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This is becoming more than just a fight over collective bargaining rights.

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drm604 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Feb-26-11 12:34 AM
Original message
This is becoming more than just a fight over collective bargaining rights.
Not that the bargaining rights aren't important. They are. They're very important.

But this has become about more than just that. It's about the right of people to run their own country and to not have to be servile to those who won the birth lottery.

It's about making people who were born into wealth understand that they should have no more power politically than any one of us. And it's about taking that power away if they refuse that understanding.

The kind of "freedom" the Koch's are fighting for is not freedom for you and I. What they are fighting for is the least possible government interference in the dealings of large businesses. That may sound good in principle to some people. The problem is what it leads too.

Without anti-trust laws you end up with single parties controlling multiple industries. And controlling whatever parts of our lives depend on those industries. That is not freedom for us.

Without estate taxes you end up with dynasties stretching over generations and controlling more and more wealth and power. Power over the little guy. That is not freedom for us.

Without safety nets we all end up at the mercy of raw capitalism, where we can suddenly find ourselves with no income through no fault of our own. That is not freedom for us.

Without health care we can end up at the mercy of diseases that are no fault of our own. Diseases which will either kill us or bankrupt us. That is not freedom for us.

Without pollution laws you end up with the destruction of our lands and the pollution of our air and water. The fouling of things that at one time were pure and free for everyone. That is not freedom for us.

Without campaign finance laws you end up with the few ruling over the many. That is not freedom for us.

Without unions you have no protection from capricious firings and unsafe, unbearable working conditions. That is not freedom for us.

The freedom that people like the Kochs want is the freedom for themselves to become royalty in America. The freedom to tell the rest of us the way it will be.

THAT IS NOT FREEDOM FOR US!!!
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Hardrada Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Feb-26-11 12:40 AM
Original message
The signs I saw Friday in the Capitol in Madison indicated this.
Some proclaimed things like "Tax the Rich!!" I was pleased to see the way this is going.
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Lifelong Protester Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Feb-26-11 12:40 AM
Response to Original message
1. I, too, am sick of hearing right wing working poor talk about
how Walker is fighting for their 'freedom'. WTF has become my most used phrase these days.
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drm604 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Feb-26-11 01:47 AM
Response to Reply #1
4. They're trying to divide us by turning non-union against union.
I don't think they're succeeding.

This whole thing has become a kind of morality play where it's hard not to sympathize with the working people occupying the statehouse, and it's difficult to have any sympathy for the smarmy Governor.

Plus, as I said in the OP, this has largely become about something even bigger. We can thank reporter Ian Murphy and his phone call for that. He's made it about money and power. He's made it into a fight against the archetypal Monty Burns (David Koch) and his lick-spittle Smithers (Gov. Walker). Everybody hates Mr. Burns. And Smithers... Smithers fawning devotion makes him more pathetic than hateful.
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defendandprotect Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Feb-26-11 09:03 PM
Response to Reply #4
23. They've been doing that for decades -- and successfully! ....but people waking up now...imo...
Thanks to Murphy, for one --

And in the absence of a free press -- thanks also to Michael Moore who

does a lot to wake up and educate the public with his documenaries!!

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Petrushka Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Feb-26-11 12:49 AM
Response to Original message
2. K & R
:thumbsup:
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socialist_n_TN Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Feb-26-11 01:04 AM
Response to Original message
3. What this fight. that began over collective bargaining
rights, has turned into is a classic class struggle. In a little over a week it has raised the consciousness of the working class to levels not seen in at least 80 years. No matter what the outcome of this particular battle, we have crossed the Rubicon in awareness of the battle lines. They have been CLEARLY drawn.

I'm on the side of the working class/poor. Who's side are you on?
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nadinbrzezinski Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Feb-26-11 02:03 AM
Response to Reply #3
7. I would not YET go that far
as to consciousness that is.

I do labor history these days.... so trust me, we are not to that point of the wobblies taking over the unions... now in six months, you might count it.
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socialist_n_TN Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Feb-26-11 11:21 AM
Response to Reply #7
15. Nadin, as much as I usually agree with you ,............
Edited on Sat Feb-26-11 11:23 AM by socialist_n_TN
this time :).... in this issue. Not so much.

Notice I did say "not in 80 years". And I think I'm correct in that. Every other movement since the 30s has focussed on specific "liberation" issues or wars, with the exception of the G-8 and G-20 demonstrations. And they were localized to ONE city. THIS is economic/class based and, relatively, widespread. Being so, it can't HELP, but raise class consciousness in the participants. If you're involved, you KNOW this is a fight to roll back the rights of the working class to the benefit of the economic elites.

Now if you're talking about it spreading into the GENERAL population, you're right there. Not yet. But this IS a start. If you raise class consciousness in a significiant portion of the population that hasn't noticed it before (like the folks participating in this movement), it WILL spread into the general population eventually.

I hope. :)

Edited for syntax and clarity.
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coalition_unwilling Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Feb-26-11 10:18 PM
Response to Reply #15
34. I get false readings on class consciousness, living on the west
side of Los Angeles, where a progressive (Marcy Winograd) almost knocked blue dog-war pig Jane Harman out in the last round of primaries. But I think I agree with you about the rise in class consciousness nationally. What amazes and appals me is how slow the Democratic Party has been to ride the wave. Almost like they don't get it.
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JDPriestly Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Feb-26-11 11:59 PM
Response to Reply #34
42. Living on the East side of Los ANgeles, I am very aware of the
class differences in Los Angeles. They are appalling, enormous, horrible.
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coalition_unwilling Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-27-11 02:27 AM
Response to Reply #42
52. I would imagine. LA is a hard place to exist if you don't have
any money. As Albert Hammond's pop song had it, it never rains in California, it pours, man, it pours.
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socialist_n_TN Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-27-11 12:44 AM
Response to Reply #34
48. Well, imagine living in a DEEP red state..............
even if it IS a blue dot. :) It's DEFINITELY hard to find folks who even know what class warfare IS.

Even the more left wing politically is still pretty right. Or at least they WERE pretty right. Everybody I talked to today though didn't seem to have a problem with this old Trotskyist spouting off. They LISTENED rather than their eyes just glazing over when I talked about the class struggle. It was VERY encouraging.
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coalition_unwilling Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-27-11 02:06 AM
Response to Reply #48
50. They may have trouble understanding what 'class warfare' is or
even what a 'class' is, but they certainly should be able to grasp a concept like their relationship to the means of production. I'm guessing most of them are proletariat and not petite bourgeois, based on my memories of growing up in southwestern Missouri.

I would like to say 'thank you' to you for having the patience and fortitude to educate your fellow citizens. Glad to hear that their eyes were not glazing over.
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socialist_n_TN Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-27-11 02:19 AM
Response to Reply #50
51. Well somebody has to do it. And as the Grateful Dead........
once said (paraphrasing), it's a damn shame it has to be me. :)
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defendandprotect Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Feb-26-11 09:06 PM
Response to Reply #3
24. Depends on whether the public begins to offer more concrete challenge to capitalism, itself ....
Do they "get it" yet -- ???

Michael Moore did everything he could to help them along!!


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socialist_n_TN Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-27-11 12:39 AM
Response to Reply #24
46. Yeah, that "Capitalism- A Love Story" was a pretty good.........
shot at the financial elites. It even made me start to use the word "capitalist" more. For the longest time I used "corporatist", MEANING capitalist, but not putting it right out there. I thought using the old Bolshevik buzz word might be counterproductive, but I figured that if Michael put it out there, so could I. I haven't really had a lot of problems with it, especially with other lefties. Even the Mensheviks and the Democratic Socialists (or their American equivalents) don't seem to have that much of a problem with it anymore.
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Lugnut Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Feb-26-11 01:56 AM
Response to Original message
5. Without open code voting systems everything else is moot.
:kick:
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defendandprotect Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Feb-26-11 09:12 PM
Response to Reply #5
26. Agree -- computers have to go and Dem Party should be leading that effort ....
Why not? They're the ones who are on the losing end?

Why, then, the non-existant response to it??

Why?

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StarsInHerHair Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Feb-26-11 10:11 PM
Response to Reply #26
31. would a write-in vote en masse be a way to get around the machines?
and be a solidarity stand too
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defendandprotect Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Feb-26-11 10:16 PM
Response to Reply #31
33. Always loved that idea --
Edited on Sat Feb-26-11 10:18 PM by defendandprotect
however, you begin to find out that they wouldn't legitimize the "candidate" in the

end -- too many ways around it --

but I'm no expert on "write in's" -- we'd have to ask others here for a definitive answer.

Otherwise, think a great idea!

How about "Bernie Sanders"?

He could run on a Dem ticket, for one --

He would bring out all the liberal Dems who haven't voted in years --

he would bring out the voters who stayed home in 2010 --

And, he would attract liberals from other third parties -- and Socialists!!

How about Tom Hayden for VP -- someone really anti-war!!

VP Biden has been calling for a year now for Israel to attack Iran --

Biden says, "Israel would be justified in attacking Iran" -- !!


:eyes:


PS: Btw, how about setting up a little question or two about that in a GD thread -- ?

You'll probably get replies from those who do know about such things!

Think it would be interesting!

:)
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Enthusiast Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Feb-26-11 11:56 PM
Response to Reply #26
41. Why not?
That is the big question.
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nadinbrzezinski Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Feb-26-11 02:02 AM
Response to Original message
6. Yes... you see... all this time we have asked
WHEN... the pot was boiling.

I had a feeling that we'd be here anywhere from 12-24 months after Egypt, but it happened in a week. Part of it is a huge miscalculation.

But this is what some of us expected.

Now let me share my fear. This is the time the right will have to decide... civil war or hunker down for another three generations. They are starting to realize that the tea party is an inch deep, This isn't. So that is why right now they are looking for incidents, as in real incidents.

We need to be saints about this... but my fear is a kucklehead who takes a gun and uses it. Watch for calls for secession in both AZ and TX... I think that may be coming.
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drm604 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Feb-26-11 02:14 AM
Response to Reply #6
9. To be honest I have fears also.
But the alternative would be to do nothing and allow them to continue with their plans. Reversing those plans would only get harder (with a greater capacity for violence) with time.

It needed a catalyst and this organized nationwide union-busting attempt was that catalyst. It could NOT be ignored. It HAD to be responded to.

That said, you are right that we need to avoid violence. An all out violent civil war is not likely to lead to the world we want. (It's also not likely to lead to a world the right would be happy with, but I doubt that they are thoughtful enough to realize that.)
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nadinbrzezinski Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Feb-26-11 02:20 AM
Response to Reply #9
10. Absolutely
why I am going to the rally tomorrow...
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defendandprotect Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Feb-26-11 10:03 PM
Response to Reply #9
30. Agree --
Edited on Sat Feb-26-11 10:12 PM by defendandprotect
especially here --

hat said, you are right that we need to avoid violence. An all out violent civil war is not likely to lead to the world we want. (It's also not likely to lead to a world the right would be happy with, but I doubt that they are thoughtful enough to realize that.)

And, also that they only become wealthier and stronger as time passes.

But, rather, I think they'd prefer to continue speeding up the more gradual take over --

once they would knock out collective bargaining in one state -- think how much easier as

new GOP-Governors are delivered by the computers!

But I'd never say "never" to anything because these people are extremeists --




Otoh, Mother Nature is going to be playing a lot of final cards -- they can't be

prepared for everything.

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vssmith Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Feb-26-11 04:58 PM
Response to Reply #6
20. President Perry would have the Lone Star Republic fucked up in short order
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defendandprotect Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Feb-26-11 09:56 PM
Response to Reply #6
29. What was the "huge miscalculation" ... ?
As long as right wingers like Walker come to office via computer voting --

the general public is going to be confused about what's going on.

Certainly, after 2000, shouldn't we have all had the expectation that the party

which lost so much would be challenging computer voting? Not a peep! Why?

Computers are a number one critical issue to move ahead on --


Now let me share my fear. This is the time the right will have to decide... civil war or hunker down for another three generations. They are starting to realize that the tea party is an inch deep, This isn't. So that is why right now they are looking for incidents, as in real incidents.

Imo, the T-Party was set up to introduce a new level of aggression/violence into our politics --

Think of the change that Pat Buchanan and "Crossfire" brought so long ago -- a combativeness

which only grew on the right side as the left was pushed out. Where is normalcy now in regard

to political conversation? What seems normal to the public now?

And, if you look at one of the threads up now, you can see a "Union/Journalist" circulating among

the union members' rally asking "What's your problem with the T-Party?" And it does create

distraction and finally anger. Agree, the left must be ever cautious/observant re this kind of push.

Neither do I think we should forget the T-BAGGERS coming to Democratic Town Hall Meetings with

Rifles slung over their shoulders -- and guns carried openly. Nor, T-BAGGERS spitting on

elected Representatives of Congress as they re-entered the Capitol!

Definitely agree with you on the urge to escalate. Mainly, because the right wing can only

rise on violence. That's what they've been doing for 50+ years with out in the open political

violence/assassinations -- stolen elections -- propaganda of lies. And everything bought and

paid for by their wealth.

In that regard, I agree with you -- as for anything more, I'd never say "never" -- !!


Main thing for the public to begin to understand is the huge political betrayals we have

suffered --

And to begin to challenge the myths of capitalism --


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Historic NY Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Feb-26-11 10:22 PM
Response to Reply #29
36. If liberal started showing up a teabaggers protests with guns they load up their depends.
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defendandprotect Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Feb-26-11 11:47 PM
Response to Reply #36
38. They obviously have a protected status -- guess Koch Bros backing does that for them!!
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Historic NY Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Feb-26-11 11:54 PM
Response to Reply #38
39. It would be interesting, wouldn't it .
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Auntie Bush Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Feb-26-11 11:29 PM
Response to Reply #6
37. But, but, but...it's against the law!
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nadinbrzezinski Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Feb-26-11 02:05 AM
Response to Original message
8. By the way I am keeping many of your primary reports
guys... as part of a historical record.
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B Calm Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Feb-26-11 05:42 AM
Response to Original message
11. K&R
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marions ghost Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Feb-26-11 07:46 AM
Response to Original message
12. No-bid contracts
From the bill:

“Notwithst­anding ss. 13.48 (14) (am) and 16.705 (1), the department may sell any state-owne­d heating, cooling, and power plant or may contract with a private entity for the operation of any such plant, with or without solicitati­on of bids, for any amount that the department determines to be in the best interest of the state. Notwithsta­nding ss. 196.49 and 196.80, no approval or certificat­ion of the public service commission is necessary for a public utility to purchase, or contract for the operation of, such a plant, and any such purchase is considered to be in the public interest and to comply with the criteria for certificat­ion of a project under s. 196.49 (3) (b).”
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drm604 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Feb-26-11 10:07 AM
Response to Reply #12
14. This is a very important part of the bill
and should not be overshadowed by the, also important, union issue.

In fact, it needs to be loudly and repeatedly pointed out that this is also about unions. They can bust the unions by simply selling their jobs out from under them.
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truedelphi Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Feb-26-11 09:09 PM
Response to Reply #12
25. If we had a free press in this nation, that is what would be
Edited on Sat Feb-26-11 09:11 PM by truedelphi
Discussed 24/7. Yes, the attempts of the Koch brothers to dominate in the energy field in Wisconsin is what we need to hear about.

And we need some discussion that that once they establish their monopoly, the prices will soar far beyond waht we would see price wise with worker demands being met.
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StarsInHerHair Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Feb-26-11 10:18 PM
Response to Reply #25
35. everywhere they privatize, like with electricity, the prices skyrocket, this
is a simple pattern, & it must be passed along person-to-person, it won't ever be reported in the media.
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TBF Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Feb-26-11 08:08 AM
Response to Original message
13. Very good comment about Freedom - it is only for those who can afford it. K&R nt
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Major Hogwash Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Feb-26-11 11:41 AM
Response to Original message
16. Damn straight! We're going to march and show them how many we are!!
I'm headed out the door in about 20 minutes to go get my 2 buddies and we're headed down toward the capital building.

We'll show 'em.
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Starry Messenger Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Feb-26-11 12:27 PM
Response to Original message
17. k&r
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rhett o rick Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Feb-26-11 02:02 PM
Response to Original message
18. Very well put. nm
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Initech Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Feb-26-11 02:09 PM
Response to Original message
19. They want unchecked power. That is not freedom.
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steve2470 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Feb-26-11 04:59 PM
Response to Original message
21. k&r nt
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DeSwiss Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Feb-26-11 08:24 PM
Response to Original message
22. It's the beginnings.....
...of a WORLDWIDE REVOLUTION.

Everything is about to change.

K&R
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femrap Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Feb-26-11 09:37 PM
Response to Original message
27. K and R
Great Post!!!!! Freedom for you and me. Cooperation not competition is the way for all to survive.

I saw a great sign today: "Walker and Kasich are addicted to Koch."

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Beartracks Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Feb-26-11 09:54 PM
Response to Original message
28. K & R n/t
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Name removed Donating Member (0 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Feb-26-11 10:13 PM
Response to Original message
32. Deleted message
Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.
 
Nevernose Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Feb-26-11 11:54 PM
Response to Original message
40. Maybe this is our tea party moment
A saner version, and a liberal version, and a version unfunded by RW billionaires. A chance to tell our leaders in the loudest, noisiest ways possible that we're not fucking serfs and we're not going to elect any more DINOs and we're not going to give up our unions without a fight.
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socialist_n_TN Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-27-11 12:49 AM
Response to Reply #40
49. Oh, you mean an ACTUAL economic populist movement.......
from the left, not astroturf? :)
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maxpower Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-27-11 12:02 AM
Response to Original message
43. Right on!!!
Well put.


Peace,
Max
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madmax Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-27-11 12:12 AM
Response to Original message
44. K & R
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sam sarrha Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-27-11 12:18 AM
Response to Original message
45. looks like this will end up a civil war againdt the Dominionists >Links>>
http://doggo.tripod.com/doggchrisdomin.html
"snip...Dominionism is a natural if unintended extension of Social Darwinism and is frequently called “Christian Reconstructionism.” Its doctrines are shocking to ordinary Christian believers and to most Americans. Journalist Frederick Clarkson, who has written extensively on the subject, warned in 1994 that Dominionism 'seeks to replace democracy with a theocratic elite that would govern by imposing their interpretation of "Biblical Law".' He described the ulterior motive of Dominionism is to eliminate '…labor unions, civil rights laws, and public schools.' Clarkson then describes the creation of new classes of citizens:

'Women would be generally relegated to hearth and home. Insufficiently Christian men would be denied citizenship, perhaps executed. So severe is this theocracy that it would extend capital punishment blasphemy, heresy, adultery, and homosexuality.'

Born in Christian Reconstructionism, which was founded by the late R. J. Rushdoony, the framers of the new cult included Rushdoony, his son-in-law Gary North, Pat Robertson, Herb Titus, the former Dean of Robertson’s Regent University School of Public Policy (formerly CBN University), Charles Colson, Robertson’s political strategist, Tim LaHaye, Gary Bauer, the late Francis Schaeffer, and Paul Crouch, the founder of TBN, the world’s largest television network, plus a virtual army of likeminded television and radio evangelists and news talk show hosts.

.... Machiavellianism, Communism, Secular Humanism and Neo-Conservatism Inspired a New Militant and Evil Anti-Christian Religion

... Dominionists introduced a perversion to Calvinism -- the same one James Hogg utilizes in his The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner -- its technical name is “supralapsarianism.” It means essentially that the man called from before the foundation of the world to be one of the elect of God’s people, can do no wrong. ...

How comforting the Calvinistic idea of a “justified sinner” is when one is utilizing Machiavellian techniques to gain political control of a state. It’s more than comforting; it is a required doctrine for “Christians” who believe they must use evil to bring about good. It justifies lying, murder, fraud and all other criminal acts without the fuss of having to deal with guilt feelings or to feel remorse for the lives lost through executions, military actions, or assassinations.

Leo Strauss was born in 1899 and died in 1973. ... He is most famous for resuscitating Machiavelli and introducing his principles as the guiding philosophy of the neo-conservative movement. ... More than any other man, Strauss breathed upon conservatism, inspiring it to rise from its atrophied condition and its natural dislike of change and to embrace an unbounded new political ideology that rides on the back of a revolutionary steed, hailing even radical change; hence the name Neo-Conservatives.

Significantly, Dominionism is a form of Social Darwinism.<48> It inherently includes the religious belief that wealth-power is a sign of God’s election. That is, out of the masses of people and the multitude of nations, wealth, in and of itself, is thought to indicate God’s approval on men and nations whereas poverty and sickness reflect God’s disapproval.

(It was not until I read this article that I realized that this is a fundamental tenet of Dominionists.

Worldly wealth and power are signs of God's favor -- to attempt to limit or decrease one's wealth and power is to disrespect God.

On the contrary, God's elect on Earth are called upon to increase their wealth and power.

It is not sufficient for a man to be a millionaire, or for a country to have sovereignty within its borders -- a man must strive to increase his wealth as much as possible, and a Dominionist government's behavior toward its neighbors must be "invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity".

Furthermore, any attempt to decrease a person's or a country's wealth and power -- to take from the rich to give to the poor, to reduce military spending and power -- is a direct attack on God.)

If “Secular Humanists are the greatest threat to Christianity the world has ever known,” as theologian Francis Schaeffer claimed, then who are the Humanists? According to Dominionists, humanists are the folks who allow or encourage licentious behavior in America. They are the undisciplined revelers.

Put all the enemies of the Dominionists together, boil them down to liquid and bake them into the one single most highly derided and contaminated individual known to man, and you will have before you an image of the quintessential “liberal” -- one of those folks who wants to give liberally to the poor and needy -- who desires the welfare and happiness of all Americans -- who insists on safety regulations for your protection and who desires the preservation of your values -- those damnable people are the folks that must be reduced to powerlessness -- or worse: extinction.

What would a “reconstructed” America look like under the Dominionists? K.L. Gentry, a Dominionist himself, suggests the following “elements of a theonomic approach to civic order,” which I strongly suggest should be compared to the Texas GOP platform of 2002, which reveals that we are not just talking about imaginary ideas but some things are already proposed on Republican agendas.<60> Dominionism’s concept of government according to Gentry is as follows:

“1. It obligates government to maintain just monetary policies ... fiat money, fractional reserve banking, and deficit spending.

“2. It provides a moral basis for elective government officials. ...

“3. It forbids undue, abusive taxation of the rich. ...

“4. It calls for the abolishing of the prison system and establishing a system of just restitution. *...

“5. A theonomic approach also forbids the release, pardoning, and paroling of murderers by requiring their execution. ...

“6. It forbids industrial pollution that destroys the value of property. ...

“7. It punishes malicious, frivolous malpractice suits. ...

“8. It forbids abortion rights. ... Abortion is not only a sin, but a crime, and, indeed, a capital crime.”<61>
. . .

* Gary North describes the ‘just restitution’ system of the bible, which happens to reinstitute slavery,
like this:


“At the other end of the curve, the poor man who steals is eventually caught and sold into bondage under a successful person. His victim receives payment; he receives training; his buyer receives a stream of labor services. If the servant is successful and buys his way out of bondage, he re-enters society as a disciplined man, and presumably a self-disciplined man. He begins to accumulate wealth.”...snip"


http://www.yuricareport.com/Dominionism/TheDespoilingOfAmerica.htm
"...


The First Prince of the Theocratic States of America


It happened quietly, with barely a mention in the media. Only the Washington Post dutifully reported it.<1> And only Kevin Phillips saw its significance in his new book, American Dynasty.<2> On December 24, 2001, Pat Robertson resigned his position as President of the Christian Coalition.



Behind the scenes religious conservatives were abuzz with excitement. They believed Robertson had stepped down to allow the ascendance of the President of the United States of America to take his rightful place as the head of the true American Holy Christian Church.



Robertson’s act was symbolic, but it carried a secret and solemn revelation to the faithful. It was the signal that the Bush administration was a government under God that was led by an anointed President who would be the first regent in a dynasty of regents awaiting the return of Jesus to earth. The President would now be the minister through whom God would execute His will in the nation. George W. Bush accepted his scepter and his sword with humility, grace and a sense of exultation.



As Antonin Scalia, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court explained a few months later, the Bible teaches and Christians believe “… that government …derives its moral authority from God. Government is the ‘minister of God’ with powers to ‘revenge,’ to ‘execute wrath,’ including even wrath by the sword…”<3>



George W. Bush began to wield the sword of God’s revenge with relish from the beginning of his administration, but most of us missed the sword play. I have taken the liberty to paraphrase an illustration from Leo Strauss, the father of the neo-conservative movement, which gives us a clue of how the hiding is done:

“One ought not to say to those whom one wants to kill, ‘Give me your votes, because your votes will enable me to kill you and I want to kill you,’ but merely, ‘Give me your votes,’ for once you have the power of the votes in your hand, you can satisfy your desire.”<4>

Notwithstanding the advice, the President’s foreign policy revealed a flair for saber rattling. He warned the world that “nations are either with us or they’re against us!” His speeches, often containing allusions to biblical passages, were spoken with the certainty of a man who holds the authority of God’s wrath on earth, for he not only challenged the evil nations of the world, singling out Iraq, Syria, Iran, and North Korea as the “axis of evil,” but he wielded the sword of punishment and the sword of revenge against his own people: the American poor and the middle class who according to the religious right have earned God’s wrath by their licentiousness and undisciplined lives.



To the middle class he said, “I’m going to give you clear skies clean air and clean water,” then he gutted the environmental controls that were designed to provide clean air and water. The estimated number of premature deaths that will result: 100,000.<5> He said to the poor and to the middle class: “I’m going to give you a prescription drug program, one that you truly deserve.” Then he gave the drug industry an estimated $139 billion dollars in increased profits from the Medicare funds and arranged for the poorest of seniors to be eliminated from coverage, while most elderly will pay more for drugs than they paid before his drug benefit bill passed.<6> After that he arranged for the dismantling of the Medicare program entirely, based on the method outlined by his religious mentors.<7> He said to the people of America, “I’m going to build a future for you and your children,” then he gutted their future with tax breaks to the rich and a pre-emptive war against Iraq, and the largest spending deficit in history.<8>



This article is the documented story of how a political religious movement called Dominionism gained control of the Republican Party, then took over Congress, then took over the White House, and now is sealing the conversion of America to a theocracy by taking over the American Judiciary. It’s the story of why and how “the wrath of God Almighty” will be unleashed against the middle class, against the poor, and against the elderly and sick of this nation by George W. Bush and his army of Republican Dominionist “rulers.”
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Presidentcokedupfratboy Donating Member (994 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-27-11 12:40 AM
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47. It always was about more than bargaining
The future of our democracy is at stake.
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