There was something about the chief supreme court hearing cases against the president -- i.e. Bush is still protected by his nominating Roberts into that position.

 the whole more money in the hands of the rich equals more investement argument is true only during periods where capital is tight. Which has not been the case. If anything there has been capital looking for ideas not ideas looking for capital

Thom is exactly right. Ronald Reagan used the language game to repackage the Milton Friedman economic theory on steroids, which is nothing more than trickle down economics. What Reagan did was to make greed good(the me generation), and make it morally acceptable to cast a vast portion of our society away to poverty. Mr. Chapman's argument is hollow at best. What the conservatives used to say in public was every man for himself. They found out that model didn't sell in America, so they repackaged the way they pitched their theories. They began to call it Jobs and Growth economic policy. Keep the money in the hands of the capitalists and they would make sure we had a full employment economy that provided good paying jobs for the public. Well, after the past 26 years of this economic policy, save a few admirable years from Clinton, we now have tried it their way, and it does not work. After the tax cuts on steroids from the Bushes and Reagan, and the disastrous trade policies of all of the Presidents over the past 26 years, America is in its worst fiscal crisis since the Great Depression, which by the way was the last time conservative economic policy was in place.

At what point do we turn the page again on this philosophy of conservativism and move back to progressive/liberal policies to restore America to its economic greatness, as well as it moral greatness. It is harder to change today due to the structural impediments to overcome, such as the media, the mindset of the American people, and the acquiescence of the Democratic party. This is the true battle of our generation, not this phony War on Terror. By the way Thom, did you catch Prime Minister's statement of terrorism being battled as a crime issue. He will not call it a War on Terror, as his predecessor did. Other than that, looks like full steam ahead with Bush and Brown, as it was with Blair.

Things are tough all over and sometimes laughter helps alleviate the pain, so here are two for your consideration:

"Apple Computer announced today that it has
developed a computer chip that can store and play high
fidelity music in women's breast implants.

The iTit will cost $499 or $599 depending on speaker size.

This is considered to be a major breakthrough because
women have always complained about men staring at
their breasts and not listening to them."

And from the world of Professional Sports:

"NBA official admitted today that they should have known that something was amiss when they received reports about disgraced referee Tim Donaghy officiating games in the off-season for the Harlem Globe Trotters, games in which the Globe Trotters would consistently not beat the spread."

I'll be here all the week, please make sure to try the veal... 

:coolsmirk: 

~Nyc Alberts, Digital Components
I'd Rather Be A Matin' Than A Hatin'

We've seen the problems caused when there is a lack of oversight in the three branches of government. Congress hasn't been doing its job watching over the executive branch. Now my question is this. Who is supposed to provide oversight of Congress? Who is supposed to clamp down on all these unnecessary earmarks, junkets, and just plain stupid legislation? We the people? Yeah, right. We don't have the power or the access to the information to hold them accountable except for elections. And what about the Courts? Who watches over them? Isn't it about time we reexamined the Constitution and gave it a 21th century upgrade? If not now, when?

From a recent correspondence.

It's based on Al Gore's new book "The Attack On Reason" and Dr. Robert Altemeyer's must read on-line, non-fiction, book "The Authoritarians" that John Dean based his latest book, "Conservatives Without Conscience" on:

..... 

Here are the pieces of the jig-saw puzzle:

1. One third of the electorate will always vote Authoritarian, that's a hard, fast, cardinal rule.
2  Two thirds of all people can't do what you and I do, which is think abstractly. Average IQ of the US, population, by definition, is 100 IQ points
3. Most people don't vote, turnout was 40% in 2006, 60% in 2004
4. People, in general, are too distracted to pay attention to matters directly concerning them
5. The Public Schools have been decimated, starting under Reagan, with Busch finishing the job, with an assist from the Evangelicals
6. The bulk of the monies raised for the General Election will be spent on 30 second negative attack ads in October 2008.
7. Nothing of substance will be discussed during this Election Cycle, it will all be trivial stories and sound bites
8. Corporate Media has *zero* obligation or responsibility to report the "news".
By law, and statute, the *only* responsibility they have is to generate profits for their shareholders
9. Corporate Media is driven by ratings which means they will tailor their content to the greatest number of people, which is the 2/3rds that can not think abstractly.

In narrative form, the story goes like this....

"Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American Public."

It's a given that between 30-35% of all voters will by default vote for the most Authoritarian candidate, no matter who he is, (Evangelicals can make all the noise they want about Ghouliani, but on Election Day they will hold their noses and vote for him, this is why the Father Ted Haggard bust last year was more important and significant than the Mark Foley case), so to game the present system and get to a 50.0001% majority, of the popular vote, (Herr Busch won by 50.7% in 2004), you only need to focus on winning between around 15 to 20 + % of the popular vote.

Add into the mix our Electoral College system, and you don't even need to win the popular vote, which is why 'Battle Ground' States like FL and OH come into play, as they have in the last two Presidential Elections.

Most people, two thirds of them, by default, aren't capable of abstract thinking.

Amplify that weakness by teaching, say Creationism, in the schools, and you destroy among the populace what little remaining ability there is to think critically.

The 60%, at most, of eligible voters, that will vote in 2008, the two thirds of them that can not think critically will be most susceptible to the billion plus dollars of attack ads that will run on Corporate Media TV in October of 2008.

These ads will sway about 10 to 12% of these voters to vote Republican.

To make up the difference, cage a few votes in places like OH and FL, rig a few machines, and use some other under-handed tactics, and that puts you right over the top, again, just like it did in 2004.

Howard Dean's 50 State Strategy is awesome, but Corporate Media has a much bigger mega-phone than any grassroots, on the ground, organization can hope to have.

How many TV satellites does  Rupert Murdoch's Fox News have at its disposal?

How many does the Democratic National Committee?

The bulk of the 2008 Multi-Billion War Chest is going to be spent on Attack Ads On TV in October of 2008 and it's going to drown out a *lot* of Dean's work.

Grim enough for you?

This is the strategy Karl Rove has been using...

.....

:sick: :sick: :sick: 

~Nyc Alberts, Digital Components
I'd Rather Be A Matin' Than A Hatin'

I love AA and your show.  My TSL is huge, hours per day.  That is why I never want to hear these 19 things again.

1.  The following is a message from Brutus...
2.  Suddenly, mom dropped the forks.
3.  Grunt, if you have to.
4.  Fire breathing dragon.
5.  I'm General Colin Powel, and I don't believe in giving up.
6.  I would have been a statistic.
7.  Hi, it's mom.  Less chatting, mmmore homework.
8.  Issues.  I-S-S-U-E-S.
9.  But Dreadylocks likes to play cool games at...
10. ...and I stopped eating the fried stuff.
11. There are plenty of fish in the sea.
12. Oh my gosh, his helmet is too big!
13. Apathy is lethal.
14. That's 'Biker Babe' to you, Missy.
15. Just strap it to the roof of the car.
16. Just as my star was rising...
17. What!  I'll put the fear into that kid!
18. Staying in touch, the anti-drug.
19. We don't eat sand.

 I don't mind commercials at all, but these PSA's are driving me bats.  The adoption one (#3) I've been hearing several times a day since 2004.

No one is mentioning an important key factor......What if something happens to Bush.  What happens, God forbid, if he is assassinated in office  making Cheney president.  For the neocons that would be better than a  terrorist attack on a major city.

Cheney would just say..."Oh the hell with congress.  They're cowards.  They're afraid to do what needs to be done!"       So why is this guy still vice president of our nation?  Support HR 333.  Don't take the chance. 

We need to get the K Street project down to the size that we can drown it in the bath tub.

The reason O'Reilley's attack dogs didn't hound or victimize Jet Blue's CEO is because he doesn't spout out opinions on line or anywhere else about his politics or personal biases.  If the CEO had ever done that it's for sure he would have been dogged by O'Reilly. 

What O'Reilly has done and does do on his show and web site makes him deserving of being outed for the hate filled hypocrite he is.  This is the type of discourse he does to others and then uses his money made from tirades to insulate himself from the same sort of attacks he supposes on his show and web site.  Uses his wealth and position to threaten those who would expose him.  His hypocrisy should "vibrate" in the public shower of opinion, for all to turn around and see. 

Tuesday 31 July '07

Today's show notes.

Guest: Michael Chapman, Managing Editor, cnsnews.com, debating on if a minimum wage will hurt or help the economy.

Minimum wages, maximum wages, middle class rant.

Who said, "If any woman ever breathed a word I’ll make her pay so dearly that she’ll wish she’d never been born."?

Guest: Congressman Jay Inslee, who is introducing a resolution requiring the Judiciary Committee to investigate with a view to impeaching Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Transcript.

Guest: Tom Hayden, activist, former California state senator, co-founder of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), author, national co-director of "No More Sweatshops!". Author of "Ending the War in Iraq". He was on the show for a full hour. The future of activism. The Iraq war. He wrote in his book: "I know therefore that we live on borrowed time. We can assume that somewhere in government plans are already prepared for moving our country in a more authoritarian direction at home and an even ore militaristic one abroad, should there be another September 11th scale attack." The Patriot Act is a massive document, it was ready before 9/11.

Thom will be attending several openings of Leonardo DiCaprio's feature-length environmental documentary titled "The 11th Hour", which Thom is in: August 17 in Los Angeles (show live from AM 1150 KTLK), August 20 in NYC (show live from AM 1600 WWRL), August 24 in San Francisco (show live from KQKE, 960AM The Quake), and others. Times and theaters to be announced.

Guest: Jeff Golimowski, CNSNews.com Senior Staff Writer - a journalist who is not a conservative, but a moderate to left liberal. BAE Systems (British defense company) lobbying and campaigning. Outsourcing defense contracts.

Guest: Mike Stark of Calling all Wingnuts, who confronted O'Reilly at his home.

Who said, "We will lead an aggressive effort to enroll millions of poor children who are eligible but not signed up for the government's health insurance programmes"?