Onset of Death for the Two-Party Tyranny….

07 Other Atrocities, Civil Society, Corruption, Counter-Oppression/Counter-Dictatorship Practices, Cultural Intelligence, Ethics, Government
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Death of the Duopoly

Being binary is bad for business, so when will politics cure its bipolar disorder? Nick Gillespie and Matt Welch on the lessons Washington should learn from the real world.

By NICK GILLESPIE and MATT WELCH

Wall Street Journal,  Saturday, June 18, 2011

Nothing in American life today seems as archaic, ubiquitous and immovable as the Republican and Democratic parties.

The two 19th-century political groupings divide up the spoils of a combined $6.4 trillion that is extracted each year from taxpayers at the federal, state, county and municipal levels. Though rhetorically and theoretically at odds with one another, the two parties have managed to create a mostly unbroken set of policies and governance structures that benefit well-connected groups at the expense of the individual.

Democrats and Republicans are at risk of becoming irrelevant, says Reason.com's Nick Gillespie, as more voters identify as Independents or with other groups like the Tea Party. He talks with WSJDN's Kelsey Hubbard about the shortcomings of the longstanding duopoly in American politics.

Americans have watched, with a growing sense of alarm and alienation, as first a Republican administration and then its Democratic successor have flouted public opinion by bailing out banks, nationalizing the auto industry, expanding war in Central Asia, throwing yet more good money after bad to keep housing prices artificially high, and prosecuting a drug war that no one outside the federal government pretends is comprehensible, let alone winnable. It is easy to look upon this well-worn rut of political affairs and despair.

Read full article….

Phi Beta Iota: A Wall Street Journal informal poll shows 83% of respondents now ready to vote for a third party, with some excluding the Tea Party as flaky.    Ralph Nader led this fight, others are finishing it.  We are honored to be in that number.

See Also:

Journal: Tea Party Manipulated, Idle Angry Minds Being Exploited…

Journal: ‘Systemic Corruption’–Daunting Challenge in Globalized Era

My Talk With Tom Atlee: Primer on Citizen Intelligence

Reference: Electoral Reform Act & Third Party Politics

Review: Griftopia–Bubble Machines, Vampire Squids, and the Long Con That Is Breaking America

Running on Empty: How the Democratic and Republican Parties Are Bankrupting Our Future and What Americans Can Do About It (Paperback)

Grand Illusion: The Myth of Voter Choice in a Two-Party Tyranny

2008 ELECTION 2008: Lipstick on the Pig

Event: 26 Oct 2011 Assisi Italy Pope, Peace, & Prayer — 5th Inter-Faith Event Since 1986 — Terms of Reference…

01 Poverty, 02 Diplomacy, 06 Genocide, 07 Other Atrocities, 08 Wild Cards, 09 Justice, 10 Security, 11 Society, Advanced Cyber/IO, Civil Society, Corruption, Cultural Intelligence, Ethics
His Holiness Benedict XVI

UPDATED 26 October 2011 (Vatican focus on global financial reform / authority, need for ethics – avoids addressing secular corruption as we suggested in below letter sent January 2011)

Penguin: Vatican Calls for World Government…Oopps

Vatican, Ethics, & Truth I (Full Text Online for Google Translate)

Vatican, Ethics, & Truth II (Full Text Online for Google Translate)

Occupy Wall Street’s Most Unlikely Ally: The Pope

Vatican Breaks Bread (Sort Of) With Occupiers

Cardinal Turkson: Beyond Wall Street

2011: Commercial Intelligence and Competitive Strategy in International Markets – Context and Challenge Inteligencia Empresarial y Estrategia Competitiva en Mercados Internacional – Contexto y Desafio

UPDATED 18 June 2011 (Turkey Rising, Truth, Convergence of Science & Religion)

Turkey Rising–21st Century an Ottoman Century?

Catholic Church Getting Serious About “Truth”

Review: God and Science–Coming Full Circle

Review: The Beginning of All Things–Science and Religion

Review: Questions of Truth–Fifty-one Responses to Questions About God, Science, and Belief

M4IS2

UPDATED 10 February 2011 (All Other Assisi Links)

Seven Answers–Robert Steele in Rome

Assisi-Rome 2nd Meeting

Egypt & Jordan: Muslim & Christian Side by Side

Revolution & Secession: The Game is ON!

Revolution Kickstarted by Facebook Generation

Assisi, Egypt, US Hypocrisy, Global Revolution

Reference: Correspondence on Assisi Intelligence

Reference: Intelligence for the Spirit of Assisi

ON INTELLIGENCE: Open Letter to the President

Continue reading “Event: 26 Oct 2011 Assisi Italy Pope, Peace, & Prayer — 5th Inter-Faith Event Since 1986 — Terms of Reference…”

Obama Over-Rules Top Lawyers on Libya Attacks

04 Inter-State Conflict, 05 Civil War, 07 Other Atrocities, 08 Wild Cards, 09 Justice, 10 Security, 11 Society, Corruption, Counter-Oppression/Counter-Dictatorship Practices, Cultural Intelligence, Government, Military, Officers Call, Peace Intelligence
Who, Me?

2 Top Lawyers Lost to Obama in Libya War Policy Debate

By

June 17, 2011

WASHINGTON — President Obama rejected the views of top lawyers at the Pentagon and the Justice Department when he decided that he had the legal authority to continue American military participation in the air war in Libya without Congressional authorization, according to officials familiar with internal administration deliberations.

Read full article….

Phi Beta Iota: Obama is in violation of the Constitution and an active sponsor of crimes against humanity that should subject him to consideration for appearance before an International Tribunal.  His “national security advisor” is a Goldman Sachs apparatchik with his eyes fixed on the substantial holdings of real gold that could be looted (as opposed to paper gold where Goldman holds a strong but fraudulent position).  Congress remains a craven foot-soldier to the Executive, and is liable for impeachment in detail for failure to fulfill its Article 1 responsibilities.  US soliders are starting to come back from Libya in body bags, making it starkly clear that the US already has “boots on the ground” and blood in the sand.  NATO pilots and commanders attacking Libya (not part of the “no fly” mandate) are liable for prosecution as war criminals.  US flag officers accepting illegal orders are liable for court-martial should the US have an honest president in the future.  An invasion of Libya is said to be planned for October, with the oil and the water and the gold as the presumed objectives.  The lunacy continues….

See Also:

US Military Body Bags from Libya–Invasion Planned

Cynthia McKinney Reports from Libya

Big Prick Corruption vs. Little Prick Faux Pas

07 Other Atrocities, 09 Justice, 10 Transnational Crime, 11 Society, Cultural Intelligence, InfoOps (IO), IO Impotency
Chuck Spinney Recommends...

.. or why a little weiner is as necessary to the functioning of Versailles on the Potomac as the circus was to a Roman Empire in its decline.

Nation of Weiners

Jun 17, 2011

By Peter Z. Scheer

I pretty much lost it while watching David Gergen, a veteran of the Nixon White House, trying to make sense of sexting. The CNN analyst surely witnessed his share of villainy in that administration and the three others he served in, and he probably has no problem comprehending something like the illegal bombing of Cambodia or the near-elimination of welfare. But who sends pictures of his penis to strangers?

A lot of people, as it turns out. There is a culture gap in this country, between people who are happy to enjoy what’s left of their privacy and people who just don’t think about it. It’s not that No. 1 NBA draft pick Greg Oden wanted to expose his penis to fans—it just never occurred to him that anybody but his lady friend would get a peek. There are a number of professional athletes—and at least one politician—for whom the previous sentence would work.

Read rest of article….

Phi Beta Iota: The pornographic criminally insane behavior of the senior politicians is vastly more harmful and costly that a little weiner on Twitter.  This is the core point.  There is no “sense” in Washington, it is all theater of the absurd fronting for the on-going looting and depraved indifference of the few at the expense of the many.

 

US Military Body Bags from Libya–Invasion Planned

07 Other Atrocities
Click on Image to Enlarge

U.S. Invasion of Libya Set for October

Infowars.com has received alarming reports from within the ranks of military stationed at Ft. Hood, Texas confirming plans to initiate a full-scale U.S.-led ground invasion in Libya and deploy troops by October.

The source stated that additional Special Forces are headed to Libya in July, with the 1st Calvary Division (heavy armor) and III Corps deploying in late October and early November. Initial numbers are estimated at 12,000 active forces and another 15,000 in support, totaling nearly 30,000 troops.

This information was confirmed by numerous calls and e-mails from other military personnel, some indicating large troop deployment as early as September. Among these supporting sources is a British S.A.S. officer confirming that U.S. Army Rangers are already in Libya. The chatter differs in the details, but the overall convergence is clear– that a full-on war is emerging this fall as Gaddafi continues to evade attempts to remove him from power.

Read full article….

Winslow Wheeler: What Gates Did NOT Do…

07 Other Atrocities, 10 Security, 11 Society, Corruption, Cultural Intelligence, Government, Military, Peace Intelligence
Winslow Wheeler

What Gates Didn't Do

Robert Gates has been called the best secretary of defense in recent memory. On the other hand, he has a reputation with some as a slick career bureaucrat with a knack for avoiding blame but pocketing credit. Both are true.

“Best in recent memory?” It would have been hard for Gates to have been a bigger tower of ego, bluster and incompetence than Donald Rumsfeld, more of a non-entity than William Cohen, or a more fervent technology huckster than William Perry. Nonetheless, with a very small number of worthwhile decisions that he had the smarts to make stick, Gates has won himself the swooning accolades of the vast majority of the media, most (but not all) think tank Pooh-Bahs from the left, right and center, and just about every politician in the country.

Why would I be negative about a respected personality who did, indeed, exercise some very long overdue discipline on the recalcitrant military services? They had, for example, busied themselves running around Donald Rumsfeld and his predecessors to keep alive sacred – but outrageously expensive and under-performing – hardware programs like the F-22 (lately priced at over $400 million per copy). They also had tried to stiff much needed reforms to improve wounded veterans care at dysfunctional facilities like Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Gates fired the malefactors and stuffed the porkers in Congress when they tried to resuscitate the F-22. Those actions alone earn him the “best in recent memory” accolade.

The negativity comes – at least to me – when I realize the authority Gates achieved for himself with those actions and a few well-worded policy journal articles and speeches. Then, I compare that power to what he accomplished, or just tried to accomplish. Having won for himself recently unprecedented power as secretary of defense, what did he use his power to do?

Here is my list of important things that Robert Gates didn't fix and didn't even try to fix.

Continue reading “Winslow Wheeler: What Gates Did NOT Do…”

David Brooks Doth Protest–Not Nearly Enough!

07 Other Atrocities, Budgets & Funding, Civil Society, Corporations, Corruption, Cultural Intelligence, Government, Methods & Process, Misinformation & Propaganda, Policies, Power Behind-the-Scenes/Special Interests, Secrecy & Politics of Secrecy
DefDog Recommends....

Pundit Under Protest

By

New York Times, June 13, 2011

I’ll be writing a lot about the presidential election over the next 16 months, but at the outset I would just like to remark that I’m opining on this whole campaign under protest. I’m registering a protest because for someone of my Hamiltonian/National Greatness perspective, the two parties contesting this election are unusually pathetic. Their programs are unusually unimaginative. Their policies are unusually incommensurate to the problem at hand.

The election is happening during a downturn in the economic cycle, but the core issue is the accumulation of deeper structural problems that this recession has exposed — unsustainable levels of debt, an inability to generate middle-class incomes, a dysfunctional political system, the steady growth of special-interest sinecures and the gradual loss of national vitality.

The number of business start-ups per capita has been falling steadily for the past three decades. Workers’ share of national income has been declining since 1983. Male wages have been stagnant for about 40 years. The American working class — those without a college degree — is being decimated, economically and socially. In 1960, for example, 83 percent of those in the working class were married. Now only 48 percent are.

Read complete article–devastating, but not nearly enough so…..

See Also:

Seven Promises to America–Who Will Do This?

noble gold