No democracy needed here. The donors decide. That's about all you need to know. The US isn't a representative republic (forget about a "democracy"), it is an oligarchy. I have always tried to stress to people how dangerous it is to let individual people, who may not even be mentally stable, to have billions, tens of billions or even hundreds of billions of dollars. Why that is not the sole subject of concern right now perplexes me. It is obviously an existential threat to humanity when a small number of narcissistic billionaires control the world.
While he doesn't exclude them, The Christ says 'hardly ever' will a rich man enter the kingdom of heaven. He knows they love their money. They are also roadblocks for the kingdom being established on Earth.
In my view, Billionaires are a Crime against Humanity in a MONEY driven World!
You want "Reality" we are basically like a Cannibal, ghastly Cult:-- we subsist on the dead bodies of our ancestors and distant relatives "Coal, oil & gas are called fossil fuels because they are made from the fossil remains of beings from long ago . The chemical energy within them is a kind of stored sunlight originally accumulated by ancient plants. Our civilization runs by burning the remains of humble creatures who inhabited the Earth hundreds of millions of years before the first humans came on the scene." Carl Sagan; Billions & Billions: The Warming of the World
Biden promised to deliver a national address to the nation "later this week." Rather smart move for the Big Guy - or whoever.
So, this week's news cycles will be about the intrigue surrounding his announcement, e.g., the senior staff was only informed by email one minute before the public email; if or when Harris will be anointed; choice of VP that can be kept going until at least August 19th; and all the time waiting for whatever he's going to say.
Meanwhile, Trump and Vance can only react - and it keeps the Orange Man from grabbing all the TV time. I'll be curious how much the Republicans can pull the attention back to the Trump shooting and the Secret Service failures.
That's exactly why Biden's announcement didn't happen last Thursday, the day Trump accepted the nomination [that idea You floated last week].
There is that News Cycle to tend to... .
And i suspect it's only a matter of choreographed time before Republicans in Congress launch a JFK Assassination- or 9/11-type investigation of the "attempted assassination."
The same editorial pages that were filled with the 'Joe has got to go' narrative are now awash with, "Oh, what a courageous move; Oh, saving our democracy for a second time." (Duh! He was just regime changed by his own party, the press and big $$$. He hardly went quietly into the night.) Perhaps the only thing harder to take are my "friends." For weeks it was, "Hang in there Joe. You're such a wonderful leader. Such a great humanitarian. One of the best presidents ever. You'll beat Trump and save our democracy!" Now, there giddiness for Kamala wants to make me puke. "I'm with her!" Where have we heard that before. One post has Trudeau, Starmer, Scholz, Zelensky--"Class acts supporting Biden's courageous decision."
And sad to say the Dem loving expats here in Ecuador are just as bad as my stateside friends. Mercy, I wish they'd leave the caca behind and open their eyes to what the global majority sees that they refuse to see for the sake of "vote blue no matter who."
Totally agree with your, "regime changed by his own party" line, Tom. It was a coup largely perpetrated by the media. The hypocrisy is indeed nauseating. I wonder what we'll think of the NYT "Joe must go" editorial come November 6th.
Its possible she could beat Trump this fall. Her strong suit is the law and as Attn Gen of CA know her way around the judicial system. She was progressive on climate issues and fighting big oil and a champion of helping folks get into the housing market by prodding the banks to be more user friendly to home owners. She may even champion unions and labor issues over big conglomerates. She may be more forceful than Biden putting Netanyahu and the aparthied state of Israel in its place. That said I'll still vote Jill Stein over her. If we had rank voting she'd be my second choice.
no party is popular in the red fly over states....that's been the case since both parties sold out the fly over states to big corporations Bth parties champion the multinationals going over seas for cheap labor. Are any repuglicans championing living wages for workers, respect for workers and strong laboor unions, universal health care for all, free public education, In desperation these rural areas have put their hopes in trump's rhetoric of MAGA. But in reaity he's make the oligarchs richer (into multi billionieres) on the back of cheap labor 9overseas labor) . In conclussion the Repuglicans are worse that the Dems in championing minimal taxes and maximum profits to their big donors not the little fly over guy. You're delusional if you think otherwise.
Jill may not win but if more folks gravitate toward her at the booths this Nov it could help future Greens do better in all the states that make it almost impossible for 3rd party candiates to be heard and get on the ballots. That's the win in my book and why I'm voting for this Nov. Vote Green and you vote for
1. People over profits that trickle up not down
2. A healther planet for us and our children
3. Peace over forever wars that feed what currently is the USA's ony growth industry: war constant war that feeds the war machine industries which than feed the politicians which in turn feed the perpetuation of the war machine. We are a nation built on continuous war. If that's what you want vote for either of the duopoly parties.
The other big thing China got right is the transformation of the Global South. It doubled exports to the Global South since Covid – now exports more to the Global South than to all developed markets. Assimilates billions of people into its economic sphere. It did this with 200 soldiers deployed outside China versus our 230,000.
We spent $7 trillion on forever wars. China spent $1 trillion on Belt and Road Initiative investments. Who got more influence?
Forty countries have applied to join the BRICS group.
The US fears China overtaking it Economically because the US knows MONEY TALKS! The Bible says so in The Revelation of Jesus Christ!
And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that "the image of the beast should both speak," and continues, "And that no man might buy or sell" without it.
What does it take to buy or sell anything in THIS Material World of things to buy and sell? It takes MONEY! MONEY! MONEY! If you don't have any, too bad.
The limousine of the US President is called, "The Beast" and it goes with the President everywhere he goes in this World to keep the image of the US Dollar dominant in THIS World as Empire slips from the US grasp like the British Empire and it's currency faded away, surrendering Empire to the US.
'Even at $1.5m, Joe Biden’s ‘Beast’ isn’t the priciest presidential limo
The White House limousine is a bargain compared with past presidential vehicles
The actual specifications are top secret, but the Beast is armoured against gunfire and explosives, has puncture-proof tyres and its own internal air supply, and carries packets of the president’s blood type in a chilled compartment so that he or she can be given an emergency transfusion if needed.
You are not only "cherry-picking," as Ray declared, Dennis.
You missed the most important and whole point of and about his comment: About what China GOT RIGHT in its endeavor to bring about BRICS.
Instead, You chose to focus on "The US fears China overtaking it Economically because the US knows MONEY TALKS! The Bible says so in "THE REVALATION OF CHRIST" ["EMPHASIS" added.]
You're cherry picking. When the woman caught in adultery was brought to Jesus by the hypocritical religious Establishment, they said to him the Bible in Deuteronomy 22 demands she should be stoned to death. Jesus didn't go along with that!
That's nothing new. The party always selects the candidates and the DNC (and same for RNC) controls who gets nominated. Yes, we get to vote on the candidates, but our choices are always limited to the one or two nominees selected by the party which is controlled by the Central Committee. Everything is controlled by the party and the party is controlled by its patrons ( big donors). That's the nature of party politics.
Democracy is a fairy tale. There has never been a true democracy in the world's history. The closest thing to a democracy in the U.S. is in those states that have the rights to referendum, initiative and recall where the voters have a direct say in the enactment or repeal of laws and can remove elected officials. (Those states are few in this country.)
“Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote.” ~ attributed [probably wrongly] to Benjamin Franklin
Good point. But does the analogy describe "democracy" as is it is in reality?
And "democracy" is indeed an abstract concept. But what about a "republic"? Is that equally abstract with no reality? Or a "dictatorship of the Proletariat"?
What we're looking for here is not how political philosophers define and use those terms. Rather, how those terms manifest in the real world with real people running real governments that call themselves a democracy, a republic, or a dictatorship.
I was just made aware that Harris has released an initial Presidential campaign ad targeting the orange one. As it's over three weeks until she can be officially nominated, and she only has about half the required delegates so far, I think that's a bit presumptuous. But maybe that's just me.
Maybe, the DNC is trying to repeat the Hubert Humphrey scenario. There is one important difference the former senator from Minnesota was a seasoned politician which Harris is not. But today this is a very different Democratic Party. I am convinced that Trump would love to have Harris as his opponent.
The main skill that makes "a seasoned politician" is the ability to smilingly use weasel words that allow one to waffle and back away from campaign promises and rhetoric, without upsetting the donor class too much. I think Harris already has that nailed down.
No democracy needed here. The donors decide. That's about all you need to know. The US isn't a representative republic (forget about a "democracy"), it is an oligarchy. I have always tried to stress to people how dangerous it is to let individual people, who may not even be mentally stable, to have billions, tens of billions or even hundreds of billions of dollars. Why that is not the sole subject of concern right now perplexes me. It is obviously an existential threat to humanity when a small number of narcissistic billionaires control the world.
While he doesn't exclude them, The Christ says 'hardly ever' will a rich man enter the kingdom of heaven. He knows they love their money. They are also roadblocks for the kingdom being established on Earth.
In my view, Billionaires are a Crime against Humanity in a MONEY driven World!
You want "Reality" we are basically like a Cannibal, ghastly Cult:-- we subsist on the dead bodies of our ancestors and distant relatives "Coal, oil & gas are called fossil fuels because they are made from the fossil remains of beings from long ago . The chemical energy within them is a kind of stored sunlight originally accumulated by ancient plants. Our civilization runs by burning the remains of humble creatures who inhabited the Earth hundreds of millions of years before the first humans came on the scene." Carl Sagan; Billions & Billions: The Warming of the World
Do You have a source on all that? Or are You just pulling it out of... ?
Thank You.
I guess when you cut off your nose it really does spite your face. :p
Biden promised to deliver a national address to the nation "later this week." Rather smart move for the Big Guy - or whoever.
So, this week's news cycles will be about the intrigue surrounding his announcement, e.g., the senior staff was only informed by email one minute before the public email; if or when Harris will be anointed; choice of VP that can be kept going until at least August 19th; and all the time waiting for whatever he's going to say.
Meanwhile, Trump and Vance can only react - and it keeps the Orange Man from grabbing all the TV time. I'll be curious how much the Republicans can pull the attention back to the Trump shooting and the Secret Service failures.
That's exactly why Biden's announcement didn't happen last Thursday, the day Trump accepted the nomination [that idea You floated last week].
There is that News Cycle to tend to... .
And i suspect it's only a matter of choreographed time before Republicans in Congress launch a JFK Assassination- or 9/11-type investigation of the "attempted assassination."
💯 Anybody want to learn more about Kamala from a NON-partisan, independent perspective, here's some links
Youtube short of Kamala's worst actions:
https://youtu.be/ysYVkrAyDyU?si=-SeOlUv7oCG7qhlD (9 minutes)
Longer speech of her bad actions:
https://youtu.be/5_oDRb-O1AE?si=UrrXZVMe-WJh3hKi
144 page book about her history (if you don't have Amazon, it's cheaper to buy on Thriftbooks so here are 2 links):
https://www.amazon.com/Kamala-Harris-Future-America-Essay/dp/B08HGZK7P4
https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/kamala-harris--the-future-of-america-an-essay-in-three-parts/27068178/
Finally if you want to listen to a free reading of that book I linked above, you can find it here:
https://youtu.be/rNIpulcW0Vo?si=5NaLAE_PptjmhBuQ
Thank You, Rachel, for sharing that,
It’s interesting, though, that Obama has not yet endorsed Harris. Is that a confounding factor?
Nor has Pelosi, last i heard.
Pelosi endorsed Harris this afternoon. But the time it took for her to do it was....interesting.
The plot thickens.
The same editorial pages that were filled with the 'Joe has got to go' narrative are now awash with, "Oh, what a courageous move; Oh, saving our democracy for a second time." (Duh! He was just regime changed by his own party, the press and big $$$. He hardly went quietly into the night.) Perhaps the only thing harder to take are my "friends." For weeks it was, "Hang in there Joe. You're such a wonderful leader. Such a great humanitarian. One of the best presidents ever. You'll beat Trump and save our democracy!" Now, there giddiness for Kamala wants to make me puke. "I'm with her!" Where have we heard that before. One post has Trudeau, Starmer, Scholz, Zelensky--"Class acts supporting Biden's courageous decision."
And sad to say the Dem loving expats here in Ecuador are just as bad as my stateside friends. Mercy, I wish they'd leave the caca behind and open their eyes to what the global majority sees that they refuse to see for the sake of "vote blue no matter who."
Totally agree with your, "regime changed by his own party" line, Tom. It was a coup largely perpetrated by the media. The hypocrisy is indeed nauseating. I wonder what we'll think of the NYT "Joe must go" editorial come November 6th.
Agree with this assessment. A neocon follower she be to the core. A typical right of center Hillary triangulating Cultist Democrat. F em all
Its possible she could beat Trump this fall. Her strong suit is the law and as Attn Gen of CA know her way around the judicial system. She was progressive on climate issues and fighting big oil and a champion of helping folks get into the housing market by prodding the banks to be more user friendly to home owners. She may even champion unions and labor issues over big conglomerates. She may be more forceful than Biden putting Netanyahu and the aparthied state of Israel in its place. That said I'll still vote Jill Stein over her. If we had rank voting she'd be my second choice.
Cheers
no party is popular in the red fly over states....that's been the case since both parties sold out the fly over states to big corporations Bth parties champion the multinationals going over seas for cheap labor. Are any repuglicans championing living wages for workers, respect for workers and strong laboor unions, universal health care for all, free public education, In desperation these rural areas have put their hopes in trump's rhetoric of MAGA. But in reaity he's make the oligarchs richer (into multi billionieres) on the back of cheap labor 9overseas labor) . In conclussion the Repuglicans are worse that the Dems in championing minimal taxes and maximum profits to their big donors not the little fly over guy. You're delusional if you think otherwise.
Jill may not win but if more folks gravitate toward her at the booths this Nov it could help future Greens do better in all the states that make it almost impossible for 3rd party candiates to be heard and get on the ballots. That's the win in my book and why I'm voting for this Nov. Vote Green and you vote for
1. People over profits that trickle up not down
2. A healther planet for us and our children
3. Peace over forever wars that feed what currently is the USA's ony growth industry: war constant war that feeds the war machine industries which than feed the politicians which in turn feed the perpetuation of the war machine. We are a nation built on continuous war. If that's what you want vote for either of the duopoly parties.
The other big thing China got right is the transformation of the Global South. It doubled exports to the Global South since Covid – now exports more to the Global South than to all developed markets. Assimilates billions of people into its economic sphere. It did this with 200 soldiers deployed outside China versus our 230,000.
We spent $7 trillion on forever wars. China spent $1 trillion on Belt and Road Initiative investments. Who got more influence?
Forty countries have applied to join the BRICS group.
https://asiatimes.com/2024/07/chinas-long-march-through-the-global-south
The US fears China overtaking it Economically because the US knows MONEY TALKS! The Bible says so in The Revelation of Jesus Christ!
And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that "the image of the beast should both speak," and continues, "And that no man might buy or sell" without it.
What does it take to buy or sell anything in THIS Material World of things to buy and sell? It takes MONEY! MONEY! MONEY! If you don't have any, too bad.
The limousine of the US President is called, "The Beast" and it goes with the President everywhere he goes in this World to keep the image of the US Dollar dominant in THIS World as Empire slips from the US grasp like the British Empire and it's currency faded away, surrendering Empire to the US.
'Even at $1.5m, Joe Biden’s ‘Beast’ isn’t the priciest presidential limo
The White House limousine is a bargain compared with past presidential vehicles
The actual specifications are top secret, but the Beast is armoured against gunfire and explosives, has puncture-proof tyres and its own internal air supply, and carries packets of the president’s blood type in a chilled compartment so that he or she can be given an emergency transfusion if needed.
https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/motors/even-at-1-5m-joe-biden-s-beast-isn-t-the-priciest-presidential-limo-1.4455575
Does it carry chocolate chip ice cream?
You are not only "cherry-picking," as Ray declared, Dennis.
You missed the most important and whole point of and about his comment: About what China GOT RIGHT in its endeavor to bring about BRICS.
Instead, You chose to focus on "The US fears China overtaking it Economically because the US knows MONEY TALKS! The Bible says so in "THE REVALATION OF CHRIST" ["EMPHASIS" added.]
You're cherry picking. When the woman caught in adultery was brought to Jesus by the hypocritical religious Establishment, they said to him the Bible in Deuteronomy 22 demands she should be stoned to death. Jesus didn't go along with that!
That's nothing new. The party always selects the candidates and the DNC (and same for RNC) controls who gets nominated. Yes, we get to vote on the candidates, but our choices are always limited to the one or two nominees selected by the party which is controlled by the Central Committee. Everything is controlled by the party and the party is controlled by its patrons ( big donors). That's the nature of party politics.
Democracy is a fairy tale. There has never been a true democracy in the world's history. The closest thing to a democracy in the U.S. is in those states that have the rights to referendum, initiative and recall where the voters have a direct say in the enactment or repeal of laws and can remove elected officials. (Those states are few in this country.)
Yes, but please give me the illusion that my vote matters. :-)
Your vote does matter. You get to choose between the lesser of two evils - and that's important. But that doesn't make it a democracy.
What You really have is having to deal with the Evil of two Lessers.
“Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote.” ~ attributed [probably wrongly] to Benjamin Franklin
Your analogy has merit, but does not describe democracy. Democracy is simply an abstract concept that has little or no basis in reality.
Don't try to compare to something that is real, because there is nothing realistic about it.
Good point. But does the analogy describe "democracy" as is it is in reality?
And "democracy" is indeed an abstract concept. But what about a "republic"? Is that equally abstract with no reality? Or a "dictatorship of the Proletariat"?
What we're looking for here is not how political philosophers define and use those terms. Rather, how those terms manifest in the real world with real people running real governments that call themselves a democracy, a republic, or a dictatorship.
You are absolutely correct. But to add insult to injury, they are tax exempt corporations under section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code.
And so are PACs.
As Trump might say: "the swamp's choice"
I was just made aware that Harris has released an initial Presidential campaign ad targeting the orange one. As it's over three weeks until she can be officially nominated, and she only has about half the required delegates so far, I think that's a bit presumptuous. But maybe that's just me.
The fix is in, Denise.
The fix is always in.
I guess SO!
Have money will spend. Wire Harris, San Francisco.
Maybe, the DNC is trying to repeat the Hubert Humphrey scenario. There is one important difference the former senator from Minnesota was a seasoned politician which Harris is not. But today this is a very different Democratic Party. I am convinced that Trump would love to have Harris as his opponent.
The main skill that makes "a seasoned politician" is the ability to smilingly use weasel words that allow one to waffle and back away from campaign promises and rhetoric, without upsetting the donor class too much. I think Harris already has that nailed down.
If Drumpf would love to have Harris as his opponent, why is the GOP threatening to sue to get Biden back on the ticket? Kabuki?
Thank you, Dennis. I do consider myself a pretty classy person.
It's a damn shame, Dennis, that You don't have more important things to bitch about.
Well now Nancy's onboard. Wonder how long Obama can hold out for an "open convention."
https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2024/07/22/kamala-harris-campaign-biden-drop-out/nancy-pelosi-endorsement-00170365
What happens next: https://babylonbee.com/news/what-happens-if-biden-steps-down-the-7-steps-that-will-transpire-next
More Babylon Bee: https://babylonbee.com/news/biden-wakes-up-from-nap-asks-if-he-missed-anything
Meanwhile the Babylon Bee has the real Biden story: https://babylonbee.com/news/jill-biden-drops-out-of-presidential-race