Sunday, November 20, 2011

OCCUPY AMERICA


Come se
nators, congressmen, please heed the call
Don't s
tand in the doorway, don't block up the hall
For he t
hat gets hurt will be he who has stalled
There's a battle outside ragin'
It'll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'.

-Bob Dylan

The mayors of Oakland, California and New York City apparently have no understanding of human history - not to mention human nature. They attempted this week to shut down the Occupy Wall Street movements in their respective cities through means of violence and intimidation. It didn't quite work out too well for them.
Quite to the contrary. Not only have they not weakened the movement, they have instead strengthened it - tenfold.

When people have been subjected over long periods to injustice, it's only a matter of time before they revolt. Revolution is not something that can be swept away by think tanks or police riots. It's a bit more complicated than that. Revolution-in-reaction-to-human-cruelty is as natural as the sun rising in the eastern sky. All the king's pepper spray and all the king's soldiers can't stop a rising sun either. Try it sometime.

The comedian-turned-activist Dick Gregory once compared revolution to a boiling coffeepot. When the pot starts to boil, it protests by making a whistling sound. It is giving us a fair warning and a choice: We can wisely take that pot off the fire, or we can plug up the spout that's making all that hideous racket. If our choice is the latter, eventually that pot is going to explode, burning everybody in the room.

The people who are now in the process of occupying this once-great nation can be likened to that boiling coffeepot. They are sending the "rulers" of this country a clear and unmistakable warning: Give us economic justice or be prepared to live with permanent civil unrest. Here's another pearl of wisdom courtesy of Dick Gregory:

"Repression is more detri
mental to the ones who are doing the repressing than it is to the ones who are being repressed."

Something to think about. The ground of the planet earth is littered with the graves of regimes and ideologies that fell of their own, bloated weight. The times they are indeed a'ch
angin'. Get out of the way or get rolled over.

It would seem to me that “the suits” don’t take the power of the American people all-too seriously. That shouldn't surprise us. Sooner or later they’ll realize that we have the power to shut this country down. They don’t. In fact, even if they did have the power, they wouldn’t dare shut it down. The need for the machine to keep churning out bodies. Lots and lots of bodies.

And as is usually the case, most of the main stream media refuses to understand what is happening. Rupert Murdoch's propaganda empire has been busy portraying the movement as a cabal of thugs and perverts. The main charge that has been leveled by the talking heads against the Occupy movement is this little gem:

"THEY CANNO
T DEFINE AND DO NOT EVEN KNOW WHAT IT IS THEY'RE PROTESTING AGAINST!"

Sure they do. I do not attempt here to define myself as a spokesman for this movement. One of the neat things about Occupy Wall Street lies in the fact that, unlike their Tea party counterparts, there is no cult of personality. We do not have our own Glenn Beck - and that's a good thing, I promise you! But let me take just a brief moment to step into the roll of interpreter. First, a quote:

"Governments are instituted among men [and women - fess up!] deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."

NOTE TO SEAN
HANNITY:

NO, that wasn'
t from the Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx. Nor is it from the pens of Che Guevara or Stokely Carmichael. That nasty little bit of revolutionary screed was written by none other than Thomas Jefferson, and is from a document which was ratified on 4 July 1776 and now rests snugly in our national archives. When this country was formed, those present - and succeeding generations of Americans - were given an instruction manual called the Declaration of Independence. It may be found at all public libraries and any computer search engine. I'm also certain you can find it in audio form on CD. Hell, it might even be available on 8-Track tape somewhere for all I know. Its message is as clear as sunlight. When those who govern become destructive toward the happiness and well being of the governed, revolution is not merely an option. It is a duty. Ting-a-ling-a-ling!

Thirty-one years ago this month, on Election Day 1980, the American people were placed on a path that would eventually lead to the destruction of their social and economic infrastructure. Deregulation of the marketplace - and tax cuts for a class of people who already had more money than they knew what to do with - were the new and seemingly permanent reality in America.

We are now learning the extent to which private banks went to gamble on and squander the money - our mone
y - only to be bailed out of the mess by the same people whose treasure was squandered in the first place. We had no say in the matter, and not a single condition was placed upon the corrupted banks. In the meantime the middle class, the engine that once fueled our economy, is falling apart. The American dream is as dead as a doornail.

And they're wondering why we're pissed off. Imagine that.


What do we want? We want economic justice. When do we want it? NOW, BABY! But we're realistic. We can wait them out for as long as it takes. The plutocracy has one of two choices. This is black or white. There are no subtle shades of gray that can be misinterpreted. Either the wealth of this country will be redistributed via the route of taxation - or they
can expect civil chaos for as long as it takes to wake America up from its stupor. If it takes decades, so be it. If it takes a century, so be it. If it means the complete and utter destruction of the Republican and Democratic parties - even better. For as long as it takes. In the long run it will cost them a hell-of-a-lot less to give in than to keep obstructing the will of the majority. To paraphrase Mick Jagger (0r was it Keith Richards?) Time is on our side - yes it is.

You say you'll change the constitution,well you know
We'd all love to change your head
You tell me it's the institution, well you know
You'd better free your mind instead

-John Lennon


But if you go carrying pictures of Rush Limbaugh
You ain't gonna make it anyone anyhow

-Me

We are at a point (according to the pollsters) where the popularity of the congress is at an all time low (hovering just below nine percent). They're telling us that Paris Hilton and Communism have better numbers. I'm not surprised. What is surprising, and in spite of the propaganda aimed against it, is that the Occupy Wall Street movement's numbers are comparatively high, and rising by the hour. This movement ain't no fad, boys and girls, and the good people out in the streets are in it for the long haul. I was just reminded of a great quotation from Mahatma Gandhi:

“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”

We win. Isn't this a neat time to be alive?

Tom Degan
Goshen, NY
tomdegan@frontiernet.net

AFTERTHOUGHT:

In an appearance this morning on Face the Nation with Bob Schieffer, Ron Paul made the following statement:

"To argue that they attacked us on 9/11 because we are free and prosperous is dangerous because it's not true"

Old Ron is correct here on more levels than he realizes. We are neither free nor prosperous. Hi ho.

SUGGESTED READING:

AFTER THE TEA PARTY IS OVER:
Creating the Founding Fathers' Vision of America
by Devon J. Noll

Special thanks to John Harragin and Brother Jeff Degan for the photograph at the top of this piece. To John for taking it; and to Jeff for doing all that cool stuff to it!

In the words of Lenny Bruce: "Is that an album cover or what???
"

For more recent postings from this LIBERAL CESSPOOL OF IMPUDENT, COMMIE PROPAGANDA, kindly go to the link below:

"The Rant" by Tom Degan

You ought to be ashamed of yourselves for reading this stuff.

53 Comments:

At 9:05 AM, Blogger Jefferson's Guardian said...

Tom, once again your clever use of metaphor is penetrating and entertaining. Occupy is here to stay, despite what the pundits say, and despite the millions of dollars the banking industry is getting ready to spend to dissuade otherwise.

Gandhi was right: "First they ignore you. Then they ridicule you. Then they fight you. Then you win."

 
At 10:07 AM, Blogger Rain Trueax said...

What I don't quite understand with this is what does Occupy mean in this situation? Take over? Possess? Is this really a desire to take what someone else has because it was seen as being gotten unfairly? When the students want to say occupy the university, what is their victory if they win? That they get it or that they get free educations and someone else pays for it? I think before we all go off on the hype (and there's plenty of that coming from the left on this one so no surprise the right will be putting out its own) the question of what is meant by Occupy should be answered for those like me who see the unfairness in our system but are not remotely ready for someone taking it and then what? I am incidentally not part of the 1% and I suspect there are a lot of people who have something, not a lot, and are just curious what this whole Occupy movement really wants. I read one list that looked like a laundry list for a Democratic presidential convention but does that mean until they get it all, this goes on? And then comes the ones who want a new New Deal which is a little confusing to me also as to what they figure that means. Is this anything like the tea party going back to the Revolutionary War?

 
At 10:43 AM, Blogger Acedog said...

Well told! The nastiness of the repression will be an unanticipated undoing of the status quo. Non-violent dissent's function is to provoke a response, and that response frequently characterizes the injustice of the status quo.

 
At 10:45 AM, Blogger Ronni said...

I am one of the 99%, and I want the rich individuals and corporations to pay a fair share of taxes. It's hard to fathom the wealth of the 1%, measured in BILLIONS of dollars. Example: B of A made billions in profits last quarter, yet their taxes are minimal and they still wanted to charge their small customers (me) (not any more) $5 per month to access their own money via debit card. No matter who you are, that's messed up. Education is in the pits, more and more of us slide from the middle class into poverty, roads and bridges are crumbling, not to mention the power grid, and yet, these 1% people continue to amass and hoard money. The rest of us work longer hours for the same money (should we be lucky enough to have a job), and live paycheck-to-paycheck with no health insurance or safety net. TAX THE BILLIONAIRES! They don't have to give the money to me...they have to help out schools, roads, and other infrastructure. Manufacturers should get tax breaks for creating jobs HERE, not in Bangladesh! Nobody wants to tear down government...we want to fix it. Get corporate money out of it, for a start.

I'm poor. I started out poor, made it to the so-called middle class, and now I'm poor again. fortunately, I had some practice at being poor. I am going to be that old lady, trying to eke out and existence on her SS benefits and supplement them where she can, house-sitting, dog-walking, doing alterations, etc. I have no health insurance. My grown kids are all out of work. We sell family treasures to pay the bills, and the government wants us to pay more taxes while the rich pay next to nothing.

That's what OWS wants to fix.

 
At 11:04 AM, Blogger Beth said...

Bloomberg's ousting of the Occupiers from Zuccotti Park has done what the Occupiers were starting to seem unable to do on their own: coalesce and harden their purpose. We are changing the narrative, and woe unto any politician who refuses to recognize that.

 
At 11:48 AM, Blogger Dearest Friend said...

Here - stated simply and as only John Lennon could - the refrain is at the end - 'nuff said except well done as usual, Tom. - Here's John's words...

Say you want a revolution
We better get on right away
Well you get on your feet
And out on the street

A million workers working for nothing
You better give 'em what they really own
We got to put you down
When we come into town

I gotta ask you comrades and brothers
How do you treat you own woman back home
She got to be herself
So she can free herself

Singing power to the people
Power to the people
Power to the people
Power to the people, right on
Now, now, now, now
Oh well, power to the people
Power to the people
Power to the people
Power to the people, right on

 
At 12:35 PM, Anonymous Just the Facts! said...

Rain,

Outstanding questions, I wait, as you do, for Tom, JG and others to answer them.

 
At 12:38 PM, Blogger Tom Degan said...

I think I interpreted what the people in the movement are seeking in what I wrote fairly well. Was I that vague? I didn't think so.

 
At 12:43 PM, Blogger Tom Degan said...

By the way, Jefferson's Guardian, I reedited the end of this piece to include that Gandhi quote. Thank you for reminding me!

 
At 12:46 PM, Anonymous Just the Facts! said...

Tom,

I will wait to hear from Rain as to how well you answered her questions.

 
At 1:45 PM, Blogger Tom Degan said...

I just answered the question for you.

PLEASE DON'T FEED THE TROLLS

 
At 3:29 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think the word Occupy has all kinds of meaning. I think it speaks for itself. By the way, just because a small group of people define a 1% and a 99% doesn't make it so, no matter how often it is repeated. In truth, there is not such a division. I'm not one of their "1%" but I'm certainly not a person for whom they speak on most of their core issues. I'll stick to defining my own terms, thank you very much - as will probably the bulk of Americans. Have your movement and more power to you. But don't declare you have the whole world on your side when you don't. The bulk of Americans join you in being frustrated with Washington, but many of us see the solutions much differently.

Ronni illustrates the Occupy mentality perfectly. You put your money in an FDIC insured account, they keep account of it for you, send you regular statements, and provide you with a card to access it anywhere in the nation. And, you gripe about $5 a month for those services? That's the labor equivalent of about 2 man-hours per year. Seems reasonable to me.

 
At 4:52 PM, Blogger Mary Mayhem said...

oh Harley...what do you suppose the money that YOU choose to put in B&A is doing for B&A??? Why should anyone have to pay a NEW fee on top of that, especially a simple gander of B&A's year-end financial statements?

And NO you don't get to choose. The dichotomy is there. You are either in the 1% or the 99%. It's not based on values, feelings, psychographics...its based on wealth. A numbers stat. You are either in one or the other. That is part of the incongruousness that OWS keeps trying to point out to you lovers of false-consciousness...but not surprisingly, it goes in one ear, and leaks out the other...

 
At 5:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Rain is a TROLL?

 
At 5:05 PM, Blogger ArchieBunkerNYC said...

Jefferson's Guardian said on Tom's previous rant:

"As far as you and the other conservatives who troll liberal sites, I'm obviously head-and-shoulders above you on the "enlightenment scale"."


What we need to turn this economy around is a small group of enlightened people of Jefferson's caliber who will turn this economy around with central planning. Clearly this group is so much superior than everyone else that it knows what goods and services, and in what quantities should be produced for the unenlightened masses that includes myself.


Clearly Jefferson is one of the following:

1) an all knowing being

2) a delusional burned out hippy who took too many drugs in the 60s

3) someone suffering from brain damage after hitting his head on a rock after falling off his boogie board


Jefferson, I have a few questions:

1) Are you Lionel or George Jefferson's guardian?

2) If you are so enlightened, why does your blog have so few vistors? One would think a superior enlightened person's blog would attract people to discuss issues and through honest debate become more enlightened and approach your brilliance.

3) Have you also sealed your academic records like "The Chosen One" so that you can claim to be brilliant?

 
At 5:56 PM, Anonymous John said...

Rain, Occupy (in the context of OWS) means different things to different people.

In a society, the majority of people are always exploited, civil liberties curtailed and government policy manipulated by the wealthiest people (far less than the three million implied by the 1% figure of speech). It is how people obtain power and amass wealth. This is the nature of things. However, when the exploitation grows above a certain point, people respond. I think it is fair to say essentially all of us have been feeling this mounting pressure. If in no other way (or the most significant way) rising prices and shrinking income. It does not require great vision to see the trajectory of things getting worse. Make no mistake about it - this is because of business and government policy that primarily is determined by these extremely rich people. While there is all kinds of spin-doctoring, willful ignorance and brain programming to have us believe otherwise, being faced with an empty stomach has a way of sharpening perception. Returning to your question, to me the occupation relates to the awakening awareness of the origin of the policy that is impacting us all. This awareness transcends political parties and ethnicities. We who are feeling these impacts is pretty close to all of us, together, the 99...

(although this discussion forum makes it clear that not all of us know it)

 
At 6:23 PM, Anonymous Annoymous Two said...

Just the facts,
You know, you are just dumb.

 
At 6:53 PM, Blogger Tom Degan said...

Again:

PLEASE DON'T FEED THE TROLLS

Don't you see what they're doing? And successfully I might add. They're trying to distract the substance of the conversation - AND A LOT OF YOU ARE ALLOWING THEM TO DO SO.

If they respond to something you have commented on, ignore them. They want to incite you. Do not give them the satisfaction.

Ignore them. Just ignore them.

I'm not saying that by doing so they'll go away. They're not smart enough to take a hint. Just ignore them. I am a First Amendment purist and do not believe in censorship. But I do believe in indifference.

Tom

 
At 8:09 PM, Blogger charles moore said...

Tom, how quickly we forget. So far these protests have been mild by comparison to the protests of the 70s. Have so many forgotten (or are too young to know) about the violence of the Weathermen, the Black Panthers and other protest groups who not only advocated violence but actually bombed government property? While it is true that the protests of the 70s were mostly about the Vietnam War, the same anger drives todays protests. People can go homeless, hungry and without jobs for only so long before they began to say "I want mine and I want it now, and by god, I will take it".

I volunteer at a local food pantry and it is frightening to see the lines of people who are actually going hungry and are slowly drowning in despair of ever finding a job. And to all of those who say these people should get a job and go to work, I can only say that I hope the fat cat, self righteous ones are never in this situation.

 
At 8:12 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yes fellow progressives, any posts that might make you think about our liberal positions must be treated as if they were put there by trolls. Cause no one in their right mind would ever question our views.
Just ask Rain.

 
At 9:53 AM, Anonymous boltok said...

Mayor Dinkensberg is the beginning of the end. These protests are nothing more than 60's throwbacks and various breeds of communists, socialists and junkies. Only a fool would think this movement (think bowel) is something more.

Superimpose a parking lot from a Dead concert against Zucotti park and you would notice no difference.

TD, you are a little lite on the crime statistics for these animals.

I feel sorry for those of you that are moved by this. You must have a terrible self image.

 
At 10:32 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi Tom,

In Rolling Stone magazine, Matt Tabbai wrote an article a couple issues ago stating what he thought the OWS should demand. In the latest issue of RS, he recanted his previous article and stated that he was wrong....the OWS crowd is not like other protests - each protester is representing him/herself and their disatisfaction with the status quo. That is the message of the 99% and I think everyone can agree with that message - somethings have got to change or this country and our constitution are toast!

 
At 10:46 AM, Anonymous DreamsAmelia said...

Tom, I have enjoyed your eloquent rants for a long time (about a year)--I was encouraged because when I went to work on Saturday (Nov 19, 2011), a guy was reading about the Occupy movement, looking at the gory photos of police brutality--most guys DON'T read newspapers on the internet at work--and after a bit of discussion, sounded like he might be out there joining them. Yes, repression increases numbers 10 fold.

A polite suggestion in order to not feed the trolls--you may want to moderate the comments, as Sardonicky does. The trolls give up when they don't get posted, same thing at the New York Times website. Also reduces the temptation of your readers to feed them. But even with the "moderation" seen at the NYTimes, it still allows a verbal assault about as thick as The Civil War. Proof positive that guns and hundreds of thousands of deaths in wars through the millenia have done nothing to change people's minds.

We are still fighting the war between slavery and abolition in this country, 150 straight years, and counting, no doubt in my mind about that. We're all corruptible by "human nature" craving for comfort, which can all too readily lead to excessive greed, which, unchecked, leads to massive wealth for some, massive poverty for the majority of others, otherwise known as massive inequality--thus the wars, physical and cultural, rage on....Happy Monday, and keep writing!

 
At 10:53 AM, Blogger Tom Degan said...

Thank you for the kind words, Amelia. Perhaps I should rethink the commenting policy. I don't mind dissenting comments - in fact I encourage them - but some of these people often go WAY off topic.

Cheers!

Tom Degan

 
At 2:07 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm 61. My Dad worked one job for 25 years and retired with a pension. My mom stayed at home and raised us kids. He paid for College, owned a car with no loan; we were the definition of middle class. What happened? Time to get back to where we once belonged. Thank God for the Occupy Movement!

 
At 3:57 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Tom,
You slacker, counter revolutionary revisionist, why did you leave your Occupy event after just a couple of days? Why did you come back?
I thought you were down for the cause, for the movement! Did you just use your visit for a photo opp to improve your liberal resume?
What gives, man?

 
At 4:02 PM, Blogger Tom Degan said...

"Slacker, counter revolutionary revisionist"? Moi???

Chill out, pal. Johnny and I will be back. I promise. In fact we'll be there this weekend.

AND DON'T GO CALLING ME A "WEEKEND WARRIOR", ALRIGHT?

Cheers!

Tom

 
At 6:22 PM, Blogger Jefferson's Guardian said...

Tom, you said...

"Thank you for reminding me!"

My pleasure!

 
At 6:57 PM, Anonymous John said...

“You slacker, counter revolutionary revisionist, why did you leave your Occupy event after just a couple of days?”

...actually it was me who was driving. The time table for civic responsibility that I have been involved with has to fit between a full time job and my side business both of which need my attention (still, there have been several journeys to OWS). The majority of the people who are there by day are representative of hardworking Americans. Still I find it necessary to contribute money to fund the movement and help support the people who are down there fighting for my rights full-time. If you had been down there as we have, you would see most of those people are not exhibiting laziness. Yes, there are some people who were hanging around for the food - but you know what? Some people have been dealt a terrible hand or misplayed it. And I don’t think it is bad to feed them either.

Try going to San Francisco (or I suppose any other city) sometime. You will see thousands of people who are completely unemployable - casualties of society. A fair number of these people are veterans - people who have been destroyed by government policy then discarded. I can’t imagine what someone might feel who has joined the military, participated in combat (even remotely i.e. drone piloting) only to find out that the rational was a farce like the lies that carried us into Iraq. It has to fuck with the mind. The crime is not just that our nation does not provide for these people very well, but also that they were needlessly put into jeopardy in the first place.

Now regarding the photo. I took it. I doubt Tom was aware I was taking it, nor was I expecting that flag to be swung into the image. Some things are meant to be...

Anyway, if you don’t have time to be part of the movement (other than being a victim with loss of buying power, investment value or more difficulty realizing the American dream). You might participate by reading our core documents like the Declaration of Independence and Constitution - don’t just read, understand. Tom knows these documents better than just about anyone. He belongs in that picture.

 
At 8:15 PM, Blogger Tom Degan said...

Okay, Harragin....

You REALLY need to start a blog. Seriously!

Love and Peace,

Tom

 
At 10:07 PM, Anonymous John said...

Don't let it go to your head. We thought you were a bit of a nerd reading that stuff while the rest of us were busy sneaking around to smoke weed...

 
At 1:43 AM, Anonymous Jay Diamond said...

I love your writing Tom. But those evil, bloated regimes did not fall of their own weight.

They were fought and defeated.

 
At 8:26 AM, Anonymous Just the Facts! said...

"You will see thousands of people who are completely unemployable - casualties of society"

Wait a minute, isn't it the individuals responsibility to make themselves employable? Not society?

To further quote from your post John, "The majority of the people who are there by day are representative of hardworking Americans." Help me understand how this statement fits in with your quote above? Cant have it both ways can you?

If you really want to touch the exposed nerve of the America mainstream, focus you energy on the current White House who calls Americans soft, that's gonna bring the jobs overseas back home. Or Jon Corzine former Gov of N.J and now the CEO of failed MF Global. Or the loss of billions of tax dollars to create a failed green energy grid, along with millions of the promised jobs. These are the things that ought to piss you off and have you Occupying 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

You are being used, willingly I think, as a part of the re-elect
Obama campaign.

 
At 8:59 AM, Blogger Tom Degan said...

Obama never called Americans "soft". Someone's been watching FOX Noise I suspect.

 
At 9:56 AM, Anonymous Just the Facts! said...

Tom,

This is a link where you can see with your own eyes, and hear with your own ears from (a non Fox New source0, the President saying what I posted he said.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhDuqMdiol4

I suspect you are wrong.

 
At 10:04 AM, Anonymous Just the Facts! said...

http://technorati.com/politics/article/obama-blames-americans-on-economygotten-soft

If you have a open liberal mind, I would suggest you cut and past the above link into your browser. It might help explain your rage and it is being directed at the wrong group of people.

Not wishing to be called a troll, but wanting to back my statement that Tom said was not made, I will stop with this post and let the readers determine the facts.

 
At 10:11 AM, Blogger Tom Degan said...

I knew you were going to come up with that. Why do you think they only played a twenty second clip? Because when watched in its entirety, it is revealed that the president is not talking about the American people, but the American business community.

Nice try, twit.

Sincerely,

Tom Degan

 
At 11:02 AM, Anonymous Just the Facts! said...

Really, so the American business community is made up of German and French citizens? Who else could he be talking about?

What about the second link I gave you, not Fox News.

When are you going to lead an Occupy group to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave in Washington, D.C? There's where you corporate cronyism is headquartered! Wake up Tom, you are being used.

I will not stoop to the low level you have gone to with the name calling. I disagree with but respect you too much to do so.

 
At 12:50 PM, Anonymous John Galt said...

Read "The Battle" by Arthur Brooks to learn the evils of socialism and the predations of the American Great Society’s welfare state programs which are rotting this country from the inside out!

 
At 2:45 PM, Anonymous Annonymous Two said...

Read the Bible to see what Jesus said about love, compassion and charity.

 
At 5:32 PM, Anonymous Just the Facts! said...

Tom,
I seem to recall a few posts back you requested all readers to support Obama in his reelection efforts of 2012.

"A Chicago-area businessman whose association with President Obama came under scrutiny during the 2008 presidential campaign has been sentenced to more than 10 years in prison for corruption charges related to kickback schemes

Prosecutors had been hoping for a total sentencing of 11-15 years, according to The Associated Press.

“That’s about as bad as it can get in a political corruption case,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Niewoehner said according to the Sun-Times. “Illinois was for sale at the very top levels of our government.”

Rezko’s association with Obama became an issue during his run for the White House. Then-Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.), Obama’s top rival in that race, accused Obama of “practicing law and representing your contributor, Rezko, in his slum landlord business in inner-city Chicago.”

Obama, then a lawyer at a small civil-rights firm, had been working for a church organization that was partnering with him. He denied any direct connection to Rezko.

“I did about five hours worth of work on this joint project,” Obama said at the time.

Obama also considered and eventually bought a house in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood with the help of Rezko, who helped seal the deal by buying a nearby lot, according to ABC News."

Note: not a FOX NEWS report.
Tom, you are better than this, you shouldn't be drug down to the lowest Chicago cesspool of politics by supporting Obama. Corp cronyism, back room deals with GE who then pays no income taxes, and you risk getting your head knocked in by the Cops in a Occupy march on the business world, instead on the White House.

 
At 7:13 PM, Anonymous John said...

Dear adJust the facts,

“You are being used, willingly I think, as a part of the re-elect Obama campaign.”

I doubt I’ll be voting for him - not that there will be an viable alternative, if you look at the history of the causes that Obama has championed it is clear that his policy has been purchased by the extremely wealthy. The same people will bankroll the ‘opponent’.

“These are the things that ought to piss you off and have you Occupying 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.”

Perhaps we can see eye to eye on something...

The rest of your commentary is indicative of someone who reads without understanding. This is nothing to be ashamed of - merely the product of a public education. I’ve come to realize that the primary goal of our education system is to de-motivate the cleverest students. They don’t want to create thinkers but drones - and they are pretty good at it.

Now rather than waste your time on my little comment, read the constitution again and again until you figure out who wrote it, for who, why, what compromises were made, for who and why... There is also the question of how much of it is realized or violated. For me, this is a work in progress - but it is proving to be an interesting exercise. If you let your 6th grade teacher, Tom, Rush, Rupert, me or anyone else tell you what it means, you’ll never get it.

If you insist on help in understanding my post, read it again...

 
At 7:15 PM, Anonymous Smokey Lagumski said...

boltok

lol on "The Movement" being nothing but a bowel movement. The only thing I would add is that it is a big one.

tom degan with his arms up in the air is a funny picture! looks like he is copying politicians who only show up at events for photo ops.

 
At 7:42 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Little Boy: What will social democracy be like when perfected?
His Father: Everyone will have what he needs.
Little Boy: But what if there is a shortage of meat?
His Father: There will be a sign in the butcher shop saying, "No one needs meat today."

 
At 7:43 PM, Anonymous Just the Facts! said...

John,

What private education were you blessed with that I missed out on due to not having your family's wealth? Sounds like you and yours were not taxed enough.
Elitist, social snob.

 
At 7:47 PM, Blogger Tom Degan said...

JUST THE FACTS....

John - like me - was educated by the public school system. In fact we went to the same school.

Unlike you We managed to continue our educations ourselves when school let out.

 
At 10:20 PM, Blogger Jefferson's Guardian said...

Tom, you have a troll who goes by the name of Just a Bunch of Noise, who thinks you ought to march on 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Please let him know that I, as a part of Occupy K Street (AKA Occupy D.C.), have done just that. We leave no stone unturned. We realize that the problems that have befallen this country are due to the revolving door between Wall Street and Washington, and like any fascist regime, this crony capitalism is supported, and encouraged, by the Right. That's why we march; that's why we take over the streets.

Also, please let your simple-minded "friend" know that I, too, was educated in the public school system. Although I graduated from a private university (and paid for it on my own),like you and John, I continued to learn and understand how the world really works outside of the classroom. I'm still learning; something that can't be said about our conservative brethren.

 
At 10:54 PM, Anonymous Just the Facts! said...

Gee Tom, JG, cat got John's tongue?
BTW, I also went on to college from public high school that I paid for myself. Student loans paid off by self, didn't require an increase in taxes on someone else in order to take care of my own debt. Same can be said for my daughter, who just got her PhD from Case-Western and my son who is in his 1st year of grad school @ NCState.
And so u don't think I am a Kennedy, my father Is the son of a homesteader, born in a sod house in Montana, and was a preacher his entire working life. Rich we weren't and rich we aren't.


Anything else thing else you care to insult me about, Mr. "love and peace"?

 
At 8:18 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

"The Congressional Budget Office on Tuesday downgraded its estimate of the benefits of President Obama’s 2009 stimulus package, saying it may have sustained as few as 700,000 jobs at its peak last year and that over the long run it will actually be a net drag on the economy.

CBO said that while the Recovery Act boosted the economy in the short run, the extra debt that the stimulus piled up “crowds out” private investment and “will reduce output slightly in the long run - by between 0 and 0.2 percent after 2016.”

Time to Occupy the CBO?

 
At 9:53 AM, Anonymous boltok said...

TD
Your picture reminded me of something, and it just occurred to me. Nixon's goodbye photo boarding Marine One.

Amelia, yours is a typical liberal approach to free speech.

 
At 12:26 PM, Anonymous Anonymous Too said...

Boltok, if you have nothing to add to the discussion except a comment on Tom's picture, why don't you just go sit in the corner and eat your pork rinds until you can focus with both eyes?

 
At 8:26 AM, Anonymous Smokey Lagumski said...

The Wall Street Occupiers are too young and too convinced to switch from the comfortable progressive rhetoric learned on the campuses of the Academic-Government Complex that loaned them the money to pay the extortionist tuition that bought them a jobless education rooted in class warfare propaganda and phony science.

 
At 11:21 AM, Anonymous Just the Facts! said...

Well said Smokey L. well said.

 

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