"We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both."
(-Justice Louis D. Brandeis - 60 years ago)

"What's important about punk rock is its independence of government, and of corporations, and its network, that exists outside of that. That is what is political...not the words, not the music, as much as the independence..."
(-Tim Yohannan)

"The large demonstrations at the state Capitol in Madison, Wisconsin, are driven by a middle class, awakening, to the spectre of its destruction, by the corporate reactionaries, and their toady, Governor Scott Walker.
For years, the middle class has watched the plutocrats stomp on the poor, while listening to the two parties regale the great middle class, but never mentioning the tens of millions of poor Americans. And for years, the middle class was shrinking, due significantly, to corporate globalization shipping good-paying jobs overseas, to repressive dictatorships like China. It took Governor Walker’s legislative proposal to do away with most collective bargaining rights, for most public employee unions, to jolt people to hit the streets.
Republicans take rigged elections awash in corporatist campaign cash seriously. When they win, they aggressively move their corporate agenda, unlike the wishy-washy Democrats, who flutter weakly after a victory..."
(-Ralph Nader)

"The sacrifices you are being asked to make today (and make no mistake, leaders of both political parties are responsible) are excessive, egregious, unconscionable and simply unthinkable in the context of personal freedom, collective responsibility, and unconditional equality.
We hear a lot of talk from politicians about compassion and concern, but the minute a politician, or a CEO, thinks the cost of doing business is too high, all that talk goes out the window – and workers pay the ultimate price.
WE MUST CHANGE THAT AND THE STRUGGLE HAS BEGUN! This is NOT a financial issue! State and national deficits rise and fall with economic cycles. Those who would rob you of your rights know this, and they are lying! They want to scare you into giving up your rights.
DON’T LET THEM! WE MUST STAND FIRM!
This is not a political issue! It has nothing to do with conservatives or liberals, as some try to portray it. A brand new poll says that over 60 percent of American workers SUPPORT your right of collective bargaining!
No my friends, this is not a financial issue. This is not a political issue. IT IS A HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUE!"
(-"Peace Mom", Cindy Sheehan)

"For thirty years, now, Republicans have been yammering about small government, deficits, the glories of the free market, and the incompetence and wastefulness of government. It’s all been a big lie, part of a well funded and cleverly executed coup d'etat, designed to enable the ultra rich and corporations to literally take power out of the hands of government and money out of the pockets of individual citizens.
Democrats have either actively, participated in the coup, or watched in near silence. The press has been passively playing the part of a mute stenographer. The basis of this coup is simple – money has become the lingua franca of political power, eclipsing the vote."
(-John Atcheson)

"The imperial wars rage on. U.S. drones rain missiles down on innocents in Pakistan; hundreds of children die daily in Afghanistan because of the war; contrary to what the President says, the occupation in Iraq continues. The devastation and misery caused by these wars has not even begun to be addressed. Rather than bringing democracy and freedom to the people of Iraq and Afghanistan, the U.S. is destroying their countries — perhaps beyond repair.
We should not think that the destruction and suffering unleashed by war is limited to Iraq and Afghanistan. Individuals and whole cities here at home become "collateral damage." Millions of people are thrown out of their jobs and then, out of their homes. Pressures cascade onto state and local governments as the stagnant economy and frustrated voters further decrease funds for essential services. Our infrastructure isn't bombed, it just slowly rots."
(-Mike Ferner; Veterans For Peace)

"The story of the year since Citizens United v. FEC may be perfectly crystallized in the fight that Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is waging against his state's public employee unions. Organizations like Americans for Prosperity spent millions of dollars in 2010 running misleading ads, bashing health care reform, progressives, immigrants, and American Muslims, in order to elect politicians who would stand up for the interests of big business. Now, those interests are working hard, and spending a little extra money, to make sure they collect on their investments.
The real story behind the protests in Wisconsin has little to do, as Gov. Walker would have you believe, with a state-level push for fiscal responsibility. It has everything to do with the changing dynamics of money and influence in national politics. Pro-corporate politicians have never liked the power wielded by unionized workers. Last year, in Citizens United v. FEC, the Supreme Court handed them the tools do to something about it, paving the way for a wave of corporate money that helped to sweep pro-corporate politicians into power in November. Citizens United also increased the power of labor unions, but union spending was still no match for money pouring into elections from corporate interests. As Rachel Maddow has pointed out, of the top 10 outside spenders in the 2010 elections, 7 were right-wing groups and 3 were labor unions. Gov. Walker's attempt to obliterate Wisconsin's public employee unions, if it succeeds, could be the first of many attempts across the country to permanently wipe out what are the strongest political opponents of the newly empowered corporate force in American politics."
(-Michael B. Keegan)

"The United States, so far, is essentially following the usual playbook...[for] when some favored dictator...is in danger of losing control. There’s a kind of a standard routine --- Marcos, Duvalier, Ceausescu...Suharto: keep supporting them as long as possible; then, when it becomes unsustainable --- typically, say, if the army shifts sides --- switch 180 degrees, claim to have been on the side of the people, all along, erase the past, and then make whatever moves are possible to restore the old system under new names."
(-Noam Chomsky, )

I can't believe how many seemingly rational people continue to pay huge cable bills, in order to be lied-to, mislead, and deceived by the owners of these big-media monopolies who only exist to justify disgraceful wars of aggression; a sinister, paramilitary police state; and to outrageously, cover-up the brazen crimes of the super-rich. All these Faux news fraudcasters are grossly over-paid to shift the blame for the nation's troubles, from the investment-class, bankers, shysters, and frauds--who caused the economic problems, to the nurses, teachers, janitors, firemen, first responders, public workers, etc. Bullshit rolls downhill. The rightwing plutocracy has been advised by their well-funded think-tanks, to cook their books, and create fake "budget crisises", state by state, in order to fire teachers/close schools, to usher in a new era of expensive, for-profit, private charter-schools, to steal your pensions, to destroy Medicaid/Medicare, and to break the unions, further subvert the will of the people, and divide the classes who actually work for a living. These crooked politicians, like Governor Scott Walker, were selected by Mister Burns style, robber-barons, like the Koch brothers, specifically, for his shameless mean-spiritedness, and smug authoritarianism. His job is to give them huge tax breaks, undermine the people, divide the classes, give them big energy plants, in exchange for them simply getting him elected, by shelling out the big bucks for typically misleading television advertisements, that demonize anybody/everybody, EXCEPT for the top of the pyramid, greedy, guilty, immoral, unremorseful, "Investment class" of corporate profiteers. It STUNS me that people still fall for this shit, but television is a powerful tool, and repeatition of big lies seems to be an effective way of fooling about half of the people, almost all of the time. That's all those think-tanks do: sit around and rationalize justifications for the wealthiest one percent, and the perma-war profiteers, and their Koch sluts in office, and in the commericial media, to enslave the poor, to profit the rich. They create some "crisis", and the solution is always to lay-off, penalize, defund, tax, imprison, spy-on, fondle, radiate, or otherwise, punish, the most vulnerable among us, while targeting some convenient scapegoats, confusing the issue, and handingout massive, big, bulging, bonuses to their cronies. The ongoing War On The People Of Iraq is still costing U.S. tax-payers SIX MILLION DOLLARS A DAY, even though, both Bush and Obama both declared, "Mission Accomplished", and an "end to all combat operations". That was just typical, corporate-media, headlines-dominating propaganda. War's Over, huh? Tell that to the grieving parents of kids killed daily, by the U.S. occupation.

Both the fake Democrats, and bloodthirsty Republicans, are absolutely complicit, in these premeditated abuses of power, big-media cover-ups of outrageous swindles, lying us in to oil wars, and the total perversion of any even remote pretense of an actual Democracy. I didn't understand ANY of this, AT ALL, when I was still shelling out money for a cable bill, telling myself I couldn't live without "Project Runway", and "Antique Roadshow", but I swear to you, rockers, life is realer without TV. You resume reading, making connections, finding independent media sources, learning, speaking to actual human-beings. TV lowers your I.Q.'s...They spin, distort, distract, deceive-- here's Mark McGrath from Sugar Ray's "Remember The Lyrics" gameshow---here's some retarded farmboy on "The Bachelor", hmmm, he spends some time at the gym. Here's some dumbfuck "adult cartoons"....Nothing on the dangers of aspartame and high fructose corn syrup (being rebranded as "corn sugar") in all our foods and sodas-thanks to Donald "Missing Trillions" Rumsfeld....Nothing on children being bombed in Afghanistan, the ongoing war in Iraq, or human rights crimes being perpetuated on the peoples in the occupied territories. Nothing on the big B.P./Halliburton cover-up in the Gulf, nothing on Haarp or aerosol operations dumping death in the air....they've buried the massive protests in Wisconsin, while they always exaggerate, emphasize, and inflate, tiny tea party gatherings-financed by union-busting Koch brothers, with only a small fraction, of those numbers currently, rallying against Gov. Scott Walker, and to defend their rights to organize, peacefully assemble, be represented in negotiations with fat-cat tyrants, etc. Most people don't even know about the prank call, where the governor ADMITTED it was all a Koch Industries paid-for, sham to bust unions. Youtube: "Scott Walker prank call." Why isn't he being impeached? They only call it, "class war", when we fight back.

The tea party was apparently, originally, conceived by some well-meaning, Constitution defending, Ron Paul libertarians, who are opposed to the Patriot Act, opposed to the big government deficits, created primarily, by the corporate bail-outs, corporate welfare, and endless war escalations. If you oppose welfare, on principle: unless you oppose it, just because cable thugs tell you to, or because you hate poor folks, or people with varying skin tones, THEN YOU MUST ALSO oppose perpetual warfare, and corporate welfare...because that's where ninety five percent of the sweat of your brow, tax-money goes. Bank Of America made Four Point Four Billion in profits, but paid zero taxes. Think about THAT, next time you're filling-up your big S.U.V., at the gas station, muttering about how it's them damn immigrants a-stealing all the good roofing, toilet cleaning, dry-walling, and tobbacco-picking jobs. Lou Dobbs may tell you to blame the brown man, not the stockbrokers, for your economic woes, but google a pie-graph of the Federal Budget, to see where the money goes. Occupations, kickbacks to politician's campaign-funding corporations, and the lobbyist's own private companies, hired by the government at super-ultra-inflated expense, to spy on the people. The tea party movement's long since, been hopelessly hijacked by the chickenhawk, far right, neo-cons. Financed by the Koch Brothers many fake, front-groups, it's designed to mislead folks, away from the true, fiscal Conservatives of the Truth, and Patriot, Movements. Meanwhile, we have all these lamestream TV people, posing as progressives, but they don't ever focus on Obama's broken promises, torture, the millions incarcerated for petty, non-violent drug offenses, the plight of the poor, the homeless, the dangeous TSA radiation cover-ups, the renewal of the Patriot Act, under Obama, or the expansion of "pre-emptive" wars, that everyone knows aren't really to find WMD'S, but to steal natural resources, and dominate the big global chess board. They've helped B.P., Halliburton, and Obama cover-up the ecocide in the Gulf. Even charming and personable, Jon Stewart, preposterously, compares Code Pink anti-war protesters, to "birthers". Other overpaid, faux-leftists concentrate, almost exclusively, on "gays in the military" and "gay marriage", giving almost zero time to the real driving issues of the day, actually imperiling our future, and denying us our most basic liberties. The TSA invading our persons, the NSA invading our communications. The perpetual banking frauds. Obama operating as if Dick Cheney was still the one calling all the shots in the oval office. All this media fed polarization is paid for by war profiteering, jail building, oil spilling, union busting, rightwing billionaires with holdings in oil, weapons, pharmaceticals, and media monopolies. They control the talking points on all the big-media, cable, ping-pong games, as well as both wings of the RepublicRat war- party. They use the social-issues to divide the working people, the poor, and the disappearing middle class. Divide and conquer is their whole M.O. Wake up and fight the plutocracy, not each other. We're all being lied to. All of us. Drug-importing is a tightly controlled, big- business operated by clandestine fat-cats, just like the bootleggers, during Prohibition of alcohol. Drugs make money for the elites. The Partnership For A Drug Free America is one of those phoney front-groups, financed by big tobacco, big pharma, the secret-police kingpins, and the beer industry. Grow up. Don't be a rube. Everyone knows pot should be legal. Everyone.

Actor, Charlie Sheen, is only being character-assassinated by the corporate-media, for having any character...For his courage, and honesty, about what really happened in NYC, on 9/11, and also, for his down-to-Earth, no-nonsense honesty about the profitable-for-a-few, U.S. drug-prohibitions, and billion dollar a year jail/meds/"recovery" industry. He is taking a fearsome hammering for speaking plain truth, that even semi-illiterate, TV brainwashed, folks can easily understand. Anyone who tells the truth, effectively, is crucified by the big machine. Look at Jello Biafra, Tim Yohannan. John Trudell, John Sinclair, John Lennon, Tommy Chong, Lenny Bruce, Tupac Shakur, Bill Hicks, George Carlin, Fred Hampton, Hunter S. Thompson, Rainbow Farm. Angela Davis. Rachel Corrie. Phil Donahue. Glen Greenwald. Abbie Hoffman. Mark Rudd. Timothy Leary, William Burroughs. Michael Moore...On and on. They all paid stiff penalties for having the good character to speak the truth, about war, the bogus drug laws, and occupation.

Why isn't the lamestream covering Dick Gregory's hunger strike? Even status-quo preserving, consumerist, corporate- shill, Oprah, got grief from the big beef industry, for suggesting people go vegetarian/vegan, a few years ago.

Popular opinion is so driven by the big-media, that even former punk rockers, and self-proclaimed, old hippies, are suckin' up to the endless war establishment, Big Death, Big Pollution, Big Pharma, Big Capital, drifting, dumbly, to the right. If you believe in democracy, you must help to overthrow the Supreme Court decision to give corporations human rights. If you believe in liberty, dignity, or real human rights, you must oppose the mandatory TSA gropings/porno-imaging, the warrantless wire-taps, torture of p.o.w.'s at Gitmo, and the ongoing, Obama-endorsed, suspension of the Bill Of Rights, under the just quietly renewed "Patriot Act". Otherwise, you support fascism. You're a fascist. Which you may even be comfortable with, but it is what it is. Many of us progressives still tend to suspect that Alex Jones is an inside job, but clearly, Glen Beck--his big corporate, Murdoch-owned, ass-clown parody, is a dangerously anti-Democratic, bozo-buffoon, disinformation agent, playing bait and switch, using the libertarian movement, to baffle the population, by demonizing the term "progressive", blaming immigrants, and perpetuating the false "left versus right" paradigm. This is something Alex Jones IS absolutely right about. They keep us fighting one another, like lab rats, over only semi-relevant issues-like gays in the military, meanwhile, the robber barons are robbing us ALL blind, controlling the media, buying all the politicians and judges, and driving up obsene deficits, with their wars for empire and crazy police state. The progressives and patriots actually have much in common, few of us feel safer because our DNA is being stored, or because the government is touching our family members in airports, and eavesdropping on all of our electronic communications, and on some important issues, Ron Paul, and Dennis Kucinich are finally coming together. We need to develop strategic-partnerships across phoney divides, manufactured by those who profit from endless wars, the non-stop construction of more jails, and our growing enslavement to the bankers and military industrial complex. They dupe the blue collar folks on the right, by preying on outdated stereotypes, and religious superstitions, while they dupe the folks on the left by installing a handfull of minorities into puppet positions of power, and babbling about secondary issues. NO ONE should waste time fighting to join the military, so long as it's just a big business, controlled by some rich elites, with no respect for human life, here or abroad. I don't care if you're a broad, or a dude, or what's on your breath after midnight. It's up to you not to heed the call-up. Killing for oil is wrong. Invading other people's countries is wrong. While Rachel Maddow frets about "gays in the miltary", and/or the "destruction of the Democratic Party", I could care less, because the people who infiltrated and now control that party, possess zero traditional Democrat values. They are Democrats in name, only. We have to organize for third parties, and to replace the obsolete big- media monopolies, with new information streams, especially in the midwest, where uneducated poor people are conditioned from birth, to worship bombs, tanks, Wall Street, uniforms, giant vehicles, and ATM's, and blame themselves, for not being born rich heiresses.

Where I differ from Congressman Paul is I think they need to quit killing Muslim children and reinvest in American lives. Education, healthcare, living wage jobs, and infrastructure. At least he is willing to openly admit that the real problem has nothing to do with Obama's alledged "socialism" or alledged relationship to Bill Ayres, and everything to do with a covert, radical, elite, now controlling our foreign policy. They're deindustrializing this nation, on purpose, for profit. Trickle Down Economics has worked very well for the past 30 years - for the wealthy. Now it's time for the rich to pay their fair share of taxes. The Solution to Our Budget Problems Is So Obvious: We Need to Raise Taxes on the Rich, not give them more tax breaks, like Obama has, so they can funnel even more money back into lobbying, and elections, and privatizing every last public service, for top dollar, by non-union scabs, like Walker did with the Private Security corporations, last time he and his booses cooked-up a phoney budget crisis. This is the same old shock tactics they've used on us for years, now. RESIST THE UNION-BUSTING, BIG-MEDIA PROPAGANDA! ORGANIZE! BE THE MEDIA!I t's just like Egypt-State TV. Cable-News simply refuses to report any facts that are "bad for the war business". They ignore the gigantic turn-outs at anti-war and anti-torture protests. They lowball the figures of how many firefighters, nurses, teachers, and even cops(!) turned out in the cold, to battle the corrupt rightwing legislature that these Koch toadies are illegally cramming through in the dead of night like this totally deceptive and misleading union busting bill, in Wisconsin. Ohio, Florida, and your state are next. GOOD JOKE: A C.E.O., a Tea-Partier, & a Teamster sit down with 12 cookies. CEO grabs 11, then pays Palin, Limbaugh, Hannity, and Beck millions to the tell Tea-Partier, "That Teamster wants part of your cookie..."

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