Comments by "Animal Farm" (@animalfarm7467) on "Thom Hartmann Program"
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Thomas, when you continue the scam of, 00:37 “Kim’s violence against his own people” or “the level of violence against human beings in North Korea”, you sound like Rachael Maddow; pushing the propaganda that the US gives a damn about those in foreign lands. You fail to understand the Anglo-American oligarchs would slaughter anyone that gets in the way of their profits. Kissinger said, “The US has no friends or enemies, only interest” and he is correct. Consider the backer of Clinton in the last election, Madeline Albright who said, ”There is a special place in hell for women who don’t support Hillary”. This is the same Madeline Albright that, through UN sanctions, killed half a million Iraqi children under 5 years old during the early 1990s by starvation and disease. Consider when the US slaughtered twenty percent of the population of North Korea and totally destroyed it infrastructure which is a war crime, but then again who worries about War crimes when the oligarchs control the Western World. Remember the slaughter of the Libyans, and the Syrians with a US created civil Syrian war; then again, I have never heard you ever discuss the CIA operation ”Timber Sycamore” used to create the devastation in Syria. And now this scum Hartman pushes the idea that the US is concerned about human rights. Where have you been; you are either totally ignorant or the inveterate liar I always thought you were. What’s wrong Hartmann; did the oligarchs threaten to disable your show if you didn’t emulate MSNBC or CNN, or have they upped your remuneration to sweeten your intentional propagandizing of the people. I never see Chris Hedges on your show anymore and with this current scam I would also be surprised to see Wolff again, but then again he may not be aware of your insidious deception.
Hartmann, when are you going to start telling the truth; Trump is the result of a corrupt democracy and criminal politicians and the US is an Empire intent on slaughtering anyone or destroying anything that gets in its way, period. It appears you are intentionally destroying your YouTube channel just to propagandize the last few cretins that still take your show seriously at the request of your masters. Maybe soon you should quit and move to MSNBC or CNN or …” There are a multitude of mainstream networks out there waiting for someone that will sell their soul for a few dollars and you appear to be the perfect person to act as a stand-in for Rachael. There once was a time I called you the Corporate Liberal Alex Jones and then cringed at my own words - no more.
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Alarm bells started going off when I heard "George Mason" University. When you think of George Mason, you think of the Antonin Scalia Law School and you think of the University that's owned by the Koch Foundation. According to Sourcewatch, the Kochs funded George Mason University to the tune of $14M in 2017 compared to the few hundred thousand usually given to the other universities they control. Maybe this "former" CIA intelligence officer can tell you the affiliation between the CIA and Koch institutions such as the Atlas-Network the oligarchs use to overthrow nation states not willing to bend to the will of Wall Street.
When you have read John Perkins’ book, “Confessions of an Economic Hitman”, it gives this "former" CIA intelligence officer’s book, “How to Get Rid of a President” a whole new meaning. After all, the CIA is expert at removing elected presidents not complying with the wishes of Washington, isn’t it? Shall we start with Mosaddegh and work forward through the 80 countries in which the CIA has intervened since.
I could tell Hartmann I was surprised he is interviewing this “former" CIA intelligence officer, but when you consider this sycophant’s obsession with keeping the Corporate Democrats relevant in the eyes of the few viewers that still watch this crap, continuing the Russiagate scam would be an understandable tactic.
This Hartmann interview reminds me of Hollywood’s recent attempts to lionize the CIA as the “good guys”. When factual history shows the CIA as nothing more than the subversive militant tool of Wall Street, we have Hartmann selling the CIA as “working for Main Street” – very sad. Who will be his next guest; Madeline Albright giving tips on childcare.
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Since the Spanish American war two centuries ago, the plutocrats have used false flags and US foreign policy to create foreign wars for profit and power, but due to the contemporary strategies in place they have assured there will be no domestic civil war. Think about it! This is just an extension of the ongoing strategies of empire. Throughout history, as empires fail, many times the oppression and exploitation the plutocrats impose on brown people of foreign lands returns home and is eventually imposed of the domestic population; think of it as justice for the domestic population that allowed the crimes of empire.
But as for a civil war, you appear to forget about the systems put in place ever since the "Project for a New American Century" and the convenient 911. "Further, the process of transformation, even if it brings revolutionary change, is likely to be a long one, absent some catastrophic and catalyzing event––like a new Pearl Harbor". Think about it! There isn't just the CIA working to protect the plutocrats capital overseas and the FBI to attack the plutocrats' opponents (Unions) domestically, there are multiple agencies working against the people to protect the plutocrats' interests.
Not only do the plutocrats use taxpayer dollars for their foreign military aggression and theft, taxpayer dollars under the guise of domestic protection have been used to create multiple agencies to protect the interests of the plutocrats. There is a global surveillance system that scoops up “everything” and stores the information in a complex in Utah designed to process five zettabytes (5 x 10^21) of data. You may have also noticed the police have been militarized and all these new agencies are coordinated using the new nationwide Fusion Centers. The laws have been changed to make civil discontent illegal by the ambiguous meaning of the word “terrorist”. Maybe you should review the bipartisan NDAA section 10.21 to come up to speed. If you have any questions, watch one of Chris Hedges videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsGJpTAsV8k
You should also consider the ongoing and accelerating financial, media, political, and military control by the plutocrats and you may come to realize it’s not Hartmann’s civil war you should fear as that will never be allowed to occur. You should fear what do the plutocrats have in mind for the ignorant, impotent and outgunned individuals that frequent urban and rural alike. The poor and soon-to-be poor aren’t headed for civil war; the compliant are headed for a life of feudalism and others are destined for the camps. What camps I hear you ask; maybe you should research that for yourselves. Any thinking person realizes unchecked capitalism eventually leads to imperialism and fascism. If you have any doubt, read Lenin’s “Imperialism: the Highest Stage of Capitalism”.
Welcome to the Fourth Reich!
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It’s pleasing to see Greg Palast on Hartmann’s show; at last someone you can trust to expose the fraud in Western Politics. But I notice Hartmann shut down Palast as soon as he began to criticize the Democrat’s complicity in the Venezuelan Coup. When Palast said, 03:50 “You know what’s amazing to me Thom is that the Liberals in America, the Democratic Party leaders in America; look at it. I was at the Macon Georgia Trump rally and when they (Liberal Democrats) see those white supremacists yelling those white supremacist nasty slogans, and they see that scary white crowd that’s trying to make sure black people have no; in Georgia where they’re trying to stop a black woman from becoming governor, they denounced that, they (Liberal Democrats) denounced those crowds. Yet in Venezuela they’re (Liberal Democrats) literally backing this minority white coup d’état.”
And that’s when Hartmann started his redirection away from the facts, 04:28 “But, but Greg . . . “ Hartmann then spewed some irrelevant rhetoric and then when directly into his “poor Venezuelan economic management” rhetoric specifically designed to distract from the fact the Liberal Democrats are supporting an illegal coup in Venezuela. In all political movements that endorse Imperialism, there are the oligarchs who control the narrative and the progression of events, there are their minions and puppets that carry out orders and spread the narrative, and then there are the fools who follow the rhetoric unquestioningly and support something they usually don’t understand. Palast has explained the Kochs and others are the oligarchs; Bolton, Pompeo, and Abrams are the minions; Hartmann appears to be one of their puppets they keep at arm’s length as Controlled Opposition, and so what does that make the viewer?
What Hartmann has done is show his unwillingness to be critical of the selective minority issues the Democratic Party uses to manipulate its rubes. Palast has clearly shown the Democratic Party’s willingness to call out racism when it can be an advantageous political tool to promote their cause, but when it comes to those in foreign lands who are at threat from invasion or coup, those who are of little to no use to the Corporate Democrats can be sacrificed in the interests of their masters’ Empire. I don’t blame Hartmann from going down that road; the road that shows complete hypocrisy and how Democrats use minority issues as tools of opportunity.
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What concerns me is when the caller says, 01:23 “The Democrats really have to point out to the American people that the Republican Party sold out to the highest bidder.” This is very sad; the caller doesn’t realize the Democratic Party has also sold out the American people. Where have you been sir; under a rock? When I heard the principles behind the Laffer curve and Supply Side economics, I laughed so hard I got a stitch; well until Reagan’s Supply Side economics was implemented. Take a look at the change in income and especially wealth distribution since the 1960s. The reason there is no real jobs is they were sent overseas by the oligarchs for profit; the same oligarchs that benefit for the wealth inequality. They’re doing OK, they have been using cheap money to buy back stock and raise the price. Again that’s only for the 1% and the rest are expected to accept the imbalance. I am starting to admit that Professor Wolff is correct and we should be listening to what he has to say. Listening to the ignorance displayed by this caller makes me both frustrated and angry. Anyone in the 99% that believes the Democratic Party works for them needs to be shaken until they wake up to reality. This is the classic left-right paradigm used by the elite to manipulate the masses. Might I use a quote from Warren Buffet “There’s class warfare, all right, but it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning.” Why can’t these fools see that they can depend on the Democratic Party just a little more than they can depend on the Republican Party; and the reason for that is so the oligarchs can offer an almost null choice to con the voting public. It is that small difference that is used to bribe the American people and that keeps people supporting the, so called, Democracy. What a pathetic state of affairs; that’s what you get for following the lesser of two evils. And when you think the oligarch’s Democratic Party may deliver, the oligarchs will snatch it away from you. It’s like a dog running between two people that pretend to offer the dog food; each time snatching the food away before the dog arrives. He believes he has a better chance with one of the food handlers as he hold the food in sight longer than the other. Because the dog is hungry he keeps up the pretence hoping for a mouthful of food. Will the dog run until he drops dead of malnutrition or will the dog look for alternatives?
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"Why Don't Billionaires Pay Taxes?" - When I wanted to understand how and what the oligarchs contemplate on any topic, I would go to the Sanders website and look at the Charles Koch wish list for policy back in 1980. A large contingent of the 1980 Libertarian Platform from when David Koch ran for office in 1980 was once available on Sanders' website. You must remember Charles Koch; he was the one who funded the Clinton-Gore "Democratic Leadership Council"; when the Democratic Party transitioned to Neoliberalism "Third Way"; when the Democratic Party went completely rogue and followed the orders of oligarchs like Charles Koch and deregulated, crushed social security, pushed NAFTA through, and started the privatization process in earnest. Everything that the puppet Regan failed to finish was given to Bill to sell to the rubes.
But now the Koch's 1980 Libertarian Platform is no longer available on the Sanders' website. For some reason, Bernie has removed this invaluable document and all we get now is the usual, "Error 404: Page not found".
If one wished to know what the oligarchs thought on taxes, one would just read it off the Sanders' website:
“We oppose all personal and corporate income taxation, including capital gains taxes.”
“As an interim measure, all criminal and civil sanctions against tax evasion should be terminated immediately.”
“We support the repeal of all taxes on the income or property of private schools, whether profit or non-profit.”
“We support the eventual repeal of all taxation.”
If you wanted to know how the oligarchs contemplate restrictions on campaign finance and the electoral process, the answers were right in front of you:
“We urge the repeal of federal campaign finance laws, and the immediate abolition of the despotic Federal Election Commission.”
If one wanted to know what the oligarchs thought of regulatory agencies, a brief glance would give you the answers you sought:
“We support the abolition of the Environmental Protection Agency.”
“We support abolition of the Department of Energy.”
“We advocate the abolition of the Federal Aviation Administration.”
“We advocate the abolition of the Food and Drug Administration.”
This document wasn't just the Koch wish list of 1980s, this was the skeleton of the oligarchs plan to transition the United States from the pre-Reagan era to the modern day. The intent embedded in this document gives some insight into what the oligarchs have achieved so far. So why did Sanders remove such a valuable document from his website?
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Thomas, you have opened up a can of worms when you begin a conversation about democracy. When the Constitution was ratified in 1789 only land holders and Tax payers were allowed to vote. Remember the tax policy then is much different from today; in general, wages weren’t taxed but profits were. So, when the Constitution was written, it was intended the original US oligarchs would run the country and that was about 6 percent of the population. From my vantage point not much has changed. There has been a concerted effort to give the illusion of democracy for all and since that time, the oligarchs have been lobbying and legislating to ensure any democracy was just a apparition of the people.
How many examples do I have to give of the mechanisms the oligarchs use to remain in control? Consider the Electoral College, the Democratic Party Superdelegates, Gerrymandering, etc. etc. and when you are exhausted watch Greg Palast’s documentary, “The Best Democracy Money Can Buy”. And you don’t have to limit your analysis to the electoral system; you may wish to consider the Princeton statistical study showing Government policy has no correlation with the wishes of the public. Even Jimmy Carter admits the US is not a democracy but an oligarchy. So why are you inferring the US is a Democracy? What’s the scam? You are referencing an article from the New York Times; why do you give credibility to such a propaganda outlet? Remember, this is the rag that pushed out the brilliant Chris Hedges; it’s been a long time since I’ve seen Chris on your show.
Thomas, might I suggest you read Kevin Kruse’s book, “One Nation Under God; How Corporate America Invented Christian America”. This Princeton history professor has done an incredible job of showing much of the history of the US since the New Deal is a construct of the oligarchs as you may have guessed from the title. So as you comment about the deaths attributed to Right Wing Supremacists and Islamic Terrorists might I suggest they too are a creation of the oligarchs? The CIA along with Saudi Arabia admits to funding, arming and training these groups to be used by the oligarchs as part of US foreign policy. The Right Wing Supremacists whose psychology and insecurities are targeted by the oligarchs through their pervasive media outlets are a tool for domestic unrest and “divide and conquer”. The Islamic Terrorists who are used for creating instability, terrorism, and as a mercenary force to do the bidding of these same oligarchs in nations these same oligarchs wish to control. Which nations you might ask; for a start, the 7 countries in 5 years that the US government was going to destroy so eloquently stated by General Wesley Clark in the famous video. The video is worth viewing; it’s on YouTube; just search “7 countries in 5 years”.
So questioning the democracy of other nations while accepting the democratic domestic farce of the US appears hypocritical but mostly ignorant; I don’t believe you are that ignorant so why the scam? But you are correct about one thing - the influence of the oligarchs around the World to subvert democracy. If you get a chance, have a read of the Intercept article, “Sphere of Influence: How American Libertarians Are Remaking Latin American Politics”. This details the influence of the oligarchs around the World through an organization called the Atlas Network, a Koch funded organization that is attacking most Western Nations. It is causing considerable democratic disturbance in Eastern Europe and South and Central America; a more covert subversion in Britain and Australia, and is active in many other nations. In fact, anytime you hear the term “Liberal Democrat”, you are probably encountering an arm of the Kochs and their Atlas Network.
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As Hartmann misquotes the "Founding Fathers" and their “love” of democracy, I would like to introduce a founding father much unknown - John Jay. Yes, this close associate of Hamilton and Washington will give you the real thoughts of the founding fathers and democracy. Consider the quote of John Jay, “Too many in your state (Pennsylvania), as in this (New York), love pure democracy dearly. They seem not to consider that pure democracy, like pure rum, easily produces intoxication, and with it a thousand mad pranks and fooleries.”
And now consider the contemporary “Founding Fathers” (e.g. Rockefeller) and their Trilateral Commission. They too dislike democracy as can be seen in their publication, “The Crisis of Democracy“, as written by Crozier, Watanuki, and Samuel P Huntington. When Huntington talks about, “Crisis of Democracy”, he means too much Democracy. This is the same criticism of democracy as John Jay. So whether it’s the original “Founding Fathers” or contemporary plutocrats and their puppet leaders, the liberal and conservative elite only want rich white male landowners to vote.
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@atrociousconsequences4432 : You should understand the term "National Security" is drawn like a gun to protect the criminal secrets of the Plutocrats. Your anachronistic rhetoric "Loose Lips Sink Ships" is an irrelevant term when the US government is the only aggressor and is filled with Mafia Crime Bosses. Think about what you mean when you say "Government"; there is no government of the people, by the people, for the people; anything resembling a peoples' government was removed by the Austrian/Libertarian Kochs' "Citizens United", Wall Street money and the Clintons' Liberal "Third Way" long ago; there is only the plutocrats' corporate government that remains in power. Haven't you learnt anything from Bush's and Obama's response to "Too Big to Fail; Too Big to Jail". The last time Obama invoked "National Security" was to apply sanctions to the oil rich state of Venezuela so US companies could get access to Venezuelan oil and the next time "National Security" is pronounced will be to hide the corruption of Assange's Virginian Kangaroo Court proceedings from the people. You should always remember the interests of the Plutocrats are bipartisan; Obama and Bolton are working for the same outcome in Venezuela - to maximize the wealth of the plutocrats they serve. You really need to understand that Hartman works for the interests of the plutocrats - period.
And never forger; when Gaddafi was slaughtered with a bayonet in the rectum at the hands of the "Liberal" Hillary, her response was "We came, we saw, he died". When half a million Iraqi children died under the sanctions of the "Liberal" Madeline Albright who promoted the "Liberal" Clinton at the primaries, her response was "It was worth it". Yes, this is the same "Liberal" Hillary who said about Assange, "Can't we just drone him?" As I have said to you before, Liberals are the scum of the Earth. Don't ever confuse "Liberal" with "Progressive", they are on the opposite sides of the political spectrum. When you take a close look at "Liberal" Ideology, it is very close to the Libertarian "free market", deregulation, pro-Wall Street anti-worker Ideology; no wonder the Kochs funded Clinton's Democratic Leadership Council.
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Hartmann, if you are serious about change, you have to stop looking at the effects of oligarchy and plutocracy and start looking at the cause. Consider the Congressional Military and Intelligence Complex where the elected House continues the scam of transferring wealth from the taxpayer, laundering it through the Congressional Military and Intelligence Complex, and then transferring this wealth to the plutocrats. One of the answers is simple – get rid of the existing Congress.
This is where new DCCC regulations come into play. The DCCC has just stated they will not back any candidate who is attempting to overthrow a sitting member. Well, I guess that rules out any challenges from the people. Hartmann, this is what makes me think you are just Controlled Opposition working for the interests of the Corporate Democrats. This intentional hamstringing of any new blood is of the same magnitude as the intentional Clinton/DNC hamstringing of Bernie. This is much more important that revisiting yet again, the lies behind the Iraq War. Also, have you considered the number of Democrats that continue to accept the fake government narrative and support the Venezuelan intervention; with all the evidence I don't believe these Useful Idiots of Empire have learned a thing.
So as the Wall Street Corporate Democrats slowly crush the chances of any actual peoples’ voice from being heard, we have Hartmann revisiting history. A history that every thinking person should know; a history that explains in detail why the government is corrupt, and Hartmann continues with this farce while Wall Street is engineering more hurdles for the people to jump, but what the people don’t see is the brick wall beyond the hurdle. All this invokes one question; without platitudes and subjective rhetoric, what does “Liberal” actually mean? To me, with respect to foreign policy, the ever manipulative Identity Politics, and many other issues designed to distract, contemporary Liberals like Hartmann appear to be to the right of mainstream politics. You can't support the Democratic establishment and then call yourself a progressive.
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Cohen sparked my interest with his movie title, “All Governments Lie”; if only he had included the words “and Media” in the title, it would have been more believable. Without the Corporate Media to back the lies of Washington, the oligarchs’ propaganda would fall on deaf ears.
When you analyze the Root Cause for the reason for Trump, it is not the way the Democratic Party does “voter outreach”, or the even the plutocratic policies that benefit the elite for which the Democratic leaders are well remunerated; the reason for Trump is the people that fill the ranks of the Democratic Party executive who are installed by the oligarchs and the oligarch engineered and intentionally compromised democratic system. Yes, you can listen to Maddow push the Russiagate scam; or you can listen to Hartmann go on and on about the issues of the downtrodden and the minorities to distract from real cause, but when have you recently heard Hartmann ever criticize the criminals within the Democratic Party?
Any contrived intent by the Democratic Party and the DNC to put the people first will just be an exercise in "extend and pretend" to continue the push for the voter to select the “lesser of two evils”. While the ownership of the executive and the engineered structural failures of the entire democratic system remain, there will be more Cheneys, Perles, Wolfowitzs, and Trumps and probably much worse. There could be another Schicklgruber with Lebensraum on their lips.
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Thomas Hartmann, I assume by the introduction you planned this interview with Thomas DiLorenzo so maybe a little more research before you started may have helped. Yes, DiLorenzo is a Senior Fellow at the Koch Mises Institute and a professor of economics at the Koch Loyola University Maryland (Koch: $42,000 annually for "General Support"). He also taught at the Koch George Mason University (Koch: $35 million to the George Mason University Foundation) and was part of the strategy to oppose cigarette advertising bans and not to increase excise tax. When it comes down to it, someone like DiLorenzo is just an oligarch sycophant who ensures people aren’t educated and taught to think; and then exploits the ignorant.
Arguing with a Mises shill like Thomas DiLorenzo is usually a waste of time. The Mises Institute is dedicated to advantaging the oligarchs and increasing wealth and income inequality by playing on the ignorance of the majority. In fact, if you ever read Hayek’s “Road to Serfdom”, you will laugh at the irony. The Mises institute is dedicated to creating spin to support the Koch-Libertarian oligarch narrative to deregulate, remove social services, eliminate taxes, privatize, and oppress the voice of the people and their voice in the workplace. A Mises Institute employee’s entire job is to create spin to advantage the oligarchs by manipulating the ignorant and playing on their apathy.
But Thomas, you appear to make a sport of arguing with sleaze and exposing the same corrupt intent time and time again. Sure, it fills up time with the obvious intent of the oligarchs, but it doesn’t really expose any new light on the problem of Neoliberalism/Austrian Economics. I have an idea how you can educate your audience. Thomas DiLorenzo recently wrote a piece in the Mises Institute criticizing the book, “Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right's Stealth Plan for America” by Nancy MacLean. Thomas, I’m sure you are well aware of Professor MacLean’s book so may I suggest a book review of “Democracy in Chains” as a place to start.
Reviewing “Democracy in Chains” will demolish the entire Koch-Mises-Libertarian farce. It goes into the people, strategy, institutions & think tanks, and the oligarchs’ expected outcome of this generational strategy. Pay special attention to the Kochs strategy to use Article V to call for a Constitutional Convention to rewrite the Constitution in the oligarchs’ favor. You may remember the Libertarian fascists rewrote the Chilean Constitution to advantage their oligarchs under Pinochet. After an interview with Professor MacLean, your previous efforts to expose the Austrian/Libertarian scam will look pale by comparison. It may even help you improve your game.
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Thomas, I do enjoy Professor Wolff’s message and I have to agree with much he has to say; BUT he tends to avoid any in-depth analysis of the US Federal Reserve. When he said, 07:44 “The banks are free to do what they want; the burden is now on the Government, the Federal Reserve and other branches of Government to find that they’re doing it, catch them at doing it; prove that they’re doing it”.
How I understand the FED is it is either a totally private entity or a private entity in some type of working partnership with the Government. Those who manage the FED and its 12 branches (Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Richmond, Atlanta, Chicago, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Kansas City, Dallas, and San Francisco) are mostly the same executives that that manage the private banks (Goldman Sachs, Citi Group, etc.). The FED cannot be investigated because it is a private entity and Congress or any branch of Government has no say in the FED’s monetary or fiscal policy. There are also questions about its origin in 1913 and how it is involved in manipulating markets.
So when Professor Wolff says, “The Federal Reserve and other branches of Government”, am I missing something and has all my analysis of the FED been in vain. Why does Professor Wolff through his historical statements always infer the FED is Government owned and controlled? Is there some reason Professor Wolff doesn’t want to admit the Government has no control over monetary policy and that monetary policy is in the hands of those who control the private banks? But, then again, I forgot to mention those executives who control the private banks also control the Government; so there might be some truth to the idea the Government controls the FED after all.
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Thomas, the US never was a functional democracy. Remember the people weren’t allowed into the first Constitutional Convention, May 25 to September 17, 1787. The “Founding Fathers” were concerned their interests (Slavery) would be compromised with any input from the people. Also remember Washington was a very wealthy man who grew rich by selling the land of slaughtered Native Americans to the plutocrats for their slave plantations. There was even the author of the Declaration of Independence who sold his children with Sally Hemings into slavery. So things are not always as they appear or as they are sold to the people. And since then, the plutocrats who have always controlled the US have played a game of allowing enough “democracy” to give the illusion of freedom, but not enough to lose control of power. After all, the “Founding Fathers” learnt early on, it is easier to control a slave when he is under the illusion he is free. Since then the plutocrats have given a little (e.g. 17th & 19th Amendments) and have taken a little (e.g. 22nd Amendment & Taft-Hartley Act & Citizens United vs. FEC), but their control of power was never in question. So Thomas, talking about US democracy is like talking about Rocking Horse droppings; understand most of state history is just the remnants of Disney and Hollywood productions.
So instead of looking at Greece to see how “democracies” fail; it may be more beneficial to look at Rome and understand how Empires fail. Understand the Bread and Circuses or MSNBC & Maddow; understand the clipping of coins or the printing of money; there are many similarities to the contemporary US. If you want factual US history, you have to reject the fabricated propaganda history of the perpetual plutocratic government and look elsewhere (Howard Zinn, Peter Kuznick). And always remember, the people are just ignorant observers in the plutocrats’ grand scheme of Imperial World domination; the Useful Idiots of Empire that give mostly ignorant and tacit support to the crimes of Wall Street. Even Major General Smedley Butler’s “War is a Racket” is an excellent short book if you wish to understand the perpetual US role in Global Empire.
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Thomas, how many ways can you spin "vote for the Corporate Democrats"? You've already exhausted the old, "They're not as bad as the others". Again, US politics is very simple; the oligarchs control both parties and the oligarchs will only allow two parties in the race. How difficult is that to understand? The only policies the Corporate Democrats will take to the election are the same old policies based on their old divide-and-conquer and identity politics that keeps the old pendulum swinging back-and-forward for those who still believe voting may make a difference. Thomas, you may have noticed as the corruption increases, fewer and fewer are coming out to vote. Soon it will only be the desperate clutching at straws that frequent a polling place.
Thomas, I believe by now most understand your job is to not have these numbers go to zero. Your job is to keep the pendulum swinging and keep "Hope and Change" alive when Obama did such an excellent job of driving the last nails in the lid of the coffin. And when that doesn't work, your job is to continually berate the puppet Trump and the Republican Party for the acts of the oligarch owned individuals making decisions on both sides of the isle. If you look at the titles of most of your previous videos, they nearly always take the attention away from the failings of the Democratic Party by berating the Republicans; and the Republicans conveniently give enough fuel to keep the flame of discontent roaring. It is not only obvious, it is rammed down the throats of the American people; I wonder why? Don't get me wrong, the Republicans are probably more detrimental to the good of the American people than the Democrats but that how the deception is designed to keep the pendulum swinging.
So the Democratic Party can never be destroyed until the vote count reaches single digits. While there is enough voting to give legitimacy to the system independent of which party gets the votes, the oligarchs are happy. They have fooled the voters for another voting cycle and they again have false legitimacy to continue directing their Washington puppets as usual. Thomas, by just continually berating the Republicans or continuing with the Democratic talking points, may I suggest you are presenting to your audience with just a small part of this Rube Goldberg machine; you need to stand back and observe the whole mechanism.
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Thomas, get real; the US is not a Democracy’ it is an Oligarchical Republic. In fact John Adams coined the phrase “Tyranny of the Majority” in 1788 to describe the potential threats of a Democratic system. This thought was then compounded by James Madison. The founding fathers used the word “Democracy” as a pejorative and did all they could to disable majority rule. Remember, it started with only land holders having the right to vote and ever since there have been corporate conservative forces undermining the will of the Majority. So Thomas, you can’t be surprised about the state of the nation when most conservatives and many democrats attempt to subvert and suppress the will of the people. The idea of Democracy in the US is so absurd that any thinking person must understand it is just an illusion of choice given to the people by the Oligarchs. The illusion if choice as the late, great George Carlin would put it, is the way the Owners keep the population fooled. Mark Twain said “If voting changed anything, they wouldn’t let us do it”
and he was correct lo those many years ago. The title of your discussion, “Our Democracy Is At Risk” is deceptive as it infers that one had a democracy in the first place. Might I suggest that you awaken yourself and your guest to the reality of US politics and refrain from self delusion? So unless you wish to form a real Democracy from the ashes of a covert Oligarchical totalitarian false Democratic system, you will only be installing yet another layer of deception to fool the masses.
To understand Hartmann’s intent one must listen very carefully when he is speaking out of both sides of his mouth. Listen when Thomas is discussing Cory Booker 9.58 “He takes a lot of money from big pharma, and it’s not to say Cory Booker is a sell-out; he is a decent guy on a lot of issues but there is seven big pharma companies in New Jersey and he represents New Jersey and that’s not that he is a bad guy that’s that the Supreme Court in 1976 in the Buckley decision and 2010 in the Citizen’s United decision said
that owning a politician is a perfectly legal thing.” Given that quote, you have all the material necessary to unpack the principles of Thomas Hartmann. Pay close attention to the context of the word "decent". I’ll leave it up to you to do the heavy lifting but might I introduce one thought; if the Supreme Court legislated it was legal to murder, would your intrinsic morals inhibit you from carrying out the act of murder?
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Hartmann, I liked your narrative and justification for a “little” socialism; it certainly appeared to come from the heart. But if you persist in selling people like Nancy Pelosi and Hillary Clinton to your audience and promoting fake progressive institutions like the Congressional Progressive Caucus and its members, the only socialism you will see is socialism for the oligarchs. Maybe you could recommend that the Neoliberal policies Bill Clinton pushed through as a “New Democrat” and being funded by the Kochs is repealed for a start. By reversing Bill’s NAFTA, the destruction of social security, and the deregulation of Wall Street, you are not even close to socialism but it’s a start. Even with these simple steps, all you are doing is reversing the betrayal of the People by Democratic Party and the Corporate Democrats.
If you have time, maybe you should read a little about the Gore and Clinton “Democratic Leadership Council”. https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Al_From
This institution funded by the Kochs and other oligarchs and corporations is still used to push Corporate Democrat policy today. This “Third Way” Democratic institution filled with “New Democrats” was designed to deliver the progressive remnants of the Democratic Party to Wall Street. Thanks to the efforts of Clinton, Gore and Lieberman and a little funding from the oligarchs (e.g. Kochs), the Democratic Leadership Council has been one of the more effective oligarch controlled institutions that have screwed the American people.
To understand this in more detail, maybe you should read Ralph Nader’s article describing the DLC as the “The Corporatist Democratic Leadership Council”: http://dissidentvoice.org/Articles7/Nader_DLC.htm
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