A few hours ago I watched Bill Moyers interview
Oliver Stone.  Mr. Stone mentioned not only the
extra dollars associated with putting more troops
in Afgn. but also the mega bucks spent on contractors. It seems the enlightened know
war is mostly related to business.  The unenlighened sit around watching ball games, movies, or go to
the mall shopping(more business) for Santa Claus.
You can even get your picture taken with Old St.
Nick.  Why do we continue to lie to our children?
Most would respond, “because of tradition.”  However, there is a deeper reason we lie to children and it has nothing to do with “tradition.”

It used to be said that Dems voted welfare while Repubs voted warfare. Not it’s just a battle between them to see who can shovel more treasure to the bloodthirsty mercenaries the fastest.

Up is down.
Black is white.

The idiots are being led by very smart foxes even if they aren’t smart in the long run. Greed will do that also lack of empathy and the idea that what is mine is mine and you can die mentality which is still prevalent in our society. A psychopath’s morality.

The reich wing have their agendas and are sticking to them even if it trashes the bulk of the planet and condemns the majority of people to perpetual starvation, early death & slave’s existence. They will have theirs and damn the rest of us.  Essentially a psychopath’s ethos and it is still strong in our culture. The only important people are your own and the rest if they can’t see they are being used deserve their lot in life no matter how criminal and unfair it may be. I see such mentality all of the time. It is common wisdom in the CMSM.

Intelligentsia Against Intelligence
Posted on Nov 20, 2009
By David Sirota

Hey montanawildhack:

I’m trying to make sense out of your comment on the
David Sirota article on November 24 at 12:02 pm

“What’s all the fuss about???? These “journalists”
advance their careers and paychecks

by parroting the Zionist agenda…. The Zionists want
us in Afghanistan and Iraq forever

and that’s just what’s gonna happen…. No biggie…”

The dictionary definition:

Zi·on·ism   (z?’?-n?z’?m) 
n.  A Jewish movement that arose in the late 19th
century in response to growing

anti-Semitism and sought to reestablish a Jewish
homeland in Palestine.

Modern Zionism is concerned with the support and
development of the state of Israel.
Zi’on·ist adj

So how are your connecting Zionists with Afghanistan
& Iraq?

regardless of the decision, seriously, how long does this guy have to take?  This is ridiculous.

It is rather obvious that the ‘powers that be’ want a somnolent and apathetic
populace and with the slow but sure conservative take over of the msm where
it suddenly appeared that now only 4 or 5 owners(used to be 60 or 70 owners) control what they want the populace to know, fear, feel and think and above all keep their/our attention away from reality or make it damn hard to find that reality.

And it has worked out as far as I can tell, perfectly because the main body of
people in this country for sure are still convinced that what they get on the
boob tube of msm is real factual information, hell I have friends, neighbors and
family tell me that there is not or never was any kind of conspiracy of any kind
even as far back as their hero ronnie reagan and you have to consider
organized religion or just plain religion in the mix because it is the all time
champion of factual distortion.

So, what does one do with such mindset as this?  I fear nothing short of a major
upheaval will jar these people to any kind of sense and in time it will happen
whether humans implode or nature dishes out a blowback that will forever
astound those who survive.

I absolutely agree, America is becoming an idiocracy, and the (former) “Intelligentsia” is leading the way. But as liecatcher says, its all a function of our mass media and its insane bowing to money and power.

Inherit the Wind,,,

That’s exactly why I only drink pure grain alcohol and rain water….

Montanawildhack..

ps there are none so blind as those that refuse to see

montanawildhack, November 24 at 12:02 pm #

What’s all the fuss about???? These “journalists” advance their careers and paychecks by parroting the Zionist agenda…. The Zionists want us in Afghanistan and Iraq forever and that’s just what’s gonna happen…. No biggie…
*************************************************

Yup, that’s an HL Mencken answer.  Clear, simple and, of course, totally wrong.

But enjoy your bigoted anti-semitic fantasies…Watch out! There are Zionists under your bed, bugging your shower and fluoridating your water and “your precious bodily fluids”.

What’s all the fuss about???? These “journalists” advance their careers and paychecks by parroting the Zionist agenda…. The Zionists want us in Afghanistan and Iraq forever and that’s just what’s gonna happen…. No biggie…

christian96, November 24 at 3:42 am #

According to Webster’s Dictionary “idiot” means
“ignorance.”  I don’t believe our leaders in
Washington are ignorant.  I think they know full
well what they are doing!  So much for David Sirota’s
“Idiocracy.”
************************************************

I disagree.  I think they frequently THINK they know what they are doing, and then lie to themselves and to us when the unintended consequences hit them in the face like a Yankee cream pie.

Dick Cheney was a prime example—and the @$$hole is STILL arguing his same failed positions.

I think maybe the last person in Washington who knew EXACTLY what he was doing might have been Paul Volcker, when he headed the Fed. Or maybe Genl. Wesley Walker when he lead the Kosova invasion.

The old chicken - egg arguement.

As David Sirota so clearly displays in this article,

when a professional writer who has nothing worthwhile

to say is forced to write something by exigent

circumstances, he ends up saying nothing worthwhile &

insults the readership with trash & non sequiturs.

According to Webster’s Dictionary “idiot” means
“ignorance.”  I don’t believe our leaders in
Washington are ignorant.  I think they know full
well what they are doing!  So much for David Sirota’s
“Idiocracy.”

john doraemi, November 23 at 7:06 pm #

Good points, all.

Hey David Sirota:

Lest we forget, the job of main stream media is to

support fascism through misinformation, disinformation,

red herrings, numbing & dumbing the masses. The elite

one per cent who own & control the world are pragmatic

predators & not humanitarian dogooders.

What’s the effectual difference between an idiocracy and a theocracy?  (ITW sits scratching his head….)

My HOPE is that Obama has decided to draw down troops in Afghanistan is merely struggling with how to position and sell it.

My FEAR is that Obama has decided to increase the troops in Afghanistan is merely struggling with how to position and sell it.

Obama has, for weeks, made up his mind to send additional troops to Afghanistan.  The reason for the delay is how to best present this decision to the public and to create the proper spin.  Bush never had that problem——he make the decision quickly and then let his handlers worry about the spin!

By Louise, November 22 at 11:08 am #

Excellent and superb post and I am impressed.
The funny thing I was almost on the verge of missing it. I thought it was one of your posts defending Obama and finding execuses for him.

The “idiots” are not unintelligent; they are whores-to-power—sociopaths. Opposing sociopaths requires moral courage.

Think of the children and the silent dead and the soon-to-die and you will know what to do.

http://michaelfury.wordpress.com/2009/11/11/forever-war/

Wow, Louise!  That is truly an awesome post.  The best original poem I’ve ever seen on this board.  Really good.  Thank you for sharing it.  Have a good day. 

Here’s a quote you might know and like:

“God is a concept by which we measure our pain.”
—John Lennon

@ samosamo, November 22 at 6:49 pm #

From your reply I can see we’re on the same page.
I just posted 3 videos about drug use by the Afghan
army; after watching them I was struck by the
additional parallels to the Afghanistan and Viet Nam
wars. Uncanny.

Hashish Army;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2F80llZ5F4

Stoned in Afghanistan Part 1;

Okay, here’s part 1 of the video and part 2 is below in
my previous comment/post.

http://tinyurl.com/yfqf6qj

Stoned on Hash in Afghanistan;

http://tinyurl.com/yjy4973

This video is a mind blower in more ways than you can
imagine; it’s far worse than you know.

I’m canadian, and as I read these kind of reports, more and more over this website, i’m becoming as concerned about US as every american should be about his country.. and seriously I don’t think it’s even close to be the case right now.

Disturbingly enlightening report, mr. Sirota.

Let out more like these.

By Ouroborus, November 22 at 7:33 am

Yes, that was revealing as to what o is faced with and will he learn from past history as to how to proceed, but what I found most revealing was the ‘corporate’ reply about the ‘economic value’ of maintaining or fighting a ‘war’ for an economic
value which to me is the strongest indicator of just who is dictating our what our government does which is from the corporate sector.

The other part is the sad state of ‘hubris’ that just will not allow this country to
make informed and correct or better decisions over ‘ideology’ that will contribute
to a faster demise of this country, in short this country is in the hands of greedy
goddamn fools as recognized in the 60s recordings from this moyer’s
presentation.

Louise, as always I find posts spot on.

TRUECRISTIAN - you certainly have a right to your beliefs.  This is the cornerstone of our democracy. 

I believe you are in need of thorazine and professional mental care, but then again that is only my belief.

D.R. Zing writes:
“I doubt President Obama is nodding.”

Maybe it’s not heroin—fitting as that would be for His dingbat deliberations on “Afghanistan”.

However, it seems they’ve changed His medication. What do you suppose it is?

If we had a pharmaceutical read-out on our “leaders”, I have a funny feeling we’d all be either joining the militia or emigrating. Maybe both.

TRUECRISTIAN,

Satan sure is a tricky dude. His best trick was getting Christians to do his work for him.

God:
Command central.

A mighty force sitting at the top of a mountain throwing down lightning bolts.

A voice of reason lost in a sea of cacophony.

A nice little old man who has nothing better to do than watch millions prostrate themselves on a daily basis.

Someone who looks like the men who created him.

Someone to blame for everything we cant understand.

Someone who needs all our money and stuff.

A multi-gender, multi-race, presence everywhere and no-where, with no beginning and no end.

A really mean guy.

A really nice guy.

The perfect boss, because no-one can find him to find out if that’s really what he ordered.

A fall-back word when one needs to display authority.

Belief in God:
The ultimate cop-out.

The ultimate revenue raiser.

A handy excuse for being kind.

A handy excuse for being un-kind.

A good excuse to use force against those we disagree with.

A good excuse to ignore that which we don’t want to do anything about.

The excuse for failing to act here, with the promise that we will act there.

Doing whatever one pleases, because God said so.

A fall-back position when one needs to assume authority, or gain power, or generate income, or bully the wife and kids ... or be a conservative politician.

idiocracy:
A nation run by idiots.

Organised Religion:
Power and profit for the Godly.

Godly:
Exerting unholy control over the idiotic inhabitants of an idiocracy, for the purpose of gaining money and power ... see above.

If you didn’t catch Bill Moyers Friday show, then you
really missed something. Here’s a link;

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/11202009/watch.html

It’s taped phone conversations between Johnson and his
advisors leading up to the escalation in Viet Nam; the parallels to Afghanistan are chilling.

After 8 yrs the American People aren’t looking for Action, they are looking for the Right Action!!
Not just in the Trillions in Debt Duel wars, but in the economy, in healthcare in energy.
This country has been led by idiots who jump at every shiny object and scream bloody murder at every loud noise.
We should have never gone into Iraq,OR Afghanistan. History laid that fact out very clearly.We should have never reinstated the socio economic Cast system called ‘Trickle Down’- Our Nations History was founded on its outright rejection over 200 yrs ago!
Not to mention the blatant attempt to divide this country ideologically, also having it’s own bloody history!
The repeal of Glass Stegall proves these people either lack ‘object permanence’ or they are hoping we do.
Object permanence is not only knowing that even though you don’t ‘see’ something it still exists, it also is the mechanism to deductive reasoning. Mistakes become mental ‘safeguards’ from repeating itself- ‘curb feelers’ to avoid not being stupid or insane.
History is an unseen cornerstone in the human psyche. We are a superior species because we remember our mistakes, and learn from them.
For Conservative to pretend that history is irrelevant is an affront to our Founders and to Humanity- if not to God as well.
Until they develop this ability,perhaps we need to keep taking them to the toilet so they’ll stop shitting on US.

You do realize that this thread is being hijacked by a
troll? Please do not feed the trolls.

In the name of the christian god your kind stole the Americas, Australia,
Hawaii and India and murdered millions. To this day the descendants of those
criminals occupy all but India. A real christian would apologize and leave
immediately. I bet that Christ would be pissed at those that kept stolen land.

“One Nation under God” built on Christianity and thus the citizen reaps the
rewards of God’s Bounty. Even as a dairy farmer I am impressed by the size of
that pile.

By TRUECRISTIAN, November 21 at 8:23 pm #

As everyone wants to live in the USA, does anyone else see this as an
encouragement to take up the gay life-style?

The irony is that the USA is only the best country in the world because it is
“One Nation under God” built on Christianity and thus the citizen reaps the
rewards of God’s Bounty.
__________________
Amen

Idiocracy? No, government is a criminal organization that only hires yes men
and women to promote their agenda. They are very good at bait and switch,
they promise democracy but deliver oligarchy. With smoke and mirrors they
create the illusion of two parties when there is only one. Subliminal messages
of patriotism, religion, mom and apple pie keep the taxpayers divided. Money
is created from nothing (how godlike) and given an artificial value. The money
is loaned to the people to keep them indebted to the bankers. The idiocracy is
the people that borrow a half of a million dollars to buy $20,000 worth of
lumber on $2,000 worth of land. The idioracy is the people that believe that
the con men picking their pockets have their best interests at heart, it is the
other guy’s crook that is the problem. Bush was horrible, but Obama sold you
to the bankers, he is not worse than Bush but he is no better either. I am
voting with my feet, let the idiocracy pay the debt if they are stupid enough to
believe that they owe it.

“You can always spot an honest politician, six feet above his
head is a large granite stone with his name on it”

I’m not a Christian.

Consider myself a modern deist more than anything else. 

But I can read and on a good day I’m capable of actually comprehending what I read.

The 10th Commandment actually says:

“Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor’s.”

Not sure what your “true” reading comprehension level is but the sentence above equates women with indentured servants (also known as slaves who work for freedom); it equates them with property that is owned by men; it equates them with bovine animals used for farming. 

The Holy Bible is a combination of ancient laws, ancient myths, and ancient social mores written to keep ancient peoples in line; to give them a sense of well being; to give them a sense of how the earth came about; to give them a fear of imminent death if they happened to utter their favored deity’s name while in a fit of rage. 

It’s a good guidepost.  It’s a good story. It is arguably the most important and certainly the most quoted piece of literature ever written. 

But it would be a lot more helpful for modern society if it had a section on how to wield nuclear power and what to do with corrupt traders of derivatives.

I guess what I’m getting at is you can go around saying you interpret The Holy Bible literally if you like, but it makes you sound like a jackass who knows how to read but doesn’t quite understand what he’s reading.

Part 1 is the link I supplied; part 2 is available as
well.

Here’s a very informative link about Afghanistan from
an interview with Malalai Joya. She wrote the book;
“A Woman Among Warlords: The Extraordinary Story of an
Afghan Who Dared to Raise Her Voice”

This is right from the horses mouth, so to speak, and
is a must see/hear. Ones factual knowledge will rise by
100%. Link to the interview;

http://tinyurl.com/yb4qudn

Inherit The Wind, November 22 at 1:18 am #

Why not just report the comment? He’s one sick human.
Those of his ilk normally don’t post here. If one feeds
the trolls they usually stick around; so don’t feed the
trolls. 

Sirota forgot to mention Obamas’ contribution to our idiocracy. The “hope” and “change” mantra which was entirely gratuitous, if not calculated hypocrisy.  He’s a total fake, as an intellectual, a constitutional lawyer, and a supposed christian.

There is no correlation between the time he takes to decide whether or not to continuing slaughtering brown innocent men, women, and children for disaster resource war capitalism, and a supposed rational decision.  The guy has targeted hundreds of more innocents from drones than Bush—another cold blooded murderer, but less charming.

He’s completely bankrupted this country in deference to the banksters, while states are going belly up. No social programs, no health programs, no environmental programs, no regulatory agencies to protect us from our resurgent 1800’s robber barons.

He’s about to condemn millions to death by the mass murdering “health” insurance industry.  He’s privatizing what’s left of our public educational system—education for the rich only is now our future.  And now you can add the certain destruction of our planetary life support systems within a few decades.

I haven’t scratched the surface of the diabolical shit this guy has been able to accomplish in less than a year.

Obama is another level of deceit altogether.

Anyone who can’t see that by now, deserves to live in this idiocracy.

What is clearly ignored, as usual, is the obvious.
Whether for it or against it, the War in Afghanistan was irreparably lost in the leadup to the Iraq invasion in March of 2003, when Bush depleted forces in Afghanistan to attack Iraq.

You can claim the War in Afghanistan was right or an abomination, but STRATEGICALLY, by cutting it off when he did, Bush GUARANTEED we could not win there.  What President Obama needs to do is ignore all the self-serving generals and politicians and use his brain to do some close reasoning. He should use his access to history to recognize this fact: The war was rendered unwinnable by ANY definition 6 years before he took office.

If he’s as smart as I hope he is, all he’s doing is figuring out how to politically engineer the draw-down and GET US OUT!

BTW, Woodrow Wilson was usually given credit as “The Smartest President” even over Jefferson.  And, of course, WW was a failure.  Clinton used to do cross-word puzzles while his advisers debated, then look up and ask the one salient question they all missed.  Does that make HIM smartest, though he was dumb enough to get caught with his pants down?  Jimmy Carter’s visions of where we would be today if we didn’t take certain actions in things like the economy, the ecology, energy, and foreign policy were distressingly right on target, yet for all his vision and genius, was an ineffectual President.

Then again, the dummies are worse: John Tyler, Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson, US Grant, Warren G. Harding, George W. Bush…..

I don’t think I’ve ever posted what I’m about to say:
Admins of Truthdig: Please consider banning the poster who calls himself “TrueChristian”. This slime is clearly a troll for the White-supremacist groups.  I find many posters here offensive, but not one in recent memory has ever posted the kind of garbage this troll has.  He actively advocates killing anyone who violates HIS interpretation of the Ten Commandments:

“Commandment Alert Level Punishment
1. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Severe Genocide. Entire cities with men, women, children and animals must be killed.
2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image Severe Genocide. Entire cities with men, women, children and animals must be killed.
3. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; High Capital punishment
4. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. High Capital punishment
5. Honour thy father and thy mother: High Capital punishment
7. Thou shalt not commit adultery. High Capital punishment
6. Thou shalt not kill. Elevated Capital punishment in some cases
8. Thou shalt not steal. Guarded Excessive fines. Only in rare cases, capital punishment
9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. Low Despisement and scorn
10. Thou shalt not covet . . . Low Despisement and scorn ”

@CT, November 21 at 1:30 pm #
No audio ads here (IE8 with no addons). Could be you’re
hacked?
==============================
Nuts, I hope not; I’ve got all the anti-virus, spyware,
etc. Sorry, but it infuriated me to think TD was
running these types of adds. Today seems to be okay…I
have no idea.

thebeerdoctor, November 21 at 10:11 pm #

I use chrome; would the browser make a difference? When
I click on a thread and it opens I get a loud banner ad
across the top of the thread; isn’t this a TD thing?
Needless to say; I hate it and it seems inappropriate
for this site, IMO.

TrueChristian,

Fascinating post. I’m a fence-sitter and hope you can provide a bit more information and clarity on some issues about which I have questions.

Are you REALLY a “true” Christian and, if so, might you tell us what that means? Does it mean espousing “family values” until one’s hypocrisy is exposed? I’m thinking of a couple of televangelists and many state and federal officals ardently supported by right-wing Christians. I’m also wondering if these cheating, philandering, self-serving individuals are the men and women God created in His image?

Do you actually abide by and LIVE all 10 Commandments or are you a Christian of Convenience along with most others who self-identify as Christians? Just want to make sure you’re keeping slaves, stoning adulterers to death, selling your daughters into prostitution, etc., if they do the nasty with someone to whom they are not married.

Do you believe that asking forgiveness (at least weekly)really wipes your mortal slate clean? If so, does that mean—as it does to most of my Christian friends—that you can contemplate and act on coveting thy neighbor’s wife, lying, cheating and stealing, etc., as long as you truly repent every Sunday? That’s a pretty lax way of enforcing any moral codes. By extension, if forgiveness is guaranteed, why not dispense with our entire judicial system so mass murderers, rapists and the like can simply profess their sincere regrets to the victims, then get on with the business at hand?

Speaking of such, if you’ll read ALL of Leviticus, you’ll not that God commands ALL men to avoid fornication of any kind. Only those individuals who keep their bodies “pure” will gain admittance to Heaven. Even married couples are likely to be barred.

Paul continues the admonition, but by the time he got around to penning his tome, he and the church relented a bit. While still strongly supportive of abstinence only, Paul determined that man was so weak of flesh, that marriage was the lesser of two evils. Paul believed that supporting a wife and children would be so exhausting as to consume any remaining energy which, otherwise, might be directed toward finding additional sex partners.

Then the R.C. Church, knowing a good thing when it saw one, hopped on the bandwagon. Under the pretext of ANY sex as an abomination, priests were instructed to be celebate. However, being a better Christian had nothing to do with celebacy. Instead, enforced celebacy ensured that any material wealth amassed by men of the cloth would, upon their death, return to the Church, not a wife and litter of sniveling little urchins.

Now, your query about everyone wanting to live in the USA and a connection to taking up the gay lifestyle ... you lost me there. Could you elaborate? I’m just missing the point, but believe further discussion could be enlightening.

Coming into the home stretch, you note that the USA is #1 because we’re “one nation under God.” Interesting. If my enfeebled, aging brain recalls properly, those words were added to the Pledge of Allegience in the 1950s. They were not part of the original version. Does this mean that the US was not successful for the 200-ish years before those four words became part of our Pledge?

Finally, and this is a mere technicality: The US was not built on Christianity. It was built by people (some of whom happened to be Christian)who, more than anything, supported religious choice and freedom, whether that meant worshipping a beer-bellied Buddah, Allah or Ra, the sun god.

I’d also like to know a bit more about reaping God’s Bounty. I work with/see American families daily who are deeply religious, but have no home, jobs, clothes nor food. Where do they sign up to receive some of this bounty? Please advise so I might point them in the right direction. The local churches to which they belong do not, by and large, have “Bounty Pantries” the poor souls can raid at will.

Looking forward to your response. Thanks.

Idiotic?

Is it not the point of the writers mentioned that while Obama procrastinates, people are dying and the situation rapidly deteriorating?

Withdraw, escalate - it is not the point, the point is, that every day that passes without the emergence of a coherent and committed policy regarding Afghanistan is another on which both soldiers and civilians are dying FOR NO FUCKING PURPOSE WHATSOEVER… (since people here seem to enjoy all-caps)

Unnacceptable, and it is anything but idiotic to criticize Obama for this delay… he has had months, and fucking months to come up with something, ANYTHING.

Yet still nothing… tell me, how would you feel if you were a family member of a soldier who died last week, and next week Obama announces a withdrawal?

Would you say: “Oh my fucking God! Could he not have decided this two weeks ago, when our beloved father/husband/son/brother was still alive?”

Or do you say: “Well, at least he was assiduous in his decision-making”

(this scenario will almost definately occur to someone, maybe no-one you know, but someone)

I will eat my hat if anyone in good-conscience could choose the latter… seriously… this article would never have been written if the writer had half a sense of irony. Looking for “idiocy in intelligentsia”? Check your God-damn mirror.

re: Ourobus

This is a technical, yet personal note: are you using Internet Explorer, or any of the other Microsoft corporate garbage? perhaps it is time to come over to the sunny side:
http://www.ubuntu.com/

What is self-righteousness?  To think you are better than others.  That God loves you more.  That you are a Chosen people. That what you believe is The Truth, and that gives you the right to try to force others to believe as you do.  That you are entitled to kill people who disagree with you because you are right and they are wrong.
  This country (more or less like other countries) was built largely (but not entirely) by people who thought they were right and others were wrong. They thought one skin color was better than others.
  Our Founding Fathers soon turned on themselves, however,  and started burning witches.  They fought Native Americans and stole their land.
  Surprised, perhaps, by the evil they were doing, they got together and adopted a set of laws to curb their excesses. It’s called the “Constitution” and says right in the beginning that “all men (didn’t think to mention women and children, of course) are “created equal.”  Presumably, God loves them all.  That said, they pronounced that all men have “inalienable rights’ among which are etc. etc.  But every American knows this, or should.
  So what’s all this about being “one nation under God” as if we know more about God than other people and as if God loves us better than others. We can’t even stop the wars we start!  Or feed our hungry children, or educate them well enough to run the democracy we established in 1776.
  Sorry.  We are no better than others—and hopefully no worse, though that question is rather on the line these days because of our overwhelming military power—a dangerous invitation to excess.

To TRUECRISTIAN,

Whatever it is that you are, you are not a true Christian.  You wouldn’t know Jesus if he asked you to dance.

Hey Barry! Get movin’; don’t ya know that time is MONEY!!!

Much depends on the value that is given to those that write such tripe in the final days in   this failing empire. While the pundit’s including Sirota waste our time on forgone conclusions i.e… That some type of US force will remain in both Afghanistan and Iraq as long as the people of this neo fascist police state allows it.

Citizens of this state are led to believe that their holy crusades are justified by a system that uses fear to motivate their willingness to allow the corporations and their security forces to control the actions of the state.

While no real progress has been made to attend to unemployment, the violent rape of the economy by the afore mentioned corporations, and a government steeped in idocracy from the local governments to the three branches in Washington, the short attention span and lack of any historical reference prevents many from staying focused on the true perils now facing the population of the empire.

While Sirota regales us with “grotesque immorality” of others why is it that Emperor Barry has yet to put an end to the mercenary corporate army he commands? Will they be leaving Afghanistan? Is the war in Iraq over? Have the mercenaries been recalled? Have our rights been restored? You probably will never find out if you depend on media such as this.   

Mr. Sirota’s own profession is at least somewhat culpable, being a propagandist himself, in these distractions, not unlike the opinion presented here. In his attempt to purvey valueless knowledge that any one who can read above an 9th grade level already is aware of, he attempts to distract and redirect attention away from the complete and utter failure of a system that cannot and will not change.

Hi @CT:

Not quite Allen Ginsburg, just a paraphrasing to see if anyone was paying attention. 

I doubt President Obama is nodding.  He might relish the opportunity but he he’ll have to leave such joys to “angelheaded hipsters.”

Any kind of ‘Intelligentsia Against Intelligence’ is just another way of splaining
that what may be or hoped to be seen as the ‘best and brightest’ coming up
with the solution(s), which is actually the grand theft of the national treasury and to keep attention away from what those who consider themselves
as the intelligentsia in their role as ‘hiding’ what those ‘intelligentsia’ are really
doing and their NOT wanting others to know what they are doing, robbing the
bank in the easiest and most convenient way without having to own one.

It does take intelligence and nerve, or at least ‘no fear’ of repercussions, to
commit a crime AND get away with it but to me what is so sad and absolutely
ruinous is that what was once secret or covered up is now basically open and
seemingly the ‘accepted way of doing business’ no matter how many or what
laws are broken or ignored.

So, what could be seen as an ‘exceptionalism’ maybe is what I think of as an
‘insanity’ of the people thinking and clinging to a false way of governing that
will bring back those glorious ‘good ole days’(pre1973) when everything was
great, but now with the use of the subverted MSM, people in america couldn’t
tell the truth from a lie even when they are told; only trouble here is that the
sources of ‘truth’ are not presented for the most part by the MSM and has to be
sifted and filtered out on obscure and unknown sites, with obscure being the
likes of TRUTHDIG, COMMONDREAMS, INFORMATIONCLEARINGHOUSE and the
unknown are probably those personal blogs that can find and provide real
information of worth.

As Chalmers Johnson once said(many times, I believe) that once we loose what
we had, we won’t be getting it back without some serious and deadly upheavals
which would in reality be just like today’s populace finally figuring out that
gaining control or regaining control would be just the same as what our
ancestors had to do to escape england, fight a revolutionary war and boy,
howdy, would that be a mess considering the pitiful physical, mental and
EMOTIONAL state of the american people as a whole.

Democracy and justice require a reality-based population and that requires print,radio,and television news to adhere to facts and call out lies and distortions.The media is on the side of the military/industrial/corporate complex . Lovers of truth and justice are painted as leftist, commie, weak etc. In sum, a corrupted
media has led us here,an ignorant populace will keep us here.

All this bruhaha about how to afford Health Care…First, I love all the so-called Fiscal Conservatives who only now, after the debacles of Iraq and Wall Street, are concerned about the delicate health of our Budget. Second, want to know to pay for all this? Then withdraw from Afghanistan and cut the military budget by 10%. 10 lousy, stinking percent. The US spends more on the military than, what?, the next 30 most powerful countries on earth put together? Who are we fighting? Russia is an ally and China is our biggest trading partner. Al Quaeda, the Taliban? Do we really need million dollar unmanned drones to fight guys in ratty turbans? The only thing between us and affording what we need to do in this country is the most grossly inflated military in history. But, of course, we can’t talk about that…

D.R. Zing writes:
” ... Maybe he’s contemplating jazz, thinking that perhaps he saw the best minds of his generation destroyed by the madness of war.”

That was Allen Ginsberg.

Oblabla’s more likely just on the nod, trundled out of the closet now and then by His keepers to pose, proclaim, and embody “diversity”.

D.R. Zing writes:
” ... Maybe he’s contemplating jazz, thinking that perhaps he saw the best minds of his generation destroyed by the madness of war.”

Or maybe He’s just on the nod.

Idiot has been well defined by many posters here in.
But insanity, or the work of idiots has not.
I like the definition of insanity as “doing the same thing over and over, expecting a different outcome”.
With this in mind I fail to understand why anyone would vote for a candidate, be they Dem. or Rep. 
By doing so wouldn’t they be be doing the work of an idiot?

Why would you expect a representative of either political party to withdraw from a war when it would be harming the Corporate, Military, Industrial, Complex, that funds there very existence.

Obama is not “pondering” but simply waiting for the right Friday night news release to slip in news of the escalation.  Perhaps right after the hoopla about the passing of the “insurance Care Reform Bill”.

The pundits are blind.

They were born in a society at war, educated in a society at war, employed in a society at war and in all likelihood will die in a society at war.

Americans know nothing but war because we are always at war.

We have been at war so long we don’t even realize we’re at war.

Pulling out of Afghanistan and Iraq would not end the war. 

Our economy is the war.

Perhaps Obama is taking time to consider policy, not just strategy and tactics. 

How many troops we do or do not send is… is what?

It’s not as important as policy.

If he were to change our energy policy, we might not need the oil we’re killing and dying for.

If he were to change our foreign policy, the world might not be so littered with weapons that any nutcase with a trigger finger can kill at will. 

Maybe he’s contemplating policy.

Maybe he’s contemplating political ramifications.

Maybe he’s contemplating strategy and tactics.

Maybe he’s contemplating jazz, thinking that perhaps he saw the best minds of his generation destroyed by the madness of war.

Broder’s new column gives an interesting read on Oblabla’s credibility gap on “reform”:

“one question was particularly interesting to me.

It read: “President Obama has pledged that health insurance reform will not add to our federal budget deficit over the next decade. Do you think that President Obama will be able to keep his promise or do you think that any health care plan that Congress passes and President Obama signs will add to the federal budget deficit?”

The answer: Less than one-fifth of the voters—19 percent of the sample—think he will keep his word. Nine of 10 Republicans and eight of 10 independents said that whatever passes will add to the torrent of red ink. By a margin of four to three, even Democrats agreed this is likely.

That fear contributed directly to the fact that, by a 16-point margin, the majority in this poll said they oppose the legislation moving through Congress.”

—> “Obama “promises/pledges/vows” has lost its charm. Now what?

Ouroborus writes:
“PLEASE LET THIS SITE KNOW HOW OFFENSIVE THESE AUDIO
ADDS ARE!!!!”

No audio ads here (IE8 with no addons). Could be you’re hacked?

IAYSUS, WHAT AN INSULT TO OUR INTELLEGENCE!
SO, ARE YOU HAPPY WITH THIS AUDIO ADD SHIT?
STOP IT NOW!!!!!!!

#4; PLEASE REPORT MY POST AND ALL OTHER POSTS
ADDRESSING THIS ISSUE!!!!!!!!!!!!

Samson writes:
“I will promise you this, that if we have not gotten our troops out by the time I am president, it is the first thing I will do. I will get our troops home. We will bring an end to this war”
- Barack Obama, October 27, 2007
————————

(D) is for ‘LIAR’ !!!!!

——-
Watch Him in all His smarmy narcissistic glory:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LsSppYxSHk

Today, having given away the store to the corporations—and with the insurance company bailout primed for passage—He’s finally gotten around to promises on hahaha “jobs”:

“Even though it will take time, I can promise you this: we are moving in the right direction; that the steps we are taking are helping ... It is important that we do not make any ill-considered decisions—even with the best of intentions—particularly at a time when our resources are so limited.”

When it comes to shovelling the Treasury to the corporations, or to passing “reform” or the stimulus, etc., fast-tracking ill-considered decisions wasn’t a problem . . . this administration is worse than Nixon’s.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/reuters/091121/us/politics_us_obama_economy

#3; PLEASE REPORT MY POST AND ALL OTHER POSTS
ADDRESSING THIS ISSUE!!!!!!!!!!!!

#2; PLEASE REPORT MY POST AND ALL OTHER POSTS
ADDRESSING THIS ISSUE!!!!!!!!!!!!

PLEASE REPORT MY POST AND ALL OTHER POSTS ADDRESSING
THIS ISSUE!!!!!!!!!!!!

I AM VERY PISSED OFF AT THE AUDIO ADDS THAT ASSAULT ME
WHEN I GO TO A THREAD HERE!!! AND IF TRUTHDIG DOESN’T
GET RID OF THESE OFFENSIVE ASSAULTS ON MY EARS I WILL
QUIT POSTING ON THIS SITE! EVERY ONE HERE SHOULD MAKE A
COMMENT ON THIS TRAVESTY AND INSULT TO OUR COLLECTIVE
INTELLIGENCE:
PLEASE LET THIS SITE KNOW HOW OFFENSIVE THESE AUDIO
ADDS ARE!!!!
THANK YOU;
Ouroborus

“I will promise you this, that if we have not gotten our troops out by the time I am president, it is the first thing I will do. I will get our troops home. We will bring an end to this war” - Barack Obama, October 27, 2007
————————

(D) is for ‘LIAR’ !!!!!

Broder is not senile, he’s always been as dumb as a stump.  He’s an ass-sucking expert, like so many in MSM.  And it’s not something to be confined to the MSM, as we now see with Arianna and her Huffing and puffing and showing crotch shots and cowering bigots to drum up whatever it is that can be drummed up.  If this site or if there are genuine journalists out there, where are they hiding?

The United States is already an idiocracy.  This did not begin under Bush/Cheney but goes as far back as the Vietnam War, followed by the ascension of Reagan and all his bastard children, including Obama.  The United States is an “exceptional” nation only in its viciousness, self-delusion and stupidity.  The beat goes on.  Our decline will continue and there is no stopping it.

re: Peetawonkus

You completely misunderstand the point of my post. I am speaking of active disengagement from those who depend on our subservience, not withdrawal, but actual real participation on a human-to-human level, where you resist being a automaton to the corporate order by acknowledging that your fellow citizen is exactly that: your fellow citizen. With such an awareness you would never surrender to the callous abstract notion of putting your fellow humans at completely unnecessary risk, simply because somebody elected as president wants his or her ego to go down in the historical record as a strong War President, whatever is the partisan strain of their idiotic politics.
A person can give up on a completely corrupt broken system of government, but please don’t misconstrue that to mean that I have given up on the human race.

Gee,KDelphi,  I wonder if Dostoevsky knew about the Stanford/Binet IQ tests when he wrote The Idiot, back in the 19th century.
Actually, Broder is only one of several senile commentators who ought to retire.  George Will continues to do the bidding of Exxon/Mobil as one of the global warming deniers, going so far as to misstate the conclusions in published articles Then, of course there are Lou Dobbs and John McLaughlin. Finally, for a real Greek tragedy, witness the sad decline of Dan Rather.

The Mad Loon writes:
“Stop spending on anything that is not essential.”

Get a clue: the mass of the people—particularly those who already were poor before Obaaama took office—have STOPPED spending on “anything that is not essential”, and on a lot of things that ARE essential. Millions have been IN Depression for years already—and as more become poor, it gets harder.

The open land, open hands, and boxcars of the 1930s are long gone. Universal military service, where the males, at least, learned useful skills, is a thing of the forgotten past, and the fierce cities were abandoned long ago by politicians most of whom are at least one generation away from any consciousness of poverty.

With self-dealing non-profit corporations and Homeland Security shot through the society like dry rot, and the joke administration of Axelrod/Obama/Emanuel nominally in charge, the time to come is not going to be a re-run of The Waltons.

You can have 20 parties if you like but it will not make a differance if they are all beholden to the same interests. This is a fight that can only be won through self sacrifice. This is how my grandparents generation won better working conditions and the civil rights movement made the gains that it did.

KDelphi made a good observation in that they rely on us to spend in order to enrich themselves. This would be a great place to start, Stop spending on anything that is not essential.Yes this will cause more good people to lose their jobs and homes but as I said earlier we can only win through sacrifice.

Many of the folks who lived through the last depression learned this lesson and preached frugality to their children unfortunetly it was a lesson that was lost on us so now we must fight this battle all over again.

Amen to those who understand that electing Democrats is not “the” answer. Of course, electing Republicans does no good, either.

Setting aside campaign finance reform and ballot box tampering for the moment, this country desperately needs a viable third party devoted to We The People, not corporate citizens lucky enuf to have a “Here’s your bail-out and don’t worry about those pesky taxes,” EIN number. (That’s why we have personal citizens unlucky enuf to have only a “We gottcha by the short hairs,” SS number.)

Until a majority of Americans understand that Democrats and Republicans offer nothing more than a Tweedle Dee - Tweedle Dum choice, we’ll continue to subjugate our lives and liberties to the elite few who rely on dividends and capital gains for the preponderance of their income.

More proof that ignorance is not bliss. It’s an inefficient, ineffective state in which to live. Then again, anyone reading this already is a member of the choir, so what’s the point of preaching?

Anyone think Pat Paulson will run for POTUS in 2012? Obviously, being alive is no longer a prerequisite for holding office. A sordid past, a willingness to sell your vote and the ability to put reality in a box and forget it are more important traits.

Before celebrity tourism, pondering Afghanistan, and giving away the Treasury to the corporations became His whole schtick, Obama was really, really gonna TCB on the Iraq war ...

No wonder the commentariat is feeling fussy—they can’t criticize Him in general, because of that blasted birthday suit, and because liberals in general are still pretending He’s some kind of “Democrat”, rather than a Trojan Horse from the droll Yankees ... so what’s left to talk about?

“I will promise you this, that if we have not gotten our troops out by the time I am president, it is the first thing I will do. I will get our troops home. We will bring an end to this war.”

- Barack Obama, October 27, 2007

I despise Obama more than I did Nixon. And believe me, that’s saying something.

When I read an article like this, and the many comments in agreement, It makes me aware of how old I really am.

Does no one remember Adlai Stevenson? He was too smart to be President, in the opinion of many of the ‘chattering class’ of the 1950s. McCarthyism was rampant, and in retrospect, McCarthy makes Rush appear fairly bright.

Idiocy has always [or frequently] been the preference of the US voter. People with brains make many of them feel inferior - and god help us [their preferred benefactor] no one wants to appear stupid. Rather, let’s elect Reagan, or W. and leave the masses with their illusions!

They talk about how brilliant Obama is, but other than his brilliance at manipulation, I am still waiting for a demonstration. I think Thomas Jefferson’s reputation as the most intelligent of our Presidents is not threatened by any of our current politicians…

David, is a voice crying in the wilderness.

The chattering class; I picture a horde of wind up plastic teeth vibrating on camera.

They talk alot but don’t really say that much.

Peetawonkus
You are right that the dems are definitly not on the left. However I was taking a world view,not simply an American one.

By example up here in the frozen north we have a socialist party whose founders were the pioneers of our public heathcare system proping up the neolib/con government whose sole aim is the destuction of public institutions such as healthcare.

They do this because the ruling elite have totally usurped the entire process, making sure no matter who we vote for that they will still be in control.

Having said all this I am still an optimist for whenever we have had the courage to stand up to them and to the streets and put the fear of god into them they crawl back into their holes. The one mistake that we keep making and which they have always relied on is that as soon as we attain a few crumbs from their tables we become complacent and allow tne rats to take over again.

The Mad Loon
You’re wrong. There is a great difference between the Right and Left wings. There may not, however, be much difference between the Republican and Democratic Parties. Whatever Republicans have become, Democrats most certainly are not “The Left.”

We have to get these corporate schills out just to “stay in place”...but, they want to return to the balloon. They will not be able to.

One thing that stands out in this “recession” (for the rich—massive collapse for the poor) is that Merkins are just NOT SPENDING AGAIN—that is what the Stimulus counts on and Wall St counts on.

And they shouldnt. Refusing to buy (die) into the “consumer culture” (which, somehow, the middle class seemed to take as some sort of compliment??) will bring about change. Lets see how the Season of BUY works out with everyone broke.

thebeerdoctor,
Right. Nothing matters, why bother, who cares, there’s no difference, yak, yak, yak.

If it’s so unimportant, why are you here, giving us your two centavos?

I believe Obama is going to further escalate in Afghanastan just as he promised during the election. But his handlers have convinced him to wait until after he enriches the insurance and drug industries just like he and Bush did for the bankers.

I continue to be amazed by how many people still cling to the notion that there is a difference between the so called right and left wings.They are of the same cloth.They have to be or they would not stand a chance of getting elected. There is not a democracy in the world where one can attain high office without the support of the ruling elite. Their minions in the media simply ignore those candidates that they don’t own and if that doesn’t work they destroy their credibility while at the same time playing up their candidate of choice.

It fits.  One of the primary objections to the proposed health-care reform bill is it’s too many pages long, therefore it will take too long to read it.

‘And replace these vile Democrats with…what? Eight more years of Republicans? The Party of the Corporations whose corrupt “Family Values”, loony economics and ideology poisoned the Body Politic the last time?’

As if the Democrats have proven themselves to be much different. Pick any issue—abortion, the environment, foreign policy, church & state, FISA, climate change and the environment?
Sure Obama talks a different game, but he doesn’t act on it—he is a servant to the same masters. Don’t be a fool—we are like trained mice swinging between the Rs and the Ds, praying for change and increasingly getting the same damn thing every time.

People who really want to use their intelligence will not engage in the idiotic either/or of American politics. Why worry about what some beltway jackass has to say? They live in a self-contained world, which of course, is also President Obama’s problem: after awhile they actually start believing they are more important than life itself.
David Sirota is trying to slip his elected candidate some soap, by pretending that he is being slow and deliberate because he has concern for the troops in the meat grinder. More likely, President Barry and his posse are agonizing over how to make their next unnecessary slaughter seem politically viable.
It is time for people of conscience to strategically disengage from all of this: politically, culturally, morally and spiritually. The uncounted millions who do not fit in with the designs of this savage corporate, totalitarian state, are only deluding themselves into believing that participating in this endless game produces an actual effect.
The ownership class is not listening to you. Why should you bother to listen to them?

Sirota talks as though people are criticizing Obama for “not escalating the war”, when, in fact, he is. They just want him to do it faster.

An idiot was actually a medical term that denoted where one stood on the “normal curve” of the (originally) Stanford Binet IQ Scale. I think, if I remember, that below 60 was Imbecile, 60-75 was Idiot and 85- 100 was a Moron. The terms arent used anymore and have becom insults…but that is neither here nor there.

It just bothers me a little that people relish saying how “stupid” and “idiotic” these people are, when, after all, they ALWAYS get what they want, no? What do the beloved Democrats do when in power??

I have to agree with RDv—there is only so much to know, so many experts to consult. The “four options” was a ridiculous concept (what was it, to add 10,000 more, or 45, 000 more, or whatever? NO, the optons are to escalate, waste lives and money or get out. Its that simple. Not easy. Simple.) I think that Obama doesnt wish to escalate the “war” (for political reasons) and doesnt wish to “stop” the “war” (for politcal reasons) I dont really think, that, at this point, it is much more than that.

Hulk—arent they basically offering money only if public schools open to charters, ala Arne Duncan? That guy is the antithesis of public education. Charter scvhools do not require experience or certification of teachers. Here in this city, they took the “charter school money” and, mostly, ran with it. Some “schools” never even opened.

Peetawonkus—Samson,
“Or, if Mr. Sirota really wants to end these wars, lets see him come out and call for the defeat of these Democrats that are escalating them?”

“And replace these vile Democrats with…what? Eight more years of Republicans? The Party of the Corporations whose corrupt “Family Values”, loony economics and ideology poisoned the Body Politic the last time? Perhaps Afghanistan would be a “done deal” now if we hadn’t been lied into a war in Iraq by George Bush—which cost the lives of 5000 Americans and bankrupted the country. I wonder when the Repugs are going to start taking responsibility for their own bullshit. They’re like a pickpocket who, when caught red-handed in your pocket, point at someone else and yell loudly, “Thief! Thief!”

Maybe, it thats what it will take to get decent ‘Merkins to stand up to this fricking govt, barreling us into Third World, predator status. (yes, worse than we were before)If ‘Merkins dont rise up against the duopoly, we are doomed anyway. And so is much of the world we try to monopolize and Imperialize.
The Dems have not stood firm on ONE THING. When the GOP is in power, they know what to do. If the Democrats dont, why keep sending them back? If people did nothing as the Bush agenda was enacted (and further reenacted by Obama) may nothing wll save us.

But we have to TRY to do better than THIS.

What an insult to 3-year-olds!  No children, no matter how spoiled and selfish, could bring about such a cooperatively-connived disaster as war plus waste plus theft plus exploitation plus secrecy plus ignorance plus denial.  It’s the conniving mentality of native greed.  Refer back to the “opening” of the West, the Gold Rush, the “Spanish-American” War, the “Robber Barons”, 1929, the A-bomb, Vietnam, “Shock and Awe”, “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?” 
  There was also a lot of good stuff along the way, but greed was not in that picture.  Let’s bring the good stuff out of hiding:  Liberty and justice for all, human rights, universal health care, peace, jobs, cooperation, fair trade, honesty, etc. etc. along with a few smiles and a willingness to admit mistakes.
  It’s not that we are helpless, don’t know what to do.  It’s that we aren’t doing what we know to be necessary and best.  We can’t beg off as an “idiocracy,” not yet, maybe not ever.

Samson,
“Or, if Mr. Sirota really wants to end these wars, lets see him come out and call for the defeat of these Democrats that are escalating them?”

And replace these vile Democrats with…what? Eight more years of Republicans? The Party of the Corporations whose corrupt “Family Values”, loony economics and ideology poisoned the Body Politic the last time? Perhaps Afghanistan would be a “done deal” now if we hadn’t been lied into a war in Iraq by George Bush—which cost the lives of 5000 Americans and bankrupted the country. I wonder when the Repugs are going to start taking responsibility for their own bullshit. They’re like a pickpocket who, when caught red-handed in your pocket, point at someone else and yell loudly, “Thief! Thief!”

To Bucky5

Well said, my friend, clever and witty words. But then again how would you define “regain our standing as a world leader”? To me it is keeping projecting your white-red-and blue penis into affairs of other sovereign nations. And what do you think?

“idiocracy” .... to support a candidate in the last election who openly promised to expand and escalate the war in Afghanistan .... then to complain and whine when he’s doing it. 

You can put Mr. Sirota’s picture next to this definition.  He’s a Democratic operative who fully supported Obama and the Democrats in the last election.  Now he’s getting exactly what he supported then, and now he’s crying about it.

We’ll learn when we stop electing Democrats.

Isn’t it obvious by now that the Democrats were lying when they pretended to be against Bush’s wars?  Of course, it was obvious at the time, as the Democrats voted in favor of approving the wars, in favor of funding the wars, and in favor of fully passing every bloated Pentagon budget that comes along.

Its rather amazing that Mr. Sirota, who in the last campaign vocally supported Obama, even while Obama was calling Afghanistan ‘the right war’ and was promising to escalate it, now seems shocked that Obama is actually doing it.

Maybe the time for Mr. Sirota to have opposed this war was BEFORE he helped to elect Obama and the Democrats that are now expanding it?

Or, if Mr. Sirota really wants to end these wars, lets see him come out and call for the defeat of these Democrats that are escalating them?