When It's a Clear Day and You Can't See GM

When It's a Clear Day and You Can't See GM by Paul Craig Roberts on counterpunch.org

The head of the FDIC is trying to get $25 billion--a measly 3.5 percent of the $700 billion for the banksters--with which to refinance the mortgages of 2 million of the banksters’ victims, and Bush’s Secretary of the Treasury Paulson says no. Why aren’t the Democrats all over this, too?

Apparently, the Democrats still think they are the minority party or else their aim is to supplant the Republicans as the party of the rich.

That's why I like Mr. Roberts. In one sentence, he hits the nail squarely on the head. Of course the Democrats are trying to supplant the Republicans as the party of the rich.

John Brennan and Bush's interrogation/detention policies

John Brennan and Bush's interrogation/detention policies by Glen Greenwald on Salon.com

This is a follow up piece to ...

The Democrats of 2002 and 2007 haven't gone anywhere by Glen Greenwald on Salon.com

The latest piece is details on the person who's transition advisor on intelligence policy. He is a big supporter of 'redition', FISA immunity and shall we say enhanced interrogation technigues.

The older piece has the amazing news that Joe Lieberman will likely get a key Senate chairmanship for the committee on Homeland Security.

America’s Wars of Self-Destruction

America’s Wars of Self-Destruction by Chris Hedges on Truthdig.com

War is a poison. It is a poison that nations and groups must at times ingest to ensure their survival. But, like any poison, it can kill you just as surely as the disease it is meant to eradicate. The poison of war courses unchecked through the body politic of the United States. We believe that because we have the capacity to wage war we have the right to wage war. We embrace the dangerous self-delusion that we are on a providential mission to save the rest of the world from itself, to implant our virtues—which we see as superior to all other virtues—on others, and that we have a right to do this by force.

America the Illiterate

America the Illiterate by Chris Hedges on Truthdig.com

We live in two Americas. One America, now the minority, functions in a print-based, literate world. It can cope with complexity and has the intellectual tools to separate illusion from truth. The other America, which constitutes the majority, exists in a non-reality-based belief system. This America, dependent on skillfully manipulated images for information, has severed itself from the literate, print-based culture. It cannot differentiate between lies and truth. It is informed by simplistic, childish narratives and clichés. It is thrown into confusion by ambiguity, nuance and self-reflection. This divide, more than race, class or gender, more than rural or urban, believer or nonbeliever, red state or blue state, has split the country into radically distinct, unbridgeable and antagonistic entities.

I'll admit I love Chris Hedges' writing. His book "War is a force that gives us meaning" is a great read. For me it was a slow read, as every page made me stop and think. But its a wonderful book.

Open Thread

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