March 23, 2016

Let's clear this up: SANDERS WON TONIGHT!

NYT projected Sanders win in Utah: 74%
NYT projected Sanders win in Idaho: 78%
NYT projected Clinton win in AZ: 59%

So he won 2 of 3 states by very big margins. If you break this down, giving the candidates approximate shares of the available pledged delegates, based on their % of votes, you get this:

Sanders: Utah 25 delegates
Sanders: Idaho 18 delegates
Sanders: AZ 30 delegates

Sanders total: 73 delegates

Clinton: Utah 8 delegates
Clinton: Idaho 5 delegates
Clinton: AZ 44 delegates

Clinton total: 57 delegates

NET TO SANDERS: 16 delegates

Sanders won 2 of 3 states and 16 more delegates overall than Clinton. SANDERS WON!

March 16, 2016

A "Seabiscuit" campaign that all can admire (Sanders)

I think most people know about that amazing racehorse, Seabiscuit, awkward and knock-kneed as a colt, not expected to win anything. For our youngsters and those who haven't seen the movies:

Seabiscuit lost his first 17 races, and when he started winning (under a new trainer, Tom Smith) did so (won or placed) under heavy handicap weights. Seabiscuit had many up's and down's before he finally faced "the seemingly invincible War Admiral" in the "Match of the Century." Way against the odds, Seabiscuit won that race, becoming the inspiration to millions of people suffering in the Great Depression.

Seabiscuit suffered further up's and down's, including a serious injury, and a grave injury (smashed leg) to his jockey (Red Pollard). Then, in the most surprising comeback in racing history, Seabiscuit (with Pollard riding) won the Santa Anita handicap, in 1940. As wiki says:

Seabiscuit is the Horatio Alger hero of the turf, the horse that came up from nothing on his own courage and will to win.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seabiscuit

And for those who don't know who Horatio Alger is...suffice it to say that Americans (and probably all humans) love an underdog!

I wrote the following early this morning in response to liberalmike27's OP, here (comment #30):

http://www.democraticunderground.com/12511504606

It kind of got buried in the comments there, so I posted it in the Bernie Sanders forum and now I'm posting it in GD: Primaries, because I think it's of general interest to all Democrats and progressives, to anyone interested in politics and to anyone interested in the issues that Sanders has raised, whatever your politics and even if you're non-political. I think it might be of interest to the Clinton supporters, in particular, to help you understand why we persist against the odds.

I think that the Bernie Sanders campaign is the most important event in modern U.S. political history, whether or not Sanders wins the Democratic nomination.

My comment to liberalmike27 was mostly about the HANDICAPS that the Bernie Sanders campaign has had on its back all along, now even more so. I stumbled upon the "Seabiscuit" analogy half way through this comment.

liberalmike27
http://www.democraticunderground.com/12511504606

30. "truth is, last night wasn't too bad" --I totally agree.

But--viewing this as a 'horse race' (which is a narrow way to look at it)--we need to factor in the ENORMOUS HANDICAPS that have been imposed on the Bernie Sanders campaign from the beginning, from the outside. These include:

--the current Clinton/Corporate narrative that "it's over"
--the past Clinton/Corporate narratives that it was "over" at each marker on the racecourse
--the beginning Clinton/Corporate narrative that our 'Seabiscuit' never had a chance
--the cumulative impact of all of these narratives: NO COVERAGE
--the heavily imposed Corporate narrative that it's a 'horse race' and NOT ABOUT IDEAS
--the brainwashing and heavy dumbing down of the American electorate
--the shocking 99% coverage handed to Trump vs a campaign of IDEAS (Sanders)--TWO insurgent campaigns, one gets 24/7 coverage, the other gets, oh, 0.01% grudging notice after huge wins

--the Democratic National Committee's incredibly unfair bias toward Clinton
--the existing system of pay-to-play that puts almost all Dem elected officials in debt to Clinton/DNC
--all Dem elected officials (& most candidates) dependent on corporate/billionaire $ (unlike Sanders who rejects it)
--almost all Dem party officials & leaders part of the pay-to-play system
--labor unions decimated by Reagan junta; almost all labor union upper-mucks now 'players'
--erosion (almost disappearance) of Dem party principles: pro-workers, pro-poor, etc.
--in general, the simply gargantuan power of Wall Street, banksters, transglobal corps, MIC privateers, consolidated Corp media, et al, and foreign influences (the Saudis, other $$ investors)

--the frontload of rightwing states in the primaries (handed Clinton a winning 'narrative'--in truth a hollow one--going into the swing states; Sanders early wins and ties--a remarkable showing--swamped when Dixiecrats hit the Corporate airwaves).

And one self-imposed handicap: no superpacs, no Corp or billionaire money (This handicap is the core of the Sanders campaign, but it is nevertheless a handicap for operating in this atmosphere--for one thing, it doubles-down the determination of all of the above to kill Sanders' ideas and stop his campaign).

Personally, I would add this handicap: The privatized vote counting system (since 2004), with 'TRADE SECRET' code in all of our voting systems, nationwide, owned and controlled by a handful of private corporations (the biggest one, ES&S/Diebold with far rightwing connections) and no auditing in half the states and inadequate auditing in the other half. Who knows what they are doing? They, do, in fact, have the ability--the easy ability--to rig elections, and have probably done so (Bush '04, Congress, governors, state leg's).

NOTE ADDED LATER: Clinton supporters should be concerned about the 'TRADE SECRET' voting systems, too. The owners and funders of ES&S/Diebold are extremely rightwing (with connections to far RW 'christian' nutballs--for instance, ES&S was funded by Howard Ahmanson, who also gave one million dollars to the RW 'christian' Chalcedon foundation, which touts the death penalty for homosexuals!).

Conclusion: It is utterly amazing how well this campaign of ideas, led by the most principled and honest politician in the USA--and the best Democrat!--has done so far. Sanders is, in fact, still in the running as to the 'horse race' due to his incredible energy, the power of his ideas and the millions of people who have supported him as volunteers, donors and internet news activists. He has run a brilliant campaign and so have we. This campaign had NO chance six months ago. Now it has a chance, as to the 'horse race,' with March 15 behind us, and blue skies ahead.


But we need to be aware--very aware--of the handicaps we are operating under. They will probably intensify. I'm a Californian and, believe me, our state party is now a Corporate Democratic Party like all the rest. And that includes Gov. Jerry Brown. We are a socially liberal state but our Establishment is as bad as any of them on the most important matters: income inequality and filthy campaign $$ (and all its ills--lobbying, revolving door, rule by the uber-rich, etc.). I'm not saying Sanders can't win here--I think he can--but it won't be an easy ride.

ONE MORE TIME: This is a campaign of IDEAS, not a 'horse race'--or not only a 'horse race.' That is why Sanders is in it to the Convention, and, as to ideas, beyond the Convention. He has sparked a revolution--and we have sparked a revolution--that has the power to transform the Democratic Party into the party of the people once again, and to transform our country back into a democracy, which it has not been for some time now. We have only the vestiges of a hollowed out, rigged, and now Corporate-run democratic system to work with. Consider this to be the FIRST massive effort to change it from within. An amazing accomplishment, truly. And remember...SEABISCUIT! (Americans love an underdog!)

March 16, 2016

Our "Seabiscuit" campaign for Bernie Sanders

I think most people know about that amazing racehorse, Seabiscuit, awkward and knock-kneed as a colt, not expected to win anything. For our youngsters and those who haven't seen the movies:

Seabiscuit lost his first 17 races, and when he started winning (under a new trainer, Tom Smith) did so (won or placed) under heavy handicap weights. Seabiscuit had many up's and down's before he finally faced "the seemingly invincible War Admiral" in the "Match of the Century." Way against the odds, Seabiscuit won that race, becoming the inspiration to millions of people suffering in the Great Depression.

Seabiscuit suffered further up's and down's, including a serious injury, and a grave injury (smashed leg) to his jockey (Red Pollard). Then, in the most surprising comeback in racing history, Seabiscuit (with Pollard riding) won the Santa Anita handicap, in 1940. As wiki says:

Seabiscuit is the Horatio Alger hero of the turf, the horse that came up from nothing on his own courage and will to win.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seabiscuit

And for those who don't know who Horatio Alger is...suffice it to say that Americans (and probably all humans) love an underdog!

I wrote the following early this morning in response to liberalmike27's OP, here (comment #30):

http://www.democraticunderground.com/12511504606

It kind of got buried in the comments there, so I'm posting it here, first of all for Bernie Sanders forum members. Later I'll post it in GD: Primaries. This is my first post in this forum, though I've been a Sanders supporter from the beginning. I'm even more of a Sanders supporter now (if that is possible). I think that the Bernie Sanders campaign is the most important event in modern U.S. political history.

My comment was mostly about the HANDICAPS that the Bernie Sanders campaign has had on its back all along, now even more so. I stumbled upon the "Seabiscuit" analogy half way through this comment.

-----------------------------

30. "truth is, last night wasn't too bad" --I totally agree.

But--viewing this as a 'horse race' (which is a narrow way to look at it)--we need to factor in the ENORMOUS HANDICAPS that have been imposed on the Bernie Sanders campaign from the beginning, from the outside. These include:

--the current Clinton/Corporate narrative that "it's over"
--the past Clinton/Corporate narratives that it was "over" at each marker on the racecourse
--the beginning Clinton/Corporate narrative that our 'Seabiscuit' never had a chance
--the cumulative impact of all of these narratives: NO COVERAGE
--the heavily imposed Corporate narrative that it's a 'horse race' and NOT ABOUT IDEAS
--the brainwashing and heavy dumbing down of the American electorate
--the shocking 99% coverage handed to Trump vs a campaign of IDEAS (Sanders)--TWO insurgent campaigns, one gets 24/7 coverage, the other gets, oh, 0.01% grudging notice after huge wins

--the Democratic National Committee's incredibly unfair bias toward Clinton
--the existing system of pay-to-play that puts almost all Dem elected officials in debt to Clinton/DNC
--all Dem elected officials (& most candidates) dependent on corporate/billionaire $ (unlike Sanders who rejects it)
--almost all Dem party officials & leaders part of the pay-to-play system
--labor unions decimated by Reagan junta; almost all labor union upper-mucks now 'players'
--erosion (almost disappearance) of Dem party principles: pro-workers, pro-poor, etc.
--in general, the simply gargantuan power of Wall Street, banksters, transglobal corps, MIC privateers, consolidated Corp media, et al, and foreign influences (the Saudis, other $$ investors)

--the frontload of rightwing states in the primaries (handed Clinton a winning 'narrative'--in truth a hollow one--going into the swing states; Sanders early wins and ties--a remarkable showing--swamped when Dixiecrats hit the Corporate airwaves).

And one self-imposed handicap: no superpacs, no Corp or billionaire money (This handicap is the core of the Sanders campaign, but it is nevertheless a handicap for operating in this atmosphere--for one thing, it doubles-down the determination of all of the above to kill Sanders' ideas and stop his campaign).

Personally, I would add this handicap: The privatized vote counting system (since 2004), with 'TRADE SECRET' code in all of our voting systems, nationwide, owned and controlled by a handful of private corporations (the biggest one, ES&S/Diebold with far rightwing connections) and no auditing in half the states and inadequate auditing in the other half. Who knows what they are doing? They, do, in fact, have the ability--the easy ability--to rig elections, and have probably done so (Bush '04, Congress, governors, state leg's).

Conclusion: It is utterly amazing how well this campaign of ideas, led by the most principled and honest politician in the USA--and the best Democrat!--has done so far. Sanders is, in fact, still in the running as to the 'horse race' due to his incredible energy, the power of his ideas and the millions of people who have supported him as volunteers, donors and internet news activists. He has run a brilliant campaign and so have we. This campaign had NO chance six months ago. Now it has a chance, as to the 'horse race,' with March 15 behind us, and blue skies ahead.

But we need to be aware--very aware--of the handicaps we are operating under. They will probably intensify. I'm a Californian and, believe me, our state party is now a Corporate Democratic Party like all the rest. And that includes Gov. Jerry Brown. We are a socially liberal state but our Establishment is as bad as any of them on the most important matters: income inequality and filthy campaign $$ (and all its ills--lobbying, revolving door, rule by the uber-rich, etc.). I'm not saying Sanders can't win here--I think he can--but it won't be an easy ride.

ONE MORE TIME: This is a campaign of IDEAS, not a 'horse race'--or not only a 'horse race.' That is why Sanders is in it to the Convention, and, as to ideas, beyond the Convention. He has sparked a revolution--and we have sparked a revolution--that has the power to transform the Democratic Party into the party of the people once again, and to transform our country back into a democracy, which it has not been for some time now. We have only the vestiges of a hollowed out, rigged, and now Corporate-run democratic system to work with. Consider this to be the FIRST massive effort to change it from within. An amazing accomplishment, truly. And remember...SEABISCUIT! (Americans love an underdog!)

February 23, 2016

THE most important political statement of the last 50 years!!!

Bar none. This is IT. Understand this and you understand all. It's para #1 above, and para #5 in the article. I'm repeating it here. It should be chipped into a mountainside and left for posterity.

"...Democrats who bewail Citizens United so often depict corruption as a right-wing plot of which they themselves are mere victims. Not even the base buys that. Citizens United arrived in 2010. Pay-to-play politics took off in the mid-’70s, right about the time the middle class stopped getting raises. The sad truth is elite Democrats like the current system a lot. Here’s a well-guarded secret: They even see a lot to like in Citizens United." --Bill Curry
http://www.salon.com/2016/02/23/its_the_corruption_stupid_hillarys_too_compromised_to_see_what_donald_trump_understands/

A small, telling anecdote: In the late 1970s, as the lying, scumbag, murderous, thieving, anti-democratic, fascist Reagan junta took over the country--catapulted from, um..."liberal" California--I was told something that was said by a Democratic political consultant in Sacramento at a dinner party, as advice to a close friend of mine. He said (dismissing the critically important issues of the state's and the country's majority--workers of all kinds, the chronically poor, the elderly, students already slipping into debt, most blacks still stuck in ghettoes in sunny "liberal" California, blacks and Latinos already besieged by the purposeful "war on drugs," mass imprisonment already on the uptick, masses of the mentally ill thrown out of hospitals onto the streets, numerous Vietnam vets living on the streets unable to cope, et al): "Now's the time to make money."

And that is what our Democratic leaders here in California proceeded to do. They have become Corporatists. Oh, they talk a good line on some social issues, but it's mostly cover for massive 1%er looting. Students now crippled with debt--our once FREE university and state college system destroyed. Workers, the poor, the black, the brown, worse off than ever before. California's prisons so bad a Federal judge had to intervene. And on and on. All done with big majority Democratic state legislatures bending over for Puke governors and a few Corporate Democrats like Davis and Brown.

All bought and paid for by Corporate and billionaire money.

The capper for me was their abject bend-over for 'TRADE SECRET' vote 'counting' in 2003, as the re-s/election of the Bush junta was approaching, and their absolutely disgusting abandonment of our secretary of state, Kevin Shelley, who was going after Diebold. Every election in this state and across the country has been suspect since then, and you better believe that a whole lot of them have been rigged, including the anti-gay prop that 'won' in California. The biggest e-voting corporation, ES&S--which bought out Diebold--was initially funded by far rightwing, nutball 'christian,' billionaire Howard Ahmanson, who also gave one million dollars to the nutball 'christian' Chalcedon foundation which touts the death penalty for homosexuals!

California led the way in privatizing the very 'counting' of our votes!

Yep, that political consultant was right. It was time for up and coming young Democratic leaders to get rich, to be bought and to leave the 'little people' behind. A FEW women, Latinos, blacks, gays got elevated and enriched and empowered as the front line protecting the uber-rich. The rest of us were abandoned by the California Democratic Party, which also got rid of the CDC--the activist, people-run wing of the party, by which I was drawn in, as a volunteer at age 16, in 1960 (helped elect JFK and the original Gov. Edmund G. Brown, a true populist).

This is Clintonism. It is rife in the California Democratic Party, and Bernie supporters and the Bernie campaign need to be very aware of this "firewall" against a true populist winning the primary here. We will see hundreds of bought-and-paid-for Democratic leaders endorsing Clinton. We will see lies and slander like you've never seen before--like our own Democratic leaders, in collusion with the Corporate Media, did to Kevin Shelley. Their personal wads of wealth are at stake. Their power is at stake. Their futures as lobbyists and Corporate employees are at stake.

And, in the end, we may well see one more 'TRADE SECRET' code s/election. Maybe this one will bring the 'TRADE SECRET' code into the light of day. We need to do far more than elect a true populist. We need to stop the privatization of our democracy itself.

This cannot be quoted often enough:

"...Democrats who bewail Citizens United so often depict corruption as a right-wing plot of which they themselves are mere victims. Not even the base buys that. Citizens United arrived in 2010. Pay-to-play politics took off in the mid-’70s, right about the time the middle class stopped getting raises. The sad truth is elite Democrats like the current system a lot. Here’s a well-guarded secret: They even see a lot to like in Citizens United." --Bill Curry
http://www.salon.com/2016/02/23/its_the_corruption_stupid_hillarys_too_compromised_to_see_what_donald_trump_understands/

Thank you, Bill Curry! And thank you, WillyT for posting it!

April 28, 2015

40+ years of this...

40+ frigging years of this sick, sick, sick, sick, filthily corrupt, murderous, geocidal, genocidal U.S. war on people, animals and plants!

This is the very paradigm of corporate rule--that good people could not--and still can't--stop this. It has NOTHING TO DO with illicit drugs. It never has had anything to do with illicit drugs! It has everything to do with corporate 0.01% 'investors' selling massive amounts of poisons and weaponry to 'our' government--at a cost of trillions of our tax dollars--for the purpose of killing, poisoning and subjugating other people, not to mention ourselves.

When are we going to get this through our heads--that the INTENT of the U.S. "war on drugs" has been to drive 5 million peasant farmers from their lands in Colombia, as prep for "free trade for the rich"?

We are living in an "Alice in Wonderland" world--inside out, upside down and backwards! With the corrupt, murderous, failed, 40+ year U.S. "war on drugs," the cocaine and other lethal drugs just keep on flowing into our inner cities where 50% unemployment, rotten schools, and hopelessness drive young people to trade in drugs, which in turn feeds the profits of the "prison-industrial" complex--and, not incidentally, strikes millions of black voters off the voting rolls--and fosters murderous cops, who get off on breaking young black men's necks by giving them a "rough ride" to jail--ANY young black men, drug traffickers or not, guilty of minor 'crimes' like selling cigarettes on the sidewalk, or not, guilty of something--anything!--or completely innocent. The corrupt, murderous, failed U.S. "war on drugs" is directly responsible for creating such cops.

Funny that most of the cocaine comes from a U.S. ally, Colombia--headed, until recently, by a Bush-installed 'president' with close ties to drug trafficking and rightwing death squads--and is routed through Honduras, where the U.S. State Department installed a fascist regime. Not funny. Odd. Telling. And supremely ironical.

The coca leaf itself is an innocent leaf, used for thousands of years by indigenous people as a mild, coffee-like stimulant. That it gets transformed into cocaine is the RESULT of the U.S. "war on drugs." The result! Drug cartels, banksters and others (the Miami mafia and its politicians, police and military forces and their 'contractors,' and the CIA, the Bush cartel, the DEA, the FBI, et al, if the truth were known) CREATE the profit with the illegality. This is why the Bush-approved former Colombian 'president,' Alvaro Uribe--with close ties to drug trafficking and rightwing death squads from the beginning of his career--OPPOSES the legalization of drugs. The cartels have been making huge profits off the illegality, which creates a vast field for corruption all the way to Wall Street and the agencies of the U.S. government.

Nothing whatever to do with stopping illicit drugs. All to do with profits, including Monsanto's profit in poisoning peasant farmers, their children, and their animals, and driving them from their lands.

November 25, 2013

Venezuelan gov't has been using "decree powers" for half a century!

Some interesting remarks by Claudio Salerna, the lead climate negotiator for Venezuela at the U.N. climate summit (COP 19) in Warsaw. The interview is mostly about the walkout of virtually all developing countries at the climate summit, to protest the developed nations' refusal to address climate change with any seriousness as to emissions controls or compensation to those who are NOT contributing to climate change but who are being battered by it (an issue called "loss and damage&quot , such as the Philippines, recently.

Amy Goodman then asks this:

AMY GOODMAN: Let me ask you something that just happened in your country while you’re here in Warsaw, Poland, at the U.N. climate summit. Lawmakers, the Venezuelan Congress, has just granted President Maduro the ability to rule by decree for the next year. This has alarmed many inside and outside Venezuela. That means he doesn’t need congressional assent.

CLAUDIA SALERNO: It’s not the first time that happened in Venezuela. Venezuela has a long tradition of, what it is called, I believe, habilitative laws to previous presidents, when you have certain circumstances that needs special handling of—or more rapidity in the way decisions are made. We have the majority in the Congress, so, in principle, it would not be a problem for us as politicians to get whatever law we want in the Congress, because we have the majority. But it’s a special needs that the particular economical situation we are having that needs actually more speed-up actions in certain specific rule. It’s not an open law. It’s actually driven to stop corrupcy and to fight—

AMY GOODMAN: Corruption.

CLAUDIA SALERNO: —strongly against corruption, yes.

AMY GOODMAN: Since you were talking about democracy, when it comes to the social movements directing the ministers, especially if you have the majority in the Congress, why he would need these extra powers? Even though, I understand, President Chávez ruled by decree a number of times during his terms.

CLAUDIA SALERNO: And previous presidents, as well, in different moments, since the '50s, I think. It was the first habilitative law that came upon. In principle, he didn't need it. But we need to fight rapidly against that, because the situation is quite critical. And the president is ready to go and to make justice in whoever is doing the wrong things. So he didn’t want it to be in a situation in which, for example, certain—even part of our own process were going to try to protect themselves in their own roles as—in different political situations. So, president is really, really determined to fight against whoever falls, he said—needs to fall. He will not be flexible in that.

http://www.democracynow.org/2013/11/20/as_poor_countries_walk_out_of
Found at: http://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/10179
(my emphasis)

This is what the corpo-fascist news monopolies and their rightwing echo chamber here DON'T tell you about "enabling laws" or "rule by decree." It is a COMMON PRACTICE in Venezuela, and has been for many decades, for the National Assembly--an ELECTED body-- to VOTE certain time-limited and issue-limited powers to the president, to address some immediate need or crisis. For instance, Chavez was granted decree powers to deal with catastrophic floods that buried a whole town.

In addition--not mentioned in this interview--"decree powers" are used similarly in OTHER Latin American countries. For instance, the president of Brazil used "rule by decree" to preserve an uncontacted tribe in the Amazon.

It is such shit that this is evidence of tyranny! It is NORMAL governance in these countries. And both countries are very democratic.

The practice of legislatures granting limited "powers of decree" is somewhat similar to "declarations of emergency" by state governors in the U.S.--situations which require flexibility as to moving funds or activating agencies--though this process is used to deal with more issues in LatAm than natural disasters.

The problem that the National Assembly asked Maduro to address is economic sabotage by rightwing/fascist businessmen and corruption of several kinds, including internal corruption by chavistas. Salerno's difficulties with English (or the translator's--not sure which) make this point difficult to suss out, in the interview. But basically, as I understand her, she's saying that "heads are going to roll" and Maduro is going to show no favoritism to chavistas, on corruption issues.

This is a GOOD THING, it seems to me. Maduro has started off by putting a cap on prices of imported goods, to begin controlling inflation. We'll see how this and other measures work out. My point is that "rule by decree" is LEGAL, CONSTITUTIONAL and VOTED ON, and it is LIMITED as to time and project or issue, in Venezuela and other LatAm countries. There is nothing unusual about it and it is NOT "dictatorial."

November 13, 2013

Sorry, Venezuela haters...

Sorry, Venezuela Haters: This Economy Is Not the Greece of Latin America
by Mark Weisbrot 11/8/13
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/nov/07/venezuela-not-greece-latin-america-oil-poverty
found at: http://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/10155

Document Evidences Destabilization Plan Against Venezuela
by Eva Golinger 11/8/13
http://www.chavezcode.com/2013/11/document-evidences-destabilization-plan.html
found at: http://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/10152

These two articles are like the two sides of a coin--the front side (Weisbrot's article) reveals stats that contradict the disinformation about Venezuela's economy that never stops in the corpo-fascist press; the backside (Golinger's article) reveals the plans of fascist operatives (including mafia don Alvaro Uribe, Bush Jr.'s man in Colombia), psyops firm JJ Rendon (remember them?), Venezuela's 'Mad Tea Party" and the USAID/CIA to destabilize Venezuela's economy and overthrow the Chavez/Maduro government.

We need to understand things like this (from the conclusion of Weisbrot's article)...

"...the poverty rate dropped by 20% in Venezuela last year – almost certainly the largest decline in poverty in the Americas for 2012, and one of the largest – if not the largest – in the world. The numbers are available on the website of the World Bank, but almost no journalists have made the arduous journey through cyberspace to find and report them. Ask them why they missed it." --Weisbrot (my emphasis)

...in the context of things like this (from Golinger's article about “The Strategic Venezuelan Plan" devised by those mentioned above):

"The document ... details the strategy to sabotage the electrical system in Venezuela, with the objective of blaming the government for a weak infrastructure and therefore projecting an image of crisis in Venezuela on an international level. As part of the plan, the authors propose, 'To maintain and increase the sabotages that affect public services, particularly the electrical system, that will enable responsibility to be placed on the government for supposed inefficiencies and negligence'." --Golinger

It is BECAUSE the poverty rate dropped by 20% in Venezuela last year--and has dropped so dramatically throughout the Chavez/Maduro era that the UN Economic Commission on Latin America and the Caribbean has designated Venezuela "THE most equal country in Latin America"--that fascist operatives like Uribe and corpo-fascist servants like the USAID/CIA are still plotting to destabilize and overthrow this socialist government.

Can't have an example of fairness to the poor in the world, especially one with fairness to the poor CREATED BY the poor majority itself, by their grassroots activism, voter turnouts and devotion to democracy!

Bad example to the rest of us that fairness CAN BE achieved by ordinary people if they stick together, organize, educate themselves and believe in themselves as citizens and vital actors in a democratic system.

That's anathema to the fascists, corporatists, militarists and billionaires who are oppressing us here in the U.S. and trying to oppress everyone else--steal their resources, turn them into slave labor. They have succeeded in many places. But Latin America is fighting back--in a highly successful leftist democracy movement that was inspired and pioneered by the people of Venezuela.

Can't have the poor majority thinking that THEY are important, that THEY are the "sovereign power" in a democracy, that THEY can vote themselves a "New Deal," and that THEIR elected leaders can competently run a government in THEIR interest.

Again, it is BECAUSE the Venezuelan government is SUCCESSFULLY reducing poverty and has inspired leftist movements throughout the region that it is the target of these corpo-fascist criminals, who want all the resources, all the money, and all the power unto themselves.

Golinger fingers the oil (biggest oil reserves on earth) as a particular object of greed by Venezuela's fascists and their U.S. and other funders and collaborators. But it is a "given" that U.S.-based transglobal corporations lust for oil. That's what the horrendous war on Iraq was all about. Oil is important but there is more--the need for transglobal corporations to smash self-government and local sovereignty wherever it arises but especially in countries that have lots of oil. They don't believe in self-government and sovereignty, because self-government and sovereignty interfere with their lust for resources, profit and power. They aim to smash self-government and the sovereignty of the people here and everywhere else. Venezuela is an EXAMPLE of what they DON'T WANT, and, furthermore--as Weisbrot points out--DON'T WANT US TO KNOW ABOUT.

Uribe's Colombia has one of the worst rich/poor discrepancies in Latin America--the opposite of Venezuela! It is no wonder that Uribe wants to smash Venezuela's socialist government right next door and return to power in the billionaires' 'paradise' of Colombia, where five million peasant farmers have been driven from their lands and labor leaders are routinely murdered by rightwing death squads. Venezuela sets a "bad example" of what Colombia's majority might do, if it can ever throw off U.S. corporate/military/fascist control. The CIA serves these interests so it's no surprise either that they are involved in the plotting along with CIA fronts like JJ Rendon. Indeed, the CIA are the original plotters and, but for them, criminals like Uribe would have no power.

It is BECAUSE OF the successful rise of the poor majority and its anti-poverty program in Venezuela that Venezuela is being targeted--by propaganda throughout the corpo-fascist press, by sabotage and by coup plotting. It is BECAUSE the Venezuelan poor majority has taken control of their oil, and has insisted on corporate contractors paying into their social system, and has asserted Venezuelan SOVEREIGNTY, that THEIR government--a government truly 'of, by and for' the people--is so venomously hated by corpo-fascists and targeted for destruction.

Two sides of the coin: dramatic poverty-reduction; and dirty rotten plots to END poverty reduction and install 1%-er control of Venezuela and everywhere else on earth.

October 21, 2013

Contrary to the opinion of our RW poster, above, it is a brilliant article...

...and we need many more like it, exposing the disinformation and sneering "neo-liberal" propaganda of the Econo-myst and all of its Associated Pukes brethren (the entirety of the corpo-fascist press).

The article, by William Black, quotes extensively from the Econo-myst.

Here is one example of William Black's analysis. First he quotes the Econo-myst:

"Mr Correa is popular, thanks to an economic boom engineered by higher public spending, paid for by raising oil royalties and Chinese loans."

So much bile and misleading innuendo in a single sentence! Note that when The Economist praises Texas and other states with Republican governors that have benefited from surging energy prices it has never dismissed their accomplishments as the products of increased oil prices. Does The Economist deny that Correa should be praised for raising oil royalties? No, this is simply innuendo designed to imply that something virtually everyone believes was desirable and successful is somehow suspect. Is The Economist claiming that nations should not borrow from China? No. Is it claiming that Ecuador is paying an excessive rate of interest to China? No. Is (the Economist) claiming that Ecuador's foreign debt under Correa has grown to dangerous levels? No. The CIA states that Ecuador has one of the lowest pubic debt ratios in the world. Of the 155 total nations for which the CIA reports data on public debt, 125 nations have higher ratios of debt than Ecuador. In fact, The Economist is not making any substantive attack on Correa's actions in raising oil royalties or on Ecuador borrowing from China. Instead, it has deliberately engaged in clumsy innuendo because it has no substantive argument. --from the OP (my emphasis)

I was particularly impressed with Black's understanding of the oil/environment swap that President Correa offered to wealthy nations--that tiny, poor Ecuador could preserve this oil-rich region from drilling if the wealthy nations, who are causing the great bulk of environmental damage worldwide, would pay them to preserve it.

Black has fingered THE most sensitive issue for the Left in the modern era: the economy vs. the environment. And he brilliantly explains this excruciating and tragic dilemma, for which there seems to be NO solution--yet Correa came up with a solution, which was rejected by the wealthy, heavily polluting countries of the world (including our own).

This article is not only well worth reading, it is well worth thinking about in depth. How do we solve this problem of the economy/development vs. the environment/life on earth? ESPECIALLY in a region--Latin America--with so much poverty?

We should APPLAUD the use of a resource--such as oil--to help the poor, to provide education and health care, and good jobs and pensions for the elderly, and new school buildings and roads, and so on. This is what Leftists are doing in the Latin American countries that have honest, transparent election systems and thus leaders who are truly "of, by and for" the People: They are using the oil, for instance, in the best way possible for the benefit of all.

Yet, yet, yet, we KNOW that global warming is caused mostly by the burning of fossil fuels, that this is KILLING the planet, and that we MUST convert to non-polluting energy.

Don't expect the Econo-Myst, nor its Associated Pukes brethren, to help solve this problem. THEIR goal is to get that oil wealth back into the pockets of the 1%. They are cynical purveyors of CRAPASS LIES on behalf of the uber-rich. They are JERKS.

Mr. Black brilliantly exposes them!

Now just imagine if this kind of analysis was the norm in our newspapers, news magazines and TV/radio media, rather than virtually non-existent. INTELLIGENT analysis, from the perspective of THE PEOPLE, discussing tragic economic/environmental dilemmas--of which there are many--and examining proposed solutions.

We would have a quite wonderful revolution. And we would start solving problems!

October 10, 2013

This may explain the "Mad Tea Party" insanity in Washington DC...

...I mean, besides ES&S/Diebold--a corporation with far rightwing connections that would make your hair stand on end--controlling 75% of the vote 'counting' in the U.S., using 'TRADE SECRET' code (code that the public is forbidden to review), and with half the states doing NO AUDIT AT ALL (automatic check of machine totals against ballots) and the other half doing only a miserably inadequate 1% audit.

Besides THAT, the 1% have weighed their lifespans against their vast riches, and figured they can ride out the death of planet earth, living lives of luxury, while the rest of us fry and drown, and what do they care? Predatory capitalism produces these sorts of royal fascist billionaires, with egos the size of Jupiter, who DON'T CARE about the future, DON'T CARE about humanity, DON'T CARE about the poor majority, DON'T CARE about other critters, DON'T CARE about society, from which they are insulated by their vast riches, and DON'T EVEN CARE about their own children and grandchildren. Sociopaths.

And they now control our government, which is why our government is WASTING TIME and MONOPOLIZING all political discussion with this PHONY DEBT CRISIS, while the planet burns!

Deep down, these 1%-er sociopaths are PANICKED but, being who they are, they manifest their panic by GREED. They want ALL THE MONEY NOW, to purchase, stock and secure their insulated "biospheres" and whatever they think will need, or will need to control, as the planetary meltdown gets worse. And they have seized control of the political discussion, and have put THEIR office holders in place, through various and multiple means (of which ES&S/Diebold is the latest and, I think, final blow to our democracy), to prevent even "trickle down," insurance-corporation-run helps to the poor like Obamacare (which includes subsidies to the very poor who can't afford even minimum health insurance). They want ALL THE MONEY. Get it?

This "Mad Tea Party" so-called debt crisis is as insane as anything Lewis Carroll thought up. The pity is that it appears to serve Democratic leaders as well, who get to bloviate against this truly treasonous outrage and get everybody to think that Obamacare must be great because the "Mad Tea Party" hates it so much. But it's really and mainly the greatest boon to the insurance corporation 1%-ers ever, forcing all the millions of uninsured to now pay insurance premiums!

What SHOULD HAVE HAPPENED is extending Medicare to all, or some other form of single-payer health care, along with vast reforms of for-profit medical care.

WHAT SHOULD BE HAPPENING--if our democracy had not been hijacked by these sociopaths--is REFORM in all spheres--BIG reforms, such as the total elimination of private money, and especially corporate money, from political campaigns; a new "Fairness Doctrine" to beat corporations into providing REAL journalism; vast and deep investigations into the war profiteers; serious questioning of the Forever War and the maintenance of a standing military; busting up of all monopolies--the banksters, the media, the Wall Street fraudsters, the crap food chains, the Chinese-manufactured crap product stores; punishment of the outsourcers of jobs; restoring a progressive tax system, and so much more. So many reforms desperately needed--perhaps the biggest one of all, and the most desperately needed: vast reform of U.S. environmental policy!

Do you see ANY of this being done? Do you see ANY of these even being talked about?

NO! They're all talking about a NON-EXISTENT "debt crisis." You know what? If we had just a few of the above reforms, there would be no debt. The debt has been created by the 1%-er sociopaths not paying their fair share toward the common good and hijacking our government and our military to their purposes--for instance, controlling the world's oil--and by a system of outrageously corrupt private contracting and lobbying. THEY created the debt! And now they're USING the debt to create an ENTIRELY PHONY 'discussion' and raging 'crisis' to mask their greed--while the planet burns!

What we need to ask is HOW DO THESE 'MAD TEA PARTY' AGENTS OF THE UBER-RICH even get a forum in our country, let alone the power to shut down our government? And how do our allegedly elected Democratic leaders play along, and why? I say "allegedly" because not one of them--NOT ONE!--can prove that he or she was actually elected. Maybe some of them were. I think Obama was. But I don't know--and NOBODY knows--for sure, except the far rightwing executives at ES&S/Diebold and the programmers in their basement.

That is the situation--as our people are plagued with increasing poverty, our "Commons" is destroyed, our democracy is OBVIOUSLY not working--and the planet burns!

The 1%-er sociopaths are panicked--and that panic may be spreading to others, for instance, to the nutcases with assault rifles shooting up nursery schools and movie theaters and workplaces and bombing sporting events. CRAZINESS!

THAT doesn't even get talked about, in any real way. WTF is wrong with us?

Understand this. This "debt crisis" is completely phony. It doesn't exist. We have debt, yes--which is EASILY handled by common sense policies. We do NOT have a "debt crisis." It is an INVENTED PLOY by the uber rich to disguise their greed--just like their phony bullshit about the U.S. Post Office or Social Security. That is the reality. But we are having a hard time, as a people, dealing with reality these days. An awful lot of our people have just hunkered down, in complete bewilderment at this madness, and have gone "head in the sand" (I hear this at work--people bragging that "I don't vote&quot and are focusing on survival, for themselves and their families. They've GIVEN UP participating because nothing makes sense to them. They are right about nothing making sense, but of course wrong about choosing the easy way out--ignoring it all.

The 'Mad Tea Party' has been unleashed on our land. We need to climb out of the "rabbit hole" and look around at the real world and re-establish common sense--for instance, if you have a far rightwing corporation tabulating most of the votes with 'TRADE SECRET' code, you are NOT going to get adequate, or even sensible, representation--let alone GOOD representation--by your office-holders. You are going to get 'mad hatters' acting for uber rich sociopaths, to your great peril and the peril of the country--and, given the REAL crisis of global warming that we now face--peril to all life on earth.

September 14, 2013

I wish Anonymous or somebody with media power would address the 'TRADE SECRET' voting machines...

...cuz that is,

a) how Chambliss got into office; and,

b) is how the filthy corporate/Pentagon political money system is being maintained.

That's probably how they ALL got into office, and stay in office--and that's probably also the "control" on those leaders who sometimes dissent--but, with Chambliss (vs Max Cleland, back in 2002), it may be provable, and another election that should be looked into and exposed is the first Senate election of current Sec of Defense, Chuck Hagel.

Hagel was one of the founders of ES&S, which then did the 'counting' of his first Senate election.

Gawd, it is just all so blatant!

ES&S (which bought out Diebold) not only has far rightwing connections that would make your hair stand on end, it also, now, controls SEVENTY-FIVE PERCENT of U.S. voting systems, all run on 'TRADE SECRET' code--code that the public is forbidden to review--with NO AUDIT AT ALL in half the states in the U.S. and a miserably inadequate 1% audit in the other half.

As long as this is the case--as long as vote counting remains privatized, and easily--EASILY!--riggable, there is no chance in hell of getting a constitutional amendment against corporate money through any state legislature, nor by means of any voting process.

Got to start with this most basic of democratic principles: TRANSPARENT vote counting.