Combined arms is an approach to warfare which seeks to integrate different branches of a military to achieve mutually complementary effects...(a modern division) consists of a mixture of infantry, tank, artillery, reconnaissance, and perhaps even helicopter units, all coordinated and directed by a unified command structure.
- Wikipedia
For its class war on middle-class democracy, the 1%'s corporate media is coordinating de-regulators, privatizers, nullifiers, rhetorical well-poisoners, and political saboteurs, along with the traditional arms of reactionary counter-revolution: theocrats, racists, misogynists, and anti-intellectuals.
Here are a couple of examples of the "mutually complementary effects" of Aristocratic Combined Arms (ACA) tactics: 1) They force privatization upon governments whose tax revenues have been lowered by political saboteurs or looted by deregulated finance. 2) The re-animated, but still putrid, corpse of nullification is historically tied to Southern secessionism (i.e., racism), and is, on its face, illegal. We fought a Civil War over it, and yet the corporate media fails to inform people of the provenance of this behavior. They treat it as perfectly acceptable political tactics.
Below the orange shell burst, you will find a taxonomy of ACA.
1. The corporate propaganda machine (CPM)
American media is consolidated into six gigantic entities. It is heavily biased towards the 1% agenda. The role of the CPM is to be the gatekeeper for what topics are allowed to be discussed, and what slant/spin/bias will be given to the various sides in topics that are allowed any exposure. An excellent review can be found here.
The CPM provides high-profile, temporary jobs to extremist corporatist politicians, like Pat Buchanan, Oliver North, and Sarah Palin. Ever since Buckley vs Valeo, the CPM has collected tens of billions of dollars from campaign ads that, by the nature of financial resources, have heavily favored the 1%. These ads have been instrumental in legitimizing and electing ever more extreme rightwing fanatics. Since Reagan killed the Fairness Doctrine, the obscenely well-funded propagandist, Rush Limbaugh, has been given a huge microphone, had multiple criminal charges against him quashed, and generally been a poster boy for the CPM.
The overall effect of CPM has been to move the media from a public commons to a privatized weapon. You can think of the CPM as the reconnaissance and signal corps arms of the ACA.
2. Political saboteurs (aka Groverites)
The unifying theme of post-1980 rightwing politics has been hatred of government. The CPM has managed the cognitive dissonance of electing government officials who want to destroy the government or, euphemistically, "drown it in a bathtub" or "starve the beast". Any moron or greedy cynic willing to tow this line will get ample funding from the Koch Brothers and Pete Peterson. Nothing is sacred. House Republicans have introduced a bill to get rid of overtime pay - obvious government interfence in the marketplace.
Of course, the CPM has never had a problem with this rhetoric. The CPM never reports that the US has the lowest tax rates in the first world (and the most inequality), plus the most infrastructure crumbling from lack of investment (i.e., government spending).
Beginning with specific taxes (especially real estate), the anti-government program has become conflated with any transfer of funds from the better off to the poor. Medicare, Medicaid, Food Stamps - all are big fat targets for elimination or privatization. Of course, when the GOP are in office, you get gigantic deficits that the CPM overlooks until a Democrat gets back in.
Clarence Thomas was an early example of these internal saboteurs. Following him, the SCOTUS has been packed full of saboteurs, like John Roberts, who has demonstrated his willingness to overthrow a century of precedent. Cheney left behind "burrowers" in the civil service. Think of these troops as Navy Seals or Army Rangers - people who blow up bridges behind enemy lines.
3. Nullifiers
As mentioned, nullification has been ruled illegal several times by the SCOTUS:
In the 1950s, southern states attempted to use nullification and interposition to prevent integration of their schools. These attempts failed when the Supreme Court again rejected nullification in Cooper v. Aaron, explicitly holding that the states may not nullify federal law.
- Wikipedia
Yet, this illegal and historically pernicious tactic is suddenly being used to gum up the works in Red States. For example, it is being used for
gun laws. Meanwhile, in classic rightwing hypocrisy mode, it is being used, alongside "emergency managers" to
strip home rule from cities and towns in states like Wisconsin and Michigan. These are classic CIA suversion tactics: use the part of the government you control to wreck the part of the government you don't control.
Historically, this tactic has been associated with Southern (as opposed to Northern) racism. It is only rightwing States Rights states that can gather the votes needed for this temper tantrum. As the quote above shows, it ties in to school segregation, and its bastard child, the school privatization movement. The power of the ACA comes from this kind of seamless blending of cantakerous haters to assault the designated targets of the 1%. In reality, they are like the famous rubber dummies from The Longest Day - a lot of noise and confusion that causes distraction from the real fight.
4. Filibusteros and other refuse-niks
The 40% filibuster (shamefully allowed to stand by a pathetic Democratic Party leadership that couldn't twist an arm to save its life) is yet another way to sabotage the operation of democracy. The phony debt ceiling "crisis" is just another arm of the filibuster caucus.
The complete refusal of the GOP to hold hearings on Obama appointees, and the longstanding refusal to confirm any center to left judges, has left the government understaffed. This contributes to government problems, which are used to criticize government. Sorta like the drunken husband who smashes up the house and then complains his wife is a bad housekeeper.
The whole point here is to break the government (back again to political sabotage) - in this case, by grinding it to a halt. Again, the CPM is AWOL when it comes to reporting on this complete refusal to participate.
5. Rhetorical well-poisoners
Having ground government to a halt, any level of posturing is acceptable, because it has no electoral consequence in our gerrymandered system. In the absence of action, one's dedication to the cause is measured by the level of rhetoric deployed. Thanks to the CPM, the GOP gets a pass on Godwin's Law. So, the GOP has recently compared various ordinary political events to the Holocaust, to genocide - they have payed no price in the CPM. The result is to debase the verbal currency of politics - yet another assault on the credibility of democracy.
6. De-regulators
The strongest rhetorical assaults are directed at regulation. Witness the 1000+ question assault on the EPA nominee.
Beyond Wall St. greed, the deregulation has resulted in massive wage theft. There is across the board failure of the DoJ to prosecute any corporate crime.
The deregulators are the armored spearhead of the ACA - ripping holes in the lines of democracy for the main body of the corporte army to penetrate and destroy.
7. Privatizers
The end goal of the 1% is to own everything. To own the government. To hold the population as serfs in a nation-wide or world-wide company store (Amazon has the trademark on that; and Jeff Bezos is just the kind of creepy, scary smart, guy to run that operation.)
And, of course, they want to own the government because it still has vast revenues - can you say Social Security? Plus it has the power to grant tax exemptions, tax incentives for "investments", and "taxes on somebody else" to fund the "job creators".
To that end, the privatizers are the main body of the army. They capture and hold the ground. The looting/occupation has progressed the farthest in the realm of education. While readers of this blog may know about the lies of Michelle Rhee, and the sweetheart tax incentives for hedge fund billionaires to "invest" in charter schools, thanks to the CPM, the majority of Americans don't. Just FYI, the World Bank is cramming education privatization down the throats of its clients, just like it used to do with "free trade"; and the Bradley Foundation is up to its eyeballs privatizing Wisconsin's education system.
It is also quite far along in the prison system, despite the massive incentives for corruption, and the hideous consequences for democracy.
The Strategic Goal of the ACA army:
It only takes one side to start a fight, and the 1% started fighting 40 years ago. They have by and large achieved all their goals within the current political system. They own all the media, all the political parties. Their lobbyists actually write the legislation, such as the H1-B part of the new immigration bill - written by IT company lawyers. The end result has been a dismembering of America.
They are now moving on their final goal, replacing the current political system. To our peril, most of the electorate is clueless about the extreme and immediate danger of the situation.
The final goal is a privatized world government. That is already being negotiated, in secret among the corporate elites. Two "trade agreements" (that sound more like the Constitution for corporate world government) are being negotiated in secret, and will be fast tracked through Congress to Obama's desk. The two agreements cover Europe and Asia (the infamous Trans Pacific Partnership).
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There is a complete lack of coordination on the left, which resembles isolated, rag tag bands of defeated soldiers cowering under the bombardment of a modern, well-equipped, well-supplied army. At best, we are strictly a guerilla operation. All that is saving us is infighting amongst the 1% - the Tea Partiers/theocrats vs the Corporatists, and the need to change the law to permit the next outrage.
With every rotten appointment and wretched trade agreement by Obama, (Penny Pritzger and Mary Jo White are just the latest in a long line of Wall St. insiders and corporate power brokers) the Democratic Party loses more credibility as an opponent of corporatism. The early flogging of Hillary, yet another career corporatist, is just more of the same. A lot of independents are ready to say "shoot me now" and vote GOP, instead of continuting the overlong charade that this country is still a democracy. Of course, if the TPP and the EU agreement go through, it will all be over.
I have no hope, but I did want to chronicle the situation just to point out just how well coordinated the enemies of democracy are. Writing letters and attending peaceful marches aren't going to stop this corporate juggernaut.