Such a treat to have you on campus! :-) We have 12 hours difference, is that it? Did we take turns with our vampire times or maybe caught each other at the ends of our vampire shifts! hah!
I think I told you the boss from hell is GONE GONE GONE. The staff threw TWO parties in celebration. Nurse Ratchitt has left the building! Whew!!!!
Re that troubling time here and your comforting words (thank you), I have to say I felt very tested and didn't always pass, very uneven from the button-pushing and I regret some of my responses and withdrawals from confrontation -- some self-disappointment for sure and broken and ended opportunities with some people here that had potential, sadly.
A strange phenomenon experiencing such intense crony negative group think coming at you. At one point you feel alone as if in the eye of a hurricane, your reality so removed from a furor you can't fathom the scope and intensity of. Weathering the storm and doing the serenity prayer and trying to get your poor ego through it, too, which can always use some humbling, given the nature of the ego and mine in particular. Some residue paranoia, sadly, but so it goes. :-)
Mark, there are some really new strong voices challenging the status quo politically now on os, joining in with some of the long-time great voices like yours. Isn't it great?
Take care, my friend! love, libby
toritto, hah! so great to see ya!
God your solitary confinement blog was awesome. If they had readers' picks still that would be one to nominate! among so many of yours.
I used to call the Repubs rabid rat bastards and the Dems rat bastards. But I am so bitter at the Dems, I am not willing to grant them the nuance, though it is deserved I know. But re lesser evilism I don't want to encourage that rationalization and appreciation. Just cuz Repubs are worse doesn't make the Dems good enough by a long shot!!!!
I always appreciated the "bottom feeding scum sucker" label, too, when I was really angry at the toxic power exploiters. :-)
best, libby
God your solitary confinement blog was awesome. If they had readers' picks still that would be one to nominate! among so many of yours.
I used to call the Repubs rabid rat bastards and the Dems rat bastards. But I am so bitter at the Dems, I am not willing to grant them the nuance, though it is deserved I know. But re lesser evilism I don't want to encourage that rationalization and appreciation. Just cuz Repubs are worse doesn't make the Dems good enough by a long shot!!!!
I always appreciated the "bottom feeding scum sucker" label, too, when I was really angry at the toxic power exploiters. :-)
best, libby
Frank, apparently Jill Stein is such a threat our corporate media won't give her a molecule of attention. She has ideas and plans for generating jobs and renewing the country and planet but her ideas would illuminate the pathetic and betraying decisions made by our present pimped out pols and those trying to compete with them. God, we need fresh air and integrity and sanity and humanity. Empathy.
To me not enough Americans are stewing. Short term comfort as soft fascism hardens. I blame a lot on the craven telly that gets its propaganda from the "rat bastard" leaders but I also blame Stockholm Syndromed Americans who line up for Obama's game of Lucy and the football yet again. What is that saying that GWB mangled, fool me once blame you, fool me twice and thrice and etc. blame ME!!!!! Denial and minimization still tragically common. The reality is too chilling to cop, too. Meanwhile that luxury of denial gives more and more opportunities for the administration to keep shredding the bill of rights and to puff up their rhetorical bullshit.
best, libby
To me not enough Americans are stewing. Short term comfort as soft fascism hardens. I blame a lot on the craven telly that gets its propaganda from the "rat bastard" leaders but I also blame Stockholm Syndromed Americans who line up for Obama's game of Lucy and the football yet again. What is that saying that GWB mangled, fool me once blame you, fool me twice and thrice and etc. blame ME!!!!! Denial and minimization still tragically common. The reality is too chilling to cop, too. Meanwhile that luxury of denial gives more and more opportunities for the administration to keep shredding the bill of rights and to puff up their rhetorical bullshit.
best, libby
Libby, with all due respect, for every new open sewer participant challenging the status quo, there are two older members choosing the apisa path of denial and willful ignorance.
Please send details and other pertinent details of vampire/vampiress rendezvous. Frank, the real person, not to be confused with the bumbling moron, thinks Brooklyn might be appropriate.
Please send details and other pertinent details of vampire/vampiress rendezvous. Frank, the real person, not to be confused with the bumbling moron, thinks Brooklyn might be appropriate.
James, I thought I had discouraged you with all my psychology talk! I can go on even more about psychological analyses than politics when I get started and that is clearly saying a lot. Hah!
And you are so courageously honest it triggers me to try to be!
Sis and Bobby also sound like my kind of people! :-) I love that expression, black and blue liberals. Hah!
I don't know, James. I keep thinking we have reached the last straw but apparently there are a lot more to go through. Or in 12 step terms where the hell is the bottom to be hit?
I have a dear friend whose daughter is thinking of leaving college and signing up in the military and it terrifies me on her behalf. i know we need committed and good people in our military but it is so dangerous and there is so much going on with physical and psychological risk and then the war crimes, using a standing army so recklessly for corporate profit-making. And the sexual assault factor makes me fear for her, too. 1 out of 3 female troops have experienced it. That is only on the record. can you imagine?
"Ethical freakshow of a universe" I stole from Rachel Maddow and try to remember to give her credit but have been using it so long, I sometimes don't ... do "squatters' rights" apply to terminology? Also, Rachel got too pro-Obama for me, though when she first came on the scene I was her most loyal fan. She reamed Bush administration and it was awesome. She now cherry-picks too much, going after Repubs and on team Dem, though she is more impressive along with Chris Hayes than some of the Dem kool-aid distributors.
I haven't looked in on Rachel or any of the MSNBC guys for a long time. Now I am really pissed off at Newshour. I watch and the propaganda for the government is more and more apparent re Syria and Libya and the omission of Jill Stein totally!!!!
Yes, Pakistan. Dear God. And they are nuclearized. And we are playing footsie with their cruel and neglectful puppet government and their poor people are getting droned to death!!!
You write:
"oh what a miserable mess is on the horizon."
"Is it too late to return to isolationism?"
yes, indeed. But I am thinking more "citizens without borders" than isolationism. A paradigm shift to partnership and cooperation. It seems the gangsters at the tops of governments have thrown out respect for humanity and have formed an evil cartel. I always liked the old 60s suggestion about letting the leaders of countries go into the ring and duke it out and leave the rest of us alone. All the ghosts of people gratuitously destroyed by the power and control addicts. Heavy sigh (stole that from Mork, revealing how old I am. ; ) )
Thanks for visit!
best, libby
And you are so courageously honest it triggers me to try to be!
Sis and Bobby also sound like my kind of people! :-) I love that expression, black and blue liberals. Hah!
I don't know, James. I keep thinking we have reached the last straw but apparently there are a lot more to go through. Or in 12 step terms where the hell is the bottom to be hit?
I have a dear friend whose daughter is thinking of leaving college and signing up in the military and it terrifies me on her behalf. i know we need committed and good people in our military but it is so dangerous and there is so much going on with physical and psychological risk and then the war crimes, using a standing army so recklessly for corporate profit-making. And the sexual assault factor makes me fear for her, too. 1 out of 3 female troops have experienced it. That is only on the record. can you imagine?
"Ethical freakshow of a universe" I stole from Rachel Maddow and try to remember to give her credit but have been using it so long, I sometimes don't ... do "squatters' rights" apply to terminology? Also, Rachel got too pro-Obama for me, though when she first came on the scene I was her most loyal fan. She reamed Bush administration and it was awesome. She now cherry-picks too much, going after Repubs and on team Dem, though she is more impressive along with Chris Hayes than some of the Dem kool-aid distributors.
I haven't looked in on Rachel or any of the MSNBC guys for a long time. Now I am really pissed off at Newshour. I watch and the propaganda for the government is more and more apparent re Syria and Libya and the omission of Jill Stein totally!!!!
Yes, Pakistan. Dear God. And they are nuclearized. And we are playing footsie with their cruel and neglectful puppet government and their poor people are getting droned to death!!!
You write:
"oh what a miserable mess is on the horizon."
"Is it too late to return to isolationism?"
yes, indeed. But I am thinking more "citizens without borders" than isolationism. A paradigm shift to partnership and cooperation. It seems the gangsters at the tops of governments have thrown out respect for humanity and have formed an evil cartel. I always liked the old 60s suggestion about letting the leaders of countries go into the ring and duke it out and leave the rest of us alone. All the ghosts of people gratuitously destroyed by the power and control addicts. Heavy sigh (stole that from Mork, revealing how old I am. ; ) )
Thanks for visit!
best, libby
Just Thinking, thanks for the address! best, libby
Mark, looking forward to catch-up. Will be in touch! love, libby
In my view, the November election is merely a diversion from the really important work of impeaching the bastard. Obama may have the electoral college votes to win the presidency, but he will lose the House. We have the votes there to pass articles of impeachment, especially if he attacks Iran.
GREAT thought - I'll dream better tonight Dr. Bramhall, but unfortunately, with mr. willfully ignorant and his ilk run amuck, it will never happen.
I always thought it was pronounced "Rat Bastids!"
I find myself away from OS these days- Mikes pretrial is the 15th and I'm encouraging the peasants to bring pitch forks and Hot oil for the Court.
The "government" of Fairborn is shocked to find that it is in the position of the Farmer, who, having baited the Barn for rats and come in "Do them Justice" with his trusty double barreled shotgun, finds that to take care of his problem, he is about 10,000 -2 shots short. - and then the 9,998 Rats chow down on the "Rat Bastid".
Grass Roots is where this begins and where it will end, cleanse your town and your county and your state of "Rat Bastids" ( Basically by giving them to understand how impotent they are once the people no longer fear them) and the "national" will take care of itself.
All that to say that since Romney and Obama are both evil sock puppets, I'm not going to vote for the lesser of 2 evils, (Romney) but against the proven evil ( Obama) - if nothing else, it makes the puppet masters switch hands -
-R-
I find myself away from OS these days- Mikes pretrial is the 15th and I'm encouraging the peasants to bring pitch forks and Hot oil for the Court.
The "government" of Fairborn is shocked to find that it is in the position of the Farmer, who, having baited the Barn for rats and come in "Do them Justice" with his trusty double barreled shotgun, finds that to take care of his problem, he is about 10,000 -2 shots short. - and then the 9,998 Rats chow down on the "Rat Bastid".
Grass Roots is where this begins and where it will end, cleanse your town and your county and your state of "Rat Bastids" ( Basically by giving them to understand how impotent they are once the people no longer fear them) and the "national" will take care of itself.
All that to say that since Romney and Obama are both evil sock puppets, I'm not going to vote for the lesser of 2 evils, (Romney) but against the proven evil ( Obama) - if nothing else, it makes the puppet masters switch hands -
-R-
Stuart, I am praying you are right. But the corruption now, so total it seems, with corporate-puppet media and the media is such an American common denominator vehicle for control. I'm thinking the overlords are putting their thumb on Obama's side of the scale, he serves them so well and so slickly.
Obama doesn't visit picket lines to support. her smiles amiably on the View for support. Style not substance as you know. The fact that we are sponsoring and aiding Al Qaeda in Libya and Syria and that surreal scenario is not addressed on the media and the American people if they don't hear it directly from the media either don't believe it or zombie out and don't react. If a tree falls in the forest and MSNBC doesn't acknowledge it, did it really fall? Meanwhile the Al Qaeda obsession and the bin Laden capture are talking points when convenient but if off the corporate media radar people don't seem to care if the media doesn't. The minds have been "occupied" by media. You know what I am saying? It is like Invasion of the Body Snatchers time. The Kevin McCarthy one.
best, libby
Obama doesn't visit picket lines to support. her smiles amiably on the View for support. Style not substance as you know. The fact that we are sponsoring and aiding Al Qaeda in Libya and Syria and that surreal scenario is not addressed on the media and the American people if they don't hear it directly from the media either don't believe it or zombie out and don't react. If a tree falls in the forest and MSNBC doesn't acknowledge it, did it really fall? Meanwhile the Al Qaeda obsession and the bin Laden capture are talking points when convenient but if off the corporate media radar people don't seem to care if the media doesn't. The minds have been "occupied" by media. You know what I am saying? It is like Invasion of the Body Snatchers time. The Kevin McCarthy one.
best, libby
Rudy, rat "bastids" it is. thanks for that variation!
Praying for your Mike. Finally the pre-trial. Wheels of justice or injustice grind slowly.
They are finally prosecuting for wrongful arrests in NYC from the Republican Convention in 2004. 2004!!!!! I guess Bloomie knew that it would take time to hit the fan, his inappropriate Gestapo arrests back then! Now there are so many NEW outrages since then.
I hope you have those pitchfork carriers at the court!
I agree with the grass roots attention. And we need to hurry since the ALEC groups of business exploiters are fighting dirty at local levels.
Yes, Obomney, two sock puppets!!! Switching hands makes me laugh AND sigh. I do agree Obama is the more "effective" evil as Glen Ford and Ralph Nader maintain. Watching fellow citizens still enthralled to him is like watching people you care about remaining in a toxic and abusive relationship and minimizing it like crazy. God, we need an intervention!!!
Jill Stein says Romney a wolf in wolf's clothing, Obama a wolf in sheep's clothing.
Thanks for commenting, my friend. let me know how the pretrial goes!!!!
best, libby
Praying for your Mike. Finally the pre-trial. Wheels of justice or injustice grind slowly.
They are finally prosecuting for wrongful arrests in NYC from the Republican Convention in 2004. 2004!!!!! I guess Bloomie knew that it would take time to hit the fan, his inappropriate Gestapo arrests back then! Now there are so many NEW outrages since then.
I hope you have those pitchfork carriers at the court!
I agree with the grass roots attention. And we need to hurry since the ALEC groups of business exploiters are fighting dirty at local levels.
Yes, Obomney, two sock puppets!!! Switching hands makes me laugh AND sigh. I do agree Obama is the more "effective" evil as Glen Ford and Ralph Nader maintain. Watching fellow citizens still enthralled to him is like watching people you care about remaining in a toxic and abusive relationship and minimizing it like crazy. God, we need an intervention!!!
Jill Stein says Romney a wolf in wolf's clothing, Obama a wolf in sheep's clothing.
Thanks for commenting, my friend. let me know how the pretrial goes!!!!
best, libby
Libby! ;) Deleting comments now? I was really hoping to see if vampire flirting would turn into vampire necking.
In a different vein (ha ha), I agree with the comment here that Americans are sick of war and will not support or go to war with Iran unless things really get hot over there. Memories are short, but I doubt the last presumptive war will be forgotten soon.
Also - I doubt it will change any minds about Obama, and with the caveat that I think Jill Stein would make a great president, (and the fact that nobody's commented on my blogpost containing quotes) I am respectfully posting this link to an article in the mother ship by the brilliant Rebecca Solnit, about the "lesserism" issue:
http://www.salon.com/writer/rebecca_solnit/
Best, Joe
In a different vein (ha ha), I agree with the comment here that Americans are sick of war and will not support or go to war with Iran unless things really get hot over there. Memories are short, but I doubt the last presumptive war will be forgotten soon.
Also - I doubt it will change any minds about Obama, and with the caveat that I think Jill Stein would make a great president, (and the fact that nobody's commented on my blogpost containing quotes) I am respectfully posting this link to an article in the mother ship by the brilliant Rebecca Solnit, about the "lesserism" issue:
http://www.salon.com/writer/rebecca_solnit/
Best, Joe
Correction - I mixed up the vampire vamping with some comments I saw on another post, not this one. Sorry.
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