Paglia Critiques The Republican Debate

[don]

Re: Paglia Critiques The Republican Debate

Jimmy's Ike moment (who wants to die of a "heart attack" on the links - not the Supreme Commander)

[don]

Re: Paglia Critiques The Republican Debate

which is - quite simply - The best argument FOR 'mandatory' status quo:

NO term limits = NO 'change we can hope for'

Small Change U Can Believe In . . . .

"Part of what I teach is how since World War II and the acquisition of this enormous power by what in essence is the new Rome in the world, the United States, part of the shift that takes place in manipulating and managing that new power is a centralization of foreign policy away from the old cabinet places where it used to take place, most prominently through the Foreign Service and through the secretary of state, to the White House and to the creation of the 1947 National Security Act, the National Security Council.

So if you ask me pro forma where does it exist today, it exists more in the National Security Council and its staff than it does anywhere else, certainly anywhere else in the cabinet. So what I'm saying is it's centralized in the White House.

But what does that mean in terms of, I think, your real question, who's behind the White House, and who's therefore behind U.S. foreign policy, more or less? I think the answer today is the oligarchs, which would be the same answer, incidentally, ironically, if you will, for Putin in Russia, the people who own the wealth, the people who therefore have the power and who more or less (and I'm not being too facetious here, I don't think) buy the president and thus buy American foreign policy. So that's as succinct an answer as I can give you and touch on a few historical points...

And you could say in some respects this shadow behind the power that makes money off war, period, no matter who's the belligerent, makes money off that volatility now, especially with computers that are able to assist them in doing so, like currency manipulation, for example, or just general speculation. With computers you can do it at lightning speed and you can do it in a nanosecond, and you can make billions in that nanosecond, and you don't care about what you're doing to the real economy, because you're raking in the dough."

Lawrence Wilkerson

(speaking of term limits, California has had them since 1990. Plenty on line if you want to check out how it's going.)

[gwynedd1]

Re: Paglia Critiques The Republican Debate

Easy rule of thumb here. Forget electoral politics. There is no Democrat or Republican for whom you can vote that will make the slightest bit of difference. We are not voting our way out of this problem.

Traditionally the best power common people ever had was veto power. It was probably this power the people had that allowed Rome to preserve itself for as long as it did. Unfortunately it is only a defence and defences eventually are defeated. The only other real option is federalization. States are by definition local organized governments. If that does not work, nothing will. Unfortunately it seems everyone has some wedge issue that they feel should apply to the whole country without realizing the power to do so is an evil in itself.

[lektrode]

Re: Paglia Critiques The Republican Debate

Small Change U Can Believe In . . . .
...
..........
"...And you could say in some respects this shadow behind the power that makes money off war, period, no matter who's the belligerent, makes money off that volatility now, especially with computers that are able to assist them in doing so, like currency manipulation, for example, or just general speculation. With computers you can do it at lightning speed and you can do it in a nanosecond, and you can make billions in that nanosecond, and you don't care about what you're doing to the real economy, because you're raking in the dough."

Lawrence Wilkerson

(speaking of term limits, California has had them since 1990. Plenty on line if you want to check out how it's going.)

would be VERY interested mr don - to see a few links of what you consider the most enlightening on this topic ?

and which entities make the most money from wars, since it seems to me its not the most obvious players of the .mil/industrial complex, but those that finance them (read: the lower manhattan/industrial complex)

and with the appx 98% recycling rate of the congressional-political/industrial complex, just who else would have the most to gain from all of it, but those who continue to vote themselves into the ranks of the rich/protected classes?

esp since cali is on the bleeding edge of near everything going on (including 'white flight', small biz wipeout/death by over-regulation, the exodus of biz of all sizes, renewable energy mandates that encourage even more of the former, political class/union feather-bedding, sacrifice of agricultural interests vs stuff like snail darters and 'other critically endangered species'.. oh and yeah, HQ of the anti-nuke luddite brigade) ??

methinks it would be particularly insightful to see just exactly WHY TERM LIMITS are such 'bad thing' in CA and/or WHY THEY 'arent working' ?

inquiring minds an all that, plus the fact that - nears i know - they dont have them in NH..
but then.. the NH leg are basically VOLUNTEERS
(100bux annual stipend, for their 30day sesh, after which THEY GO BACK TO WORK at real jobs, with NO RETIREMENT BENEFITS - like MOST The Rest of US vs say the 'fulltime' leg's of states like CA, or that other place i'm OH-so familiar with)
and also DONT have the slushfunds with which to BUY VOTES - read: with NO SALES TAX AND NO INCOME TAX it gets kinda difficult to keep themselves in good company with the crony classes.
(oh and its also really hard to survive on welfare there too - unlike CA, from what i understand)

[don]

Re: Paglia Critiques The Republican Debate

would be VERY interested mr don - to see a few links of what you consider the most enlightening on this topic ?

and which entities make the most money from wars, since it seems to me its not the most obvious players of the .mil/industrial complex, but those that finance them (read: the lower manhattan/industrial complex)

and with the appx 98% recycling rate of the congressional-political/industrial complex, just who else would have the most to gain from all of it, but those who continue to vote themselves into the ranks of the rich/protected classes?

esp since cali is on the bleeding edge of near everything going on (including 'white flight', small biz wipeout/death by over-regulation, the exodus of biz of all sizes, renewable energy mandates that encourage even more of the former, political class/union feather-bedding, sacrifice of agricultural interests vs stuff like snail darters and 'other critically endangered species'.. oh and yeah, HQ of the anti-nuke luddite brigade) ??

methinks it would be particularly insightful to see just exactly WHY TERM LIMITS are such 'bad thing' in CA and/or WHY THEY 'arent working' ?

inquiring minds an all that, plus the fact that - nears i know - they dont have them in NH..
but then.. the NH leg are basically VOLUNTEERS
(100bux annual stipend, for their 30day sesh, after which THEY GO BACK TO WORK at real jobs, with NO RETIREMENT BENEFITS - like MOST The Rest of US vs say the 'fulltime' leg's of states like CA, or that other place i'm OH-so familiar with)
and also DONT have the slushfunds with which to BUY VOTES - read: with NO SALES TAX AND NO INCOME TAX it gets kinda difficult to keep themselves in good company with the crony classes.
(oh and its also really hard to survive on welfare there too - unlike CA, from what i understand)

I guess part of the above - there's quite a bit up there - is that our legislature is hopelessly corrupt.

I agree. The old adage, "the best government that money can buy" has never been truer.

On the question of term limits; a dead-end, energy-burning, multi-year non-starter. Can oligarch money find an endless conga line of "term-limited" bag men?

Methinks it can ... rather easily.

[shiny!]

Re: Paglia Critiques The Republican Debate

Can oligarch money find an endless conga line of "term-limited" bag men?

Methinks it can ... rather easily.

Agreed. A politician on the take can do a LOT of damage in just one term.

Edit: Make that "Politicians" plural.

[lektrode]

Re: Paglia Critiques The Republican Debate

Originally Posted by don Can oligarch money find an endless conga line of "term-limited" bag men?

Methinks it can ... rather easily.

Agreed. A politician on the take can do a LOT of damage in just one term.

...

yeah, yer (both) right - mights well just keep our heads buried in the sand and cheer on the status quo, as clearly, our political aristocracy knows whats best for us all and will continue to work for our best interests

/sarc

[shiny!]

Re: Paglia Critiques The Republican Debate

yeah, yer (both) right - mights well just keep our heads buried in the sand and cheer on the status quo, as clearly, our political aristocracy knows whats best for us all and will continue to work for our best interests

/sarc

You got it, Lek. Now just get with the program and crack open a beer or twelve, pop a Prozac and plunk yer fanny down in front of the boob tube till your brains leak out your ears. I'll bring the popcorn.

[lektrode]

Re: Paglia Critiques The Republican Debate

You got it, Lek. Now just get with the program and crack open a beer or twelve, pop a Prozac and plunk yer fanny down in front of the boob tube till your brains leak out your ears. I'll bring the popcorn.

i would, esp if you bring it buttered...
but i'm a V&T kinda guy and after poppin a few of them, watching most TV tends to make me hurl...
(including comments, epithets, insults, or anything i can throw and tends to make me go all 'tourettes' - esp when watching the big3 newscasts ;)

[shiny!]

Re: Paglia Critiques The Republican Debate

i would, esp if you bring it buttered...
but i'm a V&T kinda guy and after poppin a few of them, watching most TV tends to make me hurl...
(including comments, epithets, insults, or anything i can throw and tends to make me go all 'tourettes' - esp when watching the big3 newscasts ;)

You're not taking enough Prozac.

[lektrode]

Re: Paglia Critiques The Republican Debate

You're not taking enough Prozac.

or not enuf V&T
as they say: 'candy is dandy, but liquor is quicker'

but my main objection to the 'sit down, shut up, take a pill and collapse in front of the propaganda machine' advice?

i shudder to think what my life would've been at this point had i followed that path... (not that i'm 'sittin pretty' by any means, just lucky to have survived the past 6years of their REIGN OF TERROR)

never mind what would've happened to The Rest of US over the centuries had our forefathers+mothers gone that route...

[shiny!]

Re: Paglia Critiques The Republican Debate

or not enuf V&T
as they say: 'candy is dandy, but liquor is quicker'

but my main objection to the 'sit down, shut up, take a pill and collapse in front of the propaganda machine' advice?

i shudder to think what my life would've been at this point had i followed that path... (not that i'm 'sittin pretty' by any means, just lucky to have survived the past 6years of their REIGN OF TERROR)

never mind what would've happened to The Rest of US over the centuries had our forefathers+mothers gone that route...

I agree with you, Lek, except for the V&T part 'cause I don't drink. No, I'm going through these times stone cold sober.

[vt]

Re: Paglia Critiques The Republican Debate

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/30/op...rump-bump.html

http://www.weeklystandard.com/articl...s_1020527.html

[jk]

Re: Paglia Critiques The Republican Debate

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/30/op...rump-bump.html

http://www.weeklystandard.com/articl...s_1020527.html

from the weekly standard article:

'When asked if he feared a backlash against rich candidates like the one that damaged Romney, Trump responded, “Romney isn’t that rich.” '

lol

and
"his unapologetic mockery of more conventional forms of political theater makes him in some ways the most serious candidate in the race."

true, that.

these blog posts by scott adams re trump are interesting, amusing, and worthwhile imo.

[vt]

Re: Paglia Critiques The Republican Debate

The key point of the Republican polls is that the non politicians (Trump, Carson, and Fiorina) have over 50% of the vote!

These polls tap into the anti politician fervor of the American public. 60% of voters want to throw ALL politicians out of office! They hate all of them.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politi...265_story.html

The most recent polls are most interesting in who is number 2 behind Trump. Ben Carson! Another non politician. If Carson can come in a strong 2nd or even win an early primary then he could beat Trump as other Republicans drop out of the race and less votes are split.

The race is complicated by the fact that the strongest Republican polling against Clinton is Rubio. Carson and Trump do not poll well. I still think a Rubio-Carson ticket could present the Democrats with their strongest challenge.

But it's independents that will decide the election:

http://ivn.us/2015/07/06/poll-indepe...rats-combined/

I predict at some point there will be an independent party that will displace one of the other two parties, and the surviving party will consistently lose to the new independent party in elections after.