scarletwoman
(1000+ posts)
|
Sun Feb-07-10 11:29 PM
Original message |
| There is no "left" or "right". There is only the Owners and the Rest of Us. |
 |
Some of the "Rest of Us" are Teabaggers, but that's only because they've been more successfully conned by the Owners to betray their own class. They are the products of the Owners' successful divide and conquer strategy -- an ancient strategy that's been deployed throughout history.
Why did Medieval peasants turn on their neighbors and condemn them as witches? It was because the Owner Class successfully sowed fear among them in order to control them.
It's no different today. The Owner Class consistently engages in misdirection to turn the anger of the oppressed away from the Owners -- the rightful target -- and toward another faction of the oppressed.
And EVERYONE falls into the same trap. No one is immune. We so-called liberals are just as gleeful in our hatred for those whom we deem beneath us, as any mob screaming "Witch! Witch!" in the village square.
As long as we are willing to focus hatred and mockery on our fellow victims of the Owners' designs, we are aiding and abetting the rule of the Owners.
sw
|

BIG K&R |
leftstreet |
Feb-07-10 11:29 PM |
#1 |

KR |
inna |
Feb-07-10 11:31 PM |
#2 |

It's true. They do pit us against each other so we won't fight them. |
Jamastiene |
Feb-07-10 11:33 PM |
#3 |
 
That's why they scream so easily about "class warfare." |
Jackpine Radical |
Feb-08-10 08:49 PM |
#168 |

Repugs, Dems, Tea Baggers, Greens, Libertarians, Haves, Have Nots |
DJ13 |
Feb-07-10 11:35 PM |
#4 |

+1 for... |
rcrush |
Feb-07-10 11:36 PM |
#5 |
 
I am certain the delightful projection of your post must have passed unoticed... |
liberation |
Feb-08-10 04:35 PM |
#126 |

Amen sister! |
Dyedinthewoolliberal |
Feb-07-10 11:37 PM |
#6 |
 
and that's why even though Napoleon was not a very religious man |
newspeak |
Feb-08-10 12:31 PM |
#70 |

Divide and conquer |
begin_within |
Feb-07-10 11:37 PM |
#7 |

simplistic analysis. |
cali |
Feb-07-10 11:37 PM |
#8 |
 
lol. |
Hannah Bell |
Feb-08-10 01:48 AM |
#31 |
  
brilliant. just brilliant, hannah. |
cali |
Feb-08-10 05:45 AM |
#48 |
 
I would say the owners are those who have had the resources to get laws that favor them and screw |
laughingliberal |
Feb-08-10 02:06 AM |
#36 |
  
It IS obvious. |
Desertrose |
Feb-08-10 12:32 PM |
#71 |
   
Now, don't be nasty to Cali. She's special! |
Joe Chi Minh |
Feb-08-10 01:59 PM |
#92 |
  
It is obvious. People saying "it's too complicated to come to any conclusions" simply shill |
Political Heretic |
Feb-08-10 03:00 PM |
#107 |
 
Then why don't you write a post about the complexities? |
AllyCat |
Feb-08-10 04:58 PM |
#130 |
 
Simplistic Post. Not allowing for the complexities of societies. |
galileoreloaded |
Feb-08-10 09:44 PM |
#183 |

I've been saying this for a while. K&R. |
Odin2005 |
Feb-07-10 11:41 PM |
#9 |
 
yes, let's all pretend that there aren't large numbers of racists |
cali |
Feb-07-10 11:45 PM |
#10 |

Then how did Obama get elected? |
leftstreet |
Feb-07-10 11:47 PM |
#13 |
 
Pro-wrestling. nt |
laughingliberal |
Feb-08-10 02:07 AM |
#37 |
 
the teabaggers never supported him and never will , he got elected by other people |
JI7 |
Feb-08-10 04:44 AM |
#45 |

So there were more 'other people' than Teabaggers. Check. n/t |
leftstreet |
Feb-08-10 01:50 PM |
#89 |

*crickets* |
Political Heretic |
Feb-08-10 03:01 PM |
#109 |

yes there are, that doesn't mean there aren't racists, just like Oprah being popular doesn't mean |
JI7 |
Feb-08-10 03:06 PM |
#113 |

Those people are mislead, not evil. |
Odin2005 |
Feb-08-10 12:22 AM |
#20 |
 
they certainly are evil , i fucking hate them , racist piece of shits |
JI7 |
Feb-08-10 04:41 AM |
#42 |
  
Dehuminization alert. |
Odin2005 |
Feb-08-10 09:08 AM |
#61 |
   
Interesting comment from someone who regularly smears those in the autism community |
earth mom |
Feb-08-10 01:26 PM |
#84 |
  
Oh, is that PROJECTION I see? |
Odin2005 |
Feb-08-10 04:35 PM |
#125 |
  
You just proved my point. nt |
earth mom |
Feb-08-10 04:59 PM |
#131 |
  
reply to no. 20 and 42. |
wolfgangmo |
Feb-08-10 12:11 PM |
#68 |
   
Including the "good Germans" who went to fight fascism in Spain, for eample? |
Jackpine Radical |
Feb-08-10 08:57 PM |
#172 |
   
"Absolute statements are never correct." |
varelse |
Feb-08-10 08:59 PM |
#173 |
  
Just looking for an excuse to hate, you're no different than they are. |
Political Heretic |
Feb-08-10 03:02 PM |
#110 |
 
Some of each, I think |
LeftishBrit |
Feb-08-10 08:06 AM |
#58 |

"some people think that it is OK to pander to racism and social intolerance |
Number23 |
Feb-08-10 04:25 PM |
#124 |

Let's also pretend that this anger is born of nothing. |
Marr |
Feb-08-10 01:10 AM |
#23 |
 
they weren't angry during the Bush years, only when the black man became President |
JI7 |
Feb-08-10 04:42 AM |
#44 |
  
surely you haven't forgotten the clinton impeachment. |
Hannah Bell |
Feb-08-10 08:01 AM |
#57 |
   
Thank you. I don't know how in hell people can have so quickly forgotten the relentless witch hunt |
laughingliberal |
Feb-08-10 11:26 AM |
#64 |
   
yeah, it's clear the teabagging crowd hated Clinton and thought he favored minorities |
JI7 |
Feb-08-10 03:07 PM |
#114 |
  
They were angry all through the Bush years. |
Marr |
Feb-08-10 01:02 PM |
#79 |
   
Exactly (nt) |
dflprincess |
Feb-08-10 10:28 PM |
#195 |
  
That's actually not at all true. |
Political Heretic |
Feb-08-10 03:03 PM |
#111 |
 
Exactly! Thank you for saying this and saying it so well. |
scarletwoman |
Feb-08-10 07:11 AM |
#52 |
 
and, their anger is being directed |
newspeak |
Feb-08-10 12:35 PM |
#72 |

lol again. witch, witch! it's the teabaggers! those bad people! (psst funded by the owners) |
Hannah Bell |
Feb-08-10 01:49 AM |
#32 |
 
+1000 nt |
laughingliberal |
Feb-08-10 02:07 AM |
#38 |
 
nope. no name calling in my post. just |
cali |
Feb-08-10 05:44 AM |
#47 |
  
they're racists! they're racists! the omnipresence of racism = the omnipresence of witches. |
Hannah Bell |
Feb-08-10 07:59 AM |
#56 |
 
This thread's sudden segue into anti-freeper language |
dixiegrrrrl |
Feb-08-10 08:51 AM |
#60 |
 
Teabaggers are a distraction. They are dupes, funded by the ownership class. |
freddie mertz |
Feb-08-10 09:09 AM |
#62 |
  
Bingo! You are exactly right, Freddie. n/t |
Desertrose |
Feb-08-10 12:36 PM |
#73 |
 
Indeed. |
Jackpine Radical |
Feb-08-10 09:28 PM |
#180 |
 
BURN THE WITCH!!! BURN THE WITCH!!! |
Odin2005 |
Feb-08-10 09:11 AM |
#63 |

Cali, there are large numbers of those, it's just that the top/down issues are even bigger |
Land Shark |
Feb-08-10 02:14 PM |
#96 |
 
sure, but they don't see it that way. and I suspect that it's virtually impossible |
cali |
Feb-08-10 05:02 PM |
#132 |

I have disagreed with you many times before but I heartily concur here |
Reterr |
Feb-08-10 05:59 PM |
#136 |

Quoting the OP |
maryf |
Feb-08-10 08:31 PM |
#162 |

Racism, religious intolerance, anti-socialism, etc. |
Jackpine Radical |
Feb-08-10 08:53 PM |
#170 |

I agree. Are they "left" or "right"?? n/t |
galileoreloaded |
Feb-08-10 09:47 PM |
#185 |

Race and religion are ways the ruling class keeps the serfs from coming together |
dflprincess |
Feb-08-10 10:16 PM |
#191 |

K&R n/t |
OhioChick |
Feb-07-10 11:46 PM |
#11 |

True. Upon researching, I found out the witch hunts were actually organized thefts |
KonaKane |
Feb-07-10 11:46 PM |
#12 |
 
Bingo!!! |
newspeak |
Feb-08-10 12:29 PM |
#69 |
  
Kleptocracies, all. |
KonaKane |
Feb-08-10 06:59 PM |
#143 |
 
Organized armed robbery + murder |
varelse |
Feb-08-10 09:01 PM |
#175 |

I have more common interests with "TeaBaggers".... |
bvar22 |
Feb-07-10 11:49 PM |
#14 |
 
"If the Democratic Party still represented Working Americans" -- and that's the rub. |
scarletwoman |
Feb-08-10 12:07 AM |
#18 |
 
The Democrats We See Today Aren't The Democrats Of the Party I've |
ChiciB1 |
Feb-08-10 09:44 PM |
#182 |

Oh, you remember THIS Democratic Party: |
bvar22 |
Feb-09-10 01:13 PM |
#214 |

You have very eloquently stated the sane approach. |
bobbolink |
Feb-07-10 11:51 PM |
#15 |

Pretty much. |
Forkboy |
Feb-07-10 11:58 PM |
#16 |

K&R |
amborin |
Feb-08-10 12:03 AM |
#17 |

look to those who foment intolerance and bigotry |
G_j |
Feb-08-10 12:09 AM |
#19 |
 
Religion works but there are many other ways they do this |
laughingliberal |
Feb-08-10 02:12 AM |
#39 |

George Carlin said it best |
pokerfan |
Feb-08-10 12:51 AM |
#21 |
 
Absolutely true. George Carlin did indeed nail it brilliantly. |
scarletwoman |
Feb-08-10 07:07 AM |
#51 |

Nice and Concise |
Kalun D |
Feb-08-10 12:58 AM |
#22 |

Zing. It's as simple as that. |
David Zephyr |
Feb-08-10 01:12 AM |
#24 |
 
Thanks, David. |
scarletwoman |
Feb-08-10 06:40 AM |
#49 |

K & R |
yurbud |
Feb-08-10 01:12 AM |
#25 |

Useful to think about. How dividing us is used to weaken us. //nt |
Overseas |
Feb-08-10 01:15 AM |
#26 |

Yep. |
cliffordu |
Feb-08-10 01:20 AM |
#27 |

This game they play with us, |
asdjrocky |
Feb-08-10 01:21 AM |
#28 |

K&R - 'Them' now are not even human. No guillotine will behead 'Them' and no |
ConsAreLiars |
Feb-08-10 01:37 AM |
#29 |
 
True! I think it's more systemic/machine-like than we realize... |
PerpetuallyDazed |
Feb-08-10 11:27 AM |
#65 |

I have to disagree with Liberals as equal "haters". We "reach across the aisle" we compromise |
Lorien |
Feb-08-10 01:43 AM |
#30 |
 
do "we"? or is that simply a cover story? |
Hannah Bell |
Feb-08-10 01:51 AM |
#33 |

For the DLC it's just a cover story. For traditional Dems it's an unfortunate |
Lorien |
Feb-08-10 02:05 AM |
#35 |

Well said. |
alfredo |
Feb-08-10 01:57 AM |
#34 |

K&R. |
Vidar |
Feb-08-10 02:28 AM |
#40 |

K & R! |
daughter of liberty2 |
Feb-08-10 04:38 AM |
#41 |

being poor doesn't excuse someone from being a fucking bigot |
JI7 |
Feb-08-10 04:41 AM |
#43 |

including thinking Teabaggers have "been more successfully conned"? |
omega minimo |
Feb-08-10 05:06 AM |
#46 |

Can't say it any better myself. K/R |
BigBearJohn |
Feb-08-10 06:44 AM |
#50 |

The left clearly knows that which makes us a true threat to the powers that be. |
stillwaiting |
Feb-08-10 07:36 AM |
#53 |

"There are only two classes..." |
blindpig |
Feb-08-10 07:47 AM |
#54 |

There is certainly 'left' and 'right' |
LeftishBrit |
Feb-08-10 07:56 AM |
#55 |

K & R! |
OmmmSweetOmmm |
Feb-08-10 08:28 AM |
#59 |

"Owners" is the right word. |
freedom fighter jh |
Feb-08-10 11:38 AM |
#66 |
 
But don't be confused... |
blindpig |
Feb-08-10 12:02 PM |
#67 |

And few of the cheerleaders |
truedelphi |
Feb-08-10 07:55 PM |
#147 |

Thanks for this post SW. |
Desertrose |
Feb-08-10 12:51 PM |
#74 |
 
Oh, my dear Desertrose! I'm absolutely giddy with happiness to see you on this thread! |
scarletwoman |
Feb-08-10 08:12 PM |
#151 |

I couldn't agree more. |
Uncle Joe |
Feb-08-10 12:55 PM |
#75 |

"They pit the lifers against the new boy . . . |
Strelnikov_ |
Feb-08-10 01:00 PM |
#76 |

I call bs on this.... |
Green_Lantern |
Feb-08-10 01:01 PM |
#77 |
 
and no one is discussing you, in the least. |
TheKentuckian |
Feb-08-10 01:17 PM |
#81 |
  
or the fact she owners and |
Green_Lantern |
Feb-08-10 01:39 PM |
#86 |
   
You are one of the owned, just like us |
varelse |
Feb-08-10 09:07 PM |
#176 |
  
I Don't Think I Understand What He's Talking About Myself... Perhaps I Just |
ChiciB1 |
Feb-08-10 09:53 PM |
#186 |
 
Who says you are one of 'the Owners'? |
Strelnikov_ |
Feb-08-10 01:24 PM |
#83 |
 
and no one is discussing you, in the least. |
TheKentuckian |
Feb-08-10 02:05 PM |
#93 |
 
That's the problem with this site - y'all think you are "owners" |
TBF |
Feb-08-10 04:05 PM |
#123 |
 
The OP isn't talking about business owners |
Boudica the Lyoness |
Feb-08-10 06:00 PM |
#137 |
 
'Corrupted by radical socialism like in Europaean countries'??? |
LeftishBrit |
Feb-08-10 06:14 PM |
#139 |
 
Maybe thinking |
Dyedinthewoolliberal |
Feb-09-10 12:09 AM |
#206 |

yep. knr |
Mari333 |
Feb-08-10 01:02 PM |
#78 |

American politics in a nutshell: |
Initech |
Feb-08-10 01:10 PM |
#80 |

SW, |
myrna minx |
Feb-08-10 01:20 PM |
#82 |

The powers that be have got us all where they want us-fighting over religion, abortion, gay rights |
earth mom |
Feb-08-10 01:36 PM |
#85 |

I think the OP approaches being correct but misses reality in a desire for simplicity |
TheKentuckian |
Feb-08-10 01:42 PM |
#87 |

The best way to thwart a "revolution" is to lead it. n/t |
Beam Me Up |
Feb-08-10 01:48 PM |
#88 |
 
+100000000000 |
leftstreet |
Feb-08-10 01:52 PM |
#90 |
 
Except that every once in a while it backfires... |
Junkdrawer |
Feb-08-10 02:06 PM |
#95 |

Yep. Dangerous game, "revolution". n/t |
Beam Me Up |
Feb-08-10 03:31 PM |
#116 |

In my estimation this fact is even more controversial for greater numbers of people than, say, 9/11 |
Echo In Light |
Feb-08-10 01:52 PM |
#91 |

No. There's left and right. I really get tired of the "we and the teabaggers are in the same |
TwilightGardener |
Feb-08-10 02:06 PM |
#94 |
 
There are right and left wings of the ruling class... |
blindpig |
Feb-08-10 02:28 PM |
#97 |
  
No--even the little people can have natural (or learned) conservative or progressive bents. |
TwilightGardener |
Feb-08-10 02:39 PM |
#100 |
 
Even so, I think the main points are: |
metapunditedgy |
Feb-08-10 02:52 PM |
#103 |
 
What are 'conservative or progressive bents?' |
leftstreet |
Feb-08-10 03:01 PM |
#108 |
  
Well, you either want everything to stay exactly the same as what you grew up with |
TwilightGardener |
Feb-08-10 03:39 PM |
#117 |
 
Would you say a lot of 'conservatives' wanted change when they voted Obama? |
leftstreet |
Feb-08-10 03:43 PM |
#118 |
 
I would think conservatives voting for Obama is a testament to just |
TwilightGardener |
Feb-08-10 03:48 PM |
#119 |
 
Indeed |
leftstreet |
Feb-08-10 03:53 PM |
#120 |
 
And who do you think is doing the manipulating? |
blindpig |
Feb-08-10 03:10 PM |
#115 |
 
Of course its complete bullshit |
Reterr |
Feb-08-10 06:15 PM |
#140 |
 
We are all in the same boat. The difference is we know what boat we're in and they don't |
laughingliberal |
Feb-08-10 08:10 PM |
#150 |

We are a nation of "True Believers" as Eric Hoffer wrote about. |
BeHereNow |
Feb-08-10 02:31 PM |
#98 |

They are the overlords and the rest of us are the serfs and peasants. |
Cleita |
Feb-08-10 02:39 PM |
#99 |

there is a class war |
branders seine |
Feb-08-10 02:40 PM |
#101 |

History shows they will screw it up! Rest of world will not walk to its grave! |
RedCloud |
Feb-08-10 02:50 PM |
#102 |

Kicking with a rec' |
BeHereNow |
Feb-08-10 02:53 PM |
#104 |

K & R.... |
winyanstaz |
Feb-08-10 02:56 PM |
#105 |

Hallelujah and Amen |
rem3006 |
Feb-08-10 02:57 PM |
#106 |

Well said. Hits the nail squarely on the head. |
Political Heretic |
Feb-08-10 03:05 PM |
#112 |

knr thanks n/t |
slipslidingaway |
Feb-08-10 03:59 PM |
#121 |

Right on, SW, very well done n/t |
TBF |
Feb-08-10 04:03 PM |
#122 |

We're on the same page. Many witches were burned because they were widowed land owners. |
rhett o rick |
Feb-08-10 04:47 PM |
#127 |

k & r |
Starry Messenger |
Feb-08-10 04:51 PM |
#128 |

Yes!! We have to stop the fighting amongst our groups and realize corps |
AllyCat |
Feb-08-10 04:55 PM |
#129 |

Another K&R for this. |
Greyhound |
Feb-08-10 05:09 PM |
#133 |

An organized resistance is what the owners fear |
Goldstein1984 |
Feb-08-10 05:21 PM |
#134 |
 
Absolutely accurate, as usual. +1000. nt |
laughingliberal |
Feb-08-10 08:12 PM |
#152 |
 
I nearly incited an organized resistance at the post office today...heh-heh. |
BeHereNow |
Feb-08-10 08:44 PM |
#165 |

Well done :) |
winyanstaz |
Feb-08-10 10:51 PM |
#196 |

I already replied once, but I just have to thank you again for such an excellent post. |
Political Heretic |
Feb-08-10 05:30 PM |
#135 |
 
And I have to thank YOU, for all I learn from YOUR posts. |
scarletwoman |
Feb-08-10 08:28 PM |
#159 |

Scarletwomen is wide awake..... |
midnight |
Feb-08-10 06:09 PM |
#138 |

Exactly. All the other issues are distractions |
NAO |
Feb-08-10 06:21 PM |
#141 |

Kickety-kick!!! |
Desertrose |
Feb-08-10 06:57 PM |
#142 |

Well done SW. :) |
SalmonChantedEvening |
Feb-08-10 07:04 PM |
#144 |
 
Ah, dear love! I'm absolutely delighted to "see" you here! You said it so well! |
scarletwoman |
Feb-08-10 08:03 PM |
#148 |
  
Mon Cher :) |
SalmonChantedEvening |
Feb-08-10 08:08 PM |
#149 |
 
I hear you are a denizen of the Lounge these days. |
scarletwoman |
Feb-08-10 08:18 PM |
#154 |
 
I have a wonderful weekly gathering of teh happeez. :) |
SalmonChantedEvening |
Feb-08-10 08:30 PM |
#160 |
 
+++1000 nt |
laughingliberal |
Feb-08-10 08:13 PM |
#153 |

Amen. nt |
tbyg52 |
Feb-08-10 07:40 PM |
#145 |

To all on this thread: |
scarletwoman |
Feb-08-10 07:51 PM |
#146 |
 
I don't see how it could be any clearer than that. Kudos galore! nt |
laughingliberal |
Feb-08-10 08:20 PM |
#155 |
  
Many thanks. And thank you for all your kind and supportive posts in this thread. |
scarletwoman |
Feb-08-10 08:50 PM |
#169 |
 
You are very welcome! |
laughingliberal |
Feb-08-10 10:27 PM |
#194 |
 
as impossible as it may seem |
G_j |
Feb-08-10 08:20 PM |
#156 |
 
I would give you a second recommendation for this post scarletwoman. |
Uncle Joe |
Feb-08-10 08:25 PM |
#157 |
  
Thank you so much. |
scarletwoman |
Feb-08-10 08:31 PM |
#161 |
 
hi scarletwomen |
lxlxlxl |
Feb-08-10 10:13 PM |
#190 |
  
Thank you for your critique. |
scarletwoman |
Feb-08-10 10:24 PM |
#193 |
 
Nailed it. |
blindpig |
Feb-09-10 07:52 AM |
#208 |

QUIT ACTING LIKE FOOLS do something that can make a difference and feels good. |
LetsSaveAmerica |
Feb-08-10 08:26 PM |
#158 |
 
ah, yes--everything is about taxes |
newspeak |
Feb-09-10 11:31 AM |
#212 |

K&R |
maryf |
Feb-08-10 08:41 PM |
#163 |
 
Thank you! Yes, there's been a good conversation here. |
scarletwoman |
Feb-08-10 08:48 PM |
#166 |

Hear, hear, sister! |
maryf |
Feb-08-10 08:56 PM |
#171 |

No, there is still left and right |
salib |
Feb-08-10 08:42 PM |
#164 |
 
I hope you will read my post #146, which may (or may not) answer some of your objections. |
scarletwoman |
Feb-08-10 09:11 PM |
#178 |
  
I did read your response #146 and I do not see how it addresses my complaint |
salib |
Feb-09-10 11:04 AM |
#210 |
 
Your attempt to redeem ..... |
galileoreloaded |
Feb-08-10 09:46 PM |
#184 |
 
You can call BS all you want. SW's excellent address to your issue in #146 |
laughingliberal |
Feb-08-10 10:12 PM |
#189 |

I'm gonna refresh my NLP skills & start trying to lead them a little further left |
Jackpine Radical |
Feb-08-10 08:48 PM |
#167 |
 
I studied that NLP stuff, too -- many years ago, as well. |
scarletwoman |
Feb-08-10 09:01 PM |
#174 |

If we let these divisions stand, we're letting the reptiles win. |
Jackpine Radical |
Feb-08-10 09:25 PM |
#179 |

It makes sense as metaphor. All us humans have a "reptilian" brain as part of our overall makeup. |
scarletwoman |
Feb-08-10 09:41 PM |
#181 |

it's the old "better the devil you know" argument |
left of center |
Feb-08-10 09:10 PM |
#177 |

Couldn't agree more |
howaboutme |
Feb-08-10 09:53 PM |
#187 |

Absolutely! |
pmorlan1 |
Feb-08-10 09:58 PM |
#188 |

Some in the "rest of us category" are having delusions that someday they will be allowed |
lonestarnot |
Feb-08-10 10:17 PM |
#192 |
 
yeah |
lexicaltexan |
Feb-08-10 11:03 PM |
#198 |

Oh, but we DO have titles of nobility: |
bvar22 |
Feb-09-10 12:44 PM |
#213 |

Exceptionally well put! |
DeSwiss |
Feb-08-10 11:02 PM |
#197 |
 
Thank you. I don't know about "exceptionally", I'm just happy that some folks understood |
scarletwoman |
Feb-08-10 11:08 PM |
#200 |

It's a topic of particular interest to me..... |
DeSwiss |
Feb-09-10 12:13 AM |
#207 |

George Carlin would approve - RIP |
howaboutme |
Feb-08-10 11:07 PM |
#199 |

K&R |
Individualist |
Feb-08-10 11:13 PM |
#201 |

I agree |
Swamp Rat |
Feb-08-10 11:19 PM |
#202 |
 
C'est tu!?! Chéri! |
scarletwoman |
Feb-08-10 11:35 PM |
#203 |

tres bien, mon amour |
Swamp Rat |
Feb-08-10 11:39 PM |
#204 |

Words of wisdom: "Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. |
scarletwoman |
Feb-08-10 11:49 PM |
#205 |

Sadly... |
sendero |
Feb-09-10 07:59 AM |
#209 |

Bravo! K&R n/t |
OneGrassRoot |
Feb-09-10 11:06 AM |
#211 |
leftstreet
(1000+ posts)
|
Sun Feb-07-10 11:29 PM
Response to Original message |
inna
(1000+ posts)
|
Sun Feb-07-10 11:31 PM
Response to Original message |
Jamastiene
(1000+ posts)
|
Sun Feb-07-10 11:33 PM
Response to Original message |
| 3. It's true. They do pit us against each other so we won't fight them. |
 |
Their biggest fear is that our eyes are opened to their tactics and we begin to fight them.
|
Jackpine Radical
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 08:49 PM
Response to Reply #3 |
| 168. That's why they scream so easily about "class warfare." |
DJ13
(1000+ posts)
|
Sun Feb-07-10 11:35 PM
Response to Original message |
| 4. Repugs, Dems, Tea Baggers, Greens, Libertarians, Haves, Have Nots |
 |
The elites work hard at keeping us divided on the unimportant things just so we dont come to realize how much we really have in common when it comes to being screwed over by those same elites.
|
rcrush
(1000+ posts)
|
Sun Feb-07-10 11:36 PM
Response to Original message |
 |
"We so-called liberals are just as gleeful in our hatred for those whom we deem beneath us, as any mob screaming "Witch! Witch!" in the village square."
|
liberation
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 04:35 PM
Response to Reply #5 |
| 126. I am certain the delightful projection of your post must have passed unoticed... |
 |
Edited on Mon Feb-08-10 04:36 PM by liberation
... while rushing to get on that high moral horse.
|
Dyedinthewoolliberal
(1000+ posts)
|
Sun Feb-07-10 11:37 PM
Response to Original message |
 |
Napoleon is credited with saying 'religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich' Ever notice how there are lots of songs about labor leaders, for example, but none about owners?
|
newspeak
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 12:31 PM
Response to Reply #6 |
| 70. and that's why even though Napoleon was not a very religious man |
 |
he would have shot a non-believer, because he could not control one who was curious or challenged his authority.
|
begin_within
(1000+ posts)
|
Sun Feb-07-10 11:37 PM
Response to Original message |
 |
As long as the Owners divide the rest of us into DUers and Freepers, and let us battle it out endlessly, they still screw us all over.
|
cali
(1000+ posts)
|
Sun Feb-07-10 11:37 PM
Response to Original message |
 |
both of the current situation and the historical one. It's so much more complex than that. I understand the urge to find one clear cut enemy, but it's not as simple as you think. You seem to have no idea that you're doing what you decry. That's interesting. I mean really, who are the owners? Is it anyone about a certain income level? What exactly?
|
Hannah Bell
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 01:48 AM
Response to Reply #8 |
cali
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 05:45 AM
Response to Reply #31 |
| 48. brilliant. just brilliant, hannah. |
laughingliberal
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 02:06 AM
Response to Reply #8 |
| 36. I would say the owners are those who have had the resources to get laws that favor them and screw |
 |
the rest of us passed. I thought that was obvious.
|
Desertrose
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 12:32 PM
Response to Reply #36 |
 |
Some just don't want to believe it. Hate to have their own special worldview rocked.
|
Joe Chi Minh
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 01:59 PM
Response to Reply #71 |
| 92. Now, don't be nasty to Cali. She's special! |  |
Political Heretic
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 03:00 PM
Response to Reply #36 |
| 107. It is obvious. People saying "it's too complicated to come to any conclusions" simply shill |
 |
for rulers rather than workers.
|
AllyCat
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 04:58 PM
Response to Reply #8 |
| 130. Then why don't you write a post about the complexities? |
 |
Or is it easier for you to accuse someone else as simple and then do nothing about it?
|
galileoreloaded
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 09:44 PM
Response to Reply #8 |
| 183. Simplistic Post. Not allowing for the complexities of societies. |
Odin2005
(1000+ posts)
|
Sun Feb-07-10 11:41 PM
Response to Original message |
| 9. I've been saying this for a while. K&R. |
 |
The DLC has doing a good job encouraging classist sentiment among Democrats (Sheep! Morans! Stupid, gun-toting rednecks!!!) in order to keep us populists attacking each other.
|
cali
(1000+ posts)
|
Sun Feb-07-10 11:45 PM
Response to Reply #9 |
| 10. yes, let's all pretend that there aren't large numbers of racists |
 |
and religiously intolerant people who hate government, despise socialism, worship Limbaugh and praise unfettered capitalism. It's all the DLC or the owners or whoever.
All populists are not cut from the same bolt of cloth.
|
leftstreet
(1000+ posts)
|
Sun Feb-07-10 11:47 PM
Response to Reply #10 |
| 13. Then how did Obama get elected? |
 |
A black candidate who was called a 'socialist' by the other side?
|
laughingliberal
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 02:07 AM
Response to Reply #13 |
JI7
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 04:44 AM
Response to Reply #13 |
| 45. the teabaggers never supported him and never will , he got elected by other people |
leftstreet
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 01:50 PM
Response to Reply #45 |
| 89. So there were more 'other people' than Teabaggers. Check. n/t |
Political Heretic
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 03:01 PM
Response to Reply #89 |
JI7
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 03:06 PM
Response to Reply #89 |
| 113. yes there are, that doesn't mean there aren't racists, just like Oprah being popular doesn't mean |
 |
black woman would have as easy time getting a job as a white man.
|
Odin2005
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 12:22 AM
Response to Reply #10 |
| 20. Those people are mislead, not evil. |
JI7
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 04:41 AM
Response to Reply #20 |
| 42. they certainly are evil , i fucking hate them , racist piece of shits |
Odin2005
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 09:08 AM
Response to Reply #42 |
| 61. Dehuminization alert. |
 |
Edited on Mon Feb-08-10 09:08 AM by Odin2005
Don't become what you hate.
|
earth mom
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 01:26 PM
Response to Reply #61 |
| 84. Interesting comment from someone who regularly smears those in the autism community |
 |
who are only trying to find not only answers but justice and human rights for their loved ones with autism. 
|
Odin2005
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 04:35 PM
Response to Reply #84 |
| 125. Oh, is that PROJECTION I see? |
 |
A curebie talking about human rights? 
|
earth mom
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 04:59 PM
Response to Reply #125 |
| 131. You just proved my point. nt |
wolfgangmo
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 12:11 PM
Response to Reply #42 |
| 68. reply to no. 20 and 42. |
 |
Absolute statements are never correct.
It is as equally true that some of those folks are evil as it is that some of them are mislead. Both of you are engaging in prejudicial thinking and, one might assume, discriminatory actions. But I can't say for sure since I don't know either of you.
Let's all keep in mind that not all Germans were sick evil twisted fucks during WW2, but we should also remember that "good germans" who should have known better allowed the tragedies of that time to proceed with their tacit agreement. The good germans also shared the blame.
|
Jackpine Radical
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 08:57 PM
Response to Reply #68 |
| 172. Including the "good Germans" who went to fight fascism in Spain, for eample? |
varelse
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 08:59 PM
Response to Reply #68 |
| 173. "Absolute statements are never correct." |
 |
I need an aspirin after that one. Oy.
|
Political Heretic
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 03:02 PM
Response to Reply #42 |
| 110. Just looking for an excuse to hate, you're no different than they are. |
LeftishBrit
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 08:06 AM
Response to Reply #20 |
| 58. Some of each, I think |
 |
In any case, if you are a black person or Jew or Muslim or immigrant or gay or 'witch' who is murdered by haters, you are just as dead, whether they murdered you out of evil intentions or being misled.
You have often pointed out the very serious problems of school bullying; and I do think that a certain proportion of far-rightists are simply school bullies grown up.
Some *are* just ill-informed. It is no coincidence that right-wing leaders often pursue policies that restrict access to education among the population: a poorly educated populace is easier to manipulate.
It is also true that bad economic circumstances breed prejudice and xenophobia and intolerance. If the Germans had not been up against the wall in the 1930s, perhaps Hitler would never have risen to power. Economic justice is vital not only for its own sake, but also for reducing the fertility of the soil that breeds racist and fascist and warmongering movements.
However, I sometimes get the impression that some people (definitely not including you) think that it is OK to pander to racism and social intolerance in order to get allies against the economic establishment and/or against the war. And this view is dangerous and could encourage neo-fascist movements.
|
Number23
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 04:25 PM
Response to Reply #58 |
| 124. "some people think that it is OK to pander to racism and social intolerance |
 |
in order to get allies against the economic establishment and/or against the war. And this view is dangerous and could encourage neo-fascist movements."
THANK YOU. And these same people are flabbergasted, just FLABBERGASTED when blacks and Hispanics and Jews etc. say "what in the name of God is the matter with you wanting to align with these imbeciles??!"
Many of the ones who advocate this policy the loudest are also (coincidentally or not) the same ones who can find NOTHING good with anything that Obama has done while in office. It is damning and very telling.
|
Marr
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 01:10 AM
Response to Reply #10 |
| 23. Let's also pretend that this anger is born of nothing. |
 |
Edited on Mon Feb-08-10 01:11 AM by Marr
This right-wing populist movement is a lot of things, but most of all it's angry. Angry, working class people who feel like they've been screwed over, and rightly so. Some of them put the blame on minorities or liberals, out of their own prejudices or the urging of a scapegoating right-wing propagandist like Rush Limbaugh, but that's not the issue.
Much of the working class in this country has their back against the wall and they're extremely pissed off, and they're in that position because they've been exploited by big-money interests.
|
JI7
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 04:42 AM
Response to Reply #23 |
| 44. they weren't angry during the Bush years, only when the black man became President |
Hannah Bell
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 08:01 AM
Response to Reply #44 |
| 57. surely you haven't forgotten the clinton impeachment. |
 |
Edited on Mon Feb-08-10 08:02 AM by Hannah Bell
it's the same people. clinton was a fairly popular president but there was a hard-core who hated him. same people.
|
laughingliberal
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 11:26 AM
Response to Reply #57 |
| 64. Thank you. I don't know how in hell people can have so quickly forgotten the relentless witch hunt |
JI7
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 03:07 PM
Response to Reply #57 |
| 114. yeah, it's clear the teabagging crowd hated Clinton and thought he favored minorities |
Marr
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 01:02 PM
Response to Reply #44 |
| 79. They were angry all through the Bush years. |
 |
They just weren't organized into TV-friendly appearances. And why would they be? The interests who set up this "Tea Party" promotion were in power back then.
You can't tell me you've forgotten all the angry Conservatives and "morans" during the Bush years. Same people, angry at the same things. Maybe they blame the wrong people for their lot in life, but that doesn't change the fact that their life in pretty shitty and they are indeed angry about it.
|
dflprincess
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 10:28 PM
Response to Reply #79 |
Political Heretic
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 03:03 PM
Response to Reply #44 |
| 111. That's actually not at all true. |
scarletwoman
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 07:11 AM
Response to Reply #23 |
| 52. Exactly! Thank you for saying this and saying it so well. |
newspeak
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 12:35 PM
Response to Reply #23 |
| 72. and, their anger is being directed |
 |
it's the blame game-their anger is directed towards those they are taught or told to fear. For the MSM hate spewers know how to pander to one's preconceived prejudices.
|
Hannah Bell
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 01:49 AM
Response to Reply #10 |
| 32. lol again. witch, witch! it's the teabaggers! those bad people! (psst funded by the owners) |
laughingliberal
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 02:07 AM
Response to Reply #32 |
cali
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 05:44 AM
Response to Reply #32 |
| 47. nope. no name calling in my post. just |
 |
describing what the teapartiers espouse.
|
Hannah Bell
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 07:59 AM
Response to Reply #47 |
| 56. they're racists! they're racists! the omnipresence of racism = the omnipresence of witches. |
 |
Edited on Mon Feb-08-10 08:00 AM by Hannah Bell
serves the same function to the rulers.
look, witches!! you need us to protect you from those bad entities!!
the fact remains that the teapartiers can hardly draw a crowd.
the only reason they get airtime is because someone with deep pockets & connections is backing them.
|
dixiegrrrrl
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 08:51 AM
Response to Reply #32 |
| 60. This thread's sudden segue into anti-freeper language |
 |
makes the OP's point.
And your point, Hannah, sorely bears repeating. The tiny group of Freepers is funded and driven by a RW idealogue. Didja notice how C-span made it seem such an important group> 48 hour coverage, all weekend. Barf............
|
freddie mertz
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 09:09 AM
Response to Reply #32 |
| 62. Teabaggers are a distraction. They are dupes, funded by the ownership class. |
 |
They WANT progressives to hate and mock them, which will just fire them up more.
Meanwhile, they just continue along, taking ever more control of every facet of your life.
Fascism divides, then wins.
|
Desertrose
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 12:36 PM
Response to Reply #62 |
| 73. Bingo! You are exactly right, Freddie. n/t |
Jackpine Radical
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 09:28 PM
Response to Reply #73 |
Odin2005
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 09:11 AM
Response to Reply #32 |
| 63. BURN THE WITCH!!! BURN THE WITCH!!! |
 |
Edited on Mon Feb-08-10 09:12 AM by Odin2005
|
Land Shark
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 02:14 PM
Response to Reply #10 |
| 96. Cali, there are large numbers of those, it's just that the top/down issues are even bigger |
 |
The left and the right need to make common cause to preserve the ability for our serious disputes TO EVEN MATTER.
|
cali
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 05:02 PM
Response to Reply #96 |
| 132. sure, but they don't see it that way. and I suspect that it's virtually impossible |
 |
to get the vast majority of them to understand that.
|
Reterr
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 05:59 PM
Response to Reply #10 |
| 136. I have disagreed with you many times before but I heartily concur here |
 |
Edited on Mon Feb-08-10 06:00 PM by Reterr
"All populists are not cut from the same bolt of cloth."
The tea-baggers in no way represent any values of mine and the fact that many of them are disempowered the same way that I am does not fool me into believing that I have any goals in common with them. Aside from the racism and homophobia, the blatant disdain and paranoia for anything associated with literacy, education, science, heck broadening one's mind in general, makes me wary of this style of populism.
It is a damn shame that everyone does not have the same access to education and that is something the elites have promoted and helps disempower people. But proudly clinging to illiteracy and indeed making an acheievment out of how much you despise learning, knowledge etc. is going down a path that ensures you will remain ignorant and with your mind clouded in darkness and paranoia...
The teabaggers represent the worst kind of populists-those that disempower the alreadfy disempowered by telling them to reject knowledge, education and science.
|
maryf
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 08:31 PM
Response to Reply #10 |
 |
"but that's only because they've been more successfully conned by the Owners to betray their own class"
|
Jackpine Radical
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 08:53 PM
Response to Reply #10 |
| 170. Racism, religious intolerance, anti-socialism, etc. |
 |
are just more examples of the divisions fostered among us.
|
galileoreloaded
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 09:47 PM
Response to Reply #10 |
| 185. I agree. Are they "left" or "right"?? n/t |
 |
Edited on Mon Feb-08-10 09:47 PM by galileoreloaded
|
dflprincess
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 10:16 PM
Response to Reply #10 |
| 191. Race and religion are ways the ruling class keeps the serfs from coming together |
 |
The most dangerous thing Martin Luther King, Jr. ever planned was the Poor People's March on Washington. Get a whole lot of poor folks together and they start talking and figuring out that their economic situation gives them a lot more in common than their race makes them different, and the powers that be may have a big problem on their hands.
MLK was murdered before the march happened. It still went on but without his leadership it was not the event he had hoped it would be.
Sadly, it is all too easy to divide people using race and/or religion as the reason TPB know this and Rush, Beck, Palin etal are willing tools to help with the division.
|
OhioChick
(1000+ posts)
|
Sun Feb-07-10 11:46 PM
Response to Original message |
KonaKane
(1000+ posts)
|
Sun Feb-07-10 11:46 PM
Response to Original message |
| 12. True. Upon researching, I found out the witch hunts were actually organized thefts |
 |
blessed by the church (in bed with owners) who could take your possessions, your land and then your life if they even suspected you of "Witchcraft". I once saw a list of "needs" from the period, penned by a Witchfinder General visiting a small town to try an old woman for witchery. It was a laundry list of goodies, new clothes, new shoes, new horses and coach finery that would all be paid for by the estate of the old woman if she were found guilty.
Well guess how that turned out.
|
newspeak
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 12:29 PM
Response to Reply #12 |
 |
It was organized theft! And some who went along with the church, did so in fear. Just like some German citizens did not speak because of fear. A powerful organization (government or church) used scapegoats and fear to gain further control of the masses, gain more power and wealth. When the inquisition came into towns, many people would flee. The town or the family had to pay for their torturers, their land was confiscated. It was a very lucrative business. When the Nazis outlawed the Jews, all of their assets were seized by the German government. A very, very lucrative enterprise.
|
KonaKane
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 06:59 PM
Response to Reply #69 |
varelse
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 09:01 PM
Response to Reply #12 |
| 175. Organized armed robbery + murder |
 |
but yes, your point is taken.
|
bvar22
(1000+ posts)
|
Sun Feb-07-10 11:49 PM
Response to Original message |
| 14. I have more common interests with "TeaBaggers".... |
 |
..than with the Ownership Class.
If the Democratic Party still represented Working Americans, it would be easy to romance some of the less crazy members away on Populist Economic issues.
|
scarletwoman
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 12:07 AM
Response to Reply #14 |
| 18. "If the Democratic Party still represented Working Americans" -- and that's the rub. |
 |
Working Americans have been screwed for decades. But because there are more of us than there are Owners, the Owners have to make sure that we don't make common cause with each other. The Owners appear to have an easy time of it, unfortunately.
sw
|
ChiciB1
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 09:44 PM
Response to Reply #14 |
| 182. The Democrats We See Today Aren't The Democrats Of the Party I've |
 |
belonged to for all my life1 Well at least since I was 11 and started following politics!
You are so correct, THEY don't represent Working Americans or "we the people" much anymore. It's really a sad state of affairs, but I don't think many of them are listening much. If the Democrats had a movement going like the T.B.'s I think many would follow because so many feel betrayed by their own in Congress & the WH!
But, it's not happening and people ARE getting angrier and angrier! I wonder so much these days when things are really going to POP! Could be wrong, and apathy for us will remain the same.
JMHO
|
bvar22
(1000+ posts)
|
Tue Feb-09-10 01:13 PM
Response to Reply #182 |
| 214. Oh, you remember THIS Democratic Party: |
 |
In our day these economic truths have become accepted as self-evident. We have accepted, so to speak, a second Bill of Rights under which a new basis of security and prosperity can be established for all—regardless of station, race, or creed.
Among these are:
The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation;
The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation;
The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living;
The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad;
The right of every family to a decent home;
The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health;
The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment;
The right to a good education.
All of these rights spell security. And after this war is won we must be prepared to move forward, in the implementation of these rights, to new goals of human happiness and well-being.---FDR THAT is the Democratic Party of my parents and grandparents. THAT is the Democratic Party I joined 41 years ago. Unfortunately, THAT "Democratic Party" is dead, DEAD, DEAD. It bears NO resemblance to the political party using that name today.
|
bobbolink
(1000+ posts)
|
Sun Feb-07-10 11:51 PM
Response to Original message |
| 15. You have very eloquently stated the sane approach. |
 |
And you have Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, and other lumaries to follow. 
|
Forkboy
(1000+ posts)
|
Sun Feb-07-10 11:58 PM
Response to Original message |
 |
I've always said that war is just one country's workers fighting another country's workers for the right to be exploited by the victor. But the theory works in more than just war. "Look, there's your enemy...go get 'em!" Easy as pie.
|
amborin
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 12:03 AM
Response to Original message |
G_j
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 12:09 AM
Response to Original message |
| 19. look to those who foment intolerance and bigotry |
 |
and it is so easy to see that there is a conscious effort to divide people against each other. Unfortunately, religion is used in this way most effectively. The concept, as always, is to keep the people fighting each other  .
|
laughingliberal
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 02:12 AM
Response to Reply #19 |
| 39. Religion works but there are many other ways they do this |
 |
Look at the fight over taxing the benefits of union workers. A classic worker against worker fight right here on DU. Then there's the "people who bought more house than they could afford. Many other examples these days to keep us fighting each other instead of organizing against the ruling class.
|
pokerfan
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 12:51 AM
Response to Original message |
| 21. George Carlin said it best |
 |
From his 2005 HBO special: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYIC0eZYEtI Transcript: There's a reason for this, there's a reason education sucks, and it's the same reason it will never ever ever be fixed. It's never going to get any better. Don't look for it. Be happy with what you've got... because the owners of this country don’t want that. I'm talking about the real owners now... the real owners. The big wealthy business interests that control things and make all the important decisions. Forget the politicians.
The politicians are put there to give you the idea that you have freedom of choice. You don’t. You have no choice. You have owners. They own you. They own everything. They own all the important land. They own and control the corporations. They’ve long since bought and paid for the Senate, the Congress, the state houses, the city halls. They got the judges in their back pockets and they own all the big media companies, so they control just about all of the news and information you get to hear.
They got you by the balls. They spend billions of dollars every year lobbying. Lobbying to get what they want. Well, we know what they want. They want more for themselves and less for everybody else, but I’ll tell you what they don’t want.
They don’t want a population of citizens capable of critical thinking. They don’t want well-informed, well-educated people capable of critical thinking. They’re not interested in that. That doesn’t help them. That’s against their interests. That’s right. They don’t want people who are smart enough to sit around a kitchen table and think about how badly they’re getting fucked by a system that threw them overboard 30 fuckin’ years ago. They don’t want that.
You know what they want? They want obedient workers. Obedient workers, people who are just smart enough to run the machines and do the paperwork. And just dumb enough to passively accept all these increasingly shittier jobs with the lower pay, the longer hours, the reduced benefits, the end of overtime and vanishing pension that disappears the minute you go to collect it. And now they’re coming for your Social Security money. They want your fuckin' retirement money. They want it back so they can give it to their criminal friends on Wall Street.
And you know something? They’ll get it. They’ll get it all from you sooner or later 'cause they own this fuckin' place. It’s a big club and you ain't in it. You and I are not in the big club. By the way, it’s the same big club they use to beat you over the head with all day long when they tell you what to believe. All day long beating you over the head with their media telling you what to believe, what to think and what to buy.
The table has tilted, folks. The game is rigged and nobody seems to notice. Nobody seems to care. Good, honest, hard-working people: white collar, blue collar, it doesn’t matter what color shirt you have on. Good, honest, hard-working people continue — these are people of modest means — continue to elect these rich cocksuckers who don’t give a fuck about them. They don’t give a fuck about you. They don’t give a fuck about you. They don’t care about you at all! At all! At all!
And nobody seems to notice. Nobody seems to care. That’s what the owners count on. The fact that Americans will probably remain willfully ignorant of the big red, white and blue dick that’s being jammed up their assholes every day, because the owners of this country know the truth. It’s called the American Dream, 'cause you have to be asleep to believe it.
|
scarletwoman
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 07:07 AM
Response to Reply #21 |
| 51. Absolutely true. George Carlin did indeed nail it brilliantly. |
 |
Thank you for posting that.
|
Kalun D
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 12:58 AM
Response to Original message |
David Zephyr
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 01:12 AM
Response to Original message |
| 24. Zing. It's as simple as that. |  |
 |
But that's the short and long of it all, scarletwoman.
|
scarletwoman
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 06:40 AM
Response to Reply #24 |
yurbud
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 01:12 AM
Response to Original message |
Overseas
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 01:15 AM
Response to Original message |
| 26. Useful to think about. How dividing us is used to weaken us. //nt |
cliffordu
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 01:20 AM
Response to Original message |
asdjrocky
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 01:21 AM
Response to Original message |
| 28. This game they play with us, |
 |
Democrat, Republican, liberal, conservative.
All pure bullshit to distract the masses.
|
ConsAreLiars
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 01:37 AM
Response to Original message |
| 29. K&R - 'Them' now are not even human. No guillotine will behead 'Them' and no |
 |
torches or pitchforks will effect them.
They are not human.
They are Golem, artificial creations/machines that exist only to steal, plunder, pillage, rape, exploit, and dominate through force.
|
PerpetuallyDazed
(690 posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 11:27 AM
Response to Reply #29 |
| 65. True! I think it's more systemic/machine-like than we realize... |
 |
Have you ever seen the movie "The Cube"? "They" are made of individuals who are cogs in a larger "ownership class" machine.
|
Lorien
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 01:43 AM
Response to Original message |
| 30. I have to disagree with Liberals as equal "haters". We "reach across the aisle" we compromise |
 |
we keep running for the football as Lucy (the GOP) snatches it up again. We get the sand kicked in our faces and do nothing about it. We don't even say "hey, remember who got us into this mess?" We like to be liked and that's why their vocal minority keeps winning.
|
Hannah Bell
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 01:51 AM
Response to Reply #30 |
| 33. do "we"? or is that simply a cover story? |
Lorien
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 02:05 AM
Response to Reply #33 |
| 35. For the DLC it's just a cover story. For traditional Dems it's an unfortunate |
alfredo
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 01:57 AM
Response to Original message |
Vidar
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 02:28 AM
Response to Original message |
daughter of liberty2
(64 posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 04:38 AM
Response to Original message |
JI7
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 04:41 AM
Response to Original message |
| 43. being poor doesn't excuse someone from being a fucking bigot |
omega minimo
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 05:06 AM
Response to Original message |
| 46. including thinking Teabaggers have "been more successfully conned"? |
BigBearJohn
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 06:44 AM
Response to Original message |
| 50. Can't say it any better myself. K/R |
stillwaiting
(212 posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 07:36 AM
Response to Original message |
| 53. The left clearly knows that which makes us a true threat to the powers that be. |
 |
The right have been conditioned to literally despise us. Hate us. Think we are evil and serve the devil.
Of course, that has been done for a reason. Their hate and rhetoric against us obviously makes us direct our attention back on them. It can be pretty disturbing.
Of course, we DO still focus on the elite for the correct reasons, but our chances of persuading our "friends across the aisle" are slim after the constant dehumanizing that has occurred from their official mouthpieces.
|
blindpig
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 07:47 AM
Response to Original message |
| 54. "There are only two classes..." |
 |
Ten Days That Shook the World John Reed 1922 (excerpt from chapter VII, "The Revolutionary Front") ------------------------------------------------------------------------- We sallied out into the town. Just at the door of the station stood two soldiers with rifles and bayonets fixed. They were surrounded by about a hundred business men, government officials and students, who attacked them with passionate argument and epithet. The soldiers were uncomfortable and hurt, like children unjustly scolded.
A tall young man with a supercilious expression, dressed in the uniform of a student, was leading the attack.
"You realise, I presume," he said insolently, "that by taking up arms against your brothers you are making yourselves the tools of murderers and traitors?"
"Now brother,"answered the soldier earnestly, "you don't understand. There are two classes, don't you see, the proletariat and the bourgeoisie. We..."
"Oh, I know that silly talk!" broke in the student rudely. "a bunch of ignorant peasants like you hear somebody bawling a few catch-words. You don't understand what they mean. You just echo them like a lot of parrots." The crowd laughed. "I'm a Marxian student. and I tell you that this isn't Socialism you are fighting for. It's just plain pro-German anarchy!"
"Oh, yes, I know," answered the soldier, with sweat dripping from his brow. "You are an educated man, that is easy to see, and I am only a simple man. But it seems to me..."
"I suppose," interrupted the other contemptuously, "that you believe Lenin is a real friend of the proletariat?"
"Yes, I do," answered the soldier, suffering.
"Well, my friend, do you know that Lenin was sent through Germany in a closed car? Do you know that Lenin took money from the Germans?"
"Well, I don't know much about that," answered the soldier stubbornly, "but it seems to me that what he says is what I want to hear, and all the simple men like me. Now there are two classes, the bourgeoisie and the proletariat..."
"You are a fool! Why, my friend, I spent two years in Schlusselburg for revolutionary activity, when you were still shooting down revolutionists and singing 'God Save the Tsar!' My name is Vasili Georgevitch Panyin. Didn't you ever hear of me?"
"I'm sorry to say I never did," answered the soldier with humility. "But then, I am not an educated man. You are probably a great hero."
"I am," said the student with conviction. "and I am opposed to the Bolsheviki, who are destroying our Russia, our free Revolution. Now how do you account for that?"
The soldier scratched his head. "I can't account for it at all," he said, grimacing with the pain of his intellectual processes. "To me it seems perfectly simple - but then, I'm not well educated. It seems like there are only two classes, the proletariat and the bourgeoisie ..."
"There you go again with your silly formula!" cried the student.
"and whoever isn't on one side is one the other..."
|
LeftishBrit
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 07:56 AM
Response to Original message |
| 55. There is certainly 'left' and 'right' |
 |
I agree that people in power whip up xenophobia and mob spirit in order to rally the public around their leaders. Nothing like an Enemy, real or imagined, to serve as a scapegoat for people's anger and fear and to make them rally loyally around the powerful people who exploit and bully them. Besides (and I think the importance of this aspect is often underestimated) - whipping up hate can be Big Business. The owners of the British tabloids and American talk-shows would go bankrupt if they couldn't whip up a 'daily hate' among a sufficient number of people.
However, this does not mean that the xenophobic Right are not dangerous, or that most of them could be readily persuaded that their resentment should be directed only at those who really are exploiting them. History also teaches us that some people (of all classes) are more likely than others to wish to harm those in a weaker position - whether weaker through poverty, physical weakness, or minority status. In other words, some people apply the principles of playground bullying to their political attitudes. The elitist right want the rich to crush the poor; the so-called 'populist' right want the middle class to crush the poor. Either way, they want the poor to be crushed. They also want minorities and foreigners to be crushed, though *which* minorities and foreigners are involved will depend on current social and political circumstances.
I do think that if economic circumstances were made more just and less oppressive there WOULD be less resentment ripe for the exploitation, and therefore a lot of the market for the hate-merchants's products would disappear. But not all of it.
|
OmmmSweetOmmm
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 08:28 AM
Response to Original message |
freedom fighter jh
(282 posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 11:38 AM
Response to Original message |
| 66. "Owners" is the right word. |
 |
The veneration of property rights above all other values is a major cause of the problem.
|
blindpig
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 12:02 PM
Response to Reply #66 |
| 67. But don't be confused... |
 |
It is because the Owners have all of the property that property is venerated. The ideas of the ruling class are in every epoch the ruling ideas, i.e., the class which is the ruling material force of society, is at the same time its ruling intellectual force. Karl Marx
|
truedelphi
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 07:55 PM
Response to Reply #67 |
| 147. And few of the cheerleaders |
 |
For all things with a "D" stamped after the name even know that while Reed was penning his missive about the Soviet history, Mussolini had charmed the pants off the Left bank Parisian crowd of artists, writers and emerging film stars.
Ah, the more things change, the more they remain the same, n'est ce pas?
|
Desertrose
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 12:51 PM
Response to Original message |
| 74. Thanks for this post SW. |
 |
I completely agree. Divide & conquer. Keep 'em poor and struggling and then pit them against each other. Keep 'em too busy fighting each other to see what is really right in front of their noses. Separate. Divide. The other guy is "different" than you...he can't be as good as you are. Be afraid of him ...hate him. How many hundreds (thousands) of years have "they" been at it? Now we are at a point where all this hate has its own terrible momentum. What can stop it?? Only thing I can come up with is truth....shine the light on those rats and watch 'em try to hide. Problem is.....hatred has its own momentum and feeds on itself and on the fear it creates along the way. What will it take to make humankind wake up and realize we are all in this together?? I shudder to think.  sw 
|
scarletwoman
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 08:12 PM
Response to Reply #74 |
| 151. Oh, my dear Desertrose! I'm absolutely giddy with happiness to see you on this thread! |
 |
"What will it take to make humankind wake up and realize we are all in this together?? I shudder to think."I wish there were a way to know. Time and again I come back to Leonard Crow Dog's prophecy that "the earth will shake like a dog throwing off fleas..." Maybe Mother Earth Herself will have the last word. She will either set us to rights, or we will succeed in destroying ourselves. I've seen the looming trouble for so long, and there seems to be no remedy for it. But I will take what blessings may come, which includes seeing you still here on DU.  sw
|
Uncle Joe
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 12:55 PM
Response to Original message |
| 75. I couldn't agree more. |
 |
Thanks for the thread, scarletwoman.
|
Strelnikov_
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 01:00 PM
Response to Original message |
| 76. "They pit the lifers against the new boy . . . |
 |
Smokey James: They pit the lifers against the new boy and the young against the old. The black against the white. Everything they do is to keep us in our place.
|
Green_Lantern
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 01:01 PM
Response to Original message |
| 77. I call bs on this.... |
 |
My family owns and runs a business and pays union wages and union health benefits. Due to recession and lack of business hours have been cut back but that goes also for the ones running the business who've had to hold their paychecks as well.
The majority of small businesses aren't just fat cats making profit exploiting workers. They put a lot of work and effort into running their businesses.
They are working to make ends meet just like these oppressed people you talk about.
Also without business owners what's the plan for this 10% unemployment? I'm sorry but we progressives can't turn all business owners into the enemy.
There's a reason why unions in the US weren't corrupted by radical socialism like in European countries and that's due to our belief in ownership of property.
|
TheKentuckian
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 01:17 PM
Response to Reply #77 |
| 81. and no one is discussing you, in the least. |  |
 |
The only reason someone in your position would even consider thinking that they were being addressed is pride, hubris, and the desire to be something you will likely never be allowed to become.
|
Green_Lantern
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 01:39 PM
Response to Reply #81 |
| 86. or the fact she owners and |
 |
Didn't define what she meant by it. I take that as meaning property owners.
|
varelse
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 09:07 PM
Response to Reply #86 |
| 176. You are one of the owned, just like us |
 |
Edited on Mon Feb-08-10 09:07 PM by varelse
 No truly small business is a member of the "Owner's club". It's an elite bunch 
|
ChiciB1
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 09:53 PM
Response to Reply #81 |
| 186. I Don't Think I Understand What He's Talking About Myself... Perhaps I Just |
 |
missed the point. Not trying to be sarcastic, just not getting it! 
|
Strelnikov_
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 01:24 PM
Response to Reply #77 |
| 83. Who says you are one of 'the Owners'? |
 |
Edited on Mon Feb-08-10 01:26 PM by Strelnikov_
Read Chapt. 8, 'The Machine Breakers' from 'The Iron Heel' by Jack London (1907).
The more things change, the more things stay the same.
|
TheKentuckian
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 02:05 PM
Response to Reply #77 |
| 93. and no one is discussing you, in the least. |  |
 |
That's pride fucking with you. You could only confuse yourself with the targets of the thread by pride, hubris, and/or a desire to be what you almost certainly will never be allowed to be.
Good on you for paying living wages and providing goods or services that people want or need but you are at most a bit player with your hands no where near the wheel. We are talking about a very small handful with the Lion's share of the resources and power not Joe Blow that runs an HVAC company or whatever.
|
TBF
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 04:05 PM
Response to Reply #77 |
| 123. That's the problem with this site - y'all think you are "owners" |  |
 |
and you all need to think through that and figure out where you really come down in this.
|
Boudica the Lyoness
(885 posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 06:00 PM
Response to Reply #77 |
| 137. The OP isn't talking about business owners |
 |
or property owners. What's with the "There's a reason why unions in the US weren't corrupted by radical socialism like in European countries and that's due to our belief in ownership of property". Who told you Europeans don't believe in property ownership? Now that's Bullshit. 
|
LeftishBrit
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 06:14 PM
Response to Reply #77 |
| 139. 'Corrupted by radical socialism like in Europaean countries'??? |
 |
Are you referring to Eastern Europe under Soviet rule (which ended 20 years ago if you hadn't noticed!), or do you actually think that the unions in Europe in general are 'corrupted radical socialists'??????
|
Dyedinthewoolliberal
(1000+ posts)
|
Tue Feb-09-10 12:09 AM
Response to Reply #77 |
 |
on a bigger scale would help. Is your family part of the top 1%? That's who I think of when I hear the word "owners"
|
Mari333
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 01:02 PM
Response to Original message |
Initech
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 01:10 PM
Response to Original message |
| 80. American politics in a nutshell: |
 |
"I like what the puppet on the left says." "No the puppet on the right is more to my liking." "Hey look! There's one guy holding up both puppets!" "Shut up! Go back to bed America, your goverment is in control! Here, watch American Idol and get fat and stupid. Oh and keep eating Taco Bell you fucking morons!!!"
|
myrna minx
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 01:20 PM
Response to Original message |
earth mom
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 01:36 PM
Response to Original message |
| 85. The powers that be have got us all where they want us-fighting over religion, abortion, gay rights |
 |
Edited on Mon Feb-08-10 01:36 PM by earth mom
taxes, health care, social issues, etc.,-all important topics yes-but not as important as our very fundamental rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness that are being stolen from all of us while we fight over the details.
The powers that be know how to play the game and screw us all to the nth degree.
It's way past time to kick their asses.
|
TheKentuckian
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 01:42 PM
Response to Original message |
| 87. I think the OP approaches being correct but misses reality in a desire for simplicity |  |
 |
I think you miss the very real desire of the common folk of the right to some day be and lift up the same power brokers that are the core enemy.
I've talked to many a radical regressive that sees the game fairly clearly and want it played the way it has been. I think it is also approaching silly to think that the Reich wing movement isn't self selective, these folks are in many cases legit racists, homophobes, dominist, and sexist and their strongly held viewpoints lead directly to an environment that nurtures the nonsense the power brokers thrive in.
No question whatsoever that it would help mightily to be able to point to an actual alternative that puts the people first but there have ALWAYS been Torry minded fucks that are all about being walked on and believe they will be rewarded for their treachery, in this world, the next, or even despite any turn about.
At some point in time and space the greedy and soulless rose from some stock, I find it simplistic and pollyannaish to believe that some people inherently aren't pieces of shit just as it is simplistic and cynical to buy that "a tiger never changes it's stripes" thinking.
Willful ignorance is real as heart attack and it is just as dangerous to ignore it as it is to feed it. Knowledge is the cure for ignorance but you can't fix stupid or evil.
|
Beam Me Up
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 01:48 PM
Response to Original message |
| 88. The best way to thwart a "revolution" is to lead it. n/t |
leftstreet
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 01:52 PM
Response to Reply #88 |
Junkdrawer
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 02:06 PM
Response to Reply #88 |
| 95. Except that every once in a while it backfires... |
Beam Me Up
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 03:31 PM
Response to Reply #95 |
| 116. Yep. Dangerous game, "revolution". n/t |
Echo In Light
(1000+ posts)
|
Mon Feb-08-10 01:52 PM
Response to Original message |
| 91. In my estimation this fact is even more controversial for gr |