From The Ramparts

Food For Thought

Food For Thought

“Many Americans are familiar with the filibuster conducted by Jimmy Stewart, playing Senator Jefferson Smith in Frank Capra's film Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, but there have been some famous filibusters in the real-life Senate as well. During the 1930s, Senator Huey P. Long effectively used the filibuster against bills that he thought favored the rich over the poor. The Louisiana senator frustrated his colleagues while entertaining spectators with his recitations of Shakespeare and his reading of recipes for "pot-likkers." Long once held the Senate floor for fifteen hours. The record for the longest individual speech goes to South Carolina's J. Strom Thurmond who filibustered for 24 hours and 18 minutes against the Civil Rights Act of 1957.” www.US Senate.gov/artandhistory

We've heard so much about the nuclear option with regard to Republican efforts to push their fascist agenda confirming Bush’ judicial nominees. I find it interesting that so called progressives and opponents of the nominees were forced to resort to threatening a US Senate filibuster to delay and discourage the confirmation process. I find it ironic because during the height of the Civil Rights era, Southern Democrats would always threaten to filibuster any legislation that attempted to destroy AmeriKKKa’s racial cast system. Following the success of the Civil Rights movement (the ruling elites’ concessions to dismantle “Jim Crow” apartheid laws under pressure from direct action civil disobedience , demonstrations and boycotts was done primarily as a propaganda ploy to clean up AmeriKKKa’s tattered image around the world during the Cold War) and passage of the Civil Rights bills of the mid 1960's, whites abandoned the Democratic Party in doves throughout the South to jump on Alabama Governor George Wallace’s presidential bandwagon. When the ruling elites eliminated Wallace via attempted assassination, they leaped to join Richard Nixon’s successful “Law and Order” campaign for the White House in 1968 . Of course in those days the term “Law and Order” was used by racists like Wallace and Nixon as a euphemism for “Maintain the status quo” and “Keep the darkies in their place”. The irony is in 2005 the Republicans are the ones threatening to change the Senate rules to prevent the Democrats from employing the filibuster custom to hold up right wing nominees for the federal bench.
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It’s been three weeks since the London Times published an internal memo from a member of British Parliament written eight months before the invasion of Iraq detailing how Bush and Co. were cooking intelligence to justify regime change knowing full well Saddam Hussein posed no imminent threat to the United States nor any of his immediate neighbors including Israel. The only place you see any discussion about the memo or its implications (Bush lied about his reasons for invading another sovereign nation) is on the Internet. Where is the outrage and clamoring for Bush’s impeachment for treason and high crimes, let alone for war crime resulting in the death of thousands of innocent Iraqis?! The irony of this is the people who hounded Clinton for his immorality claimed morality as their motive! Where is the Christian Right on this issue? Where are the Bible thumpers demanding Bush be held accountable for his lies and war crimes? Alas the beat goes on, AmeriKKKa remains in a media induced stupor. None of the hypocrisy, none of the scandals about the missing Iraq reconstruction money, th e detainee and human rights abuses, the horrific, heavy handed and senseless destruction wrought by US forces seems to faze the masses of AmeriKKKans as they go about their treadmill lives. The economy is doing well for the owners and CEOs but things are so good for Joe and Jane Sixpack. But the corporate owned media rarely chronicles this reality just like they suppressed and ignored the London Times memo about the invasion of Iraq. To the rest of the world AmeriKKKa must look like a rabid ravaging wolf threatening to attack anyone and anything that comes within its preview especially if they have oil or natural gas or if attacking them will somehow serve the interests of Israel.
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The Bush administration is still trying to convince AmeriKKKa to piratize oops I mean privatize Social Security by claiming the system is in crisis and about to go broke. Well the system is not in the type of crisis Bush claims. Nor is it in as bad shape as the federal government of which Bush and his cronies now control. In fact tying the system to the stock market may bring on even more woes and disaster than the system is experiencing now thus compounding the situation. But that’s pure speculation. What we know for sure is, Bush’s scheme will require even more borrowing by a tapped out US of A. What most AmeriKKKans don’t realize is because of Bush and the NeoConmen’s recklessness, AmeriKKKa is seen around the world as a down on its luck gambler the loan sharks don’t want to lend money to even though they know they will be the ones profiting from the loan due to the exorbitant interest they charge or the collateral they extract. They say ignorance is bliss, given what is going on in AmeriKKKa and the ignorance of the AmeriKKKan public, I’m not so sure.

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posted by Junious Ricardo Stanton @ 10:54 AM