Michael Moore on his movie as a referendum

i got goose bumps reading this...

michael moore...

Thank you, all of you, who packed the theaters across North America last night to see my new film. The movie houses were rockin'! The national movie exit poll company announced this morning that the audiences in America gave "Capitalism: A Love Story" a rare "A" rating! Wow, thank you! In most multiplexes where "Capitalism" played, it was the #1 or #2 top-grossing movie there for the evening. That is nothing short of amazing.

For those of you waiting till next week to see it, I can't say this strongly enough: Do not put off going to see "Capitalism: A Love Story." It is not just a movie. It is a referendum that is being closely watched by the CEOs of America. Let me tell you bluntly, the suits on Wall Street are closely watching to see how this movie does this weekend. So, too, are the members of Congress. If "Capitalism" has a huge opening, it will send shivers down their corporate spines, telling them loud and clear that the American people are mad as hell and are not into taking it any more. It will put all the bosses on notice that the vast Obama-voting majority has awoken from its silence and are out in full force.

But if the attendance is just "ok" or "so-so," then they will be relieved knowing that there is not a popular groundswell of opposition out there -- and then they can go about their business as usual. I'd like to send them a different message.

Treat tonight and tomorrow as if it were election day. Blow their minds on Monday morning when they show up at their executive suites, switch on CNBC or Fox Business News, and learn that America turned out in droves to participate in a raucous denunciation of Wall Street and everything it stands for. I often hear people ask, "What can I do to make my voice heard?" Your answer is at the nearest theater showing this movie. Trust me, packing these movie houses tonight and tomorrow will eff them up in an overwhelming and profound way.

Last night, there were many reports of spontaneous cheering throughout the film in nearly all the theaters. Theater managers reported difficulties in getting people to clear the theater lobby afterwards because groups of total strangers assembled to passionately discuss what they just saw. One manager wrote to me and said, "It's a good thing we carry Gummy Bears and Junior Mints at the concessions stand instead of pitchforks and torches! These crowds were ready to march over to the local Citibank and do something!" Another manager said a crowd in the lobby formed around the little Chase ATM machine next to his popcorn stand and started to "yell at it." Jeez! (Click here to see some of the cell phone photos fans have sent from various theaters around the country last night.)

Here's what I've heard the most about last night: Audiences were stunned and shocked by many of the things I reveal in the movie -- stuff that the networks have refused to show them -- even though they have the footage! They purposely withhold this news from you, the public. And because I dare to show it, some networks now refuse to license any of their footage to me. So I get my hands on it and put it in the movie anyway. I truly don't care. I'm sick and tired of the truth not being told to the American people -- and I am willing to suffer whatever the consequences come my way because I showed it to you. Fortunately we have "fair use" laws in this country that have kept my hide out of court so far. There is something so patently wrong with not being told what Wall Street and Corporate America are up to. If you go see "Capitalism" tonight, you'll see what I mean. You will alternately have your head spinning and then find yourself laughing your ass off!

Much more is riding on the success of this movie than the amount of popcorn that is sold. If we do well this weekend, the studio will expand the film to smaller towns next week. Don't put off seeing it! Click here to find out where it's playing and order your tickets now. Call some friends and make a night of it. My crew and I have put nearly two years of our lives into this and I am honored that it has been so well received. Join in on the fun of giving AIG, GM, Bank of America and all the other thieves the shellacking they deserve. And send me a photo of you and the crowd there tonight! I'll post it and personally send it to the heads of all the financial institutions and the members of Congress. They need to get a clue -- right now -- and I'd like you to help me send them that clue!

i think moore is right... the more of us that turn out to see this movie, the bigger tremors we create among our super-rich, elite handlers... the more tremors we create, the greater the more we push the odds of getting that house of cards to fall... yes, i'm inclined to agree with kevin at cryptogon that taking to the streets in protest (or turning out en masse to see moore's movie) isn't the most effective way to battle the death star but, otoh, it sure as hell can't hurt...

Submit To Propeller
Tweet

[Permalink] 0 comments

How about jobs...? In Afghanistan as in the U.S...

several colleagues and i have been working on a project that could potentially create thousands of jobs and bring much-needed security and stabilization to an area in the west of the country but the bureaucracy and a seemingly insurmountable wall of red tape have prevented us from getting things sprung loose and moving... it's this kind of crap that has been largely at fault for why afghanistan, heading into the 9th year of u.s. occupation, is still a pathetic mess... infrastructure is a joke and the people, rightly so, are growing more frustrated and desperate by the day... the fact that they are able to retain a sense of humor and can still be friends with us americans is a testament to their strength of character despite the untold horrors that have been visited them over the years at the hands of one foreign power after another and, most sadly of all, even from their own countrymen...

here's a shopkeeper from qarabagh, a small town near the u.s. bagram airbase north of kabul...

"If you look around, you see nothing but jobless people," said Qari Imam, 30, who sells children's clothing in the market here. "A lot of people who join the Taliban are jobless, too. If you want to stop the fighting, don't send us more troops; build us more factories."

it's the same wherever i go... people just want to be able to live with a little peace and quiet and have enough of a livelihood to be able to put food on the table and clothes on the backs of their children... not too much to ask, now is it...?

Submit To Propeller
Tweet

[Permalink] 0 comments

Personally, I'm delighted that Rio got the IOC nod, but...

south america is largely the ignored continent... the only time the olympics was held in any part of latin america, or in a developing country OR in a spanish-speaking country was when the summer olympics took place in mexico city in 1968... so now brazil gets to be the host of the 2016 summer olympics, the first olympics to be held in a portugese-speaking country but will be the #2 in the other categories...

however, what i find incredibly bizarre is the notion of americans actually CHEERING chicago's loss... what the HELL is going on in my country...?

Submit To Propeller
Tweet

[Permalink] 0 comments

Madeleine Peyroux - Blue Alert

i don't recall that i've ever posted on a singer or a song unless perhaps it was a novelty or something particularly unusual worth noting, so this is something of a first... not only is the songstress a vocal artist of rare talent, the arrangement and the lyrics are remarkable...

Blue Alert

There's perfume burning in the air
Bits of beauty everywhere
Shrapnel flying, soldier hit the dirt

She comes so close
You feel her then
She tells you No and No again
Your lip is cut on the edge of her pleated skirt
Blue Alert

Visions of her drawing near
Arise, abide, and disappear
You try to slow it down
It doesn't work

It's just another night I guess
All tangled up in nakedness
You even touch yourself
You're such a flirt
Blue Alert

You know how nights like this begin
The kind of knot your heart gets in
Any way you turn is going to hurt

There's perfume burning in the air
Bits of beauty everywhere
Shrapnel flying, soldier hit the dirt
Blue Alert

She breaks the rules so you can see
She's wilder than you'll ever be
You talk religion but she won't convert

Her body's twenty stories high
You try to look away, you try
But all you want to do is get there first
Blue Alert

You know how nights like this begin
The kind of knot your heart gets in
Any way you turn is going to hurt

There's perfume burning in the air
Bits of beauty everywhere
Shrapnel flying, soldier hit the dirt
Blue Alert
Blue Alert...

Submit To Propeller
Tweet

[Permalink] 0 comments

What the heck... How about a little overview on the state of the U.S. economy...

let's pause for just a moment and reflect on how badly we're being screwed by our super-rich elites, a/k/a our "fellow americans"...

i remember the "what if the russians invaded" discussions from my teenage years... many years later, i had conversations with folks from the former soviet/socialist countries where they talked about their "what if the americans invaded" conversations...

It's not so far-fetched an idea, you know. We spent half a century and trillions of dollars to make sure that it would never happen, so it's really not such a strange notion.

So what if the Russians invaded?

What if they came and stole all of our money?

What if the Russians invaded and enslaved our children as cheap worker bee drones locked in dismal dead-end jobs?

What if the Russians invaded and excavated all of our natural resources, leaving only mountains of toxic debris in their wake?

What if the Russians invaded and they ruined our infrastructure, thrashed our educational institutions, and stuck us with a grossly inadequate healthcare system?

What if the Russians invaded and incarcerated a huge percentage of our people in for-profit jails? What if they ruined our military by sending it off on big-money colonial expeditions? What if they cut the legs out from under the middle class?

What if the Russians invaded and turned us against each other, tricking this tribe of Americans into hating that tribe, in order to keep any of us from realizing that they were looting our country?

If the Russians did any of these things, we’d kill ‘em. Dead.

If the Russians invaded, we'd send our army to crush them in defense of our country (or, at least, we hire somebody to do it).

If the Russians invaded, we'd be furious and raging and hateful and destructive – for good reason, too – and we would bring to them the full measure of American organized violence in order to take back our country from their plundering rampages.

Of course, the Russians haven’t invaded. But what's astonishing about the moment we live in is that America has in fact been subjected to all these travails. We have essentially been invaded by those who wish us ill, and our national and private resources are being stripped bare. This country is being looted, and everything in it that isn't nailed down is being carted away and sold off.

Our children are being saddled with enormous financial burdens. Our educational and healthcare systems, sucked dry as mere revenues sources, are falling to pieces. Our infrastructure is approaching ruin.

Our jobs, our industries and our community resources have been bundled up and exported to where the work can be done far cheaper, and the workers are compliant. Increasingly we are scrambling just to survive. Admittedly, our government remains absolutely dedicated to making sure that some of us do extremely well. It's just that that ‘some’ doesn’t include anyone you know.

What is absolutely astonishing about the moment that we live in is that we have been essentially invaded, we have been absolutely looted, and yet we don't seem to be the slightest bit angry about that.

If the Russians had done it, we would be absolutely furious. But in fact, it was our own overclass that did it, and not only are we not furious at them, we don't even notice the crime. Or, if we do notice, we’re furious at some ridiculously inappropriate target, like a ‘liberal’ president who isn't even remotely liberal.

now, let's absorb some reality perspective on the economy from marc faber and nouriel roubini...



both faber and roubini spoke of the very real possibility of the "next crisis" and the advisability of revealing ALL of the losses and just letting them collapse...

here's what the imf is saying...

Banks around the world still have to reveal about half their likely losses resulting from the financial and economic crisis, the International Monetary Fund said yesterday, warning there was still a "significant" risk of another downward lurch in the global recession.

A failure to reveal the true scale of the losses they are likely to face and to boost capital held in the banks would undermine the economies of the US, the UK and the euro zone and could generate a renewed vicious spiral where weak banks damage economic prospects, raising default rates and further threatening the health of banks, the IMF said.

sigh... c'mon... let's get the damn collapse over with already...

Submit To Propeller
Tweet

[Permalink] 0 comments

And we would find this abominable state of affairs in the least bit suprising because...?

is the u.s. a great country or what...?

America's healthcare industry has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to block the introduction of public medical insurance and stall other reforms promised by Barack Obama. The campaign against the president has been waged in part through substantial donations to key politicians.

Supporters of radical reform of healthcare say legislation emerging from the US Senate reflects the financial power of vested interests ‑ principally insurance companies, pharmaceutical firms and hospitals ‑ that have worked to stop far-reaching changes threatening their profits.

The industry and interest groups have spent $380m (£238m) in recent months influencing healthcare legislation through lobbying, advertising and in direct political contributions to members of Congress. The largest contribution, totalling close to $1.5m, has gone to the chairman of the senate committee drafting the new law.

ya gotta love it... the super-rich elites sure do know how to get their needs met and screw the rest of us...

Submit To Propeller
Tweet

[Permalink] 0 comments

More evidence that the economic "recovery" ain't a recovery at all for us average Joes

ya feelin' better about the economy yet...? me neither...

The unemployment rate rose to 9.8 percent in September, the highest since June 1983, as employers cut far more jobs than expected. The report is evidence that the worst recession since the 1930s is still inflicting widespread pain.

Persistently high unemployment could weaken the recovery as consumers, concerned about their jobs and incomes, restrain spending. Consumer spending accounts for about 70 percent of the nation's economy.

and as numerous writers on the economy far wiser than i have pointed out, that 9.8% figure is deliberately and artificially low given the way it's calculated to make a thoroughly dismal report less gagging than it really is...

Submit To Propeller
Tweet

[Permalink] 0 comments

If the U.S. mindset wasn't irretrievably fixated on the demonization of Iran, this development might be seen as uniformly positive [UPDATE]

but, since that's not the case, the rest of this article goes on to wax pessimistic about previous iranian "duplicity" and the concern that there are secret stockpiles of enriched uranium that would make this step "hollow"...

Iran agreed on Thursday in talks with the United States and other major powers to open its newly revealed uranium enrichment plant near Qum to international inspection in the next two weeks and to send most of its openly declared enriched uranium outside Iran to be turned into fuel for a small reactor that produces medical isotopes, senior American and other Western officials said.

we shall see what we shall see, now won't we...?

[UPDATE]

i just knew juan cole would have something to say lickety-split...

Barack Obama pwned Bush-Cheney in one day, and got more concessions from Iran in 7 1/2 hours than the former administration got in 8 years of saber-rattling.

good point...

Submit To Propeller
Tweet

[Permalink] 0 comments

A view from Kabul: "Protecting Afghans?" Not so much...

some of the warmest relationships and friendliest people i've ever met are among the afghans i deal with on a daily basis... some of them are my professional colleagues, some of them are drivers, and some of them are guards tasked with keeping me not only safe but alive... and i've noticed that they don't respond to all americans the way they respond to me...

i'm not trying to paint myself as anything special but i do go out of my way to smile, ask them how they're doing, how their families are doing, and just generally engage them as decent, fellow human beings... what's stunning is just how much they devour such simple, genuine, person-to-person contact... they're starving for it, particularly from those who are ostensibly here to "help," from those who all too often look down on them as a kind of sub-species...

why would anyone NOT want to engage with these wonderful people and go out of his or her way to extend cheer, a friendly smile and that most lovely of all gestures of friendship common in this part of the world, the right hand over the heart...? isn't expressing warmth to the people we're here to help a large part of what anyone who chooses to be here would want to be sure to do...? unfortunately, most of the ex-pats i know all to often neglect those basic human gestures, opting instead for the look-right-through-you indifference reserved for the general run of fast-food counter employees, airline check-in agents, supermarket cashiers, and the like... my response to those people...? go home... you don't belong here...

meanwhile, the afghans continue to die in record numbers, deaths that have continued unabated for well over thirty years of war, civil war and armed insurgency... the u.s. response...? send more troops, more men with guns... when are we going to wise up...?

Gen. Stanley McChrystal told Congress that the measure of success in Afghanistan should be "the number of Afghans shielded from violence." If that's the case, then his strategy is clearly failing.

Submit To Propeller
Tweet

[Permalink] 0 comments

Free and benefit screenings of Michael Moore's film...? AWESOME...!

god, i LOVE it when somebody's so committed they will shell out not only for what they believe it but also to directly reach some of the folks that might never have the chance to experience a documentary that's all about THEM...

"CAPITALISM: A LOVE STORY" FREE SCREENINGS:

Las Vegas, Nevada
Thursday, Oct. 1st, 7:00 p.m.
Cinemark Orleans
4600 W Tropicana Blvd.
Las Vegas, NV 89103

Phoenix, Arizona
Thursday, Oct.1st, 7:00 p.m.
Harkins Christown
1620 W Monte Bello
Phoenix, AZ 85015

Fresno, California
Thursday, Oct. 1st, 7:30 p.m.
Edwards Stadium
250 Paseo Del Centro
Fresno, CA 93720

Saginaw, Michigan
Thursday, Oct. 1st, 7:00 p.m.
Goodrich Saginaw 8 Theater
3250 Kabobel Dr.
Saginaw, MI 48604

Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina
Thursday, Oct. 1st, 7:30 p.m.
Regal North Hills Stadium 14
4150 Main at North Hills St.
Raleigh, NC 27609

Tampa / St. Petersburg, Florida
Thursday, Oct. 1st, 7:30 p.m.
Muvico Starlight
1800 Highwood Preserve Parkway
Tampa, FL 33647

Elkhart, Indiana
Thursday, Oct. 1st, 7:00 p.m.
Carmike Encore Park 14
2701 Cassopolis Street
Elkhart, IN 46514

Baltimore, Maryland
Thursday, October 1st, 7:30 p.m.
The Charles Theatre
1711 North Charles Street
Baltimore, MD 21201

Cleveland, Ohio Thursday, Oct. 1st, 7:30 p.m.
AMC Westwood Town Center
21653 Center Ridge Road
Rocky River, OH 44116

Peoria, Illinois
Thursday, Oct. 1st, 7:00PM
Willow Knolls 14 Theatre
4100 W Willow Knolls Drive
Peoria, IL 61615

"CAPITALISM: A LOVE STORY" BENEFIT SCREENINGS:

Miami, Florida
Thursday, Oct. 1st, 7:30 p.m.
Sunrise Intracoastal
3701 NE 163rd Street
North Miami Beach, FL 33160
Benefiting: Take Back the Land

Madison, Wisconsin
Thursday, October 1st, 7:00 p.m.
Sundance Cinemas 608
430 N. Midvale Blvd.
Madison, WI 53705
Benefiting: Madison Association of Worker Cooperatives / Union Cab / Isthmus Engineering

San Francisco, California
Thursday, Oct. 1st, 7:30 p.m.
Embarcadero Center Cinema
One Embarcadero Center, Promenade
San Francisco, CA 94111
Benefiting: US Federation of Worker Cooperatives

Chicago, Illinois
Thursday, Oct. 1st, 8:00 p.m.
Kerasotes City North
2600 N. Western Ave.
Chicago, IL 60647
Benefiting: United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America

Grass Valley, California
Thursday, Oct. 1st, 7:30 p.m.
Del Oro Theatre
165 Mill Street
Grass Valley, CA 95945
Benefiting: KVMR-FM

Boulder, Colo. (past screening)
Tuesday, Sept. 29th, 8:00 p.m.
Boulder Theater
2032 14th Street.
Boulder, CO 80302
Benefiting: Present Tense Films

here's moore talking about why he's doing this...

To kick off the national release of "Capitalism: A Love Story," I've asked the studio to offer a number of screenings in the nation's hardest hit cities -- the ones with the highest unemployment rates and highest foreclosure rates -- where those who've lost their jobs or who are in foreclosure (or have already been evicted) may attend my film free of charge. They've agreed, and so tonight (Thursday), the night before our opening day, ten cities will grant you free admission if you have fallen on hard times. The list of theaters and cities is below. You don't need to bring any "proof" of your situation -- just show up -- it's the honor system, no questions asked.

Of course, a free movie ain't much when what you really need is a job or a place to live. And that's not going to change until the party that controls both the Congress and the White House wakes up and realizes the American people put them in charge to fix the mess created by the previous administration. For that to happen requires the active involvement of each of us. And, as I show in this movie, it's going to also require us to challenge some fundamental assumptions about an economic system that currently allows the wealthiest ONE PERCENT in this country to have more financial wealth than the bottom 95% combined. That concentration of money and power in the hands of so few people is, I believe, at the core of so many of our problems.

So, if you're going through tough times and you live in one of the areas below, please be my guest tonight, on the eve of my new film's opening. Seating will be on a first come, first served basis.

Also, in another five cities tonight, I have made the film available to local groups to hold benefit screenings to raise money for their local organizations -- organizations which are working toward a day when a filmmaker doesn't have to offer free screenings to people who've been put through the wringer. If you live in any of these areas (see below for the list of benefit premieres tonight), please come out and support the good work of these grassroots groups.

you go, michael moore...!

Submit To Propeller
Tweet

[Permalink] 0 comments

Buh-bye

a recipient of "too-big-to-fail" taxpayer largesse takes a tumble...

Less than a year ago, Bank of America’s chief executive, Kenneth D. Lewis, celebrated his daring takeover of Merrill Lynch as the crowning triumph of a long career. On Wednesday, that conquest proved to be his downfall, as he announced his resignation after months of legal and political scrutiny over the star-crossed merger.

would that the rest of these thieving bastards, including their enablers at the fed and treasury would see fit to skedaddle...

Submit To Propeller
Tweet

[Permalink] 0 comments

Eating your young - General Motors couldn't find its ass with both hands

i visited the saturn facility a number of years ago and was vastly impressed with the fact that a hide-bound company like gm could create a greenfield start-up and give it enough freedom and autonomy to actually succeed... at the time, i was working with united airlines, a company that was essentially trying to do the same thing with shuttle by united and the indianapolis maintenance base... interestingly enough, at that time, the concerns and obstacles cited by the saturn employees were exactly the same as those being cited by those working on the shuttle product and those folks - like me - who were feverishly trying to make a success out of the new maintenance base, namely, being ground into dust by the need for the home office folks to do everything by THEIR book rather than allowing something new and different to flourish...

so...

tragically, gm has decided to torpedo the best thing it ever had going for it...

what a bunch of fools...

General Motors Co. said Wednesday it would shut down its Saturn brand after an agreement with Penske Automotive Group Inc. to acquire it fell apart.

Penske, citing concerns of whether it could continue to supply vehicles after a manufacturing contract with GM ran out, ended talks with GM Wednesday to acquire the brand.

GM CEO Fritz Henderson said in statement that Saturn and its dealership network will be phased out.

patético...

Submit To Propeller
Tweet

[Permalink] 0 comments

We’ll have a military dictatorship fairly soon

gore vidal in the uk times via information clearing house...

Last year he famously switched allegiance from Hillary Clinton to Barack Obama during the Democratic nomination process for president. Now, he reveals, he regrets his change of heart. How’s Obama doing? “Dreadfully. I was hopeful. He was the most intelligent person we’ve had in that position for a long time. But he’s inexperienced. He has a total inability to understand military matters. He’s acting as if Afghanistan is the magic talisman: solve that and you solve terrorism.” America should leave Afghanistan, he says. “We’ve failed in every other aspect of our effort of conquering the Middle East or whatever you want to call it.” The “War on Terror” was “made up”, Vidal says. “The whole thing was PR, just like ‘weapons of mass destruction’. It has wrecked the airline business, which my father founded in the 1930s. He’d be cutting his wrists. Now when you fly you’re both scared to death and bored to death, a most disagreeable combination.”

His voice strengthens. “One thing I have hated all my life are LIARS [he says that with bristling anger] and I live in a nation of them. It was not always the case. I don’t demand honour, that can be lies too. I don’t say there was a golden age, but there was an age of general intelligence. We had a watchdog, the media.” The media is too supine? “Would that it was. They’re busy preparing us for an Iranian war.” He retains some optimism about Obama “because he doesn’t lie. We know the fool from Arizona [as he calls John McCain] is a liar. We never got the real story of how McCain crashed his plane [in 1967 near Hanoi, North Vietnam] and was held captive.”

Vidal originally became pro-Obama because he grew up in “a black city” (meaning Washington), as well as being impressed by Obama’s intelligence. “But he believes the generals. Even Bush knew the way to win a general was to give him another star. Obama believes the Republican Party is a party when in fact it’s a mindset, like Hitler Youth, based on hatred — religious hatred, racial hatred. When you foreigners hear the word ‘conservative’ you think of kindly old men hunting foxes. They’re not, they’re fascists.”

Another notable Obama mis-step has been on healthcare reform. “He f***ed it up. I don’t know how because the country wanted it. We’ll never see it happen.” As for his wider vision: “Maybe he doesn’t have one, not to imply he is a fraud. He loves quoting Lincoln and there’s a great Lincoln quote from a letter he wrote to one of his generals in the South after the Civil War. ‘I am President of the United States. I have full overall power and never forget it, because I will exercise it’. That’s what Obama needs — a bit of Lincoln’s chill.” Has he met Obama? “No,” he says quietly, “I’ve had my time with presidents.” Vidal raises his fingers to signify a gun and mutters: “Bang bang.” He is referring to the possibility of Obama being assassinated. “Just a mysterious lone gunman lurking in the shadows of the capital,” he says in a wry, dreamy way.

Vidal now believes, as he did originally, Clinton would be the better president. “Hillary knows more about the world and what to do with the generals. History has proven when the girls get involved, they’re good at it. Elizabeth I knew Raleigh would be a good man to give a ship to.”The Republicans will win the next election, Vidal believes; though for him there is little difference between the parties. “Remember the coup d’etat of 2000 when the Supreme Court fixed the selection, not election, of the stupidest man in the country, Mr Bush.”

[...]

America has “no intellectual class” and is “rotting away at a funereal pace. We’ll have a military dictatorship fairly soon, on the basis that nobody else can hold everything together. Obama would have been better off focusing on educating the American people. His problem is being over-educated. He doesn’t realise how dim-witted and ignorant his audience is. Benjamin Franklin said that the system would fail because of the corruption of the people and that happened under Bush.”

Vidal adds menacingly: “Don’t ever make the mistake with people like me thinking we are looking for heroes. There aren’t any and if there were, they would be killed immediately. I’m never surprised by bad behaviour. I expect it.”

nothing i can add to this, that's for sure...

Submit To Propeller
Tweet

[Permalink] 0 comments

Dear Senator Reid

Dear Senator Reid,

This communication is prompted by the recent Senate rejection of the public option in the health care reform bill, but it also expresses my profound frustration and outright disgust with both you and the rest of our country's so-called representative leadership in any sort of viable domestic policy.

Furthermore, I am writing you from a vantage point nearly 10,000 miles away in Kabul, Afghanistan, where I witness daily the abject failure of my country's foreign policy.

The United States was founded on the principle of honoring, protecting and ensuring the common good, not only for U.S. citizens but also, in whatever constructive and peaceful means we might have at our disposal, the common good of the rest of the world.

Senator Reid, the United States, on a daily basis, systematically demonstrates its complete and total rejection of that founding principle. What the United States honors, protects and ensures is the health and welfare of those who can pay the most for it. It is not democracy, it is capitalism run amok.

And it is not just you, sir. It is all of your Senate and House colleagues who have made it clear, time and again, that you do not have my interests nor the interests of any of the great body of your constituents at heart.

Do the honorable thing, sir. Admit you have forsaken your sacred duty to the country you purport to serve and step down. If there is indeed a god, perhaps your colleagues will follow your example.

Sincerely,

Submit To Propeller
Tweet

[Permalink] 0 comments

Juan Cole: Israel's original sin

leave it to professor cole to put the iran nuclear hoo-ha in perspective...

There is no good evidence that Iran has a nuclear weapons program. It has offered to allow regular International Atomic Energy Agency inspections of the newly announced facility near Qom, which would effectively prevent it from being used for weapons production.

There is a secret nuclear facility in the Middle East, however, producing plutonium and not just enriched uranium, which has the capacity to make 10 nuclear warheads a year.

Here is a 3-D reconstruction of the most dangerous weapons plant in the Middle East, at Dimona in Israel.

It is Israel's ongoing nuclear weapon production that drives the nuclear arms race in the Middle East. Saddam wanted a bomb because Israel had one. The Iranians were then worried both about an Iraqi and an Israeli bomb. Egypt, Saudi Arabia and others are annoyed at their geostrategic helplessness in the face of Israeli nukes.

Israel's nuclear arsenal is the region's Original Sin.

funny how israel's nuclear capability and arsenal mysteriously never get mentioned in our esteemed news media...

Submit To Propeller
Tweet

[Permalink] 0 comments