Breathtaking....Garrison Keillor's 2004 "We’re Not in Lake Wobegon Anymore" is as profoundly

[tpsbmam]

descriptive of today's politics as it was when he wrote it about Bush and the Republicans in 2004. Sadly, much of this can be said of both Parties these days.

The party of Lincoln and Liberty was transmogrified into the party of hairy-backed swamp developers and corporate shills, faith-based economists, fundamentalist bullies with Bibles, Christians of convenience, freelance racists, misanthropic frat boys, shrieking midgets of AM radio, tax cheats, nihilists in golf pants, brownshirts in pinstripes, sweatshop tycoons, hacks, fakirs, aggressive dorks, Lamborghini libertarians, people who believe Neil Armstrong’s moonwalk was filmed in Roswell, New Mexico, little honkers out to diminish the rest of us, Newt’s evil spawn and their Etch-A-Sketch president, a dull and rigid man suspicious of the free flow of information and of secular institutions, whose philosophy is a jumble of badly sutured body parts trying to walk. Republicans: The No.1 reason the rest of the world thinks we’re deaf, dumb and dangerous.


Rich ironies abound! Lies pop up like toadstools in the forest! Wild swine crowd round the public trough! Outrageous gerrymandering! Pocket lining on a massive scale! Paid lobbyists sit in committee rooms and write legislation to alleviate the suffering of billionaires! Hypocrisies shine like cat turds in the moonlight! O Mark Twain, where art thou at this hour? Arise and behold the Gilded Age reincarnated gaudier than ever, upholding great wealth as the sure sign of Divine Grace.

<snip>

The concentration of wealth and power in the hands of the few is the death knell of democracy. No republic in the history of humanity has survived this. The election of 2004 will say something about what happens to ours. The omens are not good.

Our beloved land has been fogged with fear—fear, the greatest political strategy ever. An ominous silence, distant sirens, a drumbeat of whispered warnings and alarms to keep the public uneasy and silence the opposition. And in a time of vague fear, you can appoint bullet-brained judges, strip the bark off the Constitution, eviscerate federal regulatory agencies, bring public education to a standstill, stupefy the press, lavish gorgeous tax breaks on the rich.

The rest is really worth reading: We’re Not in Lake Wobegon Anymore

[cilla4progress]

1. K&r - differ on the point about both parties, though.

I have my issues with the Dem party, and Obama (esp. in view of his vote in support of the tar sands pipeline yesterday)...but by and large my criticisms would take a different tack. For example, Dems are a party where the leaders can't seem to get a coherent message together with any resonance and translate it into electoral wins, when it has long been established that the majority views of Americans are far more consistent with the left than with the right.

[tpsbmam]

2. Agree with some of what you say BUT I also see way too many Dems as far too beholden to

the corporatocracy, and far too mired in it to differentiate them significantly from Republicans. For me, that starts with our President. His policies have, time after time, been to the benefit of corporations, the wealthy and detrimental to average Americans, poor Americans, the environment, etc.

And there are plenty of Democrats that go along with him, enough that these policies are getting crafted and passed. In the end, they're screwing all of us, at least all of us who aren't mega-wealthy and part of the power "elite" in the country.

I, frankly, agree with Michael Hudson -- we're on the road to serfdom for most of us, and Obama and complicit Dems are right in there helping us get there.

Part of what infuriates me so about Obama is precisely what Keillor wrote about -- he's as influenced by corporations & lobbyists as many of the Republicans and his policies reflect it. His campaign rhetoric about getting all of that influence out of DC was total BS, as was most of his populist rhetoric. As for lining his pockets, I'm sure that will come later -- right now, suffice to say he courts them to line the pockets of his campaign.

[Hydra]

3. I don't buy that for a minute

President Obama clearly articulated our needs and the challenges the our country faces in the form of rampant corruption and lawlessness.

It was a sight to behold...too bad it never got past the speeches.

Remember about "keeping the powder dry"?

The ability to be an effective opposition party is there...the will however, is lacking. Why? Corporate sponsorship.

You can't play if you don't have the money to buy the office.

[cilla4progress]

4. I think you are BOTH

right on! :toast:

And I am so disappointed in the Obama presidency... I don't know where to throw my political weight now, that would be effective and consistent with my principles. Other than joining the Sierra Club (which I did today) -- and supporting (with my resources - time, money, energy) NGOs and non-profits that speak for me - electorally, I don't know where to go!