I want to follow up on yesterday's diary, Hey Teabaggers, the GOP just sold out US sovereignty! It was regarding the Supreme Court's decision on Citizens United v. FEC paving the way for a corporatocracy to replace our democracy.
This decision effectively erases 100 years of forward progress because now the aristocracy of the monied corporations have the unlimited power to professionally campaign against every progressive cause that we have fought for and are still fighting for. Forget health-care, climate change, living wages, public education, financial regulation because all of it goes out the window with this disgusting ruling.
Yesterday, I wanted to make the point that the paranoid Tea-baggers that have been screaming since November 4, 2008 about so-called "creeping socialism" and it's threats on freedom. While they attacked the Democrats, it was the Republicans that finally sunk in the deadly cruel blade.
Let's be frank, the corporations already control our lives via grants, sponsorships, underwriting, employment and unemployment. Unrelenting advertisements insult our intelligences and lure our children to the false happiness of materialism. Commercialism corrupts our traditions and holidays. But worst of all, the popular acceptance of anti-intellectualism corrodes the basic fabric of our society. Yet, we are still told from a young age that our democracy was sacrosanct.
The poor ignorant Tea-baggers were nothing more than useful idiot followers for the well-funded corporate organizers. They were the willing rabble for the corporate handlers.
So, who are these Tea-baggers? From casual observance they are suburban middle-aged middle-class white males that agree with the political leanings of Rush Limbaugh. But to this writer, that grew up devouring the likes of the Autobiography of Malcolm X, they are exemplified by what Malcolm X called the "House Negro".
For you see, the spokespeople of the Republican Party have already come out to praise Citizens United v FEC.
Mr. GINGRICH: Im saying that it allows you to have a middle-class candidate go out and find allies and supporters who are able to help them match the rich. And able to help them match the incumbent. Remember, incumbents run with millions of dollars in congressional staff, congressional franking, congressional travel. And they have all the advantages of being able to issue statements from their incumbent office. And the challenger - the person out there who's the citizen who's rebelling, who wants to change things - is at an enormous disadvantage in taking on incumbents.
This will, in fact, level the playing field and allow middle-class candidates to begin to have an opportunity to raise the resources to take on the powerful and the rich.
http://www.npr.org/...
Really? Seriously?
This is nothing more than sweet little lies told to the servants to soothe their anxiety because if they are good enough they can lift themselves up with their bootstraps and they will be the next Scott Brown.
Bullshit.
For the average Joe Republican voter may have just a little more than the average Democratic voter and is terrified that this little bit more will be taken out and given away as welfare to the poor. The dreaded distribution of wealth.
This reminds me of an old viral e-mail I once got about Joe Republican.
Joe gets up at 6 a.m. and fills his coffeepot with water to prepare his morning coffee. The water is clean and good because some tree-hugging liberal fought for minimum water-quality standards. With his first swallow of water, he takes his daily medication. His medications are safe to take because some stupid commie liberal fought to ensure their safety and that they work as advertised.
All but $10 of his medications are paid for by his employer's medical plan because some liberal union workers fought their employers for paid medical insurance - now Joe gets it too.
He prepares his morning breakfast, bacon and eggs. Joe's bacon is safe to eat because some girly-man liberal fought for laws to regulate the meat packing industry.
In the morning shower, Joe reaches for his shampoo. His bottle is properly labeled with each ingredient and its amount in the total contents because some crybaby liberal fought for his right to know what he was putting on his body and how much it contained.
Joe dresses, walks outside and takes a deep breath. The air he breathes is clean because some environmentalist wacko liberal fought for the laws to stop industries from polluting our air.
He walks on the government-provided sidewalk to subway station for his government-subsidized ride to work. It saves him considerable money in parking and transportation fees because some fancy-pants liberal fought for affordable public transportation, which gives everyone the opportunity to be a contributor.
Joe begins his work day. He has a good job with excellent pay, medical benefits, retirement, paid holidays and vacation because some lazy liberal union members fought and died for these working standards. Joe's employer pays these standards because Joe's employer doesn't want his employees to call the union.
If Joe is hurt on the job or becomes unemployed, he'll get a worker compensation or unemployment check because some stupid liberal didn't think he should lose his home because of his temporary misfortune.
It is noontime and Joe needs to make a bank deposit so he can pay some bills. Joe's deposit is federally insured by the FSLIC because some godless liberal wanted to protect Joe's money from unscrupulous bankers who ruined the banking system before the Great Depression.
Joe has to pay his Fannie Mae-underwritten mortgage and his below-market federal student loan because some elitist liberal decided that Joe and the government would be better off if he was educated and earned more money over his lifetime. Joe also forgets that his in addition to his federally subsidized student loans, he attended a state funded university.
Joe is home from work. He plans to visit his father this evening at his farm home in the country. He gets in his car for the drive. His car is among the safest in the world because some America-hating liberal fought for car safety standards to go along with the tax-payer funded roads.
He arrives at his boyhood home. His was the third generation to live in the house financed by Farmers' Home Administration because bankers didn't want to make rural loans.
The house didn't have electricity until some big-government liberal stuck his nose where it didn't belong and demanded rural electrification.
He is happy to see his father, who is now retired. His father lives on Social Security and a union pension because some wine-drinking, cheese-eating liberal made sure he could take care of himself so Joe wouldn't have to.
Joe gets back in his car for the ride home, and turns on a radio talk show. The radio host keeps saying that liberals are bad and conservatives are good. He doesn't mention that the beloved Republicans have fought against every protection and benefit Joe enjoys throughout his day. Joe agrees: "We don't need those big-government liberals ruining our lives! After all, I'm a self-made man who believes everyone should take care of themselves, just like I have."
http://home.comcast.net/...
But after Thursday's decision, it reminded me that we are all, in fact, corporate slaves and that some of us are field slaves (count me) and some of us are house slaves (Joe Republican).
And with that, it takes me to Malcolm X describing the House Negro.
Transcript:
"Back during slavery, when Black people like me talked to the slaves, they didn't kill 'em, they sent some old house Negro along behind him to undo what he said. You have to read the history of slavery to understand this. There were two kinds of Negroes. There was that old house Negro and the field Negro.
And the house Negro always looked out for his master. When the field Negroes got too much out of line, he held them back in check. He put 'em back on the plantation. The house Negro could afford to do that because he lived better than the field Negro. He ate better, he dressed better, and he lived in a better house. He lived right up next to his master - in the attic or the basement. He ate the same food his master ate and wore his same clothes. And he could talk just like his master - good diction. And he loved his master more than his master loved himself. That's why he didn't want his master hurt. If the master got sick, he'd say, "What's the matter, boss, we sick?" When the master's house caught afire, he'd try and put the fire out. He didn't want his master's house burned. He never wanted his master's property threatened. And he was more defensive of it than the master was.
That was the house Negro. But then you had some field Negroes, who lived in huts, had nothing to lose. They wore the worst kind of clothes. They ate the worst food. And they caught hell. They felt the sting of the lash. They hated their master. Oh yes, they did. If the master got sick, they'd pray that the master died. If the master's house caught afire, they'd pray for a strong wind to come along. This was the difference between the two.
And today you still have house Negroes and field Negroes. I'm a field Negro."
We are all corporate slaves.
I'm a field slave.