David Sirota - We told you so

[Phred42]

Right on and well said



We told you so
http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2008/12/15/sirota_dec15/print.html

David Sirota

Please forgive me for saying it. I know it's a tad annoying, but it has to be said to America's ruling class in this humble column space. Because if it's not said here, you can bet it won't be said most other places in the media, and it needs to be said somewhere on behalf of the millions of citizens who were right.

We told you so.

In the slow-motion train wreck that became the current economic meltdown, our bipartisan political establishment and the sycophantic punditburo have been wrong over and over and over again. They told us that eviscerating consumer protections would unleash the market’s benevolent power and boost the economy. They told us that a trillion-dollar Wall Street bailout would solve a credit crisis. They told us that bailout would be subjected to intense oversight and scrutiny.

Wrong, wrong and wrong -- and when critics predicted just that, sneering commentators and congressional leaders berated us as know-nothing Luddites, conspiracy theorists, or both.

But with the release of three new reports, there's no debate anymore about who was correct and who wasn’t. The studies prove that the critics were right and the ideologues of Washington were wrong......

[chill_wind]

1. k &r to the GP. Sirota belongs there always. n/t

[Tuesday Afternoon]

2. a sad KnR. slow moving train wreck but, a wreck just the same. n/t

[GliderGuider]

4. The destruction of $7.7 trillion in the last year doesn't sound that slow moving to me.

The only reason it feels slow is that the impact hasn't hit the day-to-day lives of the American middle class that hard just yet. If you revisit this feeling at the end of the first quarter I bet it will have changed dramatically.

from http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article7939.html

Jack: Every economist I read likes to leave some wiggle room for future butt-covering, just in case they turn out to be wrong. But you're not pulling any punches, are you? Why is that?

Martin: It's not needed in this situation — because of the sheer enormity and speed of the wealth destruction: $7.7 trillion just through over the past year. In contrast, the Trouble Asset Relief Program (TARP) is $700 billion. So these losses are already 11 times more than the entire bailout program.

Let's compare how much is being lost vs. what the government is doing to offset it. Here's the progression we just saw:

* $1.5 trillion lost in the fourth quarter of 2007
* $2.7 trillion lost in the first quarter of 2008
* $630 billion lost in the second quarter of 2008
* $2.9 trillion in the third quarter

Now, let me demonstrate why the government's efforts are unable to offset this wealth destruction. Congress has authorized $700 billion for TARP. But the Treasury Department reports that in the fourth quarter, only $330 billion has been committed so far.

Jack: Committed or actually disbursed?

Martin: Committed.

Jack: The ol' check-in-the-mail routine, eh?

Martin: Yes. But let's assume the $330 billion is already at the banks. And let's say that in the first quarter of 2009, they are able to disburse all of the rest. That's still minuscule in comparison to the wealth destruction.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

5. Well, I have been watching this since the late 80's so It feels pretty

slow to me. YMMV.

[GliderGuider]

6. Fair enough. We do seem to be picking up speed finally, though... nt.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

8. and oh my goodness what a BANG it may be....or (I can't decide)

will it just be a whisper of a whimper?

I have done my best to insulate myself whichever way it goes.

[CoffeeCat]

16. I'm interested in economic survival...

...and if you wouldn't mind sharing---could you tell us how you've insulated yourself?

I am trying to insulate our entire family, but it's so hard to know what to do. Those who
everyone agrees made the right decisions, will be viewed as financial geniuses when all is
said and done.

I can tell you what we have done. We have no credit cards or other debt (cars paid for). We've
pared down our budget and we are in savings mode. We are also on a strict budget. We took all
of our 401k money out of the stock market and put it into a MM. We took a good chunk of money
out of our bank and deposited it in the bank of Sealy Posteurpedic (six months living expenses).
I have also been stockpiling essentials for the past six months. We've got plenty of food and
personal toiletries to last 6 months.

I'd love to hear what you are doing!

[Tuesday Afternoon]

17. well,

I have purchased a piece of land with a creek. I am storing seeds. I need to purchase a generator. I got rid of my credit cards. I try to keep my gas tank full. All my money is out of the Stock Market. Trying to keep canned goods stocked. It is hard because I am a woman by myself. I would like to be better prepared. Good luck to us all. :hug:

[NJCher]

34. Here are two other sources

This book, by Matt Stein, who blogs at Huffington Post, is incredibly thorough and well researched:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1933392452/ctoc

He has lots of oddball tips--things that are inexpensive and that one might never think of--to do to help through a crisis. An example is colloidal silver as a way of purifying water.

In addition, you might want to listen to this radio show:

http://www.wnyc.org/shows/bl/episodes/2009/01/02

On the above link, go to the second one down, "Silver Lining."



Cher

[Waiting For Everyman]

3. Banks and traders were allowed to harm other interests any damn way they wanted.

We learned that isn't such a smart move. "Told you so."

You don't put the goose that lays the golden eggs on the dinner menu. Our financial elite are stupidest bunch of thieves we've ever had.

[truedelphi]

32. You say: "Our financial elite

are stupidest bunch of thieves we've ever had."

But but <sputter> they were educated at the better schools. They drove the best of the cars and they lived in the best of the houses, and they wore great clothes to the fabulous parties they attended.

And our M$ media backed them up every single step of the way...

[defendandprotect]

42. How anyone could believe this was "stupidity" rather than crime/corruption . . .

frightens me ----!!!

Unregulated capitalism is merely organized crime ---

[Raster]

7. Yes, we told you so.

"And so now, even though these damning reports have garnered scant news coverage, perhaps there will be a change. As we, the pragmatic progressive majority, demand tough new financial regulations, job-creating investments in public infrastructure, labor law reforms, universal healthcare, revised international trade policies, a repeal of the odious bankruptcy bill and an end to Wall Street welfare — maybe, just maybe, our humiliated rulers will start listening."

It isn't a matter of listening by our rulers, they listen plenty... to their real masters, the bankers, the moneychangers. We are being raped, plundered and pillaged by pirates in pinstripe suits. And our vaunted American government--our public servants--are the willing accomplices.

[formercia]

9. We all lose.

The rich just lose more.

Junior's Base. They chose poorly.

[Festivito]

15. They lose less in terms of relative income and disposable income.

And those make a middle class, when we have them.

They certainly were not right.

[pokercat999]

41. I'd love to "lose" more. Take the case of two families:

Family one annual income $1,000,000.00
Family two annual income $50,000.00

Both family incomes are cut in half this year. Family one "loses" $500,000.00 Family two "loses" $25,000.00

Although family two loses only about 5% as much as family one (family one loses 20 times what family two loses) I'd still like to have family one's income after the "loss".


Now would you like to rethink "the rich just lose more".....awwww poor bastards.

[formercia]

50. It's not good, no matter how you look at it.

We should focus more on the plight of the poor.

Poor weathy victims of Madoff's scam can only recover $500,000. Poor babies, now they have to sell one of the Rolls Royces to pay property taxes. Fuck 'em.

[HillbillyBob]

10. I have been sayin it since ronnierayguns drizzlin shits

voodoo economics...

[RoccoR5955]

20. And I thought it was "trickle down" economics.

Well there's only one thing that trickles down. It's in the bathroom, and it's NOT money!

[snot]

11. I sure wish somewhere there were a list

of all the main politicians, pundits, and "experts" that actually kept track of whether they were or are ultimately proven right or wrong on major issues in all areas including economic, foreign relations, homeland security, etc. (I realize that not all issues can be resolved clearly one way or the other, but some can.)

And, perhaps, the economic and other consequences of their positions.

[rucognizant]

14. Top of the list

Dennis Kucinich, Howard Dean, Byron Dorgan, Cynthi McKinney, Henry Waxman, Robert Wexler,

[bvar22]

26. I start with this one:

The Democratic Party Honor Roll
These Democrats should be remembered for their principled stand against the WAR Machine.

IWR/Authorization to use Military Force in Iraq

United States Senate

In the Senate, the 21 Democrats, one Republican and one Independent courageously voted their consciences in 2002 against the War in Iraq :

Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii)
Jeff Bingaman (D-New Mexico)
Barbara Boxer (D-California)
Robert Byrd (D-West Virginia)
Kent Conrad (D-North Dakota)
Jon Corzine (D-New Jersey)
Mark Dayton (D-Minnesota)
Dick Durbin (D-Illinois)
Russ Feingold (D-Wisconsin)
Bob Graham (D-Florida)
Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii)
Jim Jeffords (I-Vermont)
Ted Kennedy (D-Massachusetts)
Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont)
Carl Levin (D-Michigan)
Barbara Mikulski (D-Maryland)
Patty Murray (D-Washington)
Jack Reed (D-Rhode Island)
Paul Sarbanes (D-Maryland)
Debbie Stabenow (D-Michigan)
The late Paul Wellstone (D-Minnesota)
Ron Wyden (D-Oregon)

Lincoln Chaffee (R-Rhode Island)


United States House of Representatives

Six House Republicans and one independent joined 126 Democratic members of the House of Represenatives:

Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii)
Tom Allen (D-Maine)
Joe Baca (D-California)
Brian Baird (D-Washington DC)
John Baldacci (D-Maine, now governor of Maine)
Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin)
Xavier Becerra (D-California)
Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon)
David Bonior (D-Michigan, retired from office)
Robert Brady (D-Pennsylvania)
Corinne Brown (D-Florida)
Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio)
Lois Capps (D-California)
Michael Capuano (D-Massachusetts)
Benjamin Cardin (D-Maryland)
Julia Carson (D-Indiana)
William Clay, Jr. (D-Missouri)
Eva Clayton (D-North Carolina, retired from office)
James Clyburn (D-South Carolina)
Gary Condit (D-California, retired from office)
John Conyers, Jr. (D-Michigan)
Jerry Costello (D-Illinois)
William Coyne (D-Pennsylvania, retired from office)
Elijah Cummings (D-Maryland)
Susan Davis (D-California)
Danny Davis (D-Illinois)
Peter DeFazio (D-Oregon)
Diana DeGette (D-Colorado)
Bill Delahunt (D-Massachusetts)
Rosa DeLauro (D-Connecticut)
John Dingell (D-Michigan)
Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas)
Mike Doyle (D-Pennsylvania)
Anna Eshoo (D-California)
Lane Evans (D-Illinois)
Sam Farr (D-California)
Chaka Fattah (D-Pennsylvania)
Bob Filner (D-California)
Barney Frank (D-Massachusetts)
Charles Gonzalez (D-Texas)
Luis Gutierrez (D-Illinois)
Alice Hastings (D-Florida)
Earl Hilliard (D-Alabama, retired from office)
Maurice Hinchey (D-New York)
Ruben Hinojosa (D-Texas)
Rush Holt (D-New Jersey)
Mike Honda (D-California)
Darlene Hooley (D-Oregon)
Inslee
Jackson (Il.)
Jackson-Lee (TX)
Johnson, E.B.
Jones (OH)
Kaptur
Kildee
Kilpatrick
Kleczka
Kucinich
LaFalce
Langevin
Larsen (WA)
Larson (CT)
Lee
Levin
Lewis (GA)
Lipinski
Lofgren
Maloney (CT)
Matsui
McCarthy (MO)
McCollum
McDermott
McGovern
McKinney
Meek (FL)
Meeks (NY)
Menendez
Millender-McDonald
Miller
Mollohan
Moran (Va)
Nadler
Napolitano
Neal
Oberstar
Obey
Olver
Owens
Pallone
Pastor
Payne
Pelosi
Price (NC)
Rahall
Rangel
Reyes
Rivers
Rodriguez
Roybal-Allard
Rush
Sabo
Sanchez
Sanders
Sawyer
Schakowsky
Scott
Serrano
Slaughter
Snyder
Solis
Stark
Strickland
Stupak
Thompson (CA)
Thompson (MS)
Tierney
Towns
Udall (NM)
Udall (CO)
Velazquez
Visclosky
Waters
Watson
Watt
Woolsey
Wu

[Phred42]

12. The Fiat Banking system is at the heart of these problems

http://www.kirkusobscura.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=44&Itemid=43


THAT has to change!

[bluestateboomer]

13. We told 'em so...

But when do they ever listen!!!!


:banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

K&R

[pattmarty]

18. David Sirota, one of the "young & new" great Liberal voices.

[chill_wind]

28. Wish we could clone him. We could use a couple dozen more of him.

Wish he had nightly slot on Tee-Vee somewhere.

[Cronus Protagonist]

19. I was right on all counts - and was roundly attacked for it here on DU too

Sometimes I wonder just how many shills are being paid to post here, but surely this little haven on the web is not important enough to warrant that, so I figure it must be that there are just a tonne (metric ton) of Republican trusting, corporation lovers posting here just for the joy of it.

[HughMoran]

27. When David Sirota said it, it didn't sound nearly as smug

:rofl:

[sasquatch]

21. I would've titled that article "Fuck the Boomers", same difference

[navarth]

37. 'Fuck the boomers'? I don't getcha.

explain please?

[sasquatch]

45. Boomers make up the inside the beltway punditocrisy and support them overwhelmingly

[navarth]

52. jeez

stereotype much? I'm a boomer. wtf. you're including me in that? come now.

[sasquatch]

53. No, just the 60% of you that do

[navarth]

54. dude

what's the percentage of your age group? what's the use of this attitude?

[sasquatch]

56. About 20%

The use of this attitude is so that we hold those responsible for allowing this to happen accountable and we never allow it happen again by other generations.

[navarth]

58. nice

Then perhaps you could edit your post to say 'fuck 60% of the boomers'.

You're really constructive. I can say 'fuck those that were born before me'. But that would include my Dad, and several elders that were wonderful, liberal people.

And I would be an asshole for saying it anyway.

Don't restrict it to age groups. That's horseshit.

I've seen plenty of people younger than me AND older than me that just didn't give a fuck.

You may need to re-examine why you've got a problem with boomers, sas. I'm just sayin'.

NOW. if you want to say 'Fuck all neocons', or 'Fuck all selfish, evil people', then I'm with you.

[SlowDownFast]

61. I get ya, sasquatch.

You're not falling on deaf ears.

This topic, however, ignites shitstorms. I've seen it happen here and on other forums. The Boomers take it real personal.

God forbid The Boomers accept responsibility for the fine mess we're in.

[sybylla]

22. I'd like to say I told you so about a couple of other things as well

But since the chimp's been in office, the list has grown too long to post on dial-up

[chill_wind]

29. LOL! Too true.

eom.

[20score]

23. Yes we did. K&R.

[MasonJar]

24. It is time to let them know loud and lear and in large numbers and

very often. Enough is past enough. I intend to call once a week at least and let Reid, Pelosi, Yarmuth (no use calling Bunning and McConnell) and all the other so-called dem leaders know that they are history if they do not do something for the environment, the average citizen and the world NOW. I will work hard to defeat anyone who continues to cater to the great unwashed GOPers...and that means Obama too.

[truedelphi]

33. Could be that it is time to get real serious about

Setting up the third and fourth political parties that are so truly needed.

If not now, then when?? :shrug:

[John Q. Citizen]

38. I'm not opposed to multiple parties per se. However, in our system they are always doomed to be

spoilers.

They are doomed to be powerless.

Unless a mechanism is set up to solve the spoiler problem, I'm generally predisposed not to support a third party. I believe it is far more productive to take over the Dems.

Most county Dem central committees have tons of precinct captain positions open and unfilled. These are the folks who actually get to vote on leadership at the county level and who elect representatives to the state to vote on state leadership, state platforms, etc.



I liked and worked with the New Party back in the 90s.They were working to get fusion voting so that multiple parties could participate without being spoilers. They have fusion voting in New York state but in most states it has been outlawed by the Dems and the Repos, together to maintain their control.

[truedelphi]

59. John Q, that information about your days inside the New Party

Would make for a wonderful OP.

If you get around to it, let me know via PM's so I don't miss out on it.

Living in California, I don't see any change coming from within the Party. Di Feinstein has her tentacles into everything. I ran as A Green Party Candidate becuase I could not have ever gotten her approval (Well not without spending a decade of schmoozing and contributing to her etc)

I fully supporting Cindy Sheehan for her running outside the Dem party also. She had no other choice.

Ironically I got as much support from local Repugs as local Dems. What I heard from the local Dems was
1) I didn't have a Master's Degree, so how could I consider running for office
2) My wardrobe, hairstyle, etc was not on the par with what the Dems thought it should be
3) The inner circle of Democratic leaders were against it.

Issue number two became a non-issue when one of my affluent employers let me borrow whatever clothes I needed from her closet. And she paid for a trip to a hairstylist as well.

One reason that the Repugs are successful is because they don't discourage people on the local level but encourage. And how useful is a Master's degree in terms of holding political office? Did our country benefit from having George W, MBA in Business, running our ship of state?

[John Q. Citizen]

60. We put a liberal progressive majority on the city council, got Dems elected and pissed off the

more staid and long time Dems who had kind of ran things for a while until we decided to organize. We had all our members run for the mostly vacant committee men and women seats from various precincts.

On the state wide level, we were electing and sending most of the Dems being sent to the legislature. We were winning Repo seats, while Dems were losing bad across the rest of the state back in the dark days of the 1990s. We were calling ourselves New Party Democrats and recruiting and running people for various local offices and some state legislative races as well. They all filed as Dems, but then we would endorse them and we would work for them and organize others to work for them. We ran some lefty city counsel folks and some of the more sleepy and blue dogish Dems were quite threatened. We woke their asses up, at the very least and kicked a few as well. Then the national new Party lost their suit in the US Supreme Court for fusion voting and that spelled the end of the party. Nationally they kind of morphed into the Working Families Party in NY, where they still happily practice fusion voting. Locally, a former New Party member is the current Dem county chair. A former New Party member ran the baucus campaign. Some of our candidates continued on and are still in other elected offices. And many of our former members are still politically active in lots of ways. On election night 2008 a whole bunch of old New Party folks showed up at the local Dem party central (as well as a ton of other folks as well) and we were all kidding about how great it was to finally have a New Party endorsed candidate win the White House. And all of us were happy as hell because we had put up with so many elections where we had to take what little or few wins we could, and this election felt like a really big win for a change.

To this day, if you go to any member of the city counsel and ask them if they know who the New Party was , they do, for sure.

The New Party had chapters in Little Rock, New York, Chicago, Missoula, and other towns as well, still looking.

We passed our local open space initiative around the same time.

On the front page of the National New Party news letter for spring of 1996 is a picture of me collecting signatures for a minimum wage initiative with my then 2 year old daughter on my back in a kid backpack. On the inside page, (page 2)is a picture of Chicago New Party endorsed candidates who won their races. One of them was Barack Obama, winning a state senate seat. Me and my daughter made the front page and Obama was buried on the inside. Montanans raised the state minimum wage.

What office did you run for?

Almost all of are candidates were for local office (city and county) we had a couple of legislative races. No statewide or Pres. The concept was to grow from small to large.


This is from the Obama website. We were winning 2 out of 3 races we endorsed. That's pretty good!

THE NEW PARTY “BACKED” OBAMA ONCE

New Party Said That They “Backed…Candidates;” Only “Backed” Obama In 1996. “Since it’s founding in 1992, the New Party chapters have backed 200 candidates—and 133 have won their races. Roughly half of our candidates are women; more than a third are people of color.” According to a cache of their website, the New Party only “backed” Obama in 1996; “Illinois: Danny Davis (U.S. House of Representatives, 1996, 1998), Miguel Del Valle (Illinois State Senate, 1998), Willie Delgado (Illinois State Legislature, 1998), Barack Obama (State Legislature, 1996), Michael Chandler (Chicago City Council, 1995), Patricia Martin (Cook County Judge, 1996).”

[truedelphi]

62. FInd your report impressive and inspiring. Did not understand this

Sentence (Or just need further explanation:)
"Then the national new Party lost their suit in the US Supreme Court for fusion voting and that spelled the end of the party."

What is "fusion voting"

My other big question is how did the initial stages of the party come about.

It was brilliant that it was being called "the new Party" as that way people don't feel they are sloughing their vote away from the Dems and helping the Repugs win anything.

[John Q. Citizen]

63. Fusion voting is where more than one political party can nominate the same candidate.

This way, you don't act as a spoiler but you can later go to a winning candidate and say "45% of your votes came from us and we would like to talk to you about X."

http://www.openballotvoting.org/solution.htm

http://www.workingfamiliesparty.org/elections/fusion-the-secret-weapon/

[MasonJar]

25. On edit: these leaders (?) have spent way too much time being sure

dems get elected. Well, they are elected and so now they must do something besides run for election. Progressives rise. Inundate them!!!! It is far too long that we have been discounted, even by liberals like Pelosi.

[valerief]

30. Unfortunately their solution is always to kill more of us off. nt

[AntiFascist]

31. K&R, but at least Iraq is doing well

:sarcasm:

[certainot]

35. its the talk radio stupid

ignoring the talk radio monopoly continues to be the biggest political blunder in decades.  GOP radio monopoly hinders all progressive efforts. no other medium allows anywhere near the same level of coordinated UNCONTESTED repetition 24/7/365 to catapult the propaganda. it makes democracy and bipartisanship impossible. we wouldn't be in this bush disaster if reagan hadn't killed the FD 20 years ago. the only consolation is that it drove the GOP over a cliff. unfortunately it took the rest of us with it.

a single local blowhard reading GOP and chamber of commerce talking points can undo the work of thousands of citizens volunteering a few hours and dollars here and there. it is the most powerful single- minded easily manipulated political constituency in the US and has an audience the size of the crowd that voted for obama. its 1000 stations are the power centers of the GOP. it determines what is and what isn't acceptable in the rest of the media. it enables flat earthers in GOP politics and it enables/requires the tradmedia to entertain flat earthers in their forums. it turns dems into blue dogs (limbaugh dems).

don't know if a new FD is the way to go but something must be done. and oh yeah, the FD did NOT require equal time- just a chance at rebuttal for partisan political speech. limbaugh and the other national blowhards don't even take real calls and cannot be criticized except when someone fools the screener.

[sendero]

36. I agree with you..

... 100%.

[Lindsey]

39. I'm sending The Salon article to Diane Feinstein as I emailed

her and called both of her offices (here in California and in Washington) in 2005 when it was clear she was going to vote for the bankruptcy bill. F them.

[wolfgangmo]

49. I am not in any way advocating any action here, but...

... I have noticed that although there are about 1000 RW talk radio stations in the US, most of them are retranslators. There are relatively few actual broadcast stations. Rush, for example, is only actually broadcast out of about 3 or 4 very strong station and he is then picked up and rebroadcast for local market.

Tactically speaking this is a weakness to the system. If some motivated citizens were to take it upon themselves they could shut down talk radio with relatively few moves.

Again I am not necessarily advocating anything here, but just pointing out that the talk radio system is vulnerable to a few tactical strikes.

[certainot]

57. free speech to call complain boycott picket at the LOCAL level

1000 stations or an avg of 50/state so there's one in every neighborhood.

only reason i listen once in a while, besides to know what the GOP is planning before the rest of the media and the dem party, is to find out what local businesses are sponsoring these attacks on democracy so that i can call them. sometimes they're unaware even appalled to know their ads are on limbaugh etc- the owners/managers are often just trying to get the biggest station with the football broadcast, etc. and the station managers may move ads around. sometimes it sounds like the ownership and management or employees are not on the same page on the issue. sometimes tey say it's a business decision and i say what? you want your products sold by a racist jerk who has been proven wrong about everything important and was instrumental in selling the country into this bush disaster?

[OwnedByFerrets]

40. Sure is an empty "I told ya so" though

[defendandprotect]

43. I'm sure that shortly we'll be getting compliments on our foresight--!!!

:sarcasm:

[Piewhacket]

44. Dear David Sirota,

Dear Sir,
I appreciate your sentiments that members of a 'ruling' criminal enterprise were wrong
about almost everything. Over and over again, wrong.

But alas, it is you that actually has it wrong, for they weren't wrong.
They simply lied. Over and over, they lied. They knew it was all bullshit.
The clue was that they always profited from the lies.

Indeed, they told every lie possible, committed every fraud, whatever you wanted to hear,
enriching themselves in power and treasure mainly at the expense of defenseless,
particularly future generations. They paid off politicians who helped facilitate
their crimes, They abused every law with near impunity by paying off the sheriff,
who also, at no extra charge, arrested and intimidated the opposition, to quiet them.

The entire game was about of creating a ruling political elite by means of looting the
US treasury, subverting the rule of law, and corrupting democratic institutions.
Yet amazingly, many clueless people mostly just watched, or whimpered out some mild protest.
But here in the US we shouldn't take these things personally. The US was just a first step.
The world was next.

Yet the seeds of this sociopathic criminal enterprise were obvious all along, for any who looked.
I saw it emerge during the impeachment of Bill Clinton, and it was clear that a well
designed plan had been perfected in somebody's deep-think tanks and lots more was next.
A brilliant plan, a flawless plan, evil genius combined in a virtually an idiot-proof confection,
with less regard given legality than the evasion of accountability. Rove was obviously an
operative of the plan. (Someone needs to find these people... follow Rove, follow the money,
the clues cannot help but be abundant)

Anyway, it was probably a flawless plan on paper anyway, and almost actually worked, It had but one real flaw,
and that was it relied on idiots of exceptional bungling incompetence to carry the plan out,
it relied on Republicans. So thank goodness for Republicans, huh. They saved us.

So, the elite wannabes didn't get world domination after all, at least not this year. But its a long
term goal, and there will be another opportunity in the next generation. Besides, they got
the $7 trillion as a consolation prize. If they invest wisely, who knows what might be possible....
Why, in a few years, if the price is right, they might simply just BUY AMERICA outright.
Or take out a lease...

[specimenfred1984]

46. It's the same criminal crap everyday and, everyone did indeed just watch and...

try to cash in on it. Seventy percent of Americans are "invested" in the military/industrial complex, we're a nation of war mongers. It's refreshing to read your post and hear that someone else actually gets it.

[Phred42]

51. You are also correct . These were not 'honest' mistakes

They were lies designed for profit

[ooglymoogly]

47. Kudo's to Sirota and I too like a few others on this board have

been screaming about what has been happening and what was going to happen not too long after the war started. I began this trepidational screaming as soon as I realized idiot had stolen the election by which the writing on the wall was murky but clearing fast. By the election of 04 I was predicting a depression worse than the great depression. I was flamed by some DU'ers who held themselves to be unassailable as far as the economy and just about everything else was concerned, and two years ago by those and the Pollyanna's on this site who, I'm guessing also put me on their don't bother list, and were telling me I had it all wrong and very rudely at that. Two years ago 1 made further unsettling noises that have come to pass and 1 year ago I began a diatribe and I got flamed regularly and many put me on their don't bother list. The Pollyanna's on this site are astounding in their silence when push comes to shove and they must admit they have simply not got it.

I did not say these things because I am a prophet or even that I think I am a prophet or smarter than anyone else...I said them because I am old and death is stalking me and I have the knowledge of experience. Once fooled shame on you "or something like that" to quote an idiot, as we as a country are want to do. I have lived through these cycles more than I care to admit, which follow Pugs like rats to the plague and have lost a considerable fortune to the Ray-gun trickery and trickle down idiocy which was just a cover for stealing the rug and all their belongings from the middle classes; The middle classes are responsible for an arguable 99% of all wealth. That like these times is a recipe for disaster of huge proportions. You can never undercut the middle class while robbing the treasury senseless, invade two countries and expect anything but a plummeting economy and a plummeting dollar and that's a fact; Easily withstanding the most celebrated trickledown fool of all "Milty".

[truedelphi]

64. Hi there ooglymoogly!!

Sorry to hear that some DU'ers put you on ignore.

I never saw a post of yours I didn't agree with. <Hey maybe we are on ignore together!!>

[Two Americas]

48. very weak

The ruling class was not "wrong" about anything - they lied. They didn't fail - they succeeded beyond their wildest expectations. They won't be losing anything. The only thing they may have failed at is keeping the public passive and ignorant. They have certainly succeeded at that with Sirota, however.

And why would they listen to us? And who is this "us" Sirota claims to speak for? "Progressives?" That does not mean "working class," that is clear from his article, because no one could be this smug or care about being right, or hope that they would listen to us, unless that person saw themselves as relatively immune from the ravages the working class is experiencing, and who hoped to be part of the elite themselves - a new elite, a new aristocracy - the "progressives."

What good does it do for anyone to be "right?" Being right is the consolation prize in politics - unless, as I said, one hopes to be part of a new aristocracy.

The point of view Sirota is presenting here is very reactionary.

[.... callchet ....]

55. The trillion dollar pardon

I'm sorry, I meant bailout. Plead not guilty due to ignorance. No way ! If you are on the big money side this is what you hear. "None of this is a

surprise to anyone. There is no problem, things are getting better and are better than they have ever been. The turmoil they are causing is because

they have people thinking that this mess is a result of ignorance. It is not. It is working to their wildest dreams." The health care system is

working fantastically. The poor die at a higher rate and helps save retirement costs.