tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post5224866744943662293..comments2024-03-28T16:08:29.578-04:00Comments on Sardonicky: Obama's AccomplishmentsKaren Garciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15612731479365562803noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-8001913389774823182014-07-08T10:07:55.419-04:002014-07-08T10:07:55.419-04:00@Isaiah--
Thanks also for the interesting deconst...@Isaiah--<br /><br />Thanks also for the interesting deconstruction of the Carter presidency.<br /><br />@Jay--<br /><br />Fascinating, frightening characterization of Holder as Obama's Cheney.Zeenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-13972934482133760332014-07-07T22:57:55.874-04:002014-07-07T22:57:55.874-04:00Interesting background on Eric Holder, who has not...Interesting background on Eric Holder, who has not served as a mere errand boy at Justice so much as Obama’s self-effacing, behind-the-scenes tutor, shaping Administration policy towards big money. Holder may have been the real force, more than Summers or Geithner, aggressively protecting Wall Street. If Obama has a Cheney, it’s Holder.Jay–Ottawahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10360356126450612113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-88717703914784961102014-07-07T18:00:16.220-04:002014-07-07T18:00:16.220-04:00I have a confession:
1. Shortly after he appointe...I have a confession:<br /><br />1. Shortly after he appointed Summers et al, I emailed Obama at the White House that, while I had voted for him, I now considered him a piece of shit, in those words.<br /><br />2. I again voted for the same piece of shit in '12 in the hope of a revolt within the Democratic Party.<br /><br />You, Earhart, have absolved me from 1 but I will forever bear the quilt of 2.<br /><br />Great piece by the way.James F Traynornoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-65333049366131593422014-07-07T17:55:24.080-04:002014-07-07T17:55:24.080-04:00I am continuously amazed at what ends up on this s...I am continuously amazed at what ends up on this site. I realize it is demanding of your time, but truly wish that you Karen, could figure out a way to update it EVERY DAY! Things, whatever that means, are changing too fast so perhaps that is why you can't. But I wish you would think about, and try it for a week-10 days. And then evaluate it and ask for comments. You provide an excellent service. Living in VT I feel overwhelmed by trees, and farm animals and gardens and water and mosquitoes and NATURE. I often feel totally removed from the real world. I venture out and can't wait to return. So thanks for that connection to how things are going "OUT THERE."ste-vonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-11631384540638952072014-07-07T17:35:08.289-04:002014-07-07T17:35:08.289-04:00Isaiah: Lovely name of a Prophet??? We need one to...Isaiah: Lovely name of a Prophet??? We need one today.<br />I thank you for your response. The details you provided now proves to me that my worst thoughts, that the political mentality of the U.S. both with leaders and lawmakers and people believe in the neoliberal philosophy and that anyone domestic or foreign not subscribing to this philosophy is an enemy. As a survivor of McCarthyism, I recognize the symptoms, just hoped it had not infected everyone and everything.<br />No wonder we Sardonickyites are so cynical and with good cause. However, knowledge and action are the only weapons we have. I wrote succinctly about my views in a comment to Karen's last column about the Fourth of July which I had written to Maureen's recent column. <br />My only hope after a lifetime of fighting the true enemies here at home, I will leave it to our progeny to continue the battle even if merely to survive. Already many NYTimes readers are getting the message with outrage about the health care system which is enriching the rich in a good NYTimes Editorial about the hospitals organizing to extract more money from the population.<br />Our sword is the pen and knowledge which is becoming easier to spread around in the internet age. Thank you Ed Snowden. I will look forward to more presentations from you as I do to Karen's great pieces and those of my dear friends on her blog and for a short while feel like I am breathing in fresh air instead of choking on the poisonous utterings of the establishment. Pearlnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-48991927452352293502014-07-07T16:22:02.935-04:002014-07-07T16:22:02.935-04:00@Pearl
First of all, thank you for your kind word...@Pearl<br /><br />First of all, thank you for your kind words.<br /><br />The case of Jimmy Carter is an interesting one, and the breadth of information I have about his presidency is lacking. I will tell you what I think and possibly (hopefully)someone here will enlighten the conversation with more knowledge or a more informed view.<br /><br />Before I proceed, I would like to say that Carter, post president Carter, has worked quite diligently to make the world a better place. <br /><br />On the domestic front, I think Carter started to drink the neoliberal cool-aid before he left office.Under the Carter Admin, there began a deregulation of finance, lower taxes on the rich through lowering capitol gains tax, and a deregulation of industries like railway, trucking and airlines. And I believe in 1977 and 1978 there were Democratic Party super-majorities in both the House and Senate.<br /><br />But the foreign policy of the US during this period of time is more revealing. The Indonesian government were busy performing a US sponsored genocide, beginning in 1975, on the people of East Timor. In 1978, the Indonesians ran out of bullets and other genocidal niceties. They came to the US to get re-armed, and Carter and Company rearmed them. The genocide continued until 1999, I think.<br /><br />Sadly, Canada also played a MAJOR role in thwarting UN resolutions to end the violence as the country sold the Indonesian army about $400 million Canadian worth of weapons in the 1990s.<br /><br />On a side note: I think the Carter Presidency ended on a virtual coup by the CIA. George HW Bush was running the CIA at the time, and I think he had the Iranians keep the hostages through the 1980 election to ensure Carter's defeat. (Remember the Iran/ Contra Deal?) The hostages were released, if I remember correctly, on the day Ronald Reagan was inaugurated in January of 1981. There is a fascinating book by Barbara Honegger called The October Surprise. Honegger worked in the Reagan Admin and resigned. <br /><br />I digress...<br /><br />Herein lies my issue; we had a Democratic Party Pres with massive majorities in the House and Senate, and the people cannot win the basic 'guns or butter' argument in POLICY. The budget in the Pentagon actually grew.<br /><br />To answer your questions, which are really big questions, I think the American political class sees their constituency as things to be auctioned. I think Denis (and William S. Burroughs) pretty much nailed it.<br /><br />I don't think Obama believes a word he is saying, and I think he completely understands the devastation he is perpetrating on main street and abroad. <br /><br /> <br /> <br /><br />Isaiah Earharthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04915582508162317710noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-75224083895838961712014-07-07T14:37:20.671-04:002014-07-07T14:37:20.671-04:00Mr.Earheart: a spine chilling well researched colu...Mr.Earheart: a spine chilling well researched column. My only questions are;<br /><br />Is every democratic president who is elected expected to continue with the destructive process of silencing democracy and does it depend on the person in office to make these decisions? Is this why Jimmy Carter was hounded out of office when he attempted to run an honest administration? Do people like Obama with some degree of intelligence know what he is accomplishing and totally <br />ignorant of the final results?<br />When he speaks of concerns for his people does he realize the difference between rhetoric and action and really believes he is<br />representing the people who voted him into office?<br />Maybe I am too naïve in having trouble recognizing the true extent of the calamity being perpetrated on the American people and nation. <br />Thank god for a 3 party system in Canada which keeps things from going off the cliff and a good chance of improving the leadership here before too long. I appreciate people like yourself who have the skill, guts and courage (like Karen) to clear the air for us and validate our deepest concerns. Thank you.Pearlnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-39342875640113552862014-07-07T14:14:14.201-04:002014-07-07T14:14:14.201-04:00@All
It is really quite an honor to write for thi...@All<br /><br />It is really quite an honor to write for this community. I really appreciate the great comments and the people who comment here. This really is the best blog I have ever found.<br /><br />@Zee<br /><br />Eric Holder is a real piece of work. He was appointed to Superior Court of the District of Columbia by Reagan in 1988. He served as active Attorney General under Bush W while congress was approving Ashcroft. Holder personally asked Clinton, as Deputy Attorney General at that time, for the pardon of Marc Rich- which he later vociferously and blatantly lied about.<br /><br />He and Obama are personally to blame for the torture of Chelsea Manning and the criminalization of whistle blowing. Holder represented in his private law firm not only Chiquita but Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, JP Morgan, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, ING, Morgan Stanley, UBS, and MF Global.<br /><br />When Forbes prints an article like this, one should really grasp the nepotism:<br /><br />http://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2012/05/07/obamas-doj-and-wall-street-too-big-for-jail/2/<br /><br />@Anne<br /><br />Glad I made you smile, Anne. I will add *thought criminal* to my list of achievements along side the four times I have been arrested for civil disobedience :)<br /><br />@Denis<br /><br />Kleptocracy is the perfect word for our economic system. Great writing, by the way. Isaiah Earharthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04915582508162317710noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-79331536553116289132014-07-07T11:54:29.860-04:002014-07-07T11:54:29.860-04:00Obama tweeted after the 2012 election, “The defin...Obama tweeted after the 2012 election, “The definition of hope is you still believe, even when it’s hard.”<br /><br />In other words, forget about how we were fleeced last time. Just keep voting for these pseudo Democrats (aka DINOs), who govern like Republicans, and just keep waiting and hoping that maybe someday we will get what we thought we were voting for. <br /><br />Such is the way of our American kleptocracy, which is an apt description of our devolving economic system. The kleptocrats don’t give a fig about the economy. The purpose of kleptocracy, our political and corporate whoredoms, is theft and looting of the nation’s wealth. <br /><br />“The junk merchant doesn’t sell his product to the consumer, he sells the consumer to his product. He does not improve and simplify his merchandise. He degrades and simplifies the client.” – William S. BurroughsDenis Nevillenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-31298048784739152082014-07-07T09:35:59.567-04:002014-07-07T09:35:59.567-04:00@Isaiah--
Thank you for an incredibly informative...@Isaiah--<br /><br />Thank you for an incredibly informative guest post.<br /><br />In particular I was unaware of Eric Holder's insidious past.<br /><br />This explains a lot with respect to the total absence of bankster prosecutions following the 2008 financial collapse.<br /><br />I thought Holder was simply incompetent, an unwitting tool of Obama and the latter's corporatist objectives.<br /><br />Apparently, I was giving Holder too much credit. He's been a witting partner in Obama's corporatist administration all along, and evil in his own right.Zeenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-13572192898333373502014-07-07T09:21:06.484-04:002014-07-07T09:21:06.484-04:00My god, Karen.
Why do I bother reading any other ...My god, Karen.<br /><br />Why do I bother reading any other blogs?<br /><br />Great pickup.<br /><br />Rock on, sister.Cirzehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07070125217972397204noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-9221739157647717232014-07-07T09:01:47.749-04:002014-07-07T09:01:47.749-04:00THIS POST WAS REMOVED BY THE NATIONAL SECURITY AGE...THIS POST WAS REMOVED BY THE NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY'S THOUGHT CRIMES DIVISION FOR POTENTIALLY SUBVERSIVE CONTENT.<br /><br />;^)annenigmanoreply@blogger.com