"Pro-Democracy" is Going the Way of Ford

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Saturday August 05, 2006 · 7:40 AM PDT

2006/08/05 · 07:40

Are Toyota's that great? Or did Ford just miserably fail to adapt to changing market conditions?

I think that it has been a failure to adapt. And I think that the US foreign policy of "exporting" democracy displays the same lack of adaptability as the US auto industry. A dooming cultural parallel.

Of course this is not an earth shattering theory but I do think it is a shame that the smugness, blindness, and imperiousness of "the deciders" ends up trickling misery down onto the rank and file. And perhaps the stumble of an icon like Ford will cause people to question the "wisdom" of the governmental status quo. Read More

CIA: Stuck Thinking Inside the Box

KOTCrum

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Sunday May 07, 2006 · 7:31 AM PDT

2006/05/07 · 07:31

"We lurch from near disaster to near disaster," said James Monnier Simon Jr., the assistant director of central intelligence for administration from 1999 to 2003. John MacGaffin, a 31-year C.I.A. veteran and a senior White House counterterrorism consultant, warned recently that "the national counterterrorism effort more closely resembles kids' soccer than professional football."

This quote from today's NY Times piece got me to pondering how the America people, most of its industries, and even its INTELLIGENCE agency are stuck thinking inside the box.

What is happening to the CIA, its disarray and its lack of function within its own government, is exactly what has been happening to other bloated US businesses that cannot put aside their old way of thinking in order to save themselves EXCEPT the CIA is far more critical to the country than IBM or GM. Read More

Gas Prices Finally Threaten the Ruling Class

KOTCrum

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Tuesday April 25, 2006 · 5:31 AM PDT

2006/04/25 · 05:31

High energy costs usually do not mean squat to the wealthiest 1% of Americans. Other non-factors in their lives are high health care costs, high cable rates, high food costs, high travel costs, high housing costs, and high college tuition costs. Things that drive us, the rabble, to drink.

The only reason Bush and Rove and Cheney and Frist and Hastert are finally reacting to the gasoline price issue is purely because of timing. Extremely low approval ratings plus an extremely high cost of living (led by fuel costs) in the summer before an electionseason might mean an extreme loss of House and Senate seats for the party that caters to the whims of the Ruling Class.

The price at the pump is finally becoming that the elite cannot afford to ignore because it is threatening to take away the political party that has made their New Golden Age flourish for the past 6 years.

CIA Whistleblower Gone with the Bathwater

KOTCrum

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Saturday April 22, 2006 · 5:24 AM PDT

2006/04/22 · 05:24

So, let me get this straight, my government secretly set up secret overseas prisons where it would secretly send people it suspected of aggression toward the US and then torture them in secret . . . AND the first official head to roll is that of a whistleblower?

Excuse me for being such an innocent, but this NYT account of Mary O. McCarthy's dismissal is just so emblematic of our country's descent into madness, it makes me ill.

The crime against humanity is brushed aside, filed under business as usual, while the crime of the whistleblower is pursued with great vigor. I can only imagine what other criminal policies will now flourish with current and future employees with a conscience duly chastened by this turn of events.

WANTED: Greatest Whistleblower in History

KOTCrum

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Wednesday March 15, 2006 · 2:36 PM PST

2006/03/15 · 14:36

Two-thirds of the general population disapprove of George Bush, but almost 100% of those folks feel powerless to stop him and to put the country back on track. But not everyone in our country is so powerless as the common woman or man.

There are many in the White House who must see and know the dark business afoot: invading Iraq without due cause; outing a CIA agent; knowingly signing wrongfully worded bill into law; etc. If only someone (like Andrew Card) would DO THE RIGHT THING our country would take a giant leap forward.

This woman or man would go down as the greatest whistleblower ever, an unparalleled American hero. Deep Throat would be a minor footnote to this person. But it must be someone in-the-know, and willing to place loyalty to the Constitution above loyalty to George Bush. To think that simply telling the truth could return this country to greatness.

MSM: Greenfield Takes a Bullet for Dick's Money Shot

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Tuesday February 14, 2006 · 5:56 PM PST

2006/02/14 · 17:56

Welcome to the new millenium. This is a time when a reckless Constitution defying vice president can actually shoot a man in the chest with a shotgun, neglect releasing the news for almost a full day, and then actually garner pity from a high powered media pundit.

Take a look at this flimsy crap. Greenfield duffs the "story" off on the media's and the public's over-reaction. Screw that.

Jeff Greenfield is a stone cold stooge. If anything good can come out of this 6 year old deepening national nightmare I can only hope that it is that media apologists like Greenfield and Brooks and the rest somehow lose their credibility FOREVER. Maybe ridiculous editorials like this will help accomplish this goal.

Bush Breaks Law: Top 10 List

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Tuesday January 24, 2006 · 6:58 AM PST

2006/01/24 · 06:58

Bush: ''You know, it's amazing when people say to me, 'Well, he was just breaking the law' . . . If I wanted to break the law, why was I briefing Congress?"

Excellent question Mr. President, might I offer you the Top Ten reasons? Read More

NPR: Newt's Personal Radio

KOTCrum

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Monday January 09, 2006 · 1:59 PM PST

2006/01/09 · 13:59

Rarely does a household appliance do something that makes me want to throw it out of a 2nd story window, but this morning my radio was pushing its luck. On it, and through the auspices of National Public Radio, I heard the right-wing Newt Gingrich explain to the listening public that the corruption scandals rocking the nation are the fault of big government.

Much snark-filled thanks go to longtime Republican fundraiser/current Corp. for Public Broadcasting (CPB) Chair Cheryl Halpern for her "balancing" influence. Also thanks should go to CPB Vice Chair Gay Hart Gaines who is a member of the Heritage Foundation, and who was formerly chairwoman of Newt Gingrich's GOPAC, the GOP political action committee that raised millions of dollars for the right.

If you have good impulse control, listen here. NPR is gone. The right wing has swallowed the entire mainstream media.

Democrats Doomed by Inaction

KOTCrum

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Sunday December 25, 2005 · 11:00 AM PST

2005/12/25 · 11:00

OK, don't hate me for seeing the Dem glass as half-empty, but . . .

Americans love action. The phrase "cut to the chase" strike a very deep chord here in the USA. From John Wayne to Teddy Roosevelt to General Patton to folks who uttered "let's roll" as they disrupted that 9/11 flight over western Pennsylvania--Americans are drawn to pro-active behavior like moths to flames.

And unfortunately for so many of us who hang our hopes on the Democratic party, it is the Republicans who are the party of action. We thoughtful Democrats, while often correct, right, spot-on, etc., are left scratching our heads while themes, actions, and supporters head on down the road leaving us to worry about analysis and statistics. Read More

Bill Clinton: Rebuild New Orleans Green

KOTCrum

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Saturday December 10, 2005 · 4:29 AM PST

2005/12/10 · 04:29

What brilliant concepts: 1) Give Gulf Coast people hope, 2) Send the right environmental message to the country and the world, 3) Be a leader!

Bill Clinton at Montreal climate talks: "In America, there's no telling how many jobs we could create if we just made the decision that in the rebuilding of New Orleans it would become America's first green city."

Full Reuters article here.

The Torture Channel: Why Not?

KOTCrum

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Wednesday December 07, 2005 · 6:31 PM PST

2005/12/07 · 18:31

Since the US government is condoning it. And major news organizations seem to turn a blind eye to it. What is to stop some enterprising cable channel mover-and-shaker from turning torture into a real money maker?? The torture business is a ripe fruit waiting to be plucked.

Look at the runaway success of shows like "Cops" and the various permutations of reality TV! It only makes sense to capitalize on the growing popularity of torture! Motivation + capital + opportunity = P-r-o-f-i-t. Just ask Rupert Murdoch!

(End of snarking) If government and the media are so slack as to allow torture to become part of everyday life, what cultural checks exist to stop it? Please clue me in.

WH Attacks Murtha & Darwin & The Environment

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Friday November 18, 2005 · 5:22 AM PST

2005/11/18 · 05:22

The Bush/Cheney Enemies List grows every day: Evolutionists, Pacifists, Advocates for the Poor, Environmentalists, Civil Libertarians, The United Nations, Universal Healthcare Advocates, any Oil-Rich Nation of Strategic Importance With Flimsy Links to Terrorism, and Anyone Who Doubts The Administration.

Darwin and the Environment can't actively fight back against the Administration but Murtha and his hysterical band of zealots (60-70% of the American people) can fight back.

The White House declared war against reasonable people yesterday and it is time for reasonable people to fight back. Contact your representatives today.

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