Those people
Krugman unleashes a must read:
Where did this hostility to government come from? In 1981 Lee Atwater, the famed Republican political consultant, explained the evolution of the G.O.P.’s “Southern strategy,” which originally focused on opposition to the Voting Rights Act but eventually took a more coded form: “You’re getting so abstract now you’re talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you’re talking about are totally economic things and a byproduct of them is blacks get hurt worse than whites.” In other words, government is the problem because it takes your money and gives it to Those People.
It seems a million years ago, but when I was struggling to decide who I was going to vote for in the primaries between Clinton and Obama, one of the biggest factors in my mind was that Obama's election would shatter (or simply mark the demise of) the southern strategy and thereby shatter the Republican party. This is a party that measures success only in winning elections- not in governance, and they have no way to win national elections...until, of course, the next civil war.
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Howdy..Can’t get on any of the threads at
SamSederShow.com..
I hate it when that happens..
Hopefully,Sam will get it fixed wiki wiki..
I suppose if you sincerely despise government, the only way you CAN measure your success is how well you can dam it all up by holding onto power.
At least one part of the Russian analyst’s scenario doesn’t add up:
“When the going gets tough, [Igor Panarin] says, wealthier states will withhold funds from the federal government and effectively secede from the union. Social unrest up to and including a civil war will follow.”
If any states decide to stop paying federal taxes (just how would that work, anyway?), it wouldn’t be the wealthy ones like New York, California, etc. It would be the usual dumbass, poor states (Alabama, Mississippi, etc.) that actually get more back from the feds than they pay in, but have been so lobotomized against “guv’ment” that they hate the income tax.
This map seems more likely:
http://theminifx.com/jesusland6.gif
Sam - one of the things I’ve always loved about you is that since the very beginning of AAR you’ve been tirelessly working to expose the rethuglicans agenda to literally break government. Then, after everyone agrees that government just doesn’t and can’t work, they can privatize everything with little or no resistance from the public.
Indeed, it’s best to put the wolves in charge of all the hen houses, not just a few.
I think all those maps of how the US will be “divided up”, is really just a reflection of how Russians think. After all, that pretty much happened in Russia…but the US isn’t quite as culturally polarized as the USSR was. On top of that, the repression of religion under the former Soviet States further polarized various regions after they were allowed to practice their faith again.
Considering the structure of the US and the general atmosphere, I’d think the US, if faced with a major economic crisis, would either go the route of Nazi Germany, or just slog through it until things turn around. Or they threaten to declare bankruptcy and demand things from our trade partners. Either way, the US makes a couple trillion a year in GDP. To work these numbers requires thinking at a level that is really, really hard for most folks. When a person sees a number that big, the first response is to freak out because we can’t comprehend it…it’s all a big freaking mess thanks mainly to a lot of very, very bad policies over the course of this decade…but it’s an obstacle that still can be overcome. I couldn’t imagine a budget surplus back in the 90’s with the debt racked up in the 80’s, but most know that story.
I wonder why more of us aren’t using this as an alternate blog when the blog is down like it is now.
Don’t like the format of this blog. Sorry if I sound critical but I am used to the other format and it’s easier to read.
Good Morning Sederites!
What a major problem in Gaza and no one is doing anything to help or stop it! This is crazy! People are being killed and injured and they are all sitting on their hands saying Duh!
I don’t like the format either. Morning all
Marc had a great show last night at 45 Bleecker.
The room was packed.
Off to work soon!
Later
Is the SamSederShow blog really down? I just skimmed it half an hour ago. Or has it been down intermittently?
Thanks for the email notification, mhappenow.
I agree that this format isn’t as nice.
Here’s what I’ve been listening to the last couple days:
Since AAR is almost all reruns over the holidays, I went ahead and bought another month of Nova M, giving me access to their archives, and I’ve been listening to Sam and Marc from last April, when they were substituting for Malloy. New to me.
I actually prefer Marc and Sam separately. The “versus” bickering shtick just doesn’t appeal to me. That’s why I think I prefer the current post-show discussion. Of course, I’m a boring, nerdy person who would rather be informed than entertained. (Thom Hartmann fan.) But I really did appreciate that they prepared Christmas week shows.
I was not familiar with Marc until Sam’s Sunday show ended, when I tracked down Sam’s blog. I haven’t found Marc to be very funny - until the Maddow interview. It really brought out his best wit. The daily MvS show seems to keep getting better, cleverer.
While I’m at it, I’m going to state another unpopular opinion - I’d rather not hear the coarse language. It’s getting tiresome. It’s a relief to hear the cleaned-up shows that are actually broadcast on the airwaves. But even there, there’s seems to be a creeping amount of “friggin, freakin, f’n, crap” - which isn’t really any better. I’m even thinking of not watching the Daily Show any more. It’s just not pleasant.
It’s my belief that the Civil War never ended, ready to flare up into armed battle with the right provocation (eg the election of a Black President).