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Here's Why (Unfortunately) The "Shocking" Tea-Party Victory Doesn't Matter
Submitted by Simon Black of Sovereign Man blog,
In February 1964, a 22-year old Cassius Clay (later Muhammad Ali) faced off against a gigantic Sonny Liston, the heavyweight boxing champion of the world.
Liston was an imposing opponent. I mean– this was a guy with mob ties who learned to box while serving hard time in prison. Plus he had twice devastated boxing great Floyd Patterson with two first-round knockouts, and he had a substantial reach advantage over Ali.
Ali knew it. And despite all the trash talking, he was nervous. His pulse rate was a whopping 120 at the pre-fight weigh in, more than twice his usual 54.
But seven rounds into the fight, Ali had won a major upset. And the pictures from immediately afterward show that even Ali was shocked.
I thought about this the other day upon reading the news of US House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s loss in the primary election to David Brat, a political unknown.
Judging by the long stream of ‘holy crap’ tweets, Brat, like Ali, did what most people (including himself) thought was impossible.
It’s been more than a century since a sitting majority leader in the US House of Representatives lost in the primary… especially against a complete unknown.
The talking heads have been analyzing these results trying to assign a specific reason to Cantor’s stunning loss. Was it his stance on immigration? Tax reform? Or that he didn’t fight Obama hard enough?
None of the above. It’s not so complicated– the guy was ousted out of good old fashioned disgust.
People are sick and tired of the usual suspects running the show, and this was nothing more than an ‘anybody but the current guy’ vote.
This is happening all over Europe as well. Recent elections in the UK stunned the country as Nigel Farage’s UKIP party sidelined Labour and Conservative for the first time in nearly a century.
And in France, the revolution in the voting booth has caused a crisis of confidence in the government of Monsieur Sarkozy.
This level of disgust has finally arrived to US shores. And as exciting as it may be to get ‘real change,’ it’s important to temper one’s expectations. Because there is such a thing as being past the point of no return.
Remember– last year the US government took in $2.6 trillion in tax revenue. Then they spent $2.5 trillion just to pay for MANDATORY entitlement programs like social security, and INTEREST on the debt.
So the government blew through 96% of its tax revenue before writing a single check for most things we think of as government– the military, Homeland Security, or even the IRS.
Bear in mind that both of these major spending items increase every year; more people join the rolls of Social Security, and interest on the debt goes up.
Even the Congressional Budget Office’s own projections show government spending increasing at a far greater rate than tax revenue.
That’s the funny thing about numbers– arithmetic cannot be influenced by emotion. It doesn’t feel optimistic or pessimistic. It’s just truth. And the truth is that this situation is far past the point of no return.
Even with radical Social Security reform (i.e. STOPPING payments to seniors right away), they only buy themselves a few years. More worrisome, if interest rates increase by even just 1%, interest on the debt will skyrocket.
We can be happy. And we can hope. But it’s dangerous to presume that all the challenges improve simply because a new group of people is installed into positions of power.
This is the fallacy that persists at nearly every election cycle– people cheer that the new guy is going to fix everything. And this excitement almost always turns to disappointment.
Optimism is great. But it’s dangerous to invest one’s faith in a political system.
Elections merely change the players. They don’t change the game. And it is the game that is fundamentally flawed.
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In the end they all end up in some lobbyist's back pocket.
I don't invest in any paper (except TP) so I'm certainly not going to invest in these charlatans and poltroons.
Yes votes never matter. Remember when PM Cameron asked parliament for permission to attack Syria and they voted it down? And then US and UK attacked anyway.
Oh wait...
the story of brat's victory is the disparity in the money spent by he and the other frat boy. i'm guessing others will follow. but he is a brainwashed academic (redundant?) and i don't expect too much from him.
In rock and roll most famous scream... We are not fool again!
(Meet new boss, same as old boss...)
"Nothing can be fixed no matter what you do. Only solution is to run away to a nice, safe foreign country and put your money in their nice, safe banks."
Every Simon Black article ever penned.
Any kid working on his accounting degree could solve the MATHEMATICAL problem of government entitelment spending. It's the CONSEQUENCES of doing that which nobody is willing to accept. Sheesh. Is this not obvious?
Who cares if ousting the politicians changes nothing.
If we can just get rid of all the ossified corpses entrenched at the upper tiers of government we might actually be able to catch a breath of fresh air coming out of D.C.
The only air ever to come out of Washington is Hot Air.
If only it could be harnessed to do useful work.
Posted Elsewhere:
"
1) The taxes are not worth the value being returned.
I don't have a problem paying taxes, so long as they go to something worthwhile. I will end up paying around 33% - an entire 1/3rd of my income - in my 2013 tax return. Yes, I am getting a refund, but when I am paying tens of thousands of dollars and not getting the services I should receive for that investment in my country, celebrating the return of a few hundred dollars seems absurd.
Where is my benefit from my government for all of this? Do I have free healthcare? No. Do I have a world class education for my child? No. Do I have any kind of guaranteed income should I lose my job? No.
No, instead, I have a country which is the only one in the world to tax its overseas citizens. A country that bails out banks who prey on those who just want a home to raise a family when they become insolvent - but when it happens to me, and I short sell my home, the IRS is there, ready to tax me on "phantom income" - forgiven debt.
I have a country that spends billions on fighting wars for political gain, but does nothing when there actually is evidence of WMD use against others. A country that hemorrhages so much money on military spending, it must turn around and take loans against my child's future - her income - in order to continue to pay for programs we don't need.
2) I'm tired of people being surprised that I'm American because I have manners, common courtesy, and the ability to see the other side of issues.
Seriously, the number of people I meet who think Americans are rascal-riding land whales (like in the movie Wall-E) with handle-bar mounted machine guns, a sack of Big Macs in the front basket, a clinical addiction to NASCAR, and a passion for the modern day artist that is Jerry Springer - it's just too much. I've been introducing myself as Canadian because apparently I'm so polite, that's where they mostly assume I'm from.
3) The fact that none of this is ever going to change, regardless of what party is in charge, and the fact that the American government continues to shred the constitution a little more each year, until it doesn't even matter anymore.
You may not think of America as a police state, but it is. Nobody's going to come grab you in the middle of the night, unless you're reported as a terrorist of some kind. At that point, just forget about "police work" and get ready for the SWAT team.
Nobody is going to take your children way from you, unless Child Protective Services is called, and someone decides - for whatever reason - that it's "in the child's best interest" to be removed.
Nobody is ever going to interfere with your access to medicine, unless you're trying to get something that isn't ridiculously expensive from another country; in that case, get ready for being charged as a drug trafficker.
Nobody is going to freeze your bank accounts, passport, and other means of movement, unless the IRS believes you haven't given them enough money. Suddenly you have debt to prove isn't there, and it will all get "sorted out" at the blistering fast speed of government efficiency. Or you could just pay the amount they say and it all ends quickly.
4) The fact that the future for my child in the US is so dark.
All this debt, and it's going to fall on her and her children. She's broke, and she doesn't even know it yet. Disgusting.
Well, I count myself fortunate that I don't own a home in the US - it affords me the ability to even consider leaving it all behind. There's so much propaganda about how wonderful America is but, when you look at it without those rosy lenses on, what you really see is horrifying.
"
Correct....Unless we address the issues of the human heart, things will never change. But I will enjoy the moment that"The People" hurt him in the only place he has feelings, his ego.
May the trend continue.
can we have a moment of silence for mr. cantor as he walks away with probably 200k retirement, medical, lobbiest position etc., etc., etc.,......when you win you still fucking lose..
And there will be not a peep out of the crowd that bitches about the "rich pensions" of firefighters, etc...This jerk does a few years as Congressman and gets a cushy pension for life. For fucking LIFE.
The cop or firefighter wants to get a pension a fraction of that size for 30 years of service is a "taker"...
*sigh*
when you win you still fucking lose
WIAT...STRIKE THAT....REVERSE IT...
When you lose you still fucking win
I think it was the late, great Bill Hicks who said after an election The President-Elect is taken to a screening room in the WH. There with a dozen or so of America's most powerful oligarchs, lights are dimmed and they watch 20 seconds of the Zapruder film. The lights come up, one of the oligarchs looks at the President-Elect and says: "Any questions?"
My question would be, "Which direction did the fatal shot come from? Was it the grassy knoll or the book depository. I just want to know which side of the armored limousine I should spend my money reinforcing."
Then I'd ask to be excused telling them that I had to visit the little transgender room and as soon as I left I'd give the signal to lock the doors and drop the Cyanide gas canisters.
So you would rely on others to do the killing for you?
don't companies pay lobbyists?
companies can also give to candidates too cause they're people, right?
but if companies are people why can't they vote?
At least in Russia, corrupt politician is not feign democracy and love for country over self. Boris is look at USSA corporate donor list and lobby group and throw up not just little. America, you are last hope, but hope is now dwindle in rapid downward spiral of excruciate death.
Corporations can't hold pencils.
That's why Diebold does so well.
I'd like to see how a corporation can be charged with a crime, imprisoned, and put to death. When that happens I'll admit they can be a little like people.
Dr. Engali is correct... in the end they are bought and paid for by corporate amerika. After reading some of the posts that followed Dr. Engali it was clear to me how "the same as it ever was" and "different players same outcome" didn't set well with some of the more "optimistic" bloggers out there. I say the first step in acknowledging you have a problem is admitting it... then doing something about it. I believe we have too many ostriches who would prefer to put their head in the sand, keep doing the same thing, hope for a different result and at all costs avoid admitting Dr. Engali is spot on... why? Well of course for them hope springs eternal and it's easier to hope a "new face" here and there will be "the change you can believe in" as opposed to realistically seeing the problem for what it is objectively, then taking the necessary steps to correct it - that requires effort and I suspect too many are "too busy" watching sports, drinking beer, etc., while the sky continues to fall all around us all. It's not the politician's that annoy me as much as those who sit by, do nothing and allow the disintregation to continue. Our elected "leaders are children" who are constantly looking for ways to beat the system, lie, cheat, manipulate, promote the double standard in favor of themselves, etc. Complain about them and the system all you like but remember while your sucking on the boob tube, they are busy stealing your money, freedoms, and life from you little by little. Why? Because you allowed them to do it.
so did you.
Fonsannoon, you could not be more wrong... first I don't drink and I don't watch sports. Second, I'm involved with others who focus less on blaming our elected officials and instead looking in the mirror and taking personal responsibility for the state of affairs. Should I have started earlier? Admittedly, yes... but at least I started and am continuuing to facilitate change and trying to involve local others also.
I'd point the finger back at you, however I don't assume anything about anyone else without knowing the facts first... assuming just makes an ass/u/me. Perhaps you're doing your part, I don't know... perhaps you're drinking beer and watching sports... I don't know. What I do know is numbers matter in this game and right now the numbers are measured in terms of money, not voters. United we stand, divided we fall and if the crony elite have enough money they can cancel out a lot of voters.
read back your original comment. your last sentence. you pointed the finger out at everyone. you made the assumptions about everyone.
Sorry pal, but if you believe in voting, then you ARE the problem.
You have no moral authority to appoint ANYONE as my master. That you would do so to everyone makes me weep for your lack of humanity.
Take your well-intentioned slavery and shove it.
Without voters, evil-doers would lack sufficient means for mass murder, coercion and extortion. They would be nothing more than a common street thug, and better yet, would be recognized as such by ALL. Instead, idiotic, grown-up children go on about "respect for the office," without regard to the evil they perpetrate by supporting The Beast.
Without 'leaders' there can be no war.
Government is the problem, not the solution.
Who voted for Ghengis Khan, Mao, PolPot and so on?
+1 The bankster cabal that runs this country has an iron grip indeed.
Adam Kinzinger. 'Nuff said.
Adam! WAAAAZZZZAAAAP!!!!
Hey TD, YOU show this, ALL THE TIME!
http://www.showrealhist.com/RHandRD.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvM6TxUnCDE
...Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...
Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...
Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...
...Letting the days go by/let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by/water flowing underground
Into the blue again/after the money's gone
Once in a lifetime/water flowing underground...
...Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...
Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...
Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...
Live in shot gun shack in other part of world.
Wonder what the new guy's price will be? We'll find out in due time.
As a college professor he should be able to use fundamentals to determine a price, but then he is also an econ Phd.
"econ Phd."
A Keynesian econ. Phd. I do believe.
"Same at it ever was."
Boris is not superstitious, but is fun to entertain with conspiracy theory now and then.
Bo Bergdahl. Barack Obama's dog Bo.
Bo became Barrack Obama's dog on 4/14/2009.
Soon after learning his name was that of the WH mutt, Bo Bergdahl became despondent and deserted his post on 6/30/2009.
Conspiracy fact.
He's a theologian and an ethics professor so let's wait and see; this should be interesting.
Someone should create an eBay account in his name and list for-sale to the highest bidder his "loyalty, oath and soul."
"See if you can buy a guillotine as well."
What is fundamentally flawed is the idea that infinite growth on a finite planet is possible. The Fed is doing a good (?) job of redistributing the claims on finite wealth upwards.
And Simon kind of gets it correct here: "That’s the funny thing about numbers– arithmetic cannot be influenced by emotion. It doesn’t feel optimistic or pessimistic. It’s just truth. And the truth is that this situation is far past the point of no return." BUT... seems that when it comes to "growth" all these folks then lose their math prowes (and we resort directly back to hoping for economic growth, just as TPTB want us to focus on).
"What is fundamentally flawed is the idea that infinite growth on a finite planet is possible."
I have never heard any politician/academic/"thinker" suggest even the concept of sustainable steady-state economics. I admit to knowing nothing about the subject myself (I am not an economist), but over and above all other issues lies this. How do we manage the world not for growth (which is depletion by definition for the resources that go into our products), but for steady-state? The lack of creativity embedded in our current philosophy is actually remarkable. You'd think at least someone would have mentioned the idea. That we haven't even heard this concept raised represents a major condemnation of our society.
I never really agreed with the "capitalism / fiat money / interest on debt" requires infinite wealth. Don't bother posting it again either. I've read it over and over, and the lines between conclusion and assumption are always broken.
Mathematical illiteracy is required not to understand this.
I'm looking at the down arrows and wondering.
social security is NOT an entitlement program
Does it become one once you take out more than you paid in? Because the first person to get Social Security paid $44 in Social Security taxes and collected $20,993 in benefits.
A Ponzi scheme by any other name would smell as foul.
Exactly. The boomers are the last generation who will have the advantage of taking out more than they put in.
Boomers are the Hippie generation. I don't blame them for the failed utopian dream of the last 50 years but there is some responsibility to be had.
I'm not sure what you mean by Utopian dream. I would think that would assume that what they wanted for themselves is what they wanted for everyone after them. That is clearly not the case and it is being proven. Now that the math behind that dream does not work they refuse to take any cuts in order to help anyone after them. They don't care what kind of debt slavery is needed in order to preserve their lifestyle. If the Utopian dream was just for themselves there should be another term used for it. Something like selfish assholes.
I'm fine with the tea party btw. Simon Black does not seem to be happy with anything or anyone. It's too bad they folded on the only real debt ceiling vote that mattered back in 2011 though. They have marginalized themselves since.
What they wanted for themselves, they wanted for the entire World. That was the utopian dream. I would say most didin't give a fuck about the next generation, they assumed everything automatically falls into place as they inhereted an easy life from the Greatest generation before them.
i can understand that. Makes sense. They are not completely at fault in this. It is interesting to see as cracks appear in the math that they continue to refuse to budge even a little to help those after them. It's obscene over here. the teachers just voted themselves back pay for the last for years. forget cutting anything. they felt they were owed more.
It was "for the children."
My issue with the tea party is that they seem to get involved in arguments that they shouldn't. If they believe in limited government and personal freedom then they need to accept all that comes with that. Stay out of the gay marriage debate and stay out of the abortion debate. If they support fiscal responsibility then they need to support more cuts than just to entitlements . That means everything is on the table, including the MIC.
Show me where the Tea Party took a position on gay marriage or abortion. Otherwise you're just repeating MSM talking points and I know you're smarter than that.
Here is one example:
http://www.teapartynation.com/forum/topics/liberty-against-equality
Tea party nation is a psyop, not the TP. There has been much critsicm about them and Judson Phillips. Tea Party Patriots is the Tea Party.
Here's something else you probably don't know. Our commie in chief has given an invitation to cross our borders for amnesty.
100,000 unattended children are being dumped into our border DAILY. Haven't heard anything about it here yet.
Hey, they (the hippies) ended the phony Vietnam War. What's the present generation doing?
Go away, baitin'.
But still, what good did ending the Vietnam war do? We've been in perpetual war either by proxy or direct military action since WWII.
Not if I can help it....
You are correct. Anyone can run the numbers.
A lifetime of contributions into Social Security affords a person 10 years of payments from Social Security. Anything more is parasitic. And this would not include free oxygen tanks or Viagra through Medicare.
Let's be honest here. It's not the "program" that inflates but INFLATION (Fed etc.) that does this. The backbone of it all IS inflation, it's the skim, it's what TPTB use to pull from the rest of us.
Nothing is sustainable if it's predicated on perpetual growth: PONZI.
Imagine - Real money - no interest - no taxation.
Start working at 20 and save half of what you make.
Retire at 60 with enough to live to 100 and if you don't your kids can have what's left.
If you choose not to save, well I guess you're not going to have any fun in your old age.
I think charitable donations in such an environment would likely do the trick for those in need through no fault of their own.
The Fed & Government theft - enforced by the threat of violence is what makes this impossible.
FEdgov should only be able to tax commerce across national borders as it is all they are "supposed" to control..
Re: social security is NOT an entitlement program
What would you call all these hip-replacement surguries that these old farts didn't pay for?
How about everybody on Medicare gets the medical coverage QUALITY present at the time they paid in?
Funny how the old farts can't admit they are on welfare. Wonder why...
Obamacare is the new Medicare. Myra is the new Social security. You don't want to see starving people do you?
Re; You don't want to see starving people do you?
Oddly enough, that's what most of this is about. If the Libertarians could come up with an answer to the question of:
What should the below-average inferior humans of society do with themselves?
Other than:
They should worship the superior humans or kill themselves without make a mess.
Perhaps the socialists wouldn't keep winning.
According the the Socialist meme, the US would have never been a World power without Govt intervention. Capitalism is evil and serves the rich, people in US were all starving before they saved them.
The socialists have great bullshit. The purpose of politics is manipulating dumbasses with bullshit, and nothing give the dumbasses happy-hope like socialist bullshit.
Most humans respond to hope and fear. But the libertarians need something other than morals to counter the socialist (hope) and fascist (fear) bullshit.
Well, you just have all your bases covered.. Not a coherent direction on any of the 4..
It is a ponzi scheme.
Semantics.
Damn it! So we're not saved?!?
Let's just flip the fucking board over already!
There's nothing on the other side.
You guys must kill it at parties. Jesus Christ.
Love your material but at this point I'm wondering how the hell you even manage to get out of bed in the morning.
Go long gallows humor. Keep em' laughin' till the lid snaps shut.
There's positive hopium and anti-hopium. At parties these usually destroy each other.
Derrick Jensen put it quite well (http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/articles/article/170/):
With the wife I have I wonder why I even get out of bed in the morning!
Hope springs eternal.
Our faith is invested in God; our hopes for a better political outcome lay in the hands of those who would do right and not be soiled by a soiled system.
Yeah, and the meek shall in inherit the earth.
Too many folks think "meek" means being a wuss, including too many of the so-called shepherds in our global Gomorrah.
It's not: it's a beatitude, and a gift of the Holy Spirit. Meek means an outlook and demeanor of humility, of not looking for a fight, nor starting one unjustly, and avoiding one if justice is available without it. Otherwise, you do what you need to do.
Re: Meek means ...
Unfortunately, an even more unlikely group (than wuss) to inherit the earth (I'm sad to say).
Huh? So, what group are you talking about then?
Inherit the world???
The .01% have already stolen it.
Aye, and Esau was righteously PO'd!
Yeah, but I believe the earth has to go through a cleansing fire first, or something along those lines.
http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxfacts/Content/GIF/type_share_historica...
who's the "freeloader"?
now the squid has to give cantor a cushy job and bribe the new guy. The horror...
When is his first trip to Israel scheduled?
The Jewish Lobby is already selecting the Cantor replacement.
“One likely candidate for Cantor’s position is the third-ranking Republican in the House, Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-CA). McCarthy has issued a number of statements supporting Israel in recent years, and participated, alongside 80 other members of Congress in an AIPAC-sponsored trip to Israel in 2011. Cantor himself said during his press conference that if McCarthy were to run, he would throw his support behind the California representative.
Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) began campaigning for the position on Tuesday night, sending out a mass text message shortly after Cantor’s loss was announced. A member of the House Republican Israel Caucus, Sessions addressed a Dallas meeting of AIPAC members in early May. According to a voting record matrix on Govtracker.com, Sessions is significantly to the right of McCarthy in a general voting analysis.
The dark horse candidate for the position is fellow Texan Jeb Hensarling, the most conservative of the three candidates, and the closest ideologically to the Tea Party voters who ousted Cantor from his district.”
A second passport is likely a clue to the probable candidate.
"And in France, the revolution in the voting booth has caused a crisis of confidence in the government of Monsieur Sarkozy."
Hollande is president of France, not Sarkozy
Facts, Schmackts.
Please! This is supposed to be a happy occasion. Let's not bicker and argue over oooo killed oooo.
slopiness in one part of a discussion doesn't bode well for the rest of it.
Blue Dogs were still just Democrats.
How is the Tea-Party any different?
Same duopoly as it ever was.
The tea party is different because they stand for????????? WTF do they stand for besides touch everybody else's entitlement besides my own?
Ron Paul, what else. LOL
The Tea Party is a grassroots movement not a political party. That's why some people don't understand.
http://www.teapartypatriots.org/ourvision/
Whoa! I'm 'feeling' warm and fuzzy. But when do the actual budget cuts and reduction of government staff begin?
Hopefully sooner rather than later, but balancing the budget at this point would crash the current statist economic system. Otherwise I believe this theater can go on for many years as they slowly grind us into dirt.
Not until TSHTF.
Simple.
And we have a Communist government, not a communist party.
I once thought so, too, and I still I wish that were true. But I think the Koch brothers and their ilk would disagree with you, while those happily accepting their largess just ignore the AstroTurf.
Once good thing about the Tea party though: they certainly do seem to annoy the Rockefeller/Establishment Republicans. I like that.
You spelled astro-turf wrong...
http://www.astroturf.com/
I don't think so.
Darth Vader: You underestimate the power of the Dark Side.
Maddow - stay with me on this one I gave you Darth above - chronicled several "blockbuster" upsets that made the beltway apoplectic over the years. I lived through them all. Did things change? Sure. Consequential over time...not so much. After all we're here ain't we.
Let me know when K Street is cast out.
But one of these days...
I doubt 1 ZH reader, excluding the NSA and CIA trolls, actually bought into some idea that 1 politician was going to radically change anything. Leave this type of article for huffpo or whatever.
Andrew Jackson was the last 'good guy'.
"Notably, the public debt actually shrank to zero by January 1835, under President Andrew Jackson. But soon after, it quickly grew into the millions again."
Based on energy flows, as long as there's a non-producing entity in the equation (govt) the trend eventually guarantees hitting the wall (only difference is the speed/time frame).
Grover Cleveland had his good points: he refused to direct any federal monies to relieve the distress following the Johnstown Flood. However much he sympathized with the victims, he said, this was a problem for Pennsylvania to address, not the federal government.
The only choices the people have are to: 1) vote to fire the encumbants; 2) vote for "none of the above"; or 3) don't vote, just accept that the system if fucked and voting can't ever fix it.
We've got the same system that the rest of the planet has. There is no other system.
Ali is THE boxing legend.... "No Viet Cong ever called Nigger"....
Wait, Sarkozy still running Le France?
Really bad information being given there.
>>>Really bad information being given there.
True. Simon has a certain "reliability problem", up to and specifically including suggesting that readers use certain South Anmerican banks, which then proceed to collapse, sans deposit insurance..
As a paid-up Simon Subscriber, I feel that he's worth reading; just don't believe anything he has to say in regard to the real world, without independent confirmation.
Again, the trolls begin with a flawed argument.
No one said David Brat was going to change Washington.
In fact, David is more likely to get infected by the corruption.
The argument is that the people had enough and got ANGRY!
They got up off their fat asses and did something.
It is a warning to the trolls and their masters.
"They got up off their fat asses and did something."
Huh? Gave their support to a corrupt system?
There will MILLIONS of people angry and protesting against US invasion of Iraq. And?
Voting is "asking." POWER ain't going to cede itself if you ask it to.
I fucking get it that this makes a POINT. But, as Simon gets right, it's WAAY past time that anything can be done: I'd further wonder just what exactly would be saved/fixed given that it's ALWAYS been about a handful of oligarchs ruling the game- that this game (the "let's pretend we're a democracy and we have 'free trade'" game) just looks better, better marketing, doesn't change these facts.
The ANGER is real.
The Republicans are not going to change.
It's boiling out there.
"It's boiling out there."
Frogs...
Look elsewhere too, Spain, Greece, Brazil... And?
Bottom line: the game doesn't change by rearranging the set pieces of chess- no matter how pissed, how noble, how committed we could all be, we cannot change the physical realities which are the true underlying factors- resource scarcity; when the wine was flowing very few were complaining -we were still drinking- and now that there's less wine (because we have more drinkers and less wine-producing land) we pretend that we've been hijacked by a bunch of alcoholics?
Headlines from today:
JPMorgan bankers could be looking at pay cut
Obama Won’t Rule Out Airstrikes to Aid Iraq’s Army
Weak home sales in May show it wasn't the weather
U.S. Stocks Fall, Oil Climbs on Iraq Conflict; Bonds GainLet's see...
People were up in arms about bankers being bailed out. Result: bankers got bailed out.
People were up in arms about U.S. invasion of Iraq. Result: war is STILL going on!
People were up in arms about being fucked over by fraudulent mortgage pactices. Result: fraudulent practices STILL happening, though due to available volume (suckers) it's less- less people now able to buy a home.
People were up in arms about fracking and other such environmental exploitations proclaimed by the proponents to "bring energy independence to the U.S." Result: oil now above $106/bbl.
Massive debt, private and public. Populist uprisings, if not centered on the sustainable, will do NOTHING.
I too wish that we could click our heels together and get out of this mess, but, sadly, that is just slightly more than improbable...
The people have lost faith in the government and the financial system.
They don't believe a word that comes from their crooked mouths.
This is a good sign.
The propaganda machine isn't working anymore.
It is forcing people to think for themselves again.
Good news.
That's why I laugh, a little bitterly, when I see people use the word "RINO".
The pols and handlers termed "RINOs" are the very heart and soul of the Repthuglican Party, have been since its founding, and will remain so until it is dead.
We'll...let me try this again as my internet went down the first time.
There is no passion or FEELING from the opposition...just Party hacks and aparatchics going through the motions to their doomed "lack of theology."
So what if the tea party is no different.
How can anyone say the identify with a totality of war mongering vainglorious wackos who's only claim to fame is "we pissed off a billion Muslims, screwed the veterans and the totality of our war effort and then bankrupted the State. Now vote for me!"
Nothing expresses this better than that fag Congressman from Massachusetts who's claim to take was calling his constituents "dumb enough to vote for him."
Wow...talk about setting the bar low.
Maybe next time we'll vote for the sex with animals guy!
We'll see of course...when Hitler invaded Russia in his "war of annihilation" he exclaimed "all we'll need to do is kick in the door."
Well...it turned out to be a little more complicated than that indeed.
But...sorry, I'm not Party to Party Machine. The Zionist Jew pig phuckers wanna fight and die for their insanity...and includes you you Papal phuck...well et a god damn gun and get in the game you cocksucking phaggot bitch!
"There ain't no doors over there" (but there is a wall. Don't worry...it will be torn down soon enough you faithless war criminals.)
Where was I?
Oh, yeah..."the Final Solution."
Take it over there Hymie Town. Your shit stinks over here and Erica wants you to DIE.
I don't care for your Jew baiting.
A retard troll with a false flag up his/her ass.
Drop dead, punk.
mentally "disabledvet"? I'm really sorry to see it, but being noisy about it doesn't seem to help.
Could you clarify, please?
Your comment looks like someone dropped the Scrabble tiles.
You know, Simon, it really helps to actually know what you're talking about before you write an article about it. Your understanding of the Cantor-Brat race is completely wrong, and this is coming to you straight from an authority on the subject.
"But it’s dangerous to presume that all the challenges improve simply because a new group of people is installed into positions of power."
Congress, not the President for that matter, have the power. The list of political donors tells you that. As long as they remain and have the power to influence politicians careers, nothing will change.
Campaign finance reform required!
If nothing can EVER change or improve then let's get the shooting war started. Anarchy is under-rated in my opinion.
Anyone notice how bad the economy is on the local mainstreet level lately? Things seem GRIM at best.
"Change" is constant.
"Improve" is likely mostly going to be a matter of mental calculus: change by the "physical," given the on-going depletion of physical resources and the increase in populations, is highly unlikely.
This is one of those major changes in human history coming on, the kind described in various religious texts. And while I do not believe that some invisible hand is going to swoop down and save/protect "the chosen few" (it's a fucking parable!), I DO believe that what is upon us will be of the literal apocalypse: "a lifting of the veil or revelation." We will see that the various gods, systems etc. are/have been false ones and as such they will be dumped (and we'll then create some new paradigm under which we'll essentially just start the same shit over again- all based on some hierarchical power structure).
"Anarchy is under-rated in my opinion."
I understood this notion while in Manila. If everyone there adhered to traffic laws then all would come to a complete and utter standstill. People find their "solution" in doing what they need to do while being very cognizant of their surroundings (their lives depend on it)- they make it work (and laws really are secondary).
Oh just stfu Simon. Innactivity is the problem not the solution. You simpering fuck.
Thanks for your informative insight.
So, if someone chooses not to vote in the circus they are doing nothing?
Logic FAIL!
Even if GOD "himself" were to run for some political office I would not vote!
Nor will I. In fact, I think I'll order some little round stickers that says "Only the Stupid Vote". Think about it, each of us that is supporting this abomination financially has no more vote than a welfare queen. Why bother, hopeless.
Well a large part of it was the immigration reform, not just general disgust. Brat ran his campaign centered on Cantor's amnesty push.
Over 47,000 teenagers have flooded the country so far. They're all cooped up making Anchor Babies as we type.
They're here to stay.
And it's all nothing but a distraction. Divide and conquer and the people once again prove their susceptability.
Was Brat pushing for reform of LEGAL immigration numbers? There is NO limit/cap on LEGAL immigration. I'm guessing that such has been the in place since the 1965 Immigration Act had a lot to do with rewarding those in Asia who supported the US in Vietnam: and it's been the outlet/valve for rewards for all the subsequent US meddlings abroad.
http://www.fairus.org/issue/rising-immigrant-admissions-to-the-united-st...
The discussions by/from the Jordan Commission ought to be the real debate. Unfortunately the xenophobic (divide and conquer) level of debate -"illegals"- has ruled the day.
The "illegal" tag-line is, while clearly an issue, not as big an issue (when bankers are ripping us off of billions and the MIC is doing likewise I'd think that the total negative impact of the "illegals" pales by comparison; but, there IS a framework for legal immigration [my wife went through it] and those that adhere to it ought not be diminished.
More on the Big Picture of immigration:
http://cis.org/2012-profile-of-americas-foreign-born-population
Open Borders or Welfare State: pick one, you cannot have both!
First Emperor of the United States of America. The politicians will fight over who gets to be King of each of the states.
THIS is what is happening.
Once again I'll present some rounding out of this topic of immigration by noting that Japan is currently considering ramping its immigration up in order to fix it's demographics problems (aging population).
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/03/14/national/politics-diplomacy/...
Who is going to wipe the asses of the aging US population?
This is a bad article that starts off with perhaps the poorest analogy I've ever seen in writing.
It's general knowledge that Sonny threw the fight.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2567250/Newly-released-FBI-files...
Everyone talks their book. Simon Black seems to be long fear.
Votes don't matter because the bureaucracies are in charge. They couldn't care less who's in office.
The cynics circle jerk. Yank yank
There are two things sitizenry do not permitted in democratic country called USA:
1. Hold national or local referendum on any issue
2. Vote for "Non of the above"
What a great fucking country
This is true, even if Ron Paul(or some other Saint) became President tomorrow and we would replace the whole Congress and Senate with Angels we would still be screwed. This System needs(and it will) fall and that won't be pretty or pleasant for anybody, you can't unwind 100 years of mismanagement and corruption without bringing some serious hurt on everybody.