FDR pegged it- exactly what we are suffering under now-

[Bluerthanblue]

A 'free-market' economy is ok, but it does have its limits-
And they've been breached -

"The liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to the point where it becomes stronger than the democratic state itself. That in its essence is fascism — ownership of government by an individual, by a group or any controlling private power.": President Franklin D. Roosevelt

[Cooley Hurd]

1. K&R for FDR!

[MannyGoldstein]

2. FDR: The Clinton of the 20th Century!!! K&R!!!

(Just kidding about FDR and either Clinton - they have zero in common)

Actually, when the Democratic party swung far to the Right in the 1920s (like today), FDR was considered a left-wing kook (like Feingold or Conyers today). When the Communist party started to suddenly take lots of votes from the Democrats, they shoved Roosevelt into the presidential candidacy only to stop the vote loss.

The rest is history. Very good history.

[Bluerthanblue]

3. when I stumbled

on this quote, I was dumbfounded- All who cry "this isn't fascism"- are in denial- with corporate 'personhood' FDR's observation is as true as true could be-

Thanks for the K's & R's - his words are worth hearing- wisdom always is, even when it hurts.

[hvn_nbr_2]

4. That's why the neocons do all the "incompetent" things they do...

that destroy the USA and the U.S. government:

-bankrupting the federal government
-Brownie-izing FEMA
-drowning the govt in a bathtub
-stretching the military to the breaking point
-tearing up the constitution
-neutering EPA and environmental laws

The U.S. government is one of the few, and the strongest of the few, entities in the world with sufficient power to rein in corporate power. When they succeed in destroying the USA, nothing else will stand in the way of complete corporate control of the world. It will be like medieval feudalism, with lords of the manors replaced by lords of the corporations, and everyone else is either serfs, knights in service of the corporations, or priests.

I've been intending to do a more complete write-up of this idea but just been too busy to do it.

[Raster]

5. Let's not forget that the pig fucker that coined the phrase about getting

the government "...so small we can drown it in a bathtub..." was Grover Norquist, intimate of Abramoff and Ralph "Satan" Reed. Norquist is as dirty and hypocritical as they come. Another that elevated bribery and extortion to an art form. Norquist belongs in a prison. Abramoff, Reed, Norquist and the rest of their ilk weren't trying to bankrupt the government, they wanted to steal it blind, and they've made a damned good attempt at it.

And I so agree. The "incompetence" bullshit is just that. Bullshit. A smokescreen for their true nefarious intentions. The US Government is already in the hands of corporate masters. bushco*/cheney is the culmination of many years of money and effort to put a corporate puppet in the executive branch. ronnie raygun was just the dress rehearsal. Corporate fascism already controls the Legislative branch of our government. Through manipulation of three, perhaps four administrations, they managed to stack the judicial branch.

[Lisa]

6. someone here at DU posted a delightful "future news" story ...

... where Mr. Norquist experiences all the horrors of a world without any government oversight.


p.s. Found it! Thanks to bustarbusto earlier this year.


http://www.avantnews.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=245

"We intercepted a call from some neighbors in Grover Norquist's building that they heard screams and shots," said Mr. Jumpsuit. "Our unit was only three blocks away and I knew that was a top-paying building, so we acted as quickly as we could. Unfortunately for Mr. Norquist, we had to fight our way through the Mass Ave. Mercenaries and the L Street Love Guns to get there, which cost us quite a few casualties. But the surviving members of our team were at Mr. Norquist's apartment within, at most, maybe ninety minutes after receiving the call."

According to Mr. Jumpsuit, the scene that greeted him on pushing his way through Mr. Norquist's faultily-constructed Sleep E-Z security door was "macabre and pretty baffling, at first."

[TransitJohn]

7. You should read William Gibson. eom.

:hi:

[StatGirl]

8. Best! President! Ever!

Well, Lincoln and Washington were good, too. And Jefferson. And probably a few others. But, warts and all, FDR is one of my faves.