Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Conservatives Gone Wild


One speaker referred to it as "the Conservative Woodstock". Unlike the last Woodstock, however, "our women are beautiful." Apparently this freak has the hots for Phyllis Schlafly. Va va voom!

Another convention of pissed off and clueless white people blew into town last week. The Conservative Political Action Conference - CPAC
to you and me - staged this silly photo-op for no other purpose than to flex some badly whithered muscles. And as far as anyone can tell, it was, in fact, an all white gathering. Some idiotic commentator at FOX Noise claimed that he had heard from a friend that there was an African American spotted on the peripherals of the crowd, chomping the life out of a hapless watermelon - but that has yet to be confirmed by any responsible news agency. Sarah Palin, for reasons no one can explain, did not show up.

They came to perform what (in a perfect world) would be dismissed as an impossible feat: convincing their fellow citizens that the failed economic and social policies advocated by the right wing for the last three decades should be advanced once again on Election Day 2010. But this is not a perfect world, and - given the American electorate's hideous track record in recent years - their chances of taking back the House and Senate this November is a pretty safe bet. Or is it?

Although concealed by a facade of respectability, this was a vicious crowd. Come to think of it, "crowd" is too polite a term. This was a mob. In normal circumstances, considering the eight years of damage they were able to inflict upon the country they profess to love so much, one might think that their cause would have been pronounced dead-as-a-doornail at this late stage. But these were a people united and reinvigorated, bought together by their utter contempt - their irrational hatred - for "that goddammed nigger socialist in the White House." That was their hideous, unspeakable and unspoken common denominator. I just spoke it for them.

These were a people with a renewed sense of mission.

"The sky's the limit here. I think 2010 is going to be a phenomenal year for the Conservative cause. And I think Barack Obama is a one-term president."

Dick Cheney

In a spontaneous display of twisted adulation, the crowd chanted in unison, "RUN, CHENEY, RUN!!!" The Dickster, to my bitter disappointment, assured them that he would not run. Pity. I've been wishing like Jiminy Cricket on a star for a Cheney/Palin ticket in 2012. Wouldn't that be the perfect farce? Sickie Dick and Fascist Barbie! Ah, the possibilities....

Cheney wasn't the only icon of the uber right to make himself known to the drooling throng. The Grand Old Party's rock stars showed up in half-witted droves for this show.

There was Michele Bachmann, waxing moronic as only Michele Bachmann can. Almost four weeks ago on this very site, I asked the musical question, "Can Michele Bachman possibly get any stupider?" The answer, apparently, is yes. She projected on a screen a giant slide of a billboard in her home state of Minnesota which displayed a photograph of George W. Bush. Underneath the moronically smiling Dubya was this caption:

"MISS ME YET?"

Not surprisingly, this ocean of assholes misses him terribly. So, too, does Michele Bachmann. It was quite touching really.

There was John Boehner, giving a speech that demonstrated the complete gullibility of his audience - given the fact that he wasn't laughed off the podium:

Ladies and gentlemen, if you help elect a Republican Congress this November, and I'm fortunate enough to be elected Speaker of the House, I pledge to you right here and now: we're going to run the House differently."

I wish I could have set up a concession stand outside that hall selling my new line of gas heaters made out of balsa wood. I'd have walked away with a small fortune.

There was former Congressman Dick Armey demonstrating yet again that he has spent the last ten years in a vacuum. I am not kidding you, he actually had this to say about the president: "You're intellectually shallow; you're a romantic; you're self-indulgent." He then went on to call Obama, "the most incompetent president perhaps in our lifetime."

QUESTION: Was someone hiding the newspapers from this silly bastard between the years 2001 and 2009?

There was Marco Rubio, the GOP's latest poster boy and candidate for senate. This guy also fancies himself something of a comedian. It was a good thing that Washington was shut down last week by the worst snow storm in its history. Why? Because "the president couldn't find anywhere to set up a teleprompter to announce new taxes." GUFFAW! THAT'S A KILLER! Here is what made this stupid remark so unintentionally funny: he was reading off of a teleprompter when he made it. That's what I love about these people - totally void of any sense of irony.

FOR THE HISTORICAL RECORD:

Every president since Dwight D. Eisenhower has made use of the teleprompter. How far do you think Reagan or either of the Bushes would have gotten without that invention? I find it interesting that in a half century, only the black guy got criticized for actually using it. I'm sure that's just a coincidence, though.

And then there was Glenn Beck with his tired old robo-message: Liberalism equals Communism. The fact that this nitwit was welcomed with open arm to this event should give you a fairly good idea where their heads are at.

So I guess the writing is on the wall; the Democrats are going to get hammered on Election Day, right? I wouldn't be too sure about that. There are far too many monkey wrenches that are ready to be thrown into this engine. The most amusing thing to observe during the CPAC festivities last Thursday was their subtle attempt to disassociate themselves from the so-called "Tea Party Movement" without flatly rejecting it. What is going on here?

Here's what's going on: The cooler heads within the Republican National Committee know damned well that the Tea Partiers are a ticking time bomb just waiting to explode. It's not merely the fact that most of these people are dumber than dog shit, it is also the ugly reality that so much of that movement is based on the nasty philosophy that has embodied the white supremacist movement for decades. You could hear it in the remarks made by the protesters at the September 12, "March on Washington". You could see it in the signs they carried. Most of these twits refuse to even acknowledge the fact that the president of the United States is an American citizen!

Like Neville Chamberlain appeasing der fuhrer at the Munich conference in 1938, the RNC is frantically searching for a "peace in our time" moment. They have quite a dilemma before them to be sure. On the one hand they need to keep these jackasses "inside the tent pissing out" - so to speak. On the other hand they have to avoid alienating the moderates. Like the demented uncle living in the attic, they must do everything humanly possible to make sure that any contact with the neighborhood kids is limited if you know what I mean.

The Tea Party people are already claiming credit for Scott Brown's victory in Massachusetts a couple weeks ago. They are determined to steer the course of the GOP in November, come hell or high water. If they are allowed control of the party, their extremism will only turn off a huge segment of the voting population. If they are denied that opportunity, they will splinter off into third and even fourth party uprisings. Have you ever watched an elephant try to walk a tightrope? It's more fun than a barrel of donkeys!

In the final analysis, the CPAC convention last week was not the celebration of omnipotence they would have us believe. It was nothing more than an organization of desperate politicians trying to put a pretty face on a dead pig. They have no ideas. They have no vision. The only reason for the existence of the Republican party since the days of President Grant has been to serve as handmaidens to their only constituency - the plutocracy. This fact is becoming more and more obvious to even the casual observer - hence their desperation. Will Election Day prove to be the landslide for the Republicans that so many are predicting? Don't count on it. Their weird uncle is at this moment walking the streets wearing nothing but a tattered bathrobe.

Tom Degan
tomdegan@frontiernet.net

SUGGESTED VIEWING:

"You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train"

A superb documentary on the life of the late, great Howard Zinn. It is available on DVD.

AFTERTHOUGHT, 2/28/10:

For more on this subject, expressed better than I could ever hope to, please read Frank Rich's excellent column in this morning's New York Times. Here is a link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/28/opinion/28rich.html?th&emc=th

42 Comments:

At 5:10 AM, Blogger Lydia said...

I'm speechless.....and I certainly wish Ann Coulter was too.

 
At 9:23 AM, Blogger Cher Duncombe said...

Tom,
Great post! The level of vitriolic "hate speech" at CPAC was mind-numbing. The "tea party" movement, which is nothing more than a group of disgruntled right wingers, is moving in lock-step with their conserva-Nazi leader, Herr Limbaugh. This "movement", however, is doomed to split the Republican Party between the "politically pure" and those that really care about America.
"Ebenezer" Cheney is really the pits, though. It's actually kind of pathetic to watch him snarl at the Democrats, the Press, the President, the minorities, and any "pinko-Communist-lefty" who should dare to suggest anything progressive. I wish the Republicans the greatest of success in tearing their party to shreds.

 
At 10:20 AM, Blogger Dave Dubya said...

CPAC is a wonderful festival of fools. Every crazy wacked out piece of conservative crap and fiction is put on display.

The Big Dick said Obama is a one term president. This should be joyful for Obama fans, (Both of ‘em) because we know the lying crook is always wrong.

 
At 10:28 AM, Blogger Flying Junior said...

Tom,

Are you suggesting that there is a more moderate and rational wing or member of the republican party? What is his or her name?

I'm sorry all the excitement proved to be too much for Dick Chainy-Smoker. I hope he recovers.

 
At 11:07 AM, Blogger Rain Trueax said...

I wish I could find it humorous. I wish more people read your essays and thought about them. I am so disgusted right now that it's hard to get past that and for me to write anything articulate about it. I am angry which is something I don't like being. I am not remotely interested in this bipartisanship that the right claims we suddenly should want. *taking deep breaths*

Thanks for writing all of this and keeping up the good fight.

 
At 2:06 PM, Blogger charles moore said...

Tom, an excellent Rant and said with a great deal of humor. But underneath the humor, the thing that scares the hell out of me is that this group is so consumed with hate and anger, even if they do not always know what it is they hate, that there will be violence. They are going to strike out mindlessly and in anger and not caring who gets hurt or killed in it.

 
At 9:44 PM, Blogger Shaw Kenawe said...

Conservatives [tea baggers] have gone wild over Scott Brown.

In a little over a month, after taking over the Ted Kennedy Senate seat, he is now being savaged by the same mob that predicted he would be the next president of the United States.

Conservatives--The Party of ADHDs:

"Wow! Scott Brown is that new GOP Senator from Massachu...Oh look over there, a miniature schnauzer!"

 
At 12:00 AM, Blogger ralphlake said...

Your post was excellent and bitterly funny. Let's hope things stay that way--funny--because if somehow they limit Obama to a single term--we're all in very serious shit (can it really be more serious--yes indeed). If they do succeed then we can say what people said before he was elected "America's not ready for a black president". Nor is it ready for intelligent government. Not ready for fairness. Not ready for peace. Not ready to assume a mature place in the company of other nations. Another banana republic. Ultimately, who is more embarrassing: Chavez or Bush (or substitute)? How about more dangerous?

 
At 9:25 AM, Blogger Ronni said...

"OUR WOMEN?" Excuse me?

They want to trot us out in mini skirts and dyed hair, to mouthe their ridiculous catch-phrases--and then put us back in our boxes.

They want Stepford women like...well...like Sarah Palin.

How any woman could avoid seeing the quoted phrase as a red flag is beyond me.

 
At 11:25 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Tom great stuff.
shame you comment on the BBC so infrequently but if you did you would get banned.

I was banned for saying I am american was born to an american have dual nationality and could people on the right stop trying to tell me because I believe in healthcare or all and not much of the american way I am unamerican. I am apparently not american. (strange I got a passport).
either way the right rabid facists of the palinolithic period have succeeded in turning that site into a right wing hate speech centre where any from anywhere left of hitler (though interesting that glenn says he was a commie, I heard that on the BBC from a mechanised poster there.) is removed .

Chainy and Palin are racists but apparently they are not allowed to be called that . However those on the left ,carter, for example is regularly called a war criminal and terrorist appeaser.

glad to read one sane comment in the filth
JAcksforge,fluffytale,happylazeeasytarget etc etc etc.

PS I won't ruin your site by drabgging the fools here. or by posting myself.;)

Good job.

 
At 11:27 AM, Blogger Tom Degan said...

Hey, pal!

Loved your comment! Drop by anytime.

All the best,

Tom Degan

 
At 12:26 PM, Blogger Skip Bob Bin Laden said...

sorry for the dedfensive rant i made somewhere.
I got the wrong thread and thought I had felt the hand of the censor once more( I posted the cane toad killer elsewhereooops)

either way it is so relieveing to know that we all do not work in Isolation in trying to reclaim legitimate political discourse.

(ya jerkwads;)(not me).
Personally I think the things have got ot the stage where there is some brat everyone knows is a brat screaming their head off and disrupting all conversations with their thinly veiled racism.

They claim free speech, but as I found out . if you oppose these Organised rejects of society (yes very ad homien of me) they gang together and silence you.
Test that go on the BBC and say "We want Jacksforge back" .you will get banned and see how fast the howls start up.
. mention how it seems racists can post but not those that counter them.
They have banned me over 30 times now. (dared to suggest that one guy saying lazy black people was racist.)
Disputing those on the right that lie about tort reform EVERY day. every day for two years they have posted lies. and when countered... they get me banned and start lying again.

serious dodgy stuff which if I were back in the UK I would be asking questions to my MP about it.


Again sorry for the defensive comment on another thread. I was on the wrong thread and after so many bannings I tend to sometimes be a bit jumpy.

 
At 2:12 PM, Anonymous Freya said...

The only thing missing at the CPAC mobfest were the white sheets and pointy hats...
oh yeah, and the burning cross on the Whitehouse lawn...

 
At 4:08 PM, Blogger Darlene said...

The Great Depression brought out the best and the worst in man. It's deja vu all over again.

The John Burch Society, the Klu Klux Clan and the Tea Baggers are all cut from the same cloth and now they are merging into one loud, dangerous mob. Will the U.S. ever be rid of these stupid Neanderthals?

As always,your blog is a hoot, Tom. I love your satire and the clever way you pillory the know-nothings and the other party of 'NO'. Keep it up; you make my day.

 
At 10:06 PM, Anonymous Bennett said...

Shaw Kenawe said...

and it was beautiful. I am officially a fan of your wit, dear lady.

Freya: Sad but true.

Sir Tom. Keep fighting, when it all goes to hell Goshen can become part of the Free State Of Vermont.

 
At 9:59 AM, Anonymous lkagy said...

I was afraid that once the election was over, that we would be devoid of humor for the next four years. I needn't have worried. Every time John Boehner opens his mouth, silly things fly out. I actually had to look up what part of the state he was from (OH) so that I could avoid it. Thank goodness I am well north of that insanity.

 
At 12:16 PM, Blogger treewizard said...

Hi Tom,

I ran across your "rant" on zealfortruth.com.

It is right on--no problems with what you said but a bit surprised that you didn't talk about the one speaker at the CPAC who wasn't a neo-con: Ron Paul.

I dont't even use "conservative" or "liberal" any more; the words are about as meaningful as "terrorism". For me, there was only one "conservative" at the CPAC, despite the claims of the speakers, and that was RP. Love him or hate him, his record represents a thoughtful, consistent critique of big government and the insanity of American domestic and foreign policy---a critique which he has maintained whether "his" party has been in or out of power.

I, along with Cheney, believe Obama will be a one-term President; what I don't understand, however, is why Cheney is so gleeful about that. Obama has maintained and expanded Bush's unconstitutional wars, bailouts, etc---what's not to like from Cheney's POV ?

BTW, are you familiar with Michael Sussman and the DA ? I used to be active in the OCPJ when I lived in Warwic, and know Michael when we would cross paths.

Joe

 
At 1:43 PM, Blogger Win Martin said...

Jesus, you're a bitter, hateful person. You're no better than Coulter, Hannity, et al, and the rest of that trash destroying discourse in this country.

 
At 2:04 PM, Blogger Tom Degan said...

Joe, I know Michael Sussman well. He's a great guy and a dedicated one. We're all damned lucky he's on our side.

Win! I don't hate! I love!

Cheers!

Tom Degan

 
At 7:28 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ola, what's up amigos? :)
In first steps it's very good if somebody supports you, so hope to meet friendly and helpful people here. Let me know if I can help you.
Thanks in advance and good luck! :)

 
At 8:01 PM, Blogger finefroghair said...

Tom, you have an indomitable constitution, and an iron clad stomach. How you could watch and then synthesize the lunacy that is CPAC is admirable but also a little scary, masochism is a treatable disorder. I must echo the angst of several other commenter's who feel abandoned and disillusioned the whole rotten edifice of this shameful farce is coming apart. Half the country still believes that tax breaks for the rich and the free market can cure our nations ills. The preponderance of evidence to the contrary is just so much chaff to their enfeebled minds. How can you right a ship that may well have already sunk? Obama may well be a one term President that does not mean he will be replaced by a Republican or even a third party candidate. Maybe the Democrats can produce a liberal alternative a true progressive who will challenge the Plutocrats and install an era of prosperity for all Americans maybe .... Okay when you stop laughing what the hell are we going to do? Flying planes into buildings is not, nor ever will be the answer. The voting booth seems to be equally ineffective, it sucks to be a serf!!

 
At 10:23 PM, Blogger treewizard said...

@finefrog:

You say:

"Half the country still believes that tax breaks for the rich and the free market can cure our nations ills. The preponderance of evidence to the contrary is just so much chaff to their enfeebled minds."

I am one of those who believes tax breaks (for everyone---not just the rich) and the free market would be a good start to curing the nation's ills.

The only preponderance of evidence is that ALL governments, whether Republican, Democrat, federal or local waste a tremendous amount of money, and generally don't even accomplish a fraction of one percent of what they promise to do. This is not just the case when the politicians are crooked gangsters who never had any intention of accomplishing anything useful to begin with, but is ALWAYS the case. Taxes feed governments, which, in their most innocuous incarnations, are inefficient vampires. They usually turn into something downright malicious.
In my previous incarnation, I was a small business owner who was able to donate a few thousand dollars a year to groups and individual I liked, such as non-commercial radio, anti-war groups, and directly to individuals who had everything from car problems to difficulty paying mortgages. In 2007, I shut the doors, sold off my trucks, sold my house, and ex-pat-ed to South America. The ridiculous government regulation, state, local and federal taxes, both income and property, made it untenable to continue in business. Without any income, I am unable to help anyone anymore. We would all, ALL, be so much better off abolishing the IRS and property taxes and letting people, ALL people, Dems and Reps, liberals and conservatives, vote with their pocketbook.

As for the free market, I don't believe it would solve all problems, but it would be a good start. The problem is, we haven't seen a free market in this country in a long, long time, if ever. What we have almost always had is some sort of nefarious incestuous buddy system in which the "captains" of industry, from the industrialists to the railroad barons to the present day hedge funders and BigPharma have special access to the powerful and shape--if not create---legislation that favors them and their interests and puts the rest of us on the unemployment line.

Besides Ron Paul, there wasn't a single speaker at CPAC who could be called a free-marketer; the rest of the speakers came from the same Big Government Party that Obama and Schumer and Pelosi do, but they are squabbling with the latter over who gets what share of the pie---the pie being made up of the money and goods that have been fleeced and coerced from American taxpayers and the natural resources that have been stolen overseas.

Try not to throw the baby out with the bathwater! The neo-cons are a f---ing disgrace, but that doesn't mean that low or no taxes and a free market are bad things!

Joe

 
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At 1:54 PM, Anonymous John said...

Hi Joe...

I agree with you one hundred percent.

 
At 9:33 PM, Anonymous Bennett said...

Hi Joe, I'll second John's comment. Well said!

Just in the last few days I have told several people that if I didn't have a 4 year old and 39 acres in the countryside of Vermont, I'd move to Canada or South America.

DC has become such a pig trough filled with corporate money that it seems there's little hope of it ever changing into ANYTHING resembling a democratic system of government.

I truly hope our Prez either develops a sack, or plays whatever trump card he's been building up to playing. 'Cause the "hope and change" mantra is starting to fade, and a failure of his administration to deliver would be the final straw for this grand experiment called the USA.

 
At 7:26 AM, Blogger W.D. Shirley said...

Alright now! The bad thing about all the idiots in America shaking down to the Tea Party is that they encourage one another and I have seen a mob throwing firebombs before in Berkeley and it kinda sucks. If these morons don't get their way with the election they are fully capable of rounding up some goddam liberals and lynching them. I used to think my father was conservative but during the Viet Nam war he showed his colors. He had to haul bodies out of the ocean during WW2 and knew something about war, so he could not support anybody who thought it was a great idea to go a-killing. Now we have a large number of Americans who never went to war but who are eager to start them. Lessee, we are at war with a philosophy and a religion, three countries and apparently also the middle class. When these are all dead I have to assume we will be at war with our allies, then ourselves, finally ending up chewing off our own legs and dying in a pool of corporate petroleum waste.

I can't find any sanity in the New Right, and I have tried. I am reading Zinn's History of the United States at the moment. I assume there is a female Zinn out there writing one for the women of America. My father had a good library and I was pretty sure the books in our history class at school were glossing over the facts. We lived in the same stinking desert as the reservations we put the Natives into and it seemed to me they were concentration camps. After reading history for a few decades I am convinced we still have concentration camps, some with casinos. So insofar as our distance from Hitler is slight and getting narrower, I feel we should begin to petition the European nations to accept political refugees from America; Progressives who can't find anything left of the old America we grew up in. Plus, frankly, I am not so sure they won't put us Progressives in a camp outside of Phoenix, and I have already lived there. It sucks. I wanna move to Holland.

 
At 6:11 PM, Blogger Nance said...

This post made me happy for the first time in days! Glad I found it. I'll be back often.

 
At 7:11 PM, Blogger Tom Degan said...

Thank you for the nice thoughts, Nance. You have brightened my evening in ways I cannot even articulate!

Love and Peace,

Tom Degan

 
At 8:25 PM, Blogger Avram Mirsky said...

treewizard my friend,

There is no such thing as a "free" market. Someone has to pay for it. This has been the great fiction perpetrated by the late Milton Friedman and his army of free-musketeers. They were there as Pinochet murdered democracy in Chile; they were there when the Argentine Nazis threw children from helicopters over the Atlantic, and even the very phrase "shock and awe" didn't originate with Friedman's former student Donald Rumsfeld but with Milton the Master himself. Read "The Shock Doctrine" by Naomi Klein.

No, tw, the only way to save this country is for the American middle class to wake up from their stupor and realize that the oligarchs are having a field day with them. Tax the rich and allow only public funding of elections. That's where we start.

 
At 12:16 PM, Blogger treewizard said...

@Bennett:

Even with a 4-year old and land in Vermont, you may be able to go to South America. The beauty about large parts of South America is that there are hardly any property taxes. After leaving NY, I went to Quito, Ecuador with my girlfriend while she was working on a long-term documentary project. Tired of renting, we bought an apartment in central Quito (small 2-bedroom, 800 sq ft) for under $40,000, with all fees and expenses. The property taxes are around $85 per YEAR. There is an association fee which includes water use, which is $60 a month, but still--you get the point. Once you own something, i.e. no mortgage, you can actually afford to keep it, unlike the USA, where you own nothing, but perpetually pay a usage fee to the government, thus permanently enslaving you. A lot of Americans are moving down to Ecuador because you can actually live on Social Security income down there....

 
At 12:18 PM, Blogger treewizard said...

@Avram Mirsky:

I completely agree with you about Friedman; the problem is, from the point of view of your argument, is that he is no way a free marketeer, or anything even close. He represents more of the same: the government has the right/duty/responsibility/whatever to decide who should get what, who should pay what, etc etc. Look at whom he served: Nixon and Reagan. Despite all the press to the contrary, these were big-government, big-bureaucracy people, no different than Bush I or II or Clinton of Obama. Friedman was different than some of the neo-cons and progressives insofar as he would allow me to smoke pot and hire the carpenter I wanted at my house without too much state influence. But he was never for a free market; he simply wished to make the existing monstrosity of state control somewhat more efficient and controllable.

I like to compare the the power elites, Dem or Rep, to the varying mafia families. While there were bloody internecine wars among the various families, as there are today among the neo-cons and the "progressives", they all (the mafia families of old and the political parties of today) agreed on the central theme that they were above the law, that what they were doing was and is perfectly justified, and, in the case of the politicos, that what they are doing (making the rich richer, invading and occupying the planet) is actually being done for OUR good, for OUR safety.

I'm all against the oligarchs, which is all the more reason to take back our power and freedom from them. That implies taking responsibility, however,something Americans are fleeing from in droves.

 
At 12:18 PM, Blogger treewizard said...

@Avram Mirsky, cont'd:

It is easy to say "tax the rich", but harder to turn that axiom into effective or coherent public policy. For you, the rich may be those making over $200,000. For a dirt-farmer in Mississippi, anyone making over what he makes, let's say $20,000 for argument's sake, is rich. So you (if you make more than $20K) now get taxed, if he has his way.
On a practical level, the rich have never and will never pay taxes; they have gamed the system long ago. They might write a check or two here or there, but they make up for that and more by favors received, special treatment, tax dodges, etc.
We have already tried all that in LBJ's "Great Society". It was an utter failure for several reasons, but most of all because no, you can't have "guns and butter". You can not both maintain a welfare and warfare state. One has to choose. You can't be bringing civil rights at home when you're napalming those "commies" abroad.
Similarly, with Obama, whatever people think of his intentions (and i have my doubts as to how good they are), he is doomed to failure, thankfully so, because while he is supposedly trying to "help" and "change" America he is ruthlessly expanding a brutal war on innocent Afghanis, Pakistanis, Somalis, etc etc etc abroad.
I have nothing against public funding of elections, but that in itself is not enough.
We need to starve the beast. The beast, for me is the Federal Government, whether run by Bush or Obama or Clinton or Nixon. We wouldn't need to have a quarter of the discussions we do about what to do about such and such problem in then government if the government didn't have OUR money to give to corporations, invade and occupy the world, compel us to attend their useless schools, eat their shit food, etc.
Why not choke the monster?
Think of all the good YOU could do with all YOUR tax money being returned to you, with only you deciding on how to help yourself and others?
The oligarchs in DC are dangerous, but they are dangerous because they have us slaving for them, they have us meekly signing over the fruits of our labor to their cesspool of a federal government.
If you, or anyone else, really wants to see positive, evolutionary change in this country, we need to cut off the flow of our money to the government and stop looking to Washington to solve our problems.

Abolish the income tax. Dismantle the empire. Let people be free to choose their friends, neighbours, service providers, etc. You will see the lobbyists die from starvation once their is no more of OUR money to fight over.

We need to take back our money, our power and our energy from Washington. We need to solve problems locally, efficiently, and amicably. We need to take responsibility for ourselves and our actions and let go of this "I am owed" mentality.
Taxing the rich, even if it were feasible, wouldn't change one thing in this country for the better. It would simply give the oligarchs yet MORE money to continue their bloodthirsty practices.
Let's work together to starve the beast.

Joe

 
At 9:50 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

You left wingers are all clueless! How many more trillions is going to take for you all to realize that our children's futures have been mortgaged to bail out billion dollar companies! Were there bailouts during the great depression? I don't think so and we eventially made it through and stronger. Also, are you all ready to have your taxes increased so much that we are all going to drown! Health care?? If this proposed health care reform is so great then why are the politicans not required to use it? Believe me when I say this, I am not by any means claiming that the right winging replicans have any answers, lord knows they have the head up their a>>, but not any worse than the left wingers. What happened to We The People? Niether the right nor the left stand for anything good in regards to common people of our beloved country. Wake up America our future is on the line!

 
At 9:56 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Treewizard/Joe you have hit the nail directly on the head and sank with only one strike. Our government wether it be Obama, Clinton, Bush all think they are about what this country stands for. Starve the beast is the only answer to save our country from doom, but we are all screwed because not enough people are intelligent enough(on both sides)to realize that we have become a bunch of pupppets.

"Give me Liberty of Give me Death"

 
At 10:16 AM, Anonymous Robert said...

I enjoyed you post.

Dick Cheney is busy in Chile - an SPN Headlines exclusive:

http://stupidassnews.wordpress.com/2010/03/03/bushs-earthquake-relief-chili-for-chile/

Have a great day!

 
At 10:53 AM, Blogger Skip Bob Bin Laden said...

Treewizard and his supporters here.

No taxes is not a bad thing.
So the right have taken over Toms blog. three we are looking to see healthcare passed and some misdirecting "concerned" citizens think that to ensure we get nothing we should give nothing and vote with our pocket books.
well it seems to me that if they wanted to vote they could then direct where the money went. But they don't vote and when it comes to shearing a bit of all that excess wealth that is so hard to spend that they end up getting in trouble by bribing politicians on holidays.

If america had voted for universal health care, for equal treatment of All peopel in the states then I might believe your lies about let the people help their fellow folk.
But they don't. NO THEY DON"T>
People are dying today DEAD no more breath because the health care was not there but the job they paid into all their lives was. And that job contained carcinogens and the fight witht ht company didn't work out beecause it went bankrupt twenty years ago.
people are dying today as a result of toxins allowed and released yesteryear. And they should be told "good luck the land may be contaminated but we have no taxes and no way of knowing.


Are you real or just too lazy to start "we are not the racist neocons but we still con. party"

 
At 10:55 AM, Blogger Skip Bob Bin Laden said...

sorry if that seems harsh but I was being reserved

 
At 6:14 PM, Blogger treewizard said...

@Skip Bob:
It's hard to know where to begin to respond to your shotgun attack. I am also on the road and suing an internet cafe computer with an unfamiliar keyboard, so that's going to keep things short for now as well.

1.We have had a hefty income tax in this country, on a permanent basis, for almost 100 years now. The federal government, sometimes run by Republicans, and sometimes by Dems, has collected trillions and trillions and trillions of dollars.
This as not given us anything approaching universal health care yet. It has enabled us to kill tens of millions of people and physically destroy a good part of the planet. That is where your tax money ACTUALLY goes....if you haven't gotten health care yet, you aint gonna for a while.

Whatever the Dems and liberals are promoting now in Congress bears no resemblance whatsoiever to a singler payer system..The shit Obama is trying to shove down our throats is worse than what we currently have, and will cost us yet more. It wil also probably try to coerce those without health insurance (like me) to paying for a shit system I do not and will not use. I like acupuncture, herbs, traditional medicines, NONE of which will be considered "acceptable" by either the Dems or the Republicans. There is no moneyt in that sort of treatment and they cant control it.

I am familiar with jobs that expose workers to carcinogens. I removed asbestos from old factories and power plants and homes for years before I started playing in the trees. I did not have health insurance then or now, and personally don't want it unless I can control everything that goes in my body.....

If we all got to spend our money whbere we wanted, everyone, imcluding you, would have more than enough money to take care of yourself and anyone you saw in need. The problem is, like it or not, our taxes go to paying off interest on the national debt, bailing out |Wall Street, Detroit, etc, and depleted uranium bombing the world. Those are the facts. I dont know in what fantasy world you live in, but I would love to hear your estimate of what per centage of government spoending is going to "good" things (according to your standards) and how much is being used for evil or wasted. I think 95% is going down the toilet when we speak of federal government expenditures.

I don't quite understand your comment about "am I real?" or do I want to start a neo-con party. I despise the neo-cons and evgerything they stand for.

I just want to be left alone.

 
At 10:14 AM, Blogger Brian said...

This comment has been removed by the author.

 
At 10:15 AM, Blogger Brian said...

It's important that such conventions take place from time to time. We like to think such insanity doesn't exist any more in America, that we're all more or less civilized. But sometimes the public needs to be reminded that such folks really do exist in America and are not some strawman invented by the left. They are a worse cariciature of conservatives than any lefty could possibly draw.

 
At 7:37 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Dude...Please stop spamming the South Florida craigslist Politics Forum. I am sympathetic to your point of view but 3 posts promoting your blog within a few hours this morning is a bit much! Very conservaturd-like behavior.

 
At 7:54 AM, Blogger Tom Degan said...

I meant to put it in three separate listings - But it is showing up on the "All of South Florida" list. I'll take one off. Sorry about that, pal.

Cheers!

Tom

 

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