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Far Right Power GrabFar Right Power Grab3 events have happened in recent years that should scare the hell out of anyone not brainwashed by Fox "News". That is the coup being launched by the Far Right against democracy.
First, when Clinton went after some Right-wing tradtional industrys like guns, tobacco and health care, the Republicans responded with a fury to undo the election by bringing in the sex police. They failed, but damn if they didn't give it a go. Next was the 2002 election. We all know of course that Gore won the popular election. We all know what happened in Florida. The Right -Wing was able to get its nominees on the US Supreme Court in a strict party-line vote to insure that the Florida election was taken out of the hands of Florida judges and Florida voters. Someone should take a long hard look at the political rewards bestowed upon Katherine Harris and her legal team. It would make your skin crawl. Quietly, the team was rewarded with judgeships and political posts. And the overall coup was a resounding success. As a direct result we are now having our troops killed in Iraq. Giddy with the success from the 2000 election heist, a right wing nut job (who previously was convicted for armed car-jacking, though the conservative media will never let you know that) spent 1.3 million dollars to buy a recall of an election the Republicans fairly lost. Will this last attempt work too? We'll see soon enough. And have we all heard about PNAC? Pretty scarey stuff. These are the things of conspiracy theories. Only this isn't a theory.
http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/200 ... 025024.htm
"Your imagination, like a child, will explode with unrestrained possibilities for adventure."
Oops, I posted twice. I deleted this first message.
Last edited by Nothingman on Sep 2nd 2003, 5:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"To come to your senses, you must first go out of your mind." - Alan Watts
I was watching the news last night and was trying to remember when the country had been in worse shape. I couldn’t decide if there was always this many problems and I didn’t pay attention before, or if it really was as bad as I thought. I’m leaning toward the latter. Three stories blew me away. First, that Bush reduced the scheduled increase in federal employee’s incomes from 4.1% to 2%. Second, that the deficit will be $500 Billion without including, anti terrorist programs, the rebuilding of Iraq, or operations in Afghanistan or Liberia. And finally, the White House repealed sections of the clean air act allowing factories to expand/remodel 20% of their facility without upgrading any other their pollution scrubbers. Which means if they only expand 20% a year they can avoid the requirements. Then they had the nerve to say that it “might” improve air quality. The story even related it to the blackout, saying that now coal/oil power generation plants may be more likely to expand their capacity. (An obvious ploy for public approval) What really happened was someone wrote a big enough check to the campaign fund.
The White House still refuses to admit that there is any correlation between the amount of the deficit and the economy. Then they reduce the scheduled increase on federal employees that countless people were counting on just to make ends meet. Give the people less money, and that will help the economy? What does Bush care, white upper class conservative republicans don’t work for the gov’t anyway. The occupation of Iraq is costing 1 Billion a week, and that’s without any money going towards repairing buildings, water mains, oil fields, electricity, police, etc. I support other nations lack of economic support for the building of Iraq. I believe it is an important message, “You insisted on making this mess, you clean it up.” Apparently, when Bush modeled the rebuilding of Iraq on Sim City 2000 (the new versions are too complicated), when he demolished the old buildings, new ones just started springing up. Now he’s left wondering what went wrong. "To come to your senses, you must first go out of your mind." - Alan Watts
A billion dollars a week? Is this an exaggeration? I agree with the sentiment of what you are saying but I think that the position many other countries are taking is that they are willing to help out both financially and with troops in Iraq but not under the unilateral control of the "US". If Bush is willing to seek a new UN resolution on Iraq that would involve relinquishing sole decision making power, many countries who are currently not getting involved in Iraq would be willing to do so. As usual I was just being lazy, i've since answered my own question (no exaggeration, a billion dollars a week!) and now know what most everyone else probably already did given that the information was so readily available. Also the pentagon had estimated in April that costs would be half of that in the following months. Reports claim that continuing attacks against US forces is largely responsible for the higher cost. So far I've had more difficulty finding information about other US spending in Iraq like the big government contracts that are being handed out. I guess it's best to keep the focus on spending that can be blamed on iraqi resistance.
I continue to be amazed that employees put up with this crap. Are there no trade unions? No 'let's band together and go on strike' movements? If such a move were tried over here, employees would be on strike faster than you can say 'paycut'. There are laws protecting people from being fired for participating in a Union-supported strike. I work in the public sector and I remain thankful that I know that the most that can happen to me for participating in a strike is that I will be docked pay. I can express my opinion (or even 'solidarity' with other members of the union) without fear of repercussion. People whinge about strikes all the time but I think it's vital that employees can't just be walked on by their employers because of the 'well, don't work here any more' threat. Oh, here we go again. This is just so shortsighted that I can't even begin to comprehend it. Bush pulls out of Kyoto, to world disdain and disgust. Who cares if Europeans will suffer the results of our emissions? Americans still need to consume more energy and burn more petrol and use more packaging (something I particularly noticed on my recent trip) than the rest of the world! Why? Because we're American, that's why! It 'might' improve air quality in the US. The result will be that Scandinavia will reap the results of US polluters and their forrests will be wiped out by acid rain. God it makes me angry. Almost as angry as I was about Halliburton. Almost as angry as I was when Bush slapped tariffs on imported steel, costing thousands of jobs over here, right after Britain stood shoulder to shoulder on the terrorist issue with him. ![]() Cool. I think there are too many people in the rest of the world that think that Bush is accurately representing the will of the US on these issues, and I'm glad he isn't. Bush has recently had to admit that he really needs UN help now. US soldiers continue to die and they need the support of important countries like India and Pakistan to name a couple. But they won't help without UN backing. So Bush has indicated that he would support a 'UN force' rather than the 'coalition' that currently exists. Snag? The US government is insisting that they remain in charge of the whole operation even if the UN agrees to back the sending of troops. Now, I appreciate that in an operation of this magnitude, SOMEONE has to be in charge otherwise nobody makes a decision and things drag on forever. But step aside, Bush, admit you're screwing it up, and let someone else have a go at fixing the mess you made. After all, we are talking about people's lives here. Stop expecting the world to put their trust and the lives of their soldiers in your hawkish undiplomatic hands. Oh, and here's another questionable policy he's come up with recently that I saw on CNN when I was over... chop down vast swathes of forrest in order to stop forrest fires from spreading. Hmmm. Even more trees to go. Plus, I have been to Yellowstone and I went on an early-morning ride with a rancher who seemed extremely knowleagable. He was telling about how forrest fires, although they look unpleasant and are devastating and all the rest, allow the forrest to clean itself up, burning off old, dead wood, putting charcoal nutrients back into the soil, and allowing new trees to grow back in place and the forrest to be replenished. Sure, it takes a while, but nature will always sort itself out. The only problem may arise when they really get out of hand. I don't know whether he was right or wrong, but it definitely sounded like a convincing argument to me. Nature shouldn't really be messed with. --------------------------------------------- http://www.urban-hills.blogspot.com --------------------------------------------- stuffIf you remember the creation of the Homeland Security Department Bush and the GOP whined that they needed the flexibility of hire and fire as they see fit. So no union representation in Homeland Security. Transportation Security Administration workers has been quoted in papers that they are forced to work overtime with no sign of relief in sight. They cannot unionize, its the law. The fact that the law is evil and reprehensible not withstanding. On the NewsHour on PBS on Wednesday evening Conneticut's Attorney General has already said that they will sue the EPA in court over the new regulations. Conneticut and other east coast states are down wind from the coal burning power plants in Ohio and other midwestern states that will directly benefit from the EPA's new feel-free-to-pollute policy.
Not by a long shot. ![]() Thanks for the post Starbug. Lance Man
Bush was by no means the first U.S. president to subvert the process for his own ends:
You can read the full article quoted above here. The author goes on to show how such abuse can be prevented:
I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure.
-- Clarence Darrow I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it. -- Mark Twain Who is onlineUsers browsing this forum: No registered users and 0 guests |