tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19580203.post300542586952671571..comments2024-03-25T16:03:36.810-07:00Comments on The Existentialist Cowboy: Atlas Crapped or Objectivist Obsessions with Hard Things that Stand UprightAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04598093941551759917noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19580203.post-37868524862296295492012-08-12T00:44:43.572-07:002012-08-12T00:44:43.572-07:00You're absolutely correct. They have many, man...You're absolutely correct. They have many, many more bucks, indeed! For several years, I had kept some 'official' GOP campaign manuals that had been prepared by poltiical consultants catering (kissin up) to the GOP! Many stated flat out: the candidate with the most money usually wins. Entire texts are written about ratings methodology and GRPs (Gross Ratings Points) but --in a nutshell, bucks buy both points and 'reach'! Democrats are always scrambling for money. There are solutions but the GOP would oppose those solutions with COLD HARD CASH! Who needs to think or persuade when you've got CASH? <br /><br />Thanks for commenting. Good to see you again.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04598093941551759917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19580203.post-88388128083550381352012-08-11T14:57:52.581-07:002012-08-11T14:57:52.581-07:00I agree...they are a minority party, but they have...I agree...they are a minority party, but they have the most bucks, so that fact is unfortunately almost moot. I hope it back fires also, just hope that Obama's people are able to pull in the majority of their original electorate, as I am certain there will be no 'converts' hope you are well Len, and keep on blogging, not many have your depth of view... Ben MercAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19580203.post-16543422198227264682012-08-11T13:28:32.893-07:002012-08-11T13:28:32.893-07:00My hope is the strategy will backfire. For all the...My hope is the strategy will backfire. For all their bluster, the GOP is still a 'minority' party. Their advantage has always been the rich 'base'. A bad choice could backfire. <br /><br />That said, the VEEP candidate has rarely mattered historically. Who remembers Nixon's veep: Spiro Agnew. In 1973, Agnew was under investigation by the U.S. Atty in Baltimore re: charges of extortion, tax fraud, bribery and conspiracy. He was formally charged with taking some 100 thousand $ in bribes as an office holder in Maryland. <br /><br />Nixon simply replaced him with Gerald Ford then the House Minority Leader. There was barely a yawn.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04598093941551759917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19580203.post-35611305559709082982012-08-11T11:58:26.338-07:002012-08-11T11:58:26.338-07:00Well, I think Romney's 'people' picked...Well, I think Romney's 'people' picked Ryan to hold down the radical winger base, cause if those mental cases don't come out in full force this November, the R's are dead meat. That said, this is a golden opportunity for the Obama camp to play in ads, the many examples of the hard-right-wing Ryan rhetoric, for which there is plentiful clips and examples...that info will not help Romney in November with the swing states...but, on the other hand we are relying on the Democrat's sense of campaign tactics, which is a 50/50 prospect. Also, if Ryan can learn to talk out of both sides of his mouth as well as Romney, he may indeed be a full asset this fall. And then of course there is FOX/CNN news groups, propaganda central for the corporatist elites and their political class. I do agree with you guys, we are constantly inching our way into devolving into a full blown fascist state, as it has always been so close by and nurtured over the decades of the last century, it now is making a move in a large way...to bad most Americans don't even recognize it... Ben MercAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19580203.post-66451807776538398342012-08-11T04:50:43.682-07:002012-08-11T04:50:43.682-07:00Great to see your posts. Welcome back. I agree wit...Great to see your posts. Welcome back. I agree with your assessment of the Mitt/Ryan match-up! Ron Paul failed to inspire a popular movement and its not merely because he's become a doddering old fart. He was a doddering old far when he was younger and Ryan is well on his way to 'old fart' land. But some are born or have inherited this 'mentality'. Honestly --these people just don't think the way I think and I think I am right and that they are as flat wrong as flat earth theories.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04598093941551759917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19580203.post-48765638513755970592012-08-11T03:51:36.162-07:002012-08-11T03:51:36.162-07:00Len, the scary bit is that the GOP crime gang is c...Len, the scary bit is that the GOP crime gang is coming back so blatantly and there seems to be no memory in the minds of the public. The few articles I have read all say that fraudsters of every stripe are currently lining up to donate to Rove's PAC's. If the general public have forgotten (or perhaps never knew) these guys certainly do. Under Bush, Rove organized to:<br /><br />* fit up a Democrat Alabama Governor, Don Siegelman, with fabricated criminal charges earning him seven years in jail.<br />* sack twenty US federal prosecutors who refused to bring fabricated corruption charges against Democrat candidates for government office.<br />* simply ignored a Congressional subpoena to appear as a witness before an inquiry into the dismissal of those prosecutors.<br />* on behalf of corporate sponsors, stopped Dept Justice prosecutions in major fraud investigations.<br /><br />This is straight out criminality, organized crime using the authority of the state to re-frame the law to attack innocent people and protect criminals. <br /><br />I don't think that Paul Ryan's philosophy and background is going to sell very well to the electorate. While Ryan appeals to the GOP hard Right nut job base and some Ron Paul voters I don't believe a Romney-Ryan ticket can get the numbers up. Women voters especially prefer Obama over Romney. I suspect the only way these clowns can get home will be by electoral fraud. Oh well, we'll see.<br /><br />I can say I am going to lose it at various times if I am asked to soak up too much of the Ayn Rand, economic libertarian drivel in the next few months. I might just go on holiday for six months (not a bad idea) -- or at least drink more! Cheers, mate.damienhttp://damien911.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19580203.post-88788164121454220602012-08-11T01:15:40.682-07:002012-08-11T01:15:40.682-07:00Damien wrote:
"We know the American Right h...Damien wrote: <br /><br />"We know the American Right has always sought to privatize government functions. Where this has not been possible because of public objections they have sought to have private enterprise write the laws and policies of government and turn taxes into private profits."<br /><br />'Privatization' became a buzzword, a panacea. In the best cases, a small private contractor does a benign job with expertise not available in the 'chain of command'. Even then, it's just one more layer that obscures accountability. The worst cases are just a shield, a license to get away with --sometimes --murder. <br /><br />"You and I know what this is, Len. In everything but name we are looking at fascism if these scumbags get in." <br /><br />Yep! That's the name of it! I am sure you recall the various accounts of A. Hitler's infamous meeting with Krupp, I.G. Farben execs, et al, et al. Hitler made them an offer they couldn't refuse. It might not have been the origin of fascism/nazism but it was certainly a 'plot point'. <br /><br />"US voters are nominally choosing Mitt Romney but in reality they are voting for Karl Rove, George Bush's political strategist."<br /><br />The GOP are like cockroaches. Variously attributed to West Texas cowboys is this summation of it all: "Never kill a slow roach; you just improve the breed!"Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04598093941551759917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19580203.post-1008196399310199652012-08-11T00:19:49.621-07:002012-08-11T00:19:49.621-07:00A bit more, Len, and a few links for your readers....A bit more, Len, and a few links for your readers. It's bad news, I'm afraid. Apparently, Paul Ryan is set to be the new VP running mate for Romney. In a 2005 speech to a group of Ayn Rand devotees called the Atlas Society, Ryan said that Rand was required reading for his office staff and interns. “The reason I got involved in public service, by and large, if I had to credit one thinker, one person, it would be Ayn Rand,” he told the group. “The fight we are in here, make no mistake about it, is a fight of individualism versus collectivism.”<br /><br />Jesus H Krist on a crutch! Ayn f-ing Rand! There goes the social safety net.<br /><br />We know the American Right has always sought to privatize government functions. Where this has not been possible because of public objections they have sought to have private enterprise write the laws and policies of government and turn taxes into private profits. Thus health funds write the US laws on medical services, laws which provide for government payments to them. Appointing industry figures to regulatory agencies in areas such as the environment and Treasury has also been a strategy. The consistent aim has been to create wall to wall conservatism, of complete control of government and the media message, where liberal (ie Democrat) values never get a look in and only Republicans rule. Forever.<br /><br />That goal is a lot closer than people think. US voters are nominally choosing Mitt Romney but in reality they are voting for Karl Rove, George Bush's political strategist. Rove came to the fore in Texas during the 1980's by bypassing the Republican Party structure and backing supposedly spontaneous 'grass roots' political action groups whose clout was loud because they were backed by money. Rove went on to shoehorn Bush Jnr into the Presidency via a stolen election and a hard Right Supreme Court compromised by conflict of interest.<br /><br />Rove has repeated the Texas approach in the last few years, putting funds from US Right wing billionaires into PAC's -- political action committees. These committees, with a tax free status, confidentiality for their donors and no effective regulatory oversight, would normally be excluded from political advocacy, but a US Supreme Court decision in 2010 affirmed that corporations had the same rights as people and could not be limited in voicing their political views. Following that decision Rove approached Ed Gillespie, a former Republican National Committee chair and close friend and got him to set up a PAC, American Crossroads. Other Rove-backed PACs followed and by 2012 they had $1 billion of anonymous campaign funds available in contrast to Romney's $300 million. Early this year Rove reportedly engaged in what was effectively a corporate buyout of the Romney campaign using PAC funds. Ed Gillespie left American Crossroads and joined the Romney campaign as a senior adviser. Other Rove loyalists moved into the Romney camp. Beth Myers, a loyal Rove staffer since the 1980's, was appointed to head the committee to choose Romney's Vice Presidential candidate.<br /><br />People aren't voting for Mitt Romney. They are voting for Karl Rove. The funding for his election will be coming from anonymous wealthy donors with a hard Right view of the world. And once in these guys intend to dismantle the very idea of a broad church democracy and make it a Republican vision and a Republican rule for all time.<br /><br />You and I know what this is, Len. In everything but name we are looking at fascism if these scumbags get in.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/2012/09/karl-rove-gop-craig-unger" rel="nofollow">Karl Rove and the PACs</a> <br /><a href="http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/08/06/120806fa_fact_lizza?currentPage=all" rel="nofollow">Paul Ryan</a>damienhttp://damien911.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com