Posts filed under ‘Fascist America’
It’s Heating Up In Chicago This Afternoon
Occupy Wall Street and other groups (like Iraq Veterans Against the War) are marching today in Chicago in the face of the NATO summit there.
The Chicago Police Department spent $1 million on riot gear-type stuff in preparation for the two-day summit, including buying an LRAD tanker that has the capacity to one’s ear drums:
That said, here’s my Tweet of the Day:
Interesting that the CPD has so much money but schools there are laying teachers off in the thousands.
Priorities of a ducked up country imho.
Kenneth P. Vogel: Ask Robert Greenwald About Koch Brothers’ Slam on Brave New Films?
Just read this tweet from Politico:
Which lead to this video put out on Wednesday by the Koch brothers:
Which is a kill-the-messinger response to this documentary which was officially released by Brave New Films in New York City last night:
My question to Politico’s Vogel:
I’ll let you know if I hear back. Is Vogel a tool for the Koch brothers, or not?
Georgia Wants We the People to Be Afraid and to Go the Hell Away
Last I knew, We the People own the streets (via the taxes we pay to buy and maintain them) and thus, they are free speech zones:
Some Georgia lawmakers want to make legitimate union picketing and other common protest activities felonies that not only could result in one-year jail terms but up to $10,000 in fines.
The bill, SB 469, would clamp down on free speech and workers’ rights in several ways. First, it would outlaw picketing outside the home of a CEO or other top company officials, such as rallying outside the home of a sweatshop owner.
It also would allow businesses to ask a judge to halt the protests outside of a business. If the judge orders a halt and the picketing continues, the union members or protestors from other groups could each be slapped with a $1,000 fine.
In addition, any union or organization which “continues to sponsor or assist in the prohibited activity” would be subject to $10,000 fine. Businesses which think they suffered damage from the picketing could ask for a cut of that cash.
We’re heading toward a society that looks something like this:
Homeless man gets 15 years for stealing $100.00:
A homeless man robbed a Louisiana bank and took a $100 bill. After feeling remorseful, he surrendered to police the next day. The judge sentenced him to 15 years in prison.
Doubtful Signs of a Criminal Case Against MF Global
Federal authorities are struggling to find evidence to support a criminal case stemming from the collapse of MF Global, even after a federal grand jury in Chicago has issued subpoenas.
Investigators, unable to find a smoking gun amid thousands of e-mails and documents, increasingly suspect that chaos and poor risk control systems prompted the disappearance of more than $1 billion in customer money, according to several people involved in the case.
(Image via.)
Wikileaks Releasing Documents Tonight That Could Be V-e-r-y Interesting
This should be interesting:
Here is their press release:Today WikiLeaks began publishing The Global Intelligence Files – more than five million emails from the Texas-headquartered “global intelligence” company Stratfor. The emails date from between July 2004 and late December 2011. They reveal the inner workings of a company that fronts as an intelligence publisher, but provides confidential intelligence services to large corporations, such as Bhopal’s Dow Chemical Co., Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and government agencies, including the US Department of Homeland Security, the US Marines and the US Defense Intelligence Agency. The emails show Stratfor’s web of informers, pay-off structure, payment-laundering techniques and psychological methods, for example,
[Y]ou have to take control of him. Control means financial, sexual or psychological control… This is intended to start our conversation on your next phase” – CEO George Friedman to Stratfor analyst Reva Bhalla on 6 December 2011, on how to exploit an Israeli intelligence informant providing information on the medical condition of the President of Venezuala [sic], Hugo Chavez.
It will take days to cull through all the material but here’s an early reaction: Massive Leak Reveals Criminality, Paranoia Among Corporate Titans.
Class Warfare — And They’re Winning
My quote of the day:
Naomi Klein
The entire world seems to be one huge advertisement for The Shock Doctrine. Naomi Klein showed in her revelatory book how the corporate-political-military-media complex exploits crises to further impose their harsh right-wing agenda – even when they themselves created the crisis. In a sane world, the economic meltdown and deep recession of the past four years would have led at minimum to stringent regulation of financiers and speculators plus programs to assist their victims. But in this world, you have to be nuts to believe in a sane world.
(Via.)
Bob McDonnell, Keep Your “Small Government” Hands Out of My Vagina
The party that claims to champion small government is at it again.
This month Republican majorities in both chambers in Virginia’s Legislature passed one of the strictest mandatory pre-abortion ultrasound bills in the nation — a measure that’s certain to require women seeking early-stage abortions to submit to being vaginally penetrated by a condom-covered electronic probe before the abortion is allowed to proceed.
The procedure is called a “transvaginal ultrasound,” and it’s the best and sometimes only way in the first stages of pregnancy for physicians to obtain images that “contain the dimensions of the fetus, and accurately portray the presence of external members and internal organs of the fetus,” as the bill requires.
Such ultrasounds are common medical procedures. But make no mistake. The proposed regulation, which Republican Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell previously indicated he will sign if, as expected, legislators send a final version to his desk next week, has nothing to do with the practice of medicine.
It’s designed to attempt to confront women seeking abortions with fetal images and the sounds of fetal heartbeats in hopes that they’ll change their minds about going through with the procedure. That’s why the law specifies that the ultrasound be performed “at least two hours before the performance of an abortion,” and that the results be offered to the woman before she signs off on going through with it.
Bob McDonnell is the Governor of Virgina and he’s expected to sign this legislation, meaning that if I lived in that state and I wanted an abortion, my doctor would be required to put this probe into my vagina:
Photo via: Allimaging.com
even if it wasn’t medically necessary. My doc wouldn’t have a choice, nor would I.
Men: How about if the government says if you want Viagra you get something stuck up your penis? No choice. It’s a done deal?
Awe, Scott Walker Has Stomach Flu
Today was going to be an interesting day in politics: President Obama is going to Wisconsin to speak at a Master Lock factory (a unionized workplace) and anti-union, hated, corrupt Governor Scott Walker (R-Koch) was going to be there by his side. The contrast between the two was going to be stark and watching the body language was going to be so much fun!
But alas, Walker, ahem, has stomach flu so he had to bow out. His handlers probably told him he would look like a worm next to Obama so better that he stay home.
Coward.
New Mexico: Corporations Are Not People
I’m about to crawl in bed because I have The Cold That Won’t Quit that everyone seems to have these days, but I want to put this up first:
New Mexico calls on Congress to overturn Citizens United ruling
The New Mexico state legislature has approved a resolution that urges the U.S. Congress to pass a constitutional amendment to overturn the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Citizens United v. FEC.
“This marks a major victory for the constitutional amendment movement to reclaim our democracy,” said John Bonifaz, director of Free Speech for People, a coalition of groups that oppose the controversial ruling.
“The Citizens United ruling presents a direct and serious threat to the integrity of our elections, unleashing a torrent of corporate money into our political process,” he added. “The ruling is also the most extreme extension yet of a corporate rights doctrine which has been eroding our First Amendment and our US Constitution for the past 30 years. As with prior egregious Supreme Court rulings which threatened our democracy, we the people must exercise our power under Article V of the Constitution to enact a constitutional amendment which will preserve the promise of American self-government: of, for, and by the people.”
If my memory serves, I think this is the first time a state legislature has passed a resolution opposing Citizens United. A number of city and county councils have passed amendments and/or resolutions but I think this is first state-wide resolution ever.
Bravo New Mexico.
Let’s keep this ball rollin’ people!
Rick Berman, Millionaire Lobbyist, Gives We the People The Finger
Rick Berman gives us all a big freakin’ finger:
Big-time lobbyist Rick Berman creates nonprofit front groups to push corporate interests. Now he’s in an anti-union ad pretending to be an auto mechanic.
(Via.)
This is how brazen the corporatocracy is getting. They’re buying elections and they don’t care if we know it because we can’t do anything about it. They have the money and we don’t. Period. We’re on the outside looking in. Welcome to Campaign 2012!
(With special thanks to the activist Republican judges on the Supreme Court who brought us Citizens United.)
Rupert Murdoch is Insane
Our Tweet of the Day: This is what billionaire Rupert Murdoch envisions for us peasants (while he hides behind an army of guards in a compound on an island somewhere):
No words.
Chamber of Commerce Launches 2012 Ad Campaign — in February!
Almost nine months prior to Election Day 2012, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has launched its “voter education” brainwashing ad blitz:
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce launched a multi-million dollar ad blitz in House and Senate races across the country on Thursday.
The launch marks the earliest start ever to the Chamber’s biennial ad campaigns in congressional races. The ads back Republicans in 11 House races and eight Senate contests. The group is supporting one Democrat: Rep. Jim Matheson of Utah.
“We’re engaging earlier and more aggressively than ever to educate constituents about which leaders recognize the role free enterprise plays in leading our economic recovery,” Chamber President Thomas Donohue said in a statement. “It comes down to a simple question: is big government or free enterprise the solution to our country’s economic problems?”
The Chamber is the largest lobbying power in Washington, representing the common interests of a broad array of businesses with millions in spending each quarter. The trade group is also one of the biggest spenders on U.S. elections, doling out over $50 million in the 2010 midterms.
Stay on top of the Chamber’s, ahem, “2012 Voter Education” ads here.
New Hampshire Republicans Hope to Eliminate Lunch Breaks
Photo: dylizi.blog.com
Do you think every single business can be trusted to give their workers a lunch break without it being mandated by law? You know, out of the goodness of their heart? Republicans in New Hampshire do: New Hampshire Republicans Propose Bill To Eliminate Workers’ Lunch Breaks.
Folks, if you think there are” too many government regulations” and that those regulations are strangling businesses, vote Republican, because this is what they mean when they say they want to undo those “job killing regulations.” They want to make it so businesses can do anything they want, including screw you out of a lunch break.
You think corporations run things now? Just wait.
GE Lies — Super Bowl Ad Claims They’re “Revitalizing Manufacturing”
GE lied big time in an ad it ran tonight during the Super Bowl – on NBC, which is owned by GE — and gosh golly, NBC, an alleged “news” organization, let it go without noting the inaccuracies:
You gotta love the “liberal media.”
House Republicans Protect Gas Industry, Arrest Director of Gasland at DC Hearing
This is horrifying. Welcome to police state USA folks:
In a stunning break with First Amendment policy on Capitol Hill, House Republicans directed Capitol Hill police to detain a highly regarded documentary crew that was attempting to film a Wednesday hearing on a controversial natural gas procurement practice. Republicans also denied the entrance of a credentialed ABC News news team that was attempting to film the event.
Josh Fox, director of the Academy Award-nominated documentary “Gasland” was taken into custody by Capitol Hill police this morning, along with his crew, after Republicans objected to their presence, according to Democratic sources present at the hearing.
[...]
“Gasland” received strong critical acclaim and takes a critical eye toward the practice of hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” a process in which several tons of highly pressurized water and chemicals are injected into the ground, allowing valuable natural gas to escape.
[...]
Fox had hoped to film Wednesday’s hearing for a follow-up to “Gasland.”
Fox did not have formal Capitol Hill credentials, but such formalities are rarely enforced against high-profile journalists. … The right to a free press is protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Documentary crews are almost never denied access to public meetings of elected government officials.
A separate ABC News crew, which did have official Capitol Hill credentials, was also denied access to the publichearing.
Republicans to all journalists and to America: Fuck the First Amendment. I mean seriously. This was a public hearing being held in the United States Capitol, a building owned by We the People, and the hearing was being conducted by people who We the People elected and who work for us! What the hell is going on around here?
If this isn’t a form of terrorism I don’t know what is.
Mitt Romney Campaigns For His Millionaire Donors
Who is Willard Mitt Romney campaigning for? You? Me? No. He’s campaigning for the folks who give to his SuperPAC, Restore Our Future, Inc.
Restore Our Future Inc.? A more appropriate name would be, Restore Rich People’s Future Inc.
Details here
Don’t Like Citizens United? Turn the TV Off
Antonin Scalia is a simple-minded asshat unworthy of the position he’s in:
Photo: Adm Golub / The San Francisco Chronicle
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — U.S. Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia has a simple solution for people who don’t like all the political advertisements unleashed by the court’s decision two years ago that ended limits on corporate contributions in political campaigns – change the channel or turn off the TV.
Scalia was asked about the [Citizens United] decision during a presentation before the South Carolina Bar on Saturday, exactly two years after the court handed down the 5-4 decision in the case that led to the rise of Super PACs. They are outside groups affiliated with candidates that can take in unlimited contributions as long as they don’t directly coordinate with the candidate.
“I don’t care who is doing the speech – the more the merrier,” Scalia said. “People are not stupid. If they don’t like it, they’ll shut it off.”
Yo Tony, people are stupid. They don’t turn their TV off. They watch and they get brainwashed.
(Hear me screaming now?)
I’m going to bed. I’m walking people through a food bank tomorrow.
The Language of the Unheard
Martin Luther King, Jr.:
I would be the first to say that I am still committed to militant, powerful, massive, non-violence as the most potent weapon in grappling with the problem from a direct action point of view… But it is not enough for me to stand before you tonight and condemn riots. It would be morally irresponsible for me to do that without, at the same time, condemning the contingent, intolerable conditions that exist in our society. These conditions are the things that cause individuals to feel that they have no other alternative than to engage in violent rebellions to get attention. And I must say tonight that a riot is the language of the unheard.
Something to think about as we head into an election year during which the voice Washington will hear is the voice that “speaks” with money.
We’re all unheard now.
$45,000 to Hang With President Obama
If I had put up a Tweet of the Day yesterday, or in this case tweets, this would have been it:
One thing I know for sure, none of those 22 supporters live in my world. In my world, $45,000 is a year’s salary, or even two years.
Americans: You’re Paying For a Very Expensive Bat Mitzvah This Weekend
If you are unfamiliar with Matt Taibbi or you don’t read him on a regular basis, make a resolution right now to change that. The guy is a monster writer. Let me tease you with the opening paragraphs of his most recent great read:
If there was ever a news story that crystalized the moral dementia of modern Wall Street in one little vignette, this is it.
Newspapers in Colorado today are reporting that the elegant Hotel Jerome in Aspen, Colorado, will be closed to the public from today through Monday at noon.
(This is the Hotel Jerome:
I “collect” old hotels. Ten-or-so-years ago Mr. SayitAintSoAlready and I took a trip to Aspen. I called ahead to inquire about making reservations at the Hotel Jerome. When I learned that they only rented rooms for 2-day increments, I had to let go of the thought of staying there. Forking over the cost of one night was going to be a stretch; there was no way we could afford two.)
Why? Because some local squire has apparently decided to rent out all 94 rooms of the hotel for three-plus days for his daughter’s Bat Mitzvah.
The hotel’s general manager, Tony DiLucia, would say only that the party was being thrown by a “nice family,” but newspapers are now reporting that the Daddy of the lucky little gal is one Jeffrey Verschleiser, currently an executive with Goldman, Sachs.
At first, I couldn’t remember where I knew that name from. But then I looked it up and saw an explosive Atlantic magazine story, published last year, called, “E-mails Suggest Bear Stearns Cheated Clients Out Of Millions.” And then I remembered that piece, and it hit me: Jeffrey Verschleiser is one of the biggest assholes in the entire world!
NBC’s David Gregory Wants Americans to “Feel Pain”
I’m coming down from watching this morning’s GOP presidential “debate” on NBC/MSNBC, hosted by the elitist 1%er, David Gregory. During the first 15-minutes, Gregory seemed obsessed with hearing what the candidates would cut (as in Medicare and Social Security), repeatedly asking both Santorum and Huntsman what cuts they would make that “will make Americans feel pain,” and then, “What do Americans have to learn to live with less of?”
Seems to me we Americans are already feeling pain due to the games the banksters and the corporate elite played with our economy. The people who should feel “pain” and do the time are the people who committed the crime. Then again, I don’t suppose we can expect that perspective from Mr. Inside-the-Beltway Gregory, a guy who’s married to a lawyer whose expertise is defending white collar criminals…like banksters.
UPDATE: An hour after putting up this post, I come across this:
Bonus battles: Disgruntled bankers threaten to sue or walk
Wall Street bankers are fuming about the prospect of paltry payouts come bonus time — and plan to go nuclear.
They’re taking their cues from their disgruntled brethren in London, who are eyeing lawsuits to regain their over-the-top pay. Here at Jefferies Group, a group of brokerage executives reportedly threatened management that they would walk away from the firm if their year-end compensation was not up to par with The Street.
This hubris is just the beginning of much more to come as the downtrodden banking industry gets ready to dole out the most meager bonuses since the 2008 financial crisis.
Let’s talk about these guys feelin’ some pain David.
Romney’s Tax Returns — Why Would He Want to Release Them?
It’s a no brainer as to why Mitt Romney hasn’t released his tax returns. HE’S A MILLIONAIRE WHO PAYS ALMOST NO TAXES and he doesn’t want us to know that.
Duh.
Think Twice Before You Click on the Huffington Post
AOL and Huffington Post CEO, Timothy M. Armstrong is a Romney supporter currently at the maximum allowed contribution of $2,500 for the current cycle.
Judge Orders Sheriff Joe Arpaio to Follow the Constitution
Back in the day when I monitored Fox for Outfoxed and the Newshounds, Arizona’s Sheriff Joe Arpaio was a frequent guest on Your World w/Neil Cavuto (what he had to do with “business news” is something I never figured out), and he was touted one tough, God-and-country kind of dude. Yes siree, he was a flag wavin’ Amerrrican:
The rule of law and how Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio runs his office are often mutually exclusive.
Arpaio, whose jurisdiction includes the sprawling Phoenix metropolitan area, has been labeled by supporters as “America’s toughest sheriff.” Unfortunately, he achieved that moniker by routinely violating the human rights of jail inmates and ignoring the constitutional protections of those he swore to protect.
[...]
Now, enough may finally be enough. Last Friday, the U.S. District Court in Phoenix issued an injunction to stop Arpaio’s office from detaining or arresting people based only on suspicion of being in the U.S. illegally without any evidence of criminal activity. The court also certified the four-year-old civil rights lawsuit, for which the ACLU is co-counsel, as a class action. This allows any Latino who has been stopped or detained by the sheriff’s office since 2007 (or anyone who might be in the future) to enforce the court order.
The suit seeks to change how Arpaio enforces immigration laws and does not ask for monetary damages.
“The district court ruled that the sheriff’s policy of detaining people merely based on a suspicion that they are in the U.S. unlawfully violates Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable search and seizure,” said Cecillia Wang, director of the ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project.
If you stop someone because you think they might be in the U.S. unlawfully, you’re a hero on Fox. The Constitution? That’s for sissies.
The Recall of Governor Ass Hat Scott Walker Going Strong in Wisconsin
You go Wisconsin!
507,533 signatures to recall Scott Walker and counting. The people of Wisconsin are uniting to recall Scott Walker.
(Video via.)
Scott Walker wanted to be popular in high school but he didn’t know how to, so he kissed up to the macho guys, the athletes (as in the Koch brothers) and lapped at their feet until they turned around and gave him a pat on the head.
Now he’s following them around, doing what they tell him to do, like a mangy dog.
Thankfully, the people of Wisconsin want something better.
Keystone XL Pipeline Lobbyists Buy Congress
This is our Tweet of the Day and yes, it’s gross alright:
Lowe’s: UnAmerican, Hateful Bigots
You probably heard that Lowe’s,
sided with the “Florida Family Association” (what a deceitful name), and pulled its ads from the TLC show “All-American Muslim” the other day.
Unfortunately for the artificially patriotic, flag waving Lowe’s, this would be the First Amendment of the United States Constitution:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Note to Lowe’s: It ain’t easy being a democracy. Sometimes you have to actually read the Constitution and digest and comprehend what it means. Then you have to fight to uphold it.
The “Florida Family Association” doesn’t give a rat’s ass about the Constitution. All it cares about is its private, hateful agenda.
Lowe’s: Are you a hater or do you love what the United States of America has stood for since its inception?
Martha Coakley Becomes First Sitting AG to Support Overturning Citizens United
I think it’s just astounding that it has taken until today — December 9, 2011 — for the first sitting Attorney General in the United States to come out in support of repealing Citizens United, a ruling that was handed down in January, 2010. I.e., we’ve had almost two years of silence from the top law lawyers in the country.
Really sad and so indicative of the hold the corporatocracy has on our elected officials.
Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley has become the first sitting state attorney general in the United States to support a constitutional amendment to overturn the US Supreme Court’s Citizens United v. FEC ruling issued in January 2010. The ruling swept away a century of precedent barring corporate expenditures in US elections and has unleashed a torrent of unlimited corporate money in the political process.
On Wednesday, December 7, 2011, Attorney General Coakley issued a letter to the chairs of the Massachusetts state senate and state house judiciary committees declaring support for a pending resolution that calls on Congress to pass and send to the states for ratification a constitutional amendment restoring free speech and fair elections to the people.
Repression 8.0
This would our Tweet of the Day. Can’t say things are getting better around here. (Hope? Change?) As a matter of fact, in some cases, they’re worse than ever:
Denver Police Trash Occupy Protesters in Emails
A slew of “car-to-car” emails exchanged by members of the Denver Police Department about Occupy Denver protesters have surfaced. “Denver Police spokesman Lieutenant Matt Murray concedes that some of them are unprofessional.”
Ya think?
(Image via.)
There was this, “text message sent by an unidentified officer from a squad car that read in part, “A few of us set up a Twitter account to harass the ‘Occupy Denver’ people.”
And this, showing an utter lack of understanding of what the Occupy movement is all about:
“They’re supporting the same BS protests that are going on on Wall Street. The typical ‘Tax the Rich’ ‘Eff the Cops’ anarchist crap.”
“Denver protesters are too pathetic for us to have anything like that.”
“lol, that might not be a bad thing… at least we aren’t in the media ;) — for now that is.”
“If you think about it, large scale protests are a good way to waste city money and possibly cripple the system.”
And this:
“I bet if you guys dropped a box of skunks in the middle of the… they would probably scatter real quick.”
Another set of messages refers to the protesters as “stupid” and “retards.”
Here’s a log of all the texts that have been released.
So, good to know the DPD is so respectful of our first amendment rights, huh?
