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The protesters who make up “Occupy Wall Street” are ‘scum’, a ‘mob’, ‘the great unwashed’ …and similar, according to many right-wing politicians and media companies.

The ‘Tea Party’ has called comparisons between itself and ‘Occupy Wall Street’, “…insulting”.

Perhaps, it’s just a question of perspective?

New York’s mayor, Michael Bloomberg, was quoted recently in the Wall Street Journal, as saying:

The bottom line is – people want to express themselves. And as long as they obey the laws, we’ll allow them to. If they break the laws, then, we’re going to do what we’re supposed to do: enforce the laws.”

Note: “…as long as they obey the laws, we’ll allow them to.”

How nobly arrogant of you, Mayor Bloomberg. So long as people are law abiding, you’ll allow them to go about their business.

Isn’t that their right?

The First Amendment states: “Congress shall make no law…prohibiting…the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

It makes no mention of any time factor. It does not state that they should all go home within one hour, or after three days, or, whenever.

Therefore, Mayor Bloomberg, for you to state you will allow them to express themselves is to suggest you, personally, are above the US Bill of Rights, that you have the power – should you choose to exercise it – of negating the Bill of Rights.

The truth, of course, is that you are one of the ‘1%’.

You, Mayor Bloomberg, are as much a part of the ‘Wall Street’ these people seek to occupy, as any of these goons:

In case any readers are unfamiliar with these fine, upstanding, individuals, they are Brian Moynihan (CEO Bank Of America), Lloyd Blankfein (CEO Goldman Sachs), and Jamie Diman (CEO JPMorgan Chase).

Mayor Bloomberg’s fortune (now estimated at $18.1 billion dollars) was initially accrued when he was sacked from the Wall Street investment bank, Salomon Brothers (later, part of Citigroup) in 1981, with a $10 million dollar pay-off. He used the money to start a new company, Bloomberg L.P..

Merrill Lynch was his first customer.

So the ‘1%’ are graciously “allowing” the other 99% to continue their peaceful protests in New York, provided, of course, no law is broken in the process.

One is left wondering when Diana Taylor, Mayor Bloomberg’s domestic partner, and herself the former New York State Superintendent of Banks, will turn to him and suggest that, “they can all eat cake.”

Filed under: Goontown Rats

I have to smile at the antics of some US politicians as they mutter the despised “S” word into their microphone. Only last week Rick Perry declared it was “a downward spiral to disaster”, and last night on the Daily Show Ron Paul casually linked Socialism and “Authoritarianism” like they were one and the same.

Americans have heard this crap repeated so often the majority are now firmly convinced it’s true. The Cold War and the Vietnam War, between them, cemented the idea that Socialism and Communism were synonymous. They fail to recognize that many of the major players on the world economic stage would be labeled ‘Socialist’ according to the criteria of US politicians; countries like the UK, France, Germany, Canada, Italy, and Japan all have social welfare programs regulated by the government, and of course, universal healthcare.

^{A UK National Health Service Hospital – free to all!}

While many Americans would argue that these countries (with the possible exception of Germany) are suffering economically right now, it really has nothing to do with government social welfare programs. A serious breakdown of capitalism and monetarism are the reasons for the economic crises afflicting both sides of the Atlantic, coupled with the incompetence of inept and often corrupt politicians lining their bank accounts by ass-licking the wealthy and powerful. Social welfare programs are about caring for those who are sick, or fall on hard times. They are paid for by taxation and have little or no effect on national economies.

Sadly, for many in America, the “Stuff everyone else, I’m all right,” syndrome is alive and well and living in Arizona, Texas, or South Carolina.

It’s truly amazing that, given the state this nation is in, there are still those who believe Ron Paul (substitute Perry, Palin, Bachman, or whosoever you personally believe holds the magic wand) has the answer to all this nation’s woes. Come 2012, provided they’re elected to high office, all will be made right. America will hold its head high once more, everyone who wants to work will have a job, kids will get a decent education, their parents will have tons of money to send them to college, every citizen will be able to afford that $150,000 heart by-pass, and only the criminally idle will die in the gutter from disease or starvation.

Yes, the American Dream has always been about looking after Number One, and to hell with the rest. If they make it, too, that’s fine. If they don’t, well – tough. It doesn’t take a mathematics professor to calculate the high percentage of the populace who have to not make it, just so one person can.

You came to America, worked hard, got the breaks, and founded a small company. You employed people. They worked hard for you, and the business grew until you had seven factories and a workforce of thousands. You became wealthy. Then the Chinese offered to make your product for half the cost, so you closed your seven factories and moved production to Zhejiang Province.

Your business boomed. You became a multimillionaire. You joined the Republican Party and ran for political office. For you, the American Dream finally became reality when you stood at the dais during a presidential debate, and declared, “Capitalism is the only way forward. Socialism leads to authoritarianism and is a downward spiral to disaster.”

Not for one moment did you pause to consider those thousands of workers in your American factories, without whom you would be living where many of them are now – in poverty, after you stole their jobs and cast them adrift without a second thought.

Well, perhaps, after all, you managed to spare them one thought………

“Stuff them, I’m all right!”

Filed under: I’m alright, Jack!

On September 7th the Russian ice hockey team, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, was all but wiped out when the aircraft they were traveling in burst into flames and crashed shortly after take-off. Twenty-seven of the team died in the crash. There were only two survivors: a member of the crew and one of the players.^[1]

Despite eleven foreign nationals being on board the aircraft, including the team’s Canadian coach, in America yesterday evening NBC Nightly News failed to mention the accident. Brian Williams was too busy preening himself for the Republican presidential-hopefuls debate to be concerned with what was happening in Russia.

Far more important to NBC News was the circus of clowns cavorting on the rostrum of the Reagan Library that evening. Anybody who was anybody was there. Even Air Force One was in the audience.

There was a time when America was a great country. Some of its major politicians were actually honorable. Yet, it only took one glance through the posse of weirdos straddled across the rostrum of the Reagan Library on Wednesday evening to realize how low this nation has fallen.

The only two remotely sane candidates were a Libertarian has-been who wants to do away with government, and yet another Mormon from Utah intent on abolishing a woman’s right to control her own body.

Man, you can sure spot a Mormon by his smile!

The rest were a bunch of pseudo-Christian ideologues intent on forcing their own crazed agendas down the throats of the American people. He who was labeled, “the one most likely to succeed”, and is supposedly ahead of them all in the polls, is a Christian Dominionist who denounces the science of climate change as a charade, believes fervently in creationism, the absolute truth of the Bible (except for those parts he doesn’t believe in i.e. “Thou shalt not kill”, “Love thy neighbor”, etc), and that he has been ‘called’ by God.

On April 21st this year he instigated three days of prayer to, “heal our land [Texas]” and bring an end to the drought.”

According to Wikipedia:

The drought became worse after the Days of Prayer. While only 15-17% of the state was undergoing exceptional drought during the Days of Prayer, the percentage grew to 50% a month later, and by late June, more than 70% of the state was experiencing exceptional drought conditions, a level at which it has stayed up to August 18, 2011.”^[2]

Indeed, it could be construed that this particular politician is well out of favor with the Almighty, who appears to be playing games with him. Two recent storms, Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee, may have somewhat relieved Texans of their drought, had they stayed on track. Despite the ‘three days of prayer’ both storms veered away from Texas and dumped their rain on the east coast instead.

Overall, the outlook for America is dim. The incumbent president is hellbent on emulating the late Neville Chamberlain, no other Democrat appears willing to challenge his position, and the American people have a history of voting for the ‘other side’ whenever the party in power appears to fail them.

Perhaps, after all, it was understandable that Brian Williams and NBC News didn’t mention the loss of life in the Russian air disaster. They were too busy reporting the train wreck on their own doorstep.

^{[1] “Russia’s Lokomotiv ice hockey team in air disaster” BBC, September 7th 2011}

^{[2] “Days of Prayer for Rain in the State of Texas” Wikipedia}

Filed under: Slowly sinking in the West