The Gadsden Flag

There is some interesting history surrounding Christopher Gadsden, particularly his connections to the 'Sons of Liberty' (South Carolina), and that groups connection (symbolic or otherwise) to the 'Knights of the Golden Circle'.

What was once a flag representing freedom and rebellion by the colonies, is now taking on a much different role. Unfortunately over the years, the symbolism of the flag has been co-opted by various movements. Upon learning the history of the 'Knights of the Golden Circle', and the 'Sons of Liberty', and understanding their tactics from 150 years ago, what we are seeing now becomes very clear. The roots of the flag date back to the Pre-Revolution era... but its use over the years can be traced back to splinter groups from the North that eventually found their way to the South.

Interesting, eye opening stuff... I encourage all to do some reading. Bells will go off in your head when the dots connect.

Is it a symbol of terrorism? I don't know if we can call it that just yet (but it could be well on its way). However, it is definitely becoming a symbol representing the Republican Party. Republican members of Congress have now been seen embracing and waving the flag at rallies. They can no longer separate themselves from the ideas or the people that the flag represents today.

Periello Blasts Republicans in Washington for Refusing to Unequivocally Denounce Threats Against Democrats

Hmmm. Well Mr. McCain, it looks like this isn't really a joke to those who are on the receiving end of the threats.

From Think Progress:

Democratic lawmakers are increasingly coming out and reporting incidents of harassment in response to their vote for health care reform. In addition to previously reported vandalism in Kansas, New York, Ohio, and Arizona — as well as disturbing threats surrounding Reps. Tom Periello (D-VA) and Bart Stupak (D-MI) — lawmakers have received images of nooses sent to their offices and had their personal information publicly distributed. At least 10 lawmakers have requested extra security after receiving death threats, and Rep. Phil Hare (D-IL) said that “he knows several Democrats who have told their spouses to move out of the home districts while the lawmakers are in Washington.”

See full story with video interview here.

Republican Spokesman & Tea Party Hero Arrested

A Republican Spokesman and Tea Party hero has been arrested in Oklahoma on several felony charges, including child rape, according to the AP. Stolen military weaponry found in home. But we won't see any news conferences or media frenzies about how we "dodged a bullet" on this one...

Funny how big media decides who and what Americans worry about.

Additional report

Brown vs. Coakley: Gullible Voters & Phony Populism

Another Example of America's Political Paralysis & Decline

Maybe this is just a bad dream. Later today, voters in Massachusetts will decide who will fill Ted Kennedy's old Senate seat. Democrats find themselves desperately fighting to hold on to a Senate seat that they have held for 4 decades in a State that leans Democratic. Worst still is the fact that the Republican opponent, Scott Brown, is a Tea partier, and former nude model. Really? This is who they have been frantically attempting to fight off over the past few weeks? SNL could get enough material from this to run an entire series of skits. This would be hilarious if it were not so pathetically sad.

Voters in Massachusetts and beyond now seem ready and eager to turn back the clock and give their support to the same political party that destroyed the U.S. economy just over a year ago, and nearly gave us the collapse of the financial system and the end of America as we know it. Yet folks want more of the GOP. I guess they want to give Republicans a chance to finish the job (and finish us off as a Nation). We aren't even out of the woods from the last crisis they gave us, and Americans already have a taste for more. The Republicans had 10 years (counting the last 2 years of Clinton’s lame duck period in office), and they thoroughly wrecked the Country. They somehow believe that the a Democrat, who happens to be the first Black/biracial President, should be able to magically turn things around in less than a year. President Obama hasn’t even been given a full year yet, and brain dead voters already want to purge him and his Party. Repairing the damage of the last 10 years would take at least 2 full terms. This is yet another indication that we are unfortunately in a backwards, center-right Country…an ignorant backwards center-right Country.

Whenever these situations arise, I lose more faith in the American system and in the American people. I have no faith in the American voter. None! Yes, the Democrats put forth a weak, mediocre candidate (unfortunately you have to have charisma in the political game…it’s more important than substance), and they ran a lousy campaign, as they so often do. But that’s not the only factor here. In this race, the right wing media propaganda machine decimated the Democrats, despite the DNC spending tons of money on ads. Once again, Democrats have been outfoxed. They have done a poor PR job and are paying the consequences. This has become the norm for Democrats.

But this race says more about the fickle electorate, and provides insight into America’s future. For me, it represents further confirmation of Americas continued decline. With a government that can no longer function or function effectively- essentially paralyzed- the U.S. will continue to be stuck in a sort of political malaise for the foreseeable future. That's basically what we have right now... a government that is unable to work effectively. Gridlock is the new normal. That doesn’t bode well for the Country. Republicans - who vote as a block/seldom breaking ranks- understand that with 41 votes in the Senate, they will be able to stop President Obama’s agenda. They will block every piece of major legislation that Obama pushes. So essentially, Obama has reached a sort of weakened lame duck status already, after just one year as President. Meanwhile, as the nation is stuck in its political paralysis, or God forbid as the clock is turned back, the rest of the developed world and even the developing world, will be on the move, leaving the U.S. behind.

Part of what’s behind Americas decline is an unengaged and often uninformed electorate. Voters have become irrational. There have always been these irrational voters, but there seems to be more of them now, and this band of idiots gets to make decisions for the rest of us….impacting real lives. In many cases it no longer matters which candidate has the best ideas, has the best track record, the intelligence, the vision, or has a platform that will benefit the average citizen. None of that matters anymore. Why? Because an uninformed or misguided electorate can’t make heads or tails of what’s really happening. They aren’t motivated by facts, or actual policy positions. Instead they are fueled by blind anger, propaganda, fear and Party identity....more than anything else. In fact, political candidates, especially Republicans, have figured this out over the last few years and rarely run on platforms, facts, or policy positions. This is boring stuff and voters rarely react to it in any positive way. This is largely because they aren’t able or willing to invest the time in learning the issues, and separating the facts from the propaganda. It's too much work.

Republicans are tapping into the general sense of anger...as misguided as it may be...and they are taking advantage of the short memories or just plain ignorance of voters. Instead of running intense, fact-based/issues-based campaigns politicians in big elections have resorted to dumping millions of dollars into private PR firms for ads to manipulate voters, often with misleading propaganda. They also spread fear and misinformation via news networks and talk radio and in print. And they do this because this is what the lazy American voter responds to. And yes, I see this much more often on the Conservative side, although so-called Progressives engage in some of the same nonsense- Move-On.org is notorious for these kinds of tactics.

Culture is also playing a part here… the fact that we have a Black/biracial President is having an impact on voter behavior, even when Obama himself isn’t on the ballot. Yes, race matters. It’s all about stopping his agenda. And as I mentioned earlier, there doesn’t seem to be the same willingness to allow this President to govern for a reasonable period of time, as has been afforded other Presidents (white Presidents) throughout history. If Obama were white, he would be catching some of the same Hell, but the opposition to him wouldn’t be nearly as intense and more Americans would be fighting off any Republican attempts to freeze his agenda and paralyze the Country. I think a White Democrat would catch more of a break from white independent voters at this point. But as I mentioned in mid 2009, voters are blaming Obama for an economy that he didn't ruin. It's someone else's mess.

Essentially, I am calling out the American voter. I hate to say it, but collectively, American voters are boneheads. The nation is now beginning to deal with the consequences of a mediocre, misguided, and in some cases, a failed public education system (where critical thinking isn’t taught aggressively enough…nor is civics/government, history, world politics, etc). And I see no light at the end of the tunnel. Good luck with energy independence, meaningful healthcare reform, a sensible foreign policy, reigning in corporate abuses, fixing the financial system, labor rights, consumer protection, investing in education/children, investing in the American people, a meaningful social safety net that preserves the dignity of every American, fixing the infrastructure of the Country, saving the economy long-term, creating green jobs, advances in science and technology, keeping America at the forefront, protecting the least of these, etc. None of this is going to happen- at least not in any meaningful way in our lifetimes…not if the Country stays on the same course…. Not without a fundamental shift in American thinking.

Even if Martha Coakley squeaks by in a nailbiter, the Republicans could rightfully still claim victory...under the circumstances. The message would be sent loud and clear... not necessarily that Americans are against wholesome Progressive bread and butter values... but that they have fallen for the Rights propaganda...and that Democrats have a lot of work to do when it comes to addressing their profound weaknesses & disadvantages in media and PR. I personally don't think they can fix it by November.... particularly when they are clueless to the fact that this is a big part of the problem.

I still believe... even in a Centrist... or center-right Country, that if the playing field were fair and level, most Americans would embrace core Progressive values. One of Obama's problems is that he has allowed his agenda to be hijacked by all sorts of side issues and Liberal causes, like Gay "marriage", which has scared off some independent voters. I personally support the idea of civil unions...and robust legal protections but the real bottom line is... this issue is not among the top 10 or even 15 issues that are the most pressing for me. I don't have a horse in that race.

President Obama is also attempting to tackle the wrong issues at the wrong time.... instead of pushing initiatives that he can get through, even with a few drops of bipartisan support... creating a list of successes that he could build on. Instead, he is considering pushing major immigration reform as his next big initiative...something that is extremely dead on arrival. Again, an example of bad counsel from his advisers.... to push the wrong initiative at the wrong time. He will expend a lot of political capital on an initiative that, in the end, won't bear much fruit.

My advice to thinking Americans…. Is become as self-reliant as possible. Be ready for the next crisis...the next bubble (and yes, there will be more). You can’t count on a functioning, effective government anymore to look out for you. Haiti could visit the U.S. anytime, anywhere. Yet, there is an anti-collectivism running rampant throughout the Country that says, you're on your own (unless you are on Wall Street or you're rich and white...in that case, you'll be taken care of).

I still don't want to believe that Americans are this gullible and fickle.

The Tea Party Movement: A Populist Potential?

It is very easy to dismiss the Tea Party protesters as a bunch of racist, xenophobic, gun nuts with paranoid mindsets who have a deep, irrational hatred of liberals and President Barack Obama because he is African-American. Judging from the hateful signs, open display of guns in healthcare town halls, and blatant use of racist and offensive imagery and symbols, calling them a bunch of yahoos and dismissing their perspectives as irrelevant is very easy.

That’s not what I am going to do here. I am actually going to try and take their perspectives seriously for a moment and think about what they potentially mean for American politics and how it is currently practiced as a contest between the two major political parties.

If you wade through all the racist and offensive garbage that is being spewed, you will find that much of the Tea Party anger has a familiar, populist ring to it. They are mad about the state of the economy, about the deteriorating state of American institutions and the country’s diminishing standing on the world stage. They are anxious about bread and butter issues, and they see the Washington DC establishment as corrupt, overrun by special interests and as a place where the interests of ordinary, working Americans are ignored. They see American democracy as broken, therefore, and in need of serious fixing. These perspectives are not that different from what I — an immigrant, minority, and a self-professed Progressive liberal — have been blogging about for some time now.

Thus, these Tea Party folks marched in Washington on September 12 — many of them people who have never participated in a political march before — to show that they are mad as hell, won’t take it anymore, and are ready to do what it takes to take America back. It is very easy to see and hear the shrillest and most militant among them, who hold the most extreme views, and see the kooks as representative of what the Tea Party movement is all about.

Let me know if you think I am totally off-base. But I actually think the Tea Party movement, because it is successfully tapping into a vein of populist discontent and anxiety about the state of American society, has the potential to develop into a legitimate, populist political entity that can present a real challenge to the dominance of the two major parties.

The societal anger and anxiety the Tea Party movement is tapping into is real. Many people are feeling very insecure about the state of America in 2009 and are feeling powerless to do anything about it and are finding in the Tea Party movement the vehicle for expressing this populist discontent.

I have written a lot about third parties and political movements outside of the two major parties. I see the Tea Party movement as an entity with the potential — I stress that point, the POTENTIAL — to mount a legitimate, populist challenge to the dominance of the two major parties. They aren’t there yet and much of the blatant bigotry and hate-mongering turns me off but something about their populist anger rings true and familiar to me.

As a Progressive, do I see myself working with or being sympathetic to Tea Party folks if they do develop into a legitimate political organization? What about the hatefulness, bigotry and blatant anti-social messages? What about the displayed contempt they have for liberals, Progressives, minorities and immigrants like me?

My answer to those questions:

1. If Tea Party folks forego racism, gun fetish and virulent hatefulness so they can work with their fellow political outsiders on serious and real reform (for example, the types of reforms I talk about in this post) I would work with them.

2. Political outsiders who disagree on specific policy issues have one big thing in common. They are political outsiders. Therefore, it benefits them to lay aside their differences in favor of working together on issues that have the potential to open up the political playing field for ALL political outsiders.

3. Greens, Libertarians, Socialists and independents have all experienced the same types of structural obstacles in the American political system. Yet these different groups have banded together on occasion to pool their resources and fight together in court for more equal treatment for minority political parties. Just because you disagree politically doesn’t mean you can’t find common cause with other political outsiders on issues that impact all who are outside the duopoly.

4. Third parties like the Greens, Libertarians, Socialists, etc., have been in the front lines of electoral and court battles for opening up the political system for years. The Tea Party folks, if they ever develop into a legitimate political entity, cannot afford to ignore the collective experience of these groups.

The Republican Party is already trying to hijack the momentum of the Tea Party anger for its own gains. I am making a bet that there are enough politically astute folks in the Tea Party movement whose anti-establishment anger are real and will see co-optation by the Republican Party of their efforts as a betrayal. There is, after all, nothing anti-establishment about supporting either of the two establishment political parties.

I am also making the bet that the anti-establishment populist anger driving the Tea Party movement — if you separate out the hate and bigotry and gun fetish — is the same anti-establishment populist anger that drives people like me to reject the two major parties and make the conscious choice to be independents or join a third party. And I am making the bet that sooner or later, many Tea Party folks will be making a similar connection in their minds. What happens after that? Well, that is something I would very much like to see.

My hope: that it lead to the formation of a true populist challenge to the two major parties. My fear: that hate and racism become its driving force and it evolve into a militant, virulent, blatantly racist, xenophobic organization — but one with resources and with a big megaphone in the Glenn Becks and Rush Limbaughs of the world. As a populist I would rather the see a Tea Party movement that develops into the former rather than the latter.

Ignorance On Full Display at 9/12 Protest

Scary to know that this is the new base of the GOP

Tea Parties and Make-Believe

When I think of Tea Parties the image that comes to mind is my little sister playing dress-up-- using her mothers clothes for a costume and having a make-believe moment. It's all about children pretending and using their imaginations to keep themselves entertained.

This same kind of make-believe is what the Republican "Tea Parties" were all about this week. The so-called "Tea Parties" were basically PR creations, crafted by Republican Strategists, sponsored by Right Wing front groups like FreedomWorks, and promoted by Right Wing Republican media. These people are masters at creating their own reality when the real world doesn't suit them. The events are designed to whip the Republican faithful into a frenzy. You even had Texas Governor Rick Perry (one of the Confederate Governors opposing Obama and rejecting stimulus funding) attend one of these events saying that Texas could secede from the United States... that whole Confederate thing again (if not in geographical terms...it's definitely alive in terms of ideology). What is it with Republican Governors and seceding from the Union? Sarah Palin and her husband have actually been connected with secessionists in Alaska.

One of the big ironies in all this is the fact that most of these "protesters" actually received a tax cut, which went into effect this month. I really don't believe these people understood exactly what they were protesting. All they knew is that this effort was part of the Right Wings anti-Obama campaign...and at the end of the day...that's all they really needed to know.

But are most Americans falling for this mostly manufactured outrage? Are Americans buying what Republicans are selling? Apparently not... at least not at the moment (although the power of Republican media has a way of changing that rather quickly). According to a new Gallup Survey, the tax issue is much ado about nothing, especially when put in historical context.



The Following Is Courtesy Of Gallup:

Views of Income Taxes Among Most Positive Since 1956

PRINCETON, NJ -- A new Gallup Poll finds 48% of Americans saying the amount of federal income taxes they pay is "about right," with 46% saying "too high" -- one of the most positive assessments Gallup has measured since 1956. Typically, a majority of Americans say their taxes are too high, and relatively few say their taxes are too low.

These results are based on the Gallup Economy and Personal Finance poll, conducted each April, including April 6-9 of this year.

Since 1956, there has been only one other time when a higher percentage of Americans said their taxes were about right -- in 2003, when 50% did so after two rounds of tax cuts under the Bush administration.

The slightly more positive view this year may reflect a public response to President Barack Obama's economic stimulus and budget plans. He has promised not to raise taxes on Americans making less than $250,000, while cutting taxes for lower- and middle-income Americans. The latter has already begun, as the government has reduced the withholding amount for federal income taxes from middle- and lower-income American workers' paychecks.

In this year's poll, slim majorities of both lower- and middle-income Americans say they pay about the right amount of taxes, while upper-income Americans tend to think they pay too much. The views of upper-income Americans have not changed in the past year, while both middle- and lower-income Americans are more likely to say they pay the right amount of tax. Read more of the Gallup report here.

The Republicans, especially those in the Republican media, are trying to convince the American public that this is an issue with legs and that there is genuine anger towards taxes across the social and political spectrum...when in reality, most of the noise about taxes and fiscal responsibility is coming from a small fringe within their Party... almost a fringe within a fringe...because the Republican Party is down to its base at this point. Where were these people when George W. Bush and the last Republican majority were running up huge deficits, trying to hide spending by keeping it off the books, not monitoring Wall Street, allowing the Oil Companies to rape ordinary working Americans, and allowing Special Interest Groups (Government contractors) to literally rob taxpayers blind in Iraq with thefts of historic proportions. They weren't trying to stage these grand protests then. In fact, it was the Republicans lack of fiscal responsibility that largely contributed to the current mess that the Country finds itself in.

This is clearly an effort by Republicans and their media apparatus to whip up anger towards Obama. Many of the people at these "Tea Party" rallies did not show up to complain about taxes at all. Instead, they were complaining about a list of other perceived grievances with Obama... with signs suggesting that he's Muslim, friendly to terrorists, is a communist, a Nazi, ...you name it. To me, the events appeared to have the feel of last years General Election campaign where folks were calling for violence against Obama, carrying racists signs, vandalizing campaign offices, and using stuffed Monkeys to represent him. It almost harkens back to the Southern tradition of lynching picnics, where lynchings were social events. I know that's an extreme comparison....but race is surely playing some role in these events. How many Blacks did you see in these crowds? Let's be honest...these are generally White Americans who are simply looking for any excuse to protest Barack Obama.

This is really an example of Right Wing media using fear & propaganda to take advantage of the ignorant and the uninformed. They prey on folks who are driven more by ideology (religion, race, xenophobia, fears, prejudices, and culture war issues for example) than by facts. It sends the message that Right Wing media is still strong and can make themselves as relevant as they want to be... regardless of whether they are dealing with the real world or not.