November 8, 2014

Origins of the Republican Party and Economic Roots of the Civil War

Perhaps some would be interested in learning more about the opposition party.
This is my quick take. A lively thread might teach us something useful in the struggle.
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Origins of the Republican Party

Civil War history is not my forte. So playing fast and shallow with my opinion ... Conventional wisdom says the Civil War was about slavery. But that was a sideshow, albeit a very moral one. In "Rule by Secrecy" author Jim Marrs clearly states that Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation was a timely political move to prevent Russia (***see corrections in thread below***), with its troops in Mexico City, and Britain with its Atlantic Fleet doing business with the South, from entering the conflict on the side of the Confederacy. Neither power could politically weather a European storm on the side of slavery.

Fort Sumter was not about slavery. It was an economic event, after the deep South's endurance of 40 years of heavy U.S. tariffs on northern manufactured goods, raising costs to the south. Succession had been threatened before, it just wasn't organized or widespread, it was a state by state event.

The roots to understanding all this is in the creation of the Republican Party. Northern lawyers for manufacturers and railroads wanted protectionism and needed a front man for the new political party. Abe Lincoln was a railroad lawyer paid 4 figure fees to defend railroads, a huge sum in those days. He was given prime acreage in Iowa (but don't quote me), gifts that would launch ethics investigations today. And Lincoln was a gifted mind. He could talk eloquently about freedom and opportunity. To the masses, it sounded like civil rights, jobs, and prosperity. His business backers knew it was about profits and monopoly. Exploitation and enslavement to the system was not yet in the lexicon.

That's what sets the rules for society. Little groups of lawyers. Antitrust? Free markets? Marketing and pricing? Inheritance taxes? Tax code loopholes? Tax code complexity? (Blame the tax lawyers). Somehow these exploitative rules are never removed and rarely simplified. Only business seems wealthy enough to challenge the tax code and buy political influence to reduce regulations.

If you take nothing else away from this diatribe, search and learn the origins of the creation of the Republican Party. Lincoln was the first political front man, whether he was in on it, or not. Within 20 years, Jay Gould and that bunch were playing with gold and money, influence that reached into the Grant administration.

Think, people, think. Exploitation is about to wratchet up a few notches in 2015. The 1% are reaping the rewards and motivating with the stick.

I strongly recommend Thomas DiLorenzo's The Real Lincoln


And this article:
http://archive.lewrockwell.com/dilorenzo/dilorenzo53.html

and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_G._Blaine

November 5, 2014

What is to be done?

Members here focus on issues, candidates ... problems run deeper.
The party didn't recruit well, nor support their candidates in message, coordination,
training (from a WAPO article today).

Any party is filled with party faithful. New ideas are stifled, suppressed, shelved
in favor of the establishment with tried and true if old ways of doing things.

You gotta say this for the Tea Party: they brought in fresh, younger blood and energy.

The Democratic Party needs an infusion. Every nook and cranny should be scavenged for
energy and drive and ideas. Each county, ward, precinct. The old ward leaders know talent,
ideas should be shared, gathered, catalogued, sent up the chain of command.

We're beaten on money, GOTV, and this time on candidates, message, electability. GOP managed
their flock from DC, less on this, more on that, nothing radical, mainstream. They blamed Obama
to a fault, ditto ditto. Repetition generates buzz and energy. It was a whisper campaign, it always
is with them.

What did our consultants do? Message tweak? Or manage email fundraisers? I've been drowned by
candidates' emails for 9 months. Did it do any good? Did they win an extra race? Okay, VA & NH were
salvaged. Thank God for that.

Where is the permanent spinmeister class at the DNC? Does it change with every election, do the people
at the top of the ticket flush the operatives in favor of their own?

This election from a D standpoint was as ineffective as John McCain. Remember McCain and Mitt controlled
their own organization, made their own calls. They flopped. They selected poor running mates. Obama had
Axelrod and Plouffe. And technology.

The Republican victory was managed from Washington, RNC and all. Why can't we be competitive?


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Corporate Triumphs, Progressive Victories and the Roadmap for a Democratic Revival

But come January, the big question for Obama will be whether he is willing to use his veto pen to thwart the GOP’s reactionary legislation, or whether he will try to find compromises to provide some semblance of bipartisanship. Liberals and progressives might want to send tens of thousands of veto pens to the White House to remind Obama that he’s still the president, even if a weakened one.

Meanwhile, there is much for liberals and progressives to do at the local level, where their allies have in the past year won a growing number of victories by candidates for mayor and City Council in New York City, Minneapolis, Seattle, Phoenix, Pittsburgh and elsewhere. More and more cities will push to adopt minimum wages, paid family leave and other progressive measures.


November 5, 2014

by Peter Dreier

http://billmoyers.com/2014/11/05/corporate-triumphs-progressive-victories-roadmap-democratic-revival/

February 9, 2014

The Day The Universe Changed: 8 "Fit To Rule"

The roots of Republicanism, it's all here, Survival-of-the-Fittest, Social Darwinism,
Class Struggle.

The Creationists don't believe in evolution except the part about
survival-of-the-fittest class struggle that selects God-fearing
Christians to be on top of society. The 1%, remember?

The last half is among the best ever, imho.

November 8, 2013

Happy Days are Here Again

"Happy Days are Here Again!" (Ben Selvin and the Crooners, 1930)

The political pendulum is swinging just a tad more left these days

Thought a moment to celebrate might be in order

October 10, 2013

Meet the Evangelical Cabal Orchestrating the Shutdown

This post first appeared in The Nation.


The Capitol in Washington is seen under an overcast sky at dawn. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File )

At Ebenezer’s Coffeehouse, a small shop next to Union Station and around the corner from the Heritage Foundation, “fair trade” coffee is dispensed and Christian books are available for customers to read.

A group of political operatives and evangelical firebrands behind the strategy to shut down the government over healthcare reform couldn’t have picked a more unassuming meeting place. Though the more famous “Wednesday meeting” is across town at the offices of Grover Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform, the shutdown plotters often meet at a weekly lunch held on Wednesday at the event space of Ebenezer’s. (The group also meets regularly on Wednesday mornings at the offices of the Family Research Council.)

This other Wednesday group is a convening of the Conservative Action Project, an ad hoc coalition created in the early years of the Obama administration to reorganize the conservative movement.



The coalition is managed by Heritage and the Council for National Policy. The latter organization, once dubbed as “the most powerful conservative group you’ve never heard of,” is a thirty-year-old nonprofit dedicated to transforming the country into a more right-wing Christian society. Founded by Tim LaHaye, the Rapture-obsessed author of the Left Behind series, CNP is now run by Christian-right luminaries such as Phyllis Schlafly, Tony Perkins and Kenneth Blackwell.


~Snip~
http://billmoyers.com/2013/10/09/meet-the-evangelical-cabal-orchestrating-the-shutdown/

Saw this and thought some might be interested. Sounds like the culture war continues unabated.

August 31, 2013

Request to expand "Auto-removed" options

Would like to know

why a message is "auto-removed" and what it means,

the User ID of the auto-removed message

and if there is any clue to the user intent of the message

especially if the removed message is in reply to another's message.

If a message is hostile, perhaps a little sunlight would help the situation.

December 20, 2012

Philadelphia Area Clergy Rally Against Gun Violence

"by Pat Loeb

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — A group of interfaith clergy gathered this afternoon in center city Philadelphia to call on their members to work for gun control.

And they chose a symbolic spot to issue the call for action.

Rev. Jim McIntyre, of the anti-gun clergy group “Heeding God’s Call,” says the spot where the group gathered, on North Sixth Street near Race, had an auspicious history.

“It was on this site that in 1838, religious leaders from Philadelphia gathered and made a public statement calling slavery a religious issue that we must stand against,” he tells KYW Newsradio."

see the full post at : http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2012/12/19/philadelphia-area-clergy-rally-against-gun-violence/

AND .............

"Police Commissioner Ramsey To Join President Obama’s Effort To Curb Gun Violence

PHILADELPHIA (CBS/AP) – At the Philadelphia Public Safety Summit at St. Joe’s University, Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey said he received word Tuesday that he will be joining President Obama’s effort to curb gun violence in the wake of the school shooting in Connecticut. Ramsey said he will be traveling to Washington on Thursday where he expects to meet with Vice President Joe Biden"

See the rest at http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2012/12/19/police-commissioner-charles-ramsey-to-be-member-of-president-obamas-gun-violence-panel/

December 16, 2012

Strict Constructionists and the Second Amendment

So, in the spirit of strict constructionism, let’s apply that to the Second Amendment. Individuals can stock up on all the muzzle loaders, crossbows, longbows, swords, pikes, and battle-axes they want, but any weapon more advanced than what was available in 1791 can be banned by local authorities. Furthermore, in keeping with that strict constructionist interpretation, violators can be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and sentenced to very lengthy prison terms.

Repeat offenders, at least at first, may unfortunately have to be hanged just to get the point across that We The People are serious about this. Recidivism would thus be low after awhile.

This way, the people’s right to keep and bear arms is NOT infringed, and the people’s right to send their kids to school or to the movies without fear of being mowed down by automatic weapons is likewise not infringed.

What’s so unreasonable about that? I’m sure most of the Founding Fathers would approve.

http://my.firedoglake.com/ohiogringo/2012/12/15/a-modest-proposal-in-support-of-the-second-amendment/

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Couldn't agree more. Flintlocks and bayonets and swords were what the Founding Fathers knew. Strict constructionism applies to the technology then available.

And no one is interpreting the Second Amendment as allowing citizens to carry bazookas, grenades, and rocket launchers while driving around in their Tank. So seems there must be some limits on how Americans can and cannot bear arms. Or maybe there isn't. Maybe that will be the new frontier, the next generation's protection.