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Election 2012 Just One More Crafted Illusion?

By Rick Ackerman Posted on February 22, 2012, 12:01 am EST Last Updated February 22, 2012, 1:18 am EST

[For well more than a year, the Mainstream Media have given us a steady flow of campaign bilge that, finally, has made the entire Republican field seem unappealing. Perhaps this was the Fourth Estate’s goal all along. After all, it was a left-tilting press that conspired to help Obama win in 2008 by ignoring his complete lack of experience and extreme political views.  This time, with the same goal in mind but using the opposite approach, the news media have picked off the GOP candidates one by one, turning them into shooting-gallery ducks as their ex-wives and mistresses, former employees and business associates and a sordid parade of other detractors testified against them. And all for what?  Apparently, to ensure the still-likely nomination of Mitt Romney, a man whose candidacy excites no one.

In the guest editorial below, Wayne Razzi, a Rick’s Picks forum regular who goes by the handle “Red Will Danaher,” explains how it came to pass that, in a time of national crisis, we are about to do no better in November than perpetuate the political status quo.  Could things have turned out differently? Unfortunately not, concludes Wayne. It may take catastrophe, rather than mere crisis, to bring about real change.  RA]

Assume for a moment that you’ve been installed in the role of the maintenance manager of the Great American False-Choice Spectacle.  Your prime directive would almost certainly be to keep hidden the fact that outcomes matter little.  Thus, as we are repeatedly informed via popular media, you may strongly consider hiding the truth in plain sight, as there are few better places.  And so, that seems to be the case now more than ever as the strategy is executed through the chain of command and control that expertly utilizes mass media.

The elitist, crusading cowards in the media execute their marching orders with gusto.  They seem to manage the coverage of the race and the races within the race more skillfully with each successive production.  This time around, it appeared that any one of more than a half-dozen Republican candidates wore the Leader’s Jersey with an inside track to the nomination during the early trials.  Skeptics might note that the shelf life for each front-runner was limited and that most were eventually undone by gaffes and/or surprise revelations much in the same way that suspects become tripped up in those curiously popular procedural crime dramas.  The thing is though, we need not worry about the skeptics, as they are but few, so let’s get back to the race because it’s the race that matters.

A Dead Heat

Odds greatly favor establishment candidate Mitt Romney to be installed as False Choice #2, much to the surprise of many, apparently.  Almost as if by design, ole Mitt contrasts strongly when compared to the know-nothing, never-done-anything Community Organizer who was anointed as “This Is the Guy!” in 2008.  Despite the alarming track-record of our lamentable incumbent, his appalling ignorance, arrogance and incompetence aside, the race to become the next Grand Puppet appears to be a dead-heat on paper, and that should almost guarantee a barn-burner come this November.  Yes, it would appear that the big race will be decided by a nearly perfectly divided electorate yet again.  Soon, perhaps, it may become fascinating to the passionate across the land that half of their fellow citizens very strongly agree with their viewpoints while the other half remains in strong opposition. Or maybe not.

Intentionally lost in all this is what some of us like to call reality.  We won’t hear much about reality or even the mention of anything of true significance, but we will hear phrases like “on his watch” and “what he inherited” and “broken promises.”  Good luck to you, my friends, finding an in-depth, non-politicized discussion of substance.

The arguments that things “really aren’t that bad” or have “never been better” with respect to the rather large group of college-educated Americans is one that I’ve encountered frequently at Rick’s Picks and several other places.  As much as I try to respect opinions, I can’t fathom as to how genuine observers can possibly miss the epic and accelerating descent of the fortunes of the average American over the past fifty years.  We now live in a society and world that are more dependent than ever before on the maintenance of crafted illusions, on mass self-deception, and on the adding of electronic zeros to the ends of already unimaginably large sums.  Yes, if you’re willing to evaluate things on the superficial plane with the aid of officially falsified statistics, it may be possible to arrive at other conclusions.  However, simply compare and contrast the messages of not so long ago to those of today and it becomes impossible to not see how beaten-down the American psyche has become.

Why Reagan Won

A Wikipedia entry summarizes the principles Ronald Reagan championed to win the presidency in 1980: lower taxes to stimulate the economy; less government interference in people’s lives; states’ rights; a strong national defense; and, restoring the U.S. dollar to a gold standard. And what are the messages now?  It seems to me that message is actually more appropriate, and it is this: “Jobs, jobs, jobs!” The Mainstream Media (MSM) have pounded that message into the heads of voters over the past few years, and any “man on the street” piece confirms it as long as the chosen participant isn’t a Tea Party member, a Ron Paul supporter or an anarchist.

A little over thirty years ago, Americans longed to hear of increased freedom and greater opportunities as the preferred message.  Now?  They’re only too happy to be installed as cogs in a machine. Where will we be in thirty years?  It’s difficult to forecast, but I don’t see how anyone can favor the current trend or extrapolate anything promising from today’s state of affairs in a conventional sense.  I am encouraged only by the fact that there’s a small chance that this all might eventually end in a forced Reset.

That concludes this installment, but in the great tradition of alternate titles pioneered by the Rocky & Bullwinkle show, join us next time for “Craving for Cogdom” or “Shooting for Sisyphus.”

***

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  • JF February 25, 2012, 4:13 pm

    It’s interesting to read comments that point out the ‘spectacle’ of it all, a Situationist perspective, but seem to miss the ‘gaslighting’ going on in the world of CCTV’s, data logging, etc.

    I use the term ‘gaslighting’ in a slightly modified way when analyzing the control grid being established. It’s not that the grid is an illusion, but that the control it purports to establish most certainly is.

    The illusion of control for the masses and the delusion of control for the psychopaths.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaslighting

    The psychopathic imperative – a Panopticon society – is actually showing us their inadequacy, not their superiority. Sure, it’s a bit more problematic now that psychopaths have learned to cooperate at such a level, but their fatal flaws will trip them up, no matter. Reason and morality will win out in the end.

    Psychopaths are not the next stage of human evolution, however much the more clever ones desire that designation. If anything, that stage is now, where we have such a clear view of them and how they operate. The shunning that needs to occur is in its formative period and is expressed via the refusal to vote movement among others.

    Puzzling People is a fine book on psychopaths – highly recommended for its insights on the collective level of what we’re dealing with.

  • gary leibowitz February 23, 2012, 12:33 am

    Here I go again, chasing windmills. I would argue that we are where we are because of 2 main reasons. The powerful have become more so and have influenced the political arena to a degree not seen in almost 100 years, and the need by politicians to appease the masses in order to get reelected. A deadly combination.

    The attempted misdirection that politicians are playing will eventually backfire. Imagine blaming social programs as an evil non-Christian way of life. You might as well include abortion in the same sentence. It’s the lazy Unions that have caused the money imbalance, the bloated government jobs, and the government intrusion into our social welfare where family and charities should be taking up the cause.

    The pattern is the same. In every economic tipping point the wealthy have succeeded in capturing the bulk of the money and power only to fall by its own weight. Excuse the data points if you so choose but even with all the government intrusion the poor and middle class have been losing ground to the wealthy at a 4 to 1 margin. The so called tea party has an ideology that is disconnected from their own reality. Most rail against government intrusion while they and their family members rely on it.

    Most people’s view of the world is thru a myopic lens. As long as their routine or way of life wasn’t drastically changed the need to get involved remained low. The economic tsunami was developing for a long time now, but most viewed it as if it was a video game. Now that it is or soon will be affecting almost every family change will be inevitable. I do not subscribe to the notion that Big Brother will thwart any real change. There is no such thing as an all-powerful government. It might have appeared to be so simply because the masses were complacent.

    With drastic events come drastic changes. The sweat shops and robber barons of yesteryear are long gone. That’s not to say they stay thwarted forever. It is a cyclical event. We are about to throw out the old party in power for a new “ideological” one. After the last depression, laws and ethics changed to allow for the economy to grow again. We had the highest standard of living in the 50’s. The 60’s brought us a social awareness that played catch up to the economic one. We are now regurgitating the same pattern. Before the sun rises you have complete darkness. We will once again “see the light”.

  • John Jay February 22, 2012, 8:47 pm

    Wow.
    Obama is beginning to sing in public more often now.
    Just like Nero.
    And he has lots of celebrities over to the Palace Parties too.
    Just like Nero.
    Strange times indeed!

  • Steve W February 22, 2012, 8:37 pm

    I think this parody from the Onion pretty much sums up the situation. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AP2BjpIYJLw&feature=player_embedded

  • Mark Uzick February 22, 2012, 6:56 am

    Chris T.: Added to the typical Republican shenanigans, that’s all it takes.
    Conspiracy? Just ask the 900 dead voters in South Carolina, none of whom voted for Ron Paul to be sure, about conspiracies.

    This is a blessing in disguise; Ron Paul wasn’t going to win the popular vote that’s been taken over by the Neo-Cons anyway.

    When Ron Paul comes to the nominating convention with a plurality of the delegates, there will be cries of FOUL; and in answer we will point out all of their fraud and dirty tricks and that the system can actually work as intended, in spite of the Neo-Con’s treasonous actions, when decent people stand up for what’s right.

    • Seawolf February 22, 2012, 3:08 pm

      Don’t knock the cemetery vote. It is a very reliable voting bloc for swinging an election either way.

    • fallingman February 23, 2012, 1:54 am

      Yeah, you got that right. Lived in Louisiana for years. Mary Landrieu depends heavily on the dead vote.

    • Mark Uzick February 23, 2012, 6:58 am

      Except that at the nominating convention the only votes that count are those of the delegates; so let them play their grave yard games and dig their own graves while they’re at it.

  • Chris T. February 22, 2012, 6:02 am

    “… make drug dealer/foreign dictator cash hoards worthless”

    Very interesting concept, given how many dollars never make it back stateside.
    Just like money came into being, when something was found to be a useful medium of exchange by voluntary transaction, it is quite conceivable, that those older dollars will keep circulation as currency.
    After all, once changed, they are a fixed supply!
    This actually did happen for a brief time in the Balkans and east of the EU, where esp. DM of the second-to-last generation were still in circulation, when they were no longer circulating legal tender in Germany.

    Would it happen, who knows?
    But, if the currency is not just tied to one marked, where it has been demonetized, then it certainly could.

    As to the drug war:
    Such a measure would be pure smoke screen:
    Usually, changing the currency is done to flush out money people have socked away, are accumulated without paying taxes, etc, the underground economy that is not itself a criminal enterprise.
    Fighting actual crime is just a pretense.
    As justification, they have morphed from the former buggaboo, drugs, to fighting the scare-du-jour, terrorism.
    Just look at the genesis of money laundering statutes, the RICO laws, etc .

    If they wanted to end the war on drugs, they would end it, its that simple. When only one side is fighting, when it stops, the war is over.
    All those poor cops, DEA agents, etc losing their jobs, how horrible.
    And no more fancy military toys for the local gendarmerie either.
    Ok, can’t be done.

  • Chris T. February 22, 2012, 5:49 am

    “most of the population are also deluded but for different reasons”

    Well, what I would say about “all the tossers except none”, you can read above.

    As a point of interest, how do Aussies differ?
    I had always thought, that Australia, being by far more “European” in outlook (hope that is no insult, not intended), tended toward the more typical socialist European delusion.

    Then again, its probably delusional to believe there really is a difference in the “civilized” world anyhow, after all:
    all have convinced the people that unbacked paper money has more than air behind it;
    all have convinced the people that there can be handouts to most, distributed by a very sticky ATM (and getting more sticky every year);
    and that so long as one more person votes to take than votes to not take, its not theft, but “social responsibility”;
    and of course, that our motives are purer than those of others, thus sanctifying our deeds (using the “we” rather sloppily)

  • ian sampson February 22, 2012, 3:53 am

    Great read Wayne. What a bunch of tossers the republican candidates are. Here in Australia most of the population are also deluded but for different reasons. It will take catastrophe rather than crisis to get the required change and the world is on course for catastrophe. It won’t end but it will be a far different place than we have been used to.

  • Chris T. February 22, 2012, 1:46 am

    “that, finally, has made the entire Republican field seem unappealing. Perhaps this was the Fourth Estate’s goal all along.”

    I usually agree more with you than not, but if you write that without the almost obligatory “except Ron Paul” added, then no way I can agree.
    Even within the context of what the media has done, they didn’t make Ron Paul appear anything, they just didn’t do at all, or they simply came out and said what they want people to believe.
    The first two stages:
    ignore
    defame.
    Added to the typical Republican shenanigans, that’s all it takes.
    Conspiracy? Just ask the 900 dead voters in South Carolina, none of whom voted for Ron Paul to be sure, about conspiracies.

    All of what is described at the outset, was done to blur the lack of distinction between all of their candidates, from Obama to Santorum on the one hand, and Ron Paul on the other.
    Not because of the man, though they fear anyone who has integrity and can’t be bought, but because of the stated goals and message, that resonate with so many.

    The only thing of note is how still, after all that has gone on, so many are so ignorant to be lead/confused as they seem to be.
    There was a reason why the founders knew a one-man, one-vote democracy is not a good idea, and these times keep proving it over and over.
    That’s why we got this modern system, because it is the best diversion ever, the best slave is one who thinks he’s free.

    • Rick Ackerman February 22, 2012, 10:29 am

      In Paul’ s case, because the media could not tar him with scandal, or with uttering a falsehood, or with contradicting himself, or with betraying a single principle that he may have espoused in the past, they stuck with what worked — i.e., painting him as unelectable.

      Like George Washington, Ron Paul may never have told a lie, politically speaking. One might have thought that that alone would have made him a shoe-in in November. Alas… (Full disclosure: I am a Ron Paul delegate at th precinct level.)

  • bc February 21, 2012, 10:52 pm

    Look at it this way, we all own 2000% of the proceeds from “Spring Time For Hitler”. Now, does it really matter who’s in charge of helping distribute the proceeds? I mean, really? My advice is to embrace the insanity. Paper your walls with those Springtime stock certificates, buy a really nice flat panel TV with your last dollars, and lean back and watch the show. It’s gonna be a doozy.

    • D. Barber February 21, 2012, 11:57 pm

      Sort of like put up or shut up, sit on the dough and watch the show.

  • D. Barber February 21, 2012, 9:06 pm

    Ron Paul can be commended. It takes character to stick to your guns when the crowd is not cheering.

    • Robert February 21, 2012, 10:25 pm

      The crowd IS cheering…

      It is only the other players on the field that are booing.

    • D. Barber February 21, 2012, 11:08 pm

      Robert,
      LOL. True but it hasn’t always been that way. He doesn’t change his mind according to each cheer or poll which is where other candidates spend beaucoup.

  • D. Barber February 21, 2012, 8:10 pm

    I come from a State that holds Party conventions. It is there that we form the Party Platform, Presidential nominee, and send delegates to the National Convention. Anyone can participate and bring ten, twenty, fifty friends.
    The President follows the Platform. It is not forced or required, but most Presidents simply stick to it.
    Though there was a more conservative candidate we nominated Reagan, we wrote the Platform, he was one that followed the Platform.

  • DAN SWEET February 21, 2012, 8:09 pm

    Ya. This time around compaired to 1980 is a downer.
    Ronald Reagan gave you real hope and confidence.
    Gov. Romney is a good man. I will vote for him.
    However, he has yet to inspire me.If Obama wins. If
    Obamacare is declaired somehow Constitutional.
    Our Constitutional Republic is no more. We would
    now become a National Socialist Nation.

    • Steve February 21, 2012, 11:57 pm

      The Republic died a slow death starting in 1867 with forced corporate amendment. It is complete now with loss of silver Specie Money.

    • Cam Fitzgerald February 22, 2012, 12:50 am

      There is no escape from a future of socialism Dan. None. The bills cannot be paid by any of the debtors so now the burden will fall on all. What else did everyone think the outcome would be?

    • Steve February 22, 2012, 4:00 am

      To say it Cam is to bring socialism into reality. I say no! And, I may die for my statment – But, I will believe in NO to socialism in all its forms. If you and I gather together and say NO the process starts positive and creates a positive direction to counter the negativity of socialism.

    • Steve February 22, 2012, 4:01 am

      By the way Cam, in Law a single silver Specie Dollar can extinguish the fraud of fiat in any amount. Now, you know why “They” fear silver and the Law.

    • Cam Fitzgerald February 22, 2012, 5:50 am

      I am just an observer Steve. I sure cannot bring it to reality by just noticing. What do people think the future might look like anyway? Remember when the old Soviet system essentially collapsed and the Ruble plummeted? They had so-called unfunded liabilities then too. The state could not pay. Workers went many months in some cases without any income whatsoever. Pensioners stipends dropped below 15 dollars per month. Will this entitled society where so many rely upon government for handouts of every kind fare better? I suspect it will and yet there is that nagging worry. What if those who are predicting an inevitable hyperinflation and currency failure turn out to be right? Can you imagine how the state would not revert to socialism on the heels of such a disaster?

    • Steve February 22, 2012, 7:07 pm

      Cam, everyone is far more than an observer. Opinons and beliefs start actions. Actions, even minor actions create downstream affects.

  • david February 21, 2012, 7:50 pm

    It occurs to me that the media only has to educate the upcoming generation, not re-educate the current one. Thirty years is enough time for at least half the electorate to be replaced by carefully programmed nonthinkers. Never mind those who have learned something from all the errors and betrayals–they’ll always be in the minority as long as human life is short. As P.T. Barnum said, “there’s one born every minute”. Our master count on this, while keeping their trans-generational goals intact. Tough to beat.

    • fallingman February 21, 2012, 9:04 pm

      I heard dat. The transgenerational goals of sociopaths.

      The bastards have a long term plan…and, despite the odd setback now and then…it’s working

      VERY tough to beat.

  • Steve February 21, 2012, 7:43 pm

    Wayne, I read your article last night and thought I’d wait until this morning to see how the thread developed. Living in Iraq as a Baathist was a great way to live, as is living within the u.s. corporation practicing mobocracy and self-service working for “They” “Them” as the control called money. Living in a counter trend in Iraq against the Baathist, or living in the u.s. against the corporate mobocracy is punished by multiple means in the current economic theory written by John Nash.

    Without examination of the Reconstruction Acts of 1867, see The State of Georgia v. Stanton 73 U.S. 50 (1867) it is nearly impossible to undestand that the Senate is in rebellion, the executive has all real legislative powers, and that any vote a voter gives is only suggestive to the executive power. The empowering acts to the executive are the Emergency Powers over Money, and Trading with the Enemy. The Enemy is anyone who bucks the corporate system.

    The Corporate System is a governmental form that is “like” the Rebublic in having three(3) branches as were formely in existence prior to 1867. To be clear, there is an executive/executive, an executive/judicial, and an executive/legislative branch all under the powers of the Commander in Chief corporately.

    Currently, the u.s. corporate citizen is at liberty to practice mobocracy or face the consequences of being like a non-Baathist in Iraq during Saddam for not voting in the u.s. executive corporate scheme. Step up or out and ‘they’ will punish, or keep one down, or anyone different down. “They” is the money and the persons using the money fiat scheme.

    There has been some talk about Liberty here in the thread. The only liberty today is the liberty to oppose the assault on Liberty and be crushed by the corporate enfranchisees who fear loosing a liberty to engage in corporate crime in one form or another. Money is the great issue of the ‘they’ and the great downfall of the masses who refuse to use fair weights and measures by the only specie of money that is legitimate for the People, read that silver specie money.

    “They” are the ones who fear the loss of liberty to trade in executive illegality fraud, deception, and fear as fiat money.

    Ronnie worked on money in 1985. The Senate passed a bill to return silver specie money to the People. The facts are in the congressional record for all to read. Ronnie was shot, and driven around to die. The bill to give the People silver specie money was renamed to the Gold Bullion Act of 1985 and “They”, insured that the levy/tax/fee would be paid for gain on federal reserve notes should the notes inflate against silver specie. A silver Dollar is a one(1), and federal reserve notes have inflated to 37 to 1 where the “They” get 37 times more tax revenue in a higher tax rate table that takes 50% instead of 5%.

    Being a current u.s. corporate citizen is relatively easy here in the federal union of states territories, just like being a Baathist was in Iraq. There really isn’t any difference in real terms.

    The fact is that there are no Men left with constitutional suffrage as Electors of a Republican Governmental form. The Republic stands waiting for Men to return. The corporate persons have abandoned the legitimate governmental form for the practice of mobocracy because it has been made easy even if the taxes slowly climb like the water in a pot slowing rising to boil the frog.

    And lastly, there are two kinds of people in a simple minded sense. There are those who wish to be left alone and respect the right of others to be left alone. This is what I call True Liberty, the liberty of respect of others. And then, there are those who wish to make anyone, everyone, and anything the way they want it to be for their own self serving ego. These are the “they” that gravitate to the top be they Romney or Obama. “they” are the same in wanting to tell others the way it should be. “They” like democracy/mobocracy because the corporate vote is suggestive, not the positive act of the Electors of an Electorate.

    Ron Paul is as good a Man as is running today. Ron Paul is still part of the corporate scheme, in a corporate office, who still does not tell the whole reality of the destruction of the Republic and creation of a new modern monarchy in succession called UNITED STATES OF AMERICA where once stood the several States in Union as the united States of America.

    • redwilldanaher February 21, 2012, 8:03 pm

      Steve, I salute you and your comments!

    • Peter February 21, 2012, 11:58 pm

      Steve,
      I understand what you have to say. I believe Ron Paul to be much shrewder than most give him credit for. I chose to consider what Ron Paul would have to say, and not say, to get elected by the American mob. 99% of them could not relate to what you are saying. More and more can relate to a money monopoly that favors the insiders. That’s a start. You have to speak to them where they are.

      Ron Paul’s organization is national and organized. They understand the obstacles. Because of that I think he has a real shot at the nomination. I’ll be working to help make that happen.

    • Steve February 22, 2012, 4:06 am

      Election by omission is not an option.

  • John Jay February 21, 2012, 6:24 pm

    I think the only reason TPTB have not eliminated cash from the economy is because of the huge profits made in selling drugs and laundering drug money. They must be really tempted to get rid of cash though. That would give them absolute control. That would only leave barter to circumvent taxes. As someone said if they were serious about stopping the drug trade they could just change the color of the currency and make drug dealer/foreign dictator cash hoards worthless. I guess we should all be happy we still have cash for now.

    • Chris February 21, 2012, 7:34 pm

      “They” can’t eliminate cash. Silver and gold are still in circulation and readily available – it would soon assume it’s proper place in the settling of accounts. But just imagine what would happen to the “price” of pm’s should paper cash disappear!

    • Robert February 21, 2012, 10:06 pm

      “As someone said if they were serious about stopping the drug trade they could just change the color of the currency and make drug dealer/foreign dictator cash hoards worthless”

      – What makes you think that is not already in the works..?

      Or, did you believe the story that over 7 Billion dollars worth of new Ben Franklin 100’s were not released in early 2010 due to “printing imperfections”?

    • Cam Fitzgerald February 22, 2012, 12:41 am

      But they can eliminate cash currency, Chris. That is not just being contemplated, it is the future. Nobody will operate outside “the system” anymore. Every transaction will be tracked just like your preferences and buying habits are now being monitored via computer usage. This is not even science fiction. Gold and Silver meanwhile can be eliminated as a means of trade at the stroke of a pen. There is a wholly insufficient supply available even for the black market trades. And you can only spend it once before velocity returns to zero anyway so you had better own a lifetime supply or be prepared to join the rest of society in our brave new world of electronic currency. Some of you people (incredibly) seem to think that fiat will disappear. You have no idea that it will just morph into something else where you have less control than you do now. The days of stashing cash in mattresses is coming to an end. The cashless society is coming.

    • Steve February 22, 2012, 4:06 am

      It is hard Cam, not impossible.

    • Chris February 23, 2012, 12:05 am

      Cam, I understand your sentiment, and agree TPTB are working towards a cashless society. But you underestimate the ingenuity of the minority that prefer freedom to slavery. They can no more eliminate cash than they can eliminate crime – perhaps one and the same in a the future. But for now, there are countries in this world that don’t follow the cashless agenda – such as almost all of east Asia. And… lest you forget, it is the criminal elite that benefit most from cash in the first place! Physical money is not going to disappear in our lifetime, though it may become slightly illegal in some parts of the world.

    • Cam Fitzgerald February 23, 2012, 4:40 am

      Good points Chris. Drug sales are the perfect example. The enterprise of some of the elite to operate outside the law while crafting the very regulations that control that trade is the epitome of cynicism.

      But that is the world we live in.

      I can well imagine a two-speed economy though where most are subjected to live under strict and monitored financial controls while the rest live above all law. Look, it is happening already.

      When 40 million people on food stamps use plastic there is no flexibility of real choice at those levels anymore. There are records. There are checks and balances. There are consequences too for those who try to operate outside the new rules.

      When the top one percent do not even need a passport to enter any country on a whim and a private flight you know the system is not balanced in your favor. It is made for others.

      When money is transferred with the use of GPS active cellular phones and even parking meters can be paid by mobiles we are slipping into a realm of tight control. The simultaneous use of video surveillance, on-line recording of computer habits, automated taxation by uplink, street level views of your home by Google…..

      It goes on and on. The intrusions are endless and the prospect of a society without cash suddenly becomes all that much more meaningful.

      It is all controlled.

      The other day Rick brought up the subject of barter and I have to admit that is a subject that I find really fascinating. Perhaps one of the hallmarks of the next generation will be a true barter economy that functions side by side with the “record keeping economy” and the strange new world of electronic spying and transaction.

      Perhaps that is the backlash against the kinds of control that are coming. I suppose if enough people participated then the economy of “records and monitoring” will have to adapt and compete with what real people actually choose.

      And it will happen on our watch. It is happening now.

  • fallingman February 21, 2012, 6:10 pm

    Wayne.

    Lest your contribution get lost in the back and forth around mainstream politics, which is essentially meaningless…Gee, I think that was part of your point… let me applaud you for a great article. “The Great American False Choice Spectacle” indeed. Spot on, I’m sorry to say.

    As for “reality,” I’m made weak by how fast the dissolution is occurring.

    At least Sisyphus became totally buff by pushing that boulder uphill. I don’t seem to be getting anything out of it.

    • redwilldanaher February 21, 2012, 7:21 pm

      Thanks FM. That really was/is/remains my point. You are not alone friend. Sisyphus looks much better than me too! He’s building some muscle mass and stamina and I’m just adding gray hairs!

    • Terry Mock February 25, 2012, 7:58 pm

      I agree, and so did George Washington in his Farewell Address, where he was particularly adamant in warning the nation that this “spirit of party” was “not to be encouraged” because it was – “A fire not to be quenched, it demands a uniform vigilance to prevent its bursting into a flame, lest, instead of warming, it should consume.”

      A little later on, Thomas Jefferson really called out the source of the problem when he said, “I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all their property until their children will wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.”

      Going to the root of the problem, how do we develop a sustainable civilization? Cracking the Code – http://www.triplepundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/THE-FRACTAL-FRONTIER.pdf

      Your comments and participation are welcome,

      Sustainable Land Development Initiative
      http://www.triplepundit.com/author/sldi/

  • Carol February 21, 2012, 6:01 pm

    Seawolf

    There is no left or right agenda there is only the ruling elites agenda, with some left or right spin applied as needed.

    • Seawolf February 21, 2012, 6:13 pm

      Read what I said carefully and you will see that that that is what I said. Conservative or Liberal agendas are used at different times in the political illusion making.

      Above I meant Libya not Algeria.

  • Darren February 21, 2012, 5:23 pm

    Great article, Wayne. Once you know the truth there’s only one way to go:

    Principled Nonvoting: The Beginning of Disengaging From the State

    “It is past time for people to face the reality of what voting really is, an endorsement of the evils that governments commit. I call on you not to take part in this fraud any more. Withhold your consent! Have the courage to join us in principled nonvoting and commit not to vote ever again. Remember, if you vote don’t complain!”

    http://theinternationallibertarian.blogspot.com/2010/09/principled-nonvoting-beginning-of.html

    Therefore, all are encouraged to join:

    The Vote for Nobody Campaign
    w w w . a n t i – p o l i t i c s . w s

    If I may ask readers to indulge one last link:

    The Truth About Voting
    http://youtu.be/igbBItLemsM

    • Darren February 21, 2012, 5:24 pm

      http://www.anti-politics.ws/

    • Seawolf February 21, 2012, 8:42 pm

      Always keep in mind that when you are voting for the lesser of two evils you are still voting for evil.

    • Mark Uzick February 22, 2012, 11:19 am

      That’s a negative way of interpreting things; in reality, we don’t vote for the lesser evil; we vote against the greater evil.

    • Seawolf February 22, 2012, 2:19 pm

      Mark, I actually did that once. It was the first and only time I voted in a presidential election. I voted against Nixon for his second term. It didn’t do one little bit of good.

    • Mark Uzick February 23, 2012, 6:50 am

      That’s because Nixon won by a landslide; Obama certainly has a better chance than McGovern did.

      As to whether Nixon presented a greater evil than McGovern is a different issue; the Democrats controlled both houses, so a McGovern victory would have been a greater evil.

  • BDTR February 21, 2012, 5:13 pm

    Provocative piece, Wayne. Thanks!

    Throughout the advent and office of President Obama we’ve all been witness to or participant in the full spectrum of racist, hate generated resistance, criticism and political obstructionism.

    It’s comical to hear protestations of denial by those consciously unwilling or unconsciously unable to, for want of a more bitingly ironic expression, call a spade a spade.

    It’s no secret, so let’s not pretend that our cultural standard and stratified economic evolution isn’t predicated on it, historically suffused in it and muted to the extent that is by force of political reality manifest in re-articulated constitutional law.

    It would be contrarily surprising if it were any different, given centuries of embedded human nature reinforcement of ‘whitey’s’ assumed historical right to do or say what one will to or about social or presumed genetic inferiors.

    Even juxtaposed by contradiction to supposed sacred Christian principle, rationalized exploitation of the heathen class is our foundation. Reds, browns, yellows, blacks and po’whites, all undeserving in our sights. Jesus may love’em, but, hey, he was a Jew, after all.

    So, “the epic and accelerating descent of the fortunes of the average American over the past fifty years”, good of you to put that into perspective, Wayne, is attributable to every legislative body and executive authority of the intervening period chipping equity away.

    A multi-generational collective, neo-capitalist, fractional-reserve, debt-trap conspiracy culminating in wholly predictable geometric imbalances, institutionalized and globalized into Barry’s black- crisis-baby.

    As you note, Wayne, this “lamentable incumbent, his appalling ignorance, arrogance and incompetence aside”, seems to put him in very good stead with his executive predecessors to whose policies, tracking back to Johnson at war, he seems absolutely consistent.

    He can also speak in full sentences, unlike the ridiculous, challenging horde of cartoonish pretenders to principle, as he continues a century of monetary sins, stays the imperial path, further departs from moral constraints in the conduct of war(s), erodes legal accountability for malfeasance and institutional fraud, and bends to the will of the obscene elite powers that own him, and the rest, as just so many front-man executive slaves. Puppets if you prefer.

    Ron Paul hasn’t a chance, nor does Dennis Kucinich or Rocky Anderson. Remember JFK made a token attempt to alter this predictable course, and it cost him the top of his head much earlier in the game. The rest of the political theater and the actors in it now are cut from different shades of the exact same cloth.

    Obama’s distinction is that he made it to the stage in the last, gasping breath of populist hope that our national destiny wasn’t one of unscrupulous, dominating power run amok. He also got there on the merit of his intelligence and his usefulness to pacify a class of Americans about to lose their dreams.

    There’s no political choice here. There’s just a plantation now for a too slow to awaken 99%, and the rush of opportunists seeking overseer status from the masters.

    Get angry, get ready, (read; PM’s, AR’s, & MRE’s), but don’t delude into blaming Barry, or his idiot predecessor, they’re no more calling the shots than we are,…just yet.

    As for “soul-selling”, Amerika’s long levered that market, too.

    • redwilldanaher February 21, 2012, 7:27 pm

      Tremendous BDTR! I noted JFK and Garfield above in comments to those left by others. One of the prior essays that Rick ran for me actually had delusion in the title line. I couldn’t agree more with your sentiments.

  • Seawolf February 21, 2012, 1:55 pm

    There is only one party with left and right wings. Each wing is given their eight years to advance their agenda. Romney is unelectable, the evangelicals will not vote for a Mormon. He will be put forth to take the fall so that the left wing agenda can be completed. The first four years of a presidential term set the stage, the final four years are used to complete the current agenda because the incumbent president cannot stand for re-election. Whether a president is hated or loved does not matter to the power elite, only the agenda matters.

    • Mark Uzick February 21, 2012, 2:11 pm

      Logically, only Romney can complete the socialist agenda, unless the Democrats hold on to the Senate.
      Your theory is too inflexible to work in all cases.

    • Seawolf February 21, 2012, 2:36 pm

      Mark, what I said above is more hypothesis than theory, but may well become theory soon. Don’t forget that Obama does not yet have a war that he can call his own. These usually come early in a president’s second term. At this time he is still involved with Bush’s wars. Anyway the whole campaign season is theater to whip up emotion which can be controlled to gain the desired election outcome.

    • Mark Uzick February 21, 2012, 3:30 pm

      If Obama tries for his second, but more prolonged war, at least there’s a chance he’ll face opposition from the Republicans; but if Romney wants a war, not that I think he’ll get the chance, then who will oppose him?

      Don’t you think that Obama ‘needs’ a war before the election and is less likely to have it seriously opposed before than after? Fear of catapulting Ron Paul to winning the nomination may be the only thing staying his hand; he’d be wise not to do so, as Paul is his only real threat.

    • Seawolf February 21, 2012, 4:24 pm

      Algeria was not an Obama war. That war was about was returning a favor to the Europeans for help in the Bush wars. North Africa is primarily a European sphere for oil and water supplies in the event that the war with Iran is consummated. At this point in time that is not a done deal. The generals are not very enthusiastic about it, but it must be planned for anyway. The domestic agenda of the left wing of the OneParty is moving along smoothly so Obama will in all probability be given his second term. Whether or not he gets his war is still undecided, but a second term is for war. The first term is domestic, the second term is international. It is all theater and a play on emotions.

  • Dale February 21, 2012, 10:51 am

    Here’s the thing. As far as the Republican presidential nominations go, it doesn’t matter what any of us think. We are wasting our time. It is a done deal. Milt will be the Republican nominee regardless of whether he is the best choice or not. Ron Paul or any other serious candidate would not in a trillion years (trillion is the new million now I believe) be given the nod. Never, ever, ever… Milt was chosen four years ago. Follow me here….

    Nixon lost the election to Kennedy in 1960 and supported Goldwater in 1964. Nixon returned in 1968 to claim his reward. In 1976, Ford, the incumbent as a result of the Nixon resignation was awarded the nomination. Reagan wanted that 1976 nomination but was told to stand down. The Gipper was a trooper. After Ford’s general election defeat, Reagan was rewarded in 1980 for being a good trooper. George Herbert Walker Bush wanted that nomination, but was told to stand aside for the Gipper and that he would be rewarded as Regan and Nixon had been before him. And eight years later, in 1988, he was. Since it was ordained that he would be the next nominee, after Reagan left office, it only made sense to let him serve as Vice President in Regan’s administration.

    Following the 1992 Bush re-election loss, the Rebublicans, in 1996, rewarded an unelectable Dole for being a good soldier having stepped aside once for Reagan in 1980 (because it was Reagan’s payback time for having allowed Ford’s nomination to take place), and a second time so that GHWB could receive his payback nomination.

    In 2000, McCain stood down for GW Bush and was rewarded eight years later for being a good soldier with the nomination in 2008. Who also wanted that nomination in 2008? You guessed it, Milt Romney. And what did he do? Well, he’d been around long enough to know that one must “sacrifice” in order to obtain one’s goals in life, or in the case of Republication nominations, “stand down” for former “stand downers” who are due their just reward.

    As the only “stand downer” in the current race, Milt will be rewarded with the nomination in 2012.

    Ron Paul, Rick Santorum Newt Gingrich, or any of the previous candidates like Cain, Bachmann and Perry ever had a chance. The Romney coronation was decided by the financial/governmental/media complex in 2008. You and I cannot fight TPTB, so we should stop wasting breath on National politics and concentrate on our local yocals and hopefully maintain a semblance of community at home.

    • Mark Uzick February 21, 2012, 1:20 pm

      Ron Paul won’t win the Republican – sorry, I mean Neo-Con – popular vote, but there’s still a good chance that he’ll win with the most delegates; and that’s the only vote that really counts.

      If Romney wins the nomination, the only reward he’ll receive will be to go down in ignominious defeat to Obama; I and, according to polls, about 20% of registered Republicans will vote for Obama to make sure the the political rivalry between the two major parties keeps both the Neo-Cons and the ‘Progressives’ in check.

      Only Ron Paul will beat Obama; he will take all the Republican votes and most of Obama’s independent voting block.

      I can think of worse possibilities than a replay of Clinton’s second term, but this time we desperately need Ron Paul; halfway measures, though better than the current trajectory, will not be enough to save us from some serious pain.

      &&&&&&&

      I am a Ron Paul delegate myself, Mark, and you are correct about the large number of delegates he has quietly amassed. At a brokered convention, they will give him a viable candidacy that is currently invisible to the hacks and liars who write the news. RA

    • redwilldanaher February 21, 2012, 7:18 pm

      I think that many would agree with your take on how they handle things Dale. Great labeling by Mark, it has become the Neo-Con popular vote. As I noted above, I am a longtime Ron Paul supporter myself as is Rick clearly, I just do not see how even he matters any longer. They will Garfield/JFK him if he gets too close to upsetting their apple cart IMO.

    • Cam Fitzgerald February 22, 2012, 12:54 am

      You Ron Paul supporters do realize he is a long shot, right?

    • Steve February 22, 2012, 4:12 am

      Why always so negative ? Ron Paul is only a long shot if that is what one believes. Better to use positive energy as something real than for a commie like Mitt or Bammie. Talk Paul UP, not down.

  • Mark Uzick February 21, 2012, 9:18 am

    Reading many of the comments here, I see a lot of references to ‘They’: a group of evil doers undermining society, but ‘They’ have no real power other than what ‘We’ give them.

    The ‘all powerful’ media, corporate, and ‘government’ elite may seem like mere racketeers, but are, in fact just enterprises; and like all enterprises, they survive and prosper only if they satisfy the demands of the market, be they wholesome or corrupt.

    If the people want poison, there’ll always be someone to provide them with cigarettes, junk food, free fiat money, wars and Mitt Romney.

    The wonderful thing about democracy is that it gives a society a means by which to institute reform once it has attained some enlightenment or, conversely, if its rooted convictions are evil, the means to put a quick and deserving end to itself. If only society were not composed of individuals, this would be perfect justice.

    • mario cavolo February 21, 2012, 9:55 am

      Hi Mark, wish to argue (in the academic sense 🙂 … you’re being too idealistic here…when brutes in power take control, you often ARE truly powerless, or shall I say been rendered impotent, to respond in reality. Naomi Wolf makes the point very well in her book, Give Me Liberty. The “They” have erected thick walls around the system to insulate themselves and enable all manners of self-serving activity, not “of the people, by the people, for the people” activity. What can be done by the masses, not a damn thing until they agree to become extreme in their behavior. The voting system does not help, because the people are being brainwashed and any brainwashed idiot has the equal vote of an MBA and other intelligent people. I must remind all, people do NOT have the individual thinking freedom they think they have, their mind their emotions, their values, their behavior is deeply shaped by the society in which they live. The elites know this, the MSM knows this, and they shape the societal behavior over time…this is true in most any country. The only time the masses rebel is when they’ve been brought to suffer in the extreme…at long intervals through history…someday coming to an American street near you…Cheers, Mario

    • Mark Uzick February 21, 2012, 12:44 pm

      mario cavolo: “you’re being too idealistic here…when brutes in power take control, you often ARE truly powerless, or shall I say been rendered impotent, to respond in reality.”

      True enough, but my point is that the brutes are ‘us’, in the collective sense; even the ‘ruling class’ are essentially products of our culture; they are no more corrupt than the average American; and no more likely or unlikely to become enlightened to the concept of liberty than the average American; they’re either just better at selling the people the poison they crave or have inherited wealth that’s based on monopoly privilege granted by the state.

      What can be done by the masses, not a damn thing until they agree to become extreme in their behavior. The voting system does not help, because the people are being brainwashed and any brainwashed idiot has the equal vote of an MBA and other intelligent people. I must remind all, people do NOT have the individual thinking freedom they think they have, their mind their emotions, their values, their behavior is deeply shaped by the society in which they live.

      The ‘average idiot’ is probably a decent person who is not inclined toward political philosophy; too busy pursuing his professional and personal interests. He’s more likely to be enlightened to the concept of liberty, when presented with it, than some university brainwashed ‘intellectual’.

      Violent rebellion is not an indication that the people understand the truth and are ready for reform; only that they’re hurting, angry and looking for revenge, scapegoats and easy answers. In a democratic republic, true reform can only come by way of the ballot box.

      The elites know this, the MSM knows this, and they shape the societal behavior over time…this is true in most any country.

      The ‘elites’ are even more a product of social values as the average Joe, as society has invested so much more into instilling them with the ‘right’ kinds of thoughts and values.

      The only time the masses rebel is when they’ve been brought to suffer in the extreme…at long intervals through history

      That’s obviously wrong, as it discounts, in the face of the facts to the contrary, the possibility of human progress and the evolution toward greater liberty, fewer wars and declining rates of violence in societies throughout the world. For the most part, it’s been peaceful revolution that’s brought the needed changes and reforms, violent revolutions tend to be counterproductive. They are remembered when they work in favor of liberty only because a pro-liberty outcome is remarkably rare.

      …someday coming to an American street near you…Cheers, Mario

      Be careful what you wish for…

    • redwilldanaher February 21, 2012, 7:09 pm

      Thanks to Mario for an excellent response to Mark’s comments. Mark, many of your points, have been made by many of us here and of course many out there. I agree with you with the exception of the last paragraph. We’ve discuss the indoctrination process here @ Rick’s and the power the MSM have over those that you actually cite in your response to Mario below. My contention is very similar to yours in that I believe that the Avg. American is trying to do what they can, to work within the system with a first priority of providing income and that they pick up fragments of things in the increasingly less and less spare time that they have. The “middle” as they say is surprisingly malleable when it comes to swaying techniques that are applied through the usual channels and really all that the TPTB needs to do is herd the middle since they’re the “deciding vote”. I’m not sure if all of these TPTB souls are really products of this culture or the same cultures that they lord over. I can’t say for sure but I doubt that they are. Far be it from me to defend American popular culture as I find it sadly to be impossible, but I believe it isn’t the way it is out of the results of random outcomes. It has clearly been numbed/dumbed down and in dramatic fashion.

    • mario cavolo February 22, 2012, 5:49 am

      Thanks Mark~! …nice exchange….

    • rmsimc February 22, 2012, 4:54 pm

      “Liberty is when the government fears the people. Tyranny is when the people fear the government.” –Thom. Jefferson (who is he?)

  • Robert February 21, 2012, 6:17 am

    http://www.americanselect.org/

    From Wikipedia:

    “As of January 2012, Americans Elect has gained ballot status in 15 states: Alaska,[23] Arizona,[23] Arkansas,[24] California,[25][26] Colorado,[27] Florida,[28] Kansas,[23] Maine,[29] Michigan,[28] Mississippi,[30] Nevada,[23] Ohio,[31] Rhode Island,[32] Utah,[33] and Vermont.[34] As of February 2012, certification is pending in Hawaii,[35] New Mexico,[30] and Wyoming.[36] As of December 2011, signatures for fifteen other states were being collected.[26]

    Americans Elect is in the process of securing a line on the ballot in all 50 states for a ticket to be named directly by the people through the first-ever online nominating convention. Any registered voter can sign up to participate as a Delegate at [AmericansElect.org].[37] The organization is attempting the process of being accredited in every US state, allowing it to place candidates on presidential ballots nationwide.[5]

    In order to obtain ballot access nationwide, some states’ guidelines require Americans Elect to register as a political party,[8] even though federal courts have ruled[3] they are not a traditional political party”

    • redwilldanaher February 21, 2012, 6:43 am

      Interesting stuff but why should we continue to observe DC as our “rightful leaders”? No longer necessary especially to the degree that it is done so now. This country has effectively drifted too far from its moorings and has for some time. Look at it like an insurance adjustor. This country is totaled, it is beyond repair. Seriously, if evaluated objectively, the USA is extreme farce. (Does that make it surreal? Not sure, need help on that classification!)

    • mario cavolo February 21, 2012, 7:38 am

      …to call them leaders, to think of them as leaders is a big part of the problem in the American citizen psyche. As you suggest, the drift away from what America was has reached its pinnacle with the 2008 crisis and the continuing aftermath of rolling waves since.

      What I have to say I admire about Chinese govt way of doing things is that they are not trying to make you think they are something other than what they are. They say “we are in charge, these are the decision we make, you follow them. You break the law hurting the society, careful, we will execute you if you hurt the society. There is litte tort law, the corrupt American legal system to screw up due process. We should build a road, next day, the workers are out building the road. We are in charge, you don’t vote us in, we have our 12th 5 year plan, a real plan we follow to govern the country, here is how it will impact you and we are following it. Its clear, whether you like it or not. It is what it is and we are running our country.”

      Now of course that system of govt, as any, has all sorts of flaws. But its CLEAR! Yet in America they keep trying to promote the illusion of the American freedoms and dreams and democratic rights while pulling the rug out from under you in plain sight, yet they are the leaders….its the nastiest thing I could have ever imagined in my lifetime to be watching what they have done and continue doing to that country. There is nothing to do but feel bad. I feel bad for my family’s generations who had arrived 3 generations earlier to a different place. Exactly, what you said, my brother’s kids are happy to just find decent jobs!! My nice was thrilled “hey grandma I finally found a part time job at the local Italian restaurant! Hoohoo! That’s her future and too many others in the family and the same situation all around. That’s pathetic. Enough…Geez…

    • Mark Uzick February 21, 2012, 9:38 am

      I’m guessing that you believe an on-line ticket would be dominated by libertarians?

      If so, then how would it be any different or more effective than the Libertarian party?

      If not, then would it become a conservative, progressive, fundamentalist or green party? then how would it be any different or more effective than other third parties?

    • redwilldanaher February 21, 2012, 6:58 pm

      Mark, I realize that your comments were directed at me but I suppose I’d guess along with you that it would be dominated by libertarians. I guess if I had to classify myself I’d put myself in that category but I no longer see candidates, even those I prefer, as any type of solution and in fact thinking that way only will perpetuate the problem IMO. I believe that we can no longer subscribe to what seemed to work fairly well for the past few centuries. I see no reason to “outsource” all the critical decision making to corrupt sociopaths and their handlers in Washington D.C. Hope this helps.

  • Joe February 21, 2012, 5:28 am

    I agree with Seawolf that the MSM is just printing what they’re given to print. Faux News worked overtime to find anything on Obama and couldn’t. It took about 2 seconds to find out that the entirety of the GOP candidates save Ron Paul, Huntsman and Roemer were all liars, cheats, thieves and hypocrites – every single one the lowest of the low – Santorum, Gingrich, Romney, Palin, etc…
    If there’s nothing to uncover, they cannot make up lies.

    • redwilldanaher February 21, 2012, 6:37 am

      Nothing should really need or should have been needed to be found on Obama. Obama is what he is and was what he is, he’s a nothing, a never-was. “Empty suit” would be too complimentary. He’s a farce but hey, he’s making some decent psychological income and his wife has become a first-class world traveler. There have been worse payoffs for selling one’s soul.

    • Joe February 21, 2012, 7:07 am

      redwilldanaher, that’s a pathetic response.

    • Tommy February 21, 2012, 4:08 pm

      Joe,
      Nothing to uncover eh?
      You’ve obviously never watched “The Obama Deception” on Youtube. In this documentary you’ll see that he broke EVERY SINGLE ONE of his campaign promises. But you’ll probably do like most blind Obama supporters and not watch it. In that case you get what you deserve. Unfortunately blind Obama supporters are going to affect my life too. Here’s a few more nuggets for your fallacy to digest.

      EVERYONE SHOULD READ THIS…

      THE PRESIDENCY

      SOME WILL APPRECIATE THIS AND SOME WILL NOT.

      HOWEVER, ALL OF IT IS TRUE..
      After two years of Obama … Here’s your change!
      Not exactly what we were hoping for, is it…

      January 2009 TODAY
      % chg Source Avg..
      Retail price/gallon gas in U.S. $1.83 $3.44 + 84% (1)
      Crude oil, European Brent (barrel) $43..48 $99..02 +127.7% (2)
      Crude oil, West TX Inter. (barrel) $38..74 $91..38 +135.9% (2)
      Gold: London (per troy oz.) $853.25 $1,369.50 +60.5% (2)
      Corn, No.2 yellow, Central IL $3.56 $6.33 +78.1% (2)
      Soybeans, No. 1 yellow, IL $9.66 $13..75 +42.3% (2)
      Sugar, cane, raw, world, lb. Fob $13..37 $35..39 +164.7% (2)
      Unemployment rate, non-farm, overall 7.6% 9.4% +23.7% (3)
      Unemployment rate, blacks 12.6% 15.8% +25.4% (3)
      Number of unemployed 11,616,000 14,485,000 +24.7% (3)
      Number of fed. Employees 2,779,000 2,840,000 +2.2% (3)
      Real median household income $50,112 $49,777 -0.7% (4)
      Number of food stamp recipients 31,983,716 43,200,878 +35.1% (5)
      Number of unemployment benefit recipients 7,526,598 9,193,838 +22.2% (6)
      Number of long-term unemployed 2,600,000 6,400,000 +146.2% (3)
      Poverty rate, individuals 13.2% 14.3% +8.3% (4)
      People in poverty in U.S. 39,800,000 43,600,000 +9.5% (4)
      U.S.. Rank in Economic Freedom World Rankings 5, 9 n/a (10)
      Present Situation Index 29.9 23.5 -21.4% (11)
      Failed banks 140 164 +17.1% (12)
      U.S.. Dollar versus Japanese yen exchange rate 89.76 82.03 -8.6% (2)
      U.S.. Money supply, M1, in billions 1,575.1 1,865.7 +18.4% (13)
      U.S.. Money supply, M2, in billions 8,310.9 8,852.3 +6.5% (13)
      National debt, in trillions $10..627 $14..052 +32.2% (14)

      Just take this last item: In the last two years we have accumulated national debt at a rate more than 27 times as fast as during the rest of our entire nation’s history. Over 27 times as fast. Metaphorically speaking, if you are driving in the right lane doing 65 MPH and a car rockets past you in the left lane. 27 times faster, it would be doing 7,555 MPH!

      Sources: (1) U.S. Energy Information Administration; (2) Wall Street Journal; (3) Bureau of Labor Statistics; (4) Census Bureau; (5) USDA; (6) U.S. Dept. Of Labor; (7) FHFA; (8) Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller; (9) RealtyTrac; (10) Heritage Foundation and WSJ; (11) The Conference Board; (12) FDIC; (13) Federal Reserve; (14) U.S. Treasury

      So, tell me again, what is it about Obama that makes him so brilliant and impressive? Can’t think of anything? Don’t worry. He’s done all this in 29 months — so you have one year to come up with an answer.Every statement in this email is factual and directly attributable to Barrack Hussein Obama. Every bumble is a matter of record and completely verifiable.

      If this isn’t enough to open your eyes, then watch “The Obama Deception” and see how many campaign promises he’s broken. Oh, I don’t know? HOW ABOUT ALL OF THEM. But to hear him tell it none of this is his fault…

      http://youtu.be/eAaQNACwaLw

      I WONDER HOW MANY WILL FORWARD THIS ?

    • redwilldanaher February 21, 2012, 6:52 pm

      Hey Joe, sorry to have disappointed you. I may be wrong but I’m detecting a left leaning tilt with respect to your POV. Whatever the case may be I’m curious to know if you appreciate the irony as to how the MSM handled say FDR or JFK as opposed to Nixon or even Ford. If you missed it, let me let you in on a little secret, the MSM’s “white guilt” and other neuroses, aside from their various sets of orders and own leanings, helped to popularly install O’ the Bumble last time around. If you do not think that Media filter things then you simply need to read up on Hitler’s love child and how that recent news was barely covered in Germany and how Matt Drudge forced the MSM(that was sitting on the story) to cover Bubba’s “peckerdilliances”.

    • b2525 February 21, 2012, 7:00 pm

      One stat was left out, and since we’re all on a site where the market is king, here it is:
      Jan 20, 2009 (Obama’a first day in office): S&P close 805

      Today, February 21, 2012: S&P currently at 1365, a 70% increase since he took office.

      Respond to that anyway you want…come on, I’m waiting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    • b2525 February 21, 2012, 7:07 pm

      Oh, one more lil’ nugget: GW Bush inauguration S&P close 1343. GW Bush last day in office: S&P 805, a 60% drop. Now I wanna ask you, who should you be voting for??????????????????????

    • Carol February 21, 2012, 7:12 pm

      B2525 “Today, February 21, 2012: S&P currently at 1365, a 70% increase since he took office.

      Respond to that anyway you want…come on, I’m waiting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

      Ok since INFLATION is raging like a wildfire in every asset class except housing if the market wasn’t up it would be surprising. Hey you like inflation? I don’t it is NOT prices going up (as most misinformed sheeple think) it is the value of your money going down. So the fact that the market is inflating as such a rate shows that your money has lost a lot of value in that time. Great that sounds like something to cheer!

    • redwilldanaher February 21, 2012, 7:12 pm

      B2525, are you embracing a centrally planned stock market?

    • j February 21, 2012, 8:14 pm

      Carol, I sure hope your not just sitting on yours hands watching Inflation from the Trillions of liquidity pumped into the global financial system…if so ouch!

      As the US media jumps for joy with the Dow hitting 13000 a water mark not seen since 2008 May highs those investors are just “flat” these past almost 4 years…….wow!

      Whats factual and unfolding in the background is Gold from its May 2008 levels is up 100%…100% not a typeO…and O’l Buffy’s fund is still down 10% from its May 2008 highs….but of course 99% don’t know these facts…..and even Buffy can’t see a bull market in front of him regardless of 11+ years of data…M.O.P.E. manipulation of perceived economics …at its best, lol!

    • Carol February 21, 2012, 8:22 pm

      J

      thanks for your concern but you need not worry your pretty little self about it. I bought most my gold when it was under 300/oz thank you very much

  • Seawolf February 21, 2012, 4:52 am

    If an election can be rigged to win it can as easily be rigged to lose. The Republicans did not want to win the last election nor do they wish to win this one. Eight years in and eight years out. The MSM just prints what they are given to print.

    • redwilldanaher February 21, 2012, 6:34 am

      Agree with some of it but I have no idea what the Republicans want or not. Just as the MSM prints what they are given, Rethugs and Dumocrats execute their marching orders too. They say what they’re told to say when they’re told to say it. In some ways they are the most impressive of puppets.

    • fallingman February 21, 2012, 5:45 pm

      I agree Seawolf. They want to Hooverize O.

      Looks as if there’s a pretty good chance that’ll happen. Good strategy at any rate. Taking control in Jan 2013 would be the political equivalent of trying to catch a falling knife…say Enron at $30.

      Hey, maybe they could get the “hostile and mildly demented” McCain to run again. He’s a proven loser.

    • redwilldanaher February 21, 2012, 6:42 pm

      SW, FM, the thought crossed my mind a while back, even before this clown was installed in 2008’s false choice spectacle. I guess it still makes sense though from a TPTB POV. If you think about, that makes Barry O’Bumble’s pathetic track record into something more logical. Barry was able to pass the “healthcare” farce and has attempted and succeeded in ratcheting up the Big Brother apparatus. Who better than a bleeding heart liberal to sit on the throne will all this sort of stuff is ushered in?

  • John Jay February 21, 2012, 4:46 am

    That’s the way it is for sure Wayne.
    Corporate takeover of our economy is complete.
    1984/Animal Farm/Brave New World has arrived.
    Shortly TPTB will not even bother going through the motions of listening to us.
    Gasoline usage has dropped to 1980 levels in the USA, and hi-test prices are at $4.29 a gallon here in California.
    No matter how much we cut back on gas usage, they just export it to Europe etc. Any citizen who is not sufficently enthusiastic about COG is going on the “Watch List”. Ben has told us ZIRP is here to stay, and yes, he knows he is slaughtering the savers. Tough luck. I would not be surprised if everyone cheering for Obama/Romney etc. at their pep rallies are just supporters for hire. Illusion and reality are now one and the same.

    • redwilldanaher February 21, 2012, 6:32 am

      Great comments John. I think you are dead-on. They no longer try to hide that they break the laws, that justice is applied capriciously etc. That corruption is something to be ashamed of… The master will keep whipping the sheople until they drop to the ground or refuse to take it anymore. Looks to me like the sheople are willing to take much more of a whippin’ still…

  • Rich February 21, 2012, 4:08 am

    As a Ron Paul delegate and US Senator candidate, there is another choice, the only apparent candidates who take their Constitutional Oaths of Office seriously.

    There is also another choice than the six monopoly corporations that control global media:

    Turn them off and use Startpage to find such useful sites as Rick’s.

    Meanwhile, Heigh o Silver looks ready to romp as the ultimate currency…

    • redwilldanaher February 21, 2012, 6:25 am

      Hi Rich, this is currently the 3rd decade of my support for Ron Paul. While I support him I realize that it is practically futile it will take a lot more than 1 man, even Ron Paul, to effectively take on what is aligned against us all.

      “Whoever controls the volume of money in our country is absolute master of all industry and commerce…and when you realize that the entire system is very easily controlled, one way or another, by few powerful men at the top, you will not have to be told how periods of inflation and depression originate.” – President James Garfield, 2 weeks before his assassination.

      The quotes could run on and on but you get the idea. I wish it were as simple as electing Ron Paul. There’s no reason to continue to yield to a completely corrupted centralized tyranny.

    • fallingman February 23, 2012, 1:43 am

      Rich,

      For what it’s worth, I’ve also been supporting Dr. Paul since the late 70’s. He has many friends here.

      Thanks for running…and kick some booty.

  • Mario cavolo February 21, 2012, 3:02 am

    My Shanghai sunrise is greeted by an excellent write. Thanks Wayne, for revealing the subtleties and delusions in what’s really going on. About a year ago I started asking myself why when a person with far more money than yourself asked you for money, we would be dumb enough to actually give it to them; false hope is consistently the answer. The haves keep fooling and controlling and manipulating the have-nots to keep their own status quo in tact. the political campaign system for leaders is not for leaders, it’s for millionaire cronies.

    Your comment on ‘cogdom’ is fabulous.

    Cheers, Mario

    Cheers, Mario

    • redwilldanaher February 21, 2012, 6:29 am

      Thanks Mario. Sort of depressing that they’ve been able to beat down the typical American so much in such little time. Remember, if we listened to the MSM, we’d realize that the Reagan years, the Clinton years and the Bush 2 years were all boom times supposedly. How is it possible that things fell so far so fast? Record % living in poverty etc.? Now they have them where they want them. A few FEMA events here, a few false flags there and soon the the sheople will be happy with a ration of water and a few slices of bread.


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