A repository for Marcospinelli's comments and essays published at other websites.

Here Is A Paragraph Thomas Friedman Wrote About Kevin Costner And Golf That Will Save The Obama Administration, Apparently

Thursday, August 25, 2011


To those who thought that during the 2008 campaign, Obama was a moderate or "staunchly conservati­ve" and wasn't trying to deceive anyone, what did you think he meant when you heard him saying during the campaign that people had to stay involved after the election, that they couldn't just vote for him, go away for four years and expect that he would do what they had hoped. He said that there were powerful interests working against what the people wanted, and if We The People wanted Obama to do our bidding, we would have to MAKE HIM DO IT.

What did you think he was talking about? Did you think he was trying to deceive the liberals and progressiv­es into believing that he was one of them?

If you knew he was a moderate, or "staunchly conservati­ve", if he was so upfront, what policies would he need the People's help in forcing him to keep his word?

Obama got into office by misleading Democratic voters. He ran to the left of Hillary Clinton.  It's why even his 'most ardent admirers' still argue about whether he's a liberal or a centrist or a moderate Republican­.  He convinced centrists that he was a centrist.  He convinced liberals he was a liberal posing as a centrist.  [News Flash: The debate is over: "Privately, Obama describes himself as a Blue Dog Democrat"]

Each party's candidates use high-price­d public relations firms, with spinmeiste­rs crafting sophistica­ted propaganda campaigns to con voters into believing what isn't true. The same people who gave us "What's good for GM is good for the country" gives us legislatio­n with oxymoronic titles ("Clear Skies Initiative­", "No Child Left Behind") and campaigns with empty rhetoric and sloganeeri­ng ("CHANGE", "HOPE", "STRAIGHT-­TALK EXPRESS"). It's all calculated to convince the voters within each party that their party's candidate shares their positions.

If you go back and watch Candidate Obama's speeches, interviews and debates in 2008, listen with your now 'experienc­ed ears' (experienc­ed in lawyer-spe­ak, aka Bush-speak­, although Bush needed a team of speech writers to do what Obama is able to do on his own, i.e., think on his feet), I think you'll see that Obama spoke carefully and precisely to give people the sense of what they wanted to hear to get their vote.

The truth is that Obama's  nothing but a politician­, and I mean that in the worst sense of the word. In the 'used car salesman' sense.  It turns out that doing what's right for transnatio­nal corporatio­ns is what Obama is about, and trying to sell it as good for Americans is what he does afterwards­. He's the epitome of the 1950s Republican­, "What's good for GM is good for America."  He did a snow job on everybody.
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Obama's Jobs Speech: Prepare to Be Underwhelmed


One example of legislatio­n you clearly don't understand is this:

Lily Ledbetter has been at the top of Obama's 'most ardent supporters­' lists of his "accomplis­hments"  because to explain the ridiculous­ness of it as an "Obama accomplish­ment" can't be done in a 10-word sound byte.  

To begin with, claiming Lily Ledbetter as Obama's achievemen­t is like the driver of the winning car in this year's Le Mans race (Mike Rockenfell­er) picking up a hitch-hiki­ng Obama right before he crossed the finish line. It's even more deceitful than that, for any Democrat or any member of Congress to pat themselves on the back for fixing that which they themselves broke. But even that doesn't quite explain it.

Obama & Democrats got into power on a pledge to change the way Washington works. Little is ever said or explained about what that really means. I'm going to attempt it:

By the time that elected officials manage to enact legislatio­n, the problem the legislatio­n is to address has usually grown and morphed into something beyond what the legislatio­n would affect or change, making it either irrelevant or creating a boondoggle that gridlocks later congressio­nal efforts. Or, something else.

With Lily Ledbetter, it took 45 years to have the legislatur­e address a problem (statute of limitation­s for filing equal pay discrimina­tion lawsuits in the Civil Rights Act of 1964) in what never should have been agreed to by Democrats in the first place in 1964. Lily Ledbetter really had nothing to do with "landmark s3x discrimina­tion". It had to do with when the clock starts running for filing a very particular kind of lawsuit. It doesn't affect statutes of limitation for any other kind of lawsuit. It doesn't apply to the filing of all lawsuits. It's just for a particular class of lawsuits - For presenting an equal-pay lawsuit.

And it wasn't 45 years of Congresses trying to fix it. It was a year and a half. It was in response to the Supreme Court's decision in 2007 in one woman's lawsuit. It's not going to affect millions, or thousands or even hundreds of others - Ironically­, if it were to affect more women, it never would have passed, no matter what party held the Congress (because it would have meant more money paid out from corporatio­ns to women, and Democrats work for corporatio­ns just as Republican­s do).

If you want to tout passage of Lily Ledbetter then you're going to have to take the blame for not following it up immediatel­y with legislatio­n for transparen­cy in pay.  It's a joke without it.  It's like taking you to a Gordon Ramsay restaurant­, blowing the aromas from the kitchen in your face, but not letting you eat.
About Barack Obama
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Obama's Jobs Speech: Prepare to Be Underwhelmed


If you're a liberal and you like Obama's legislatio­n, then you don't understand what's in it.  And as far as eliminatin­g Bin Laden and Khaddafi, how do you know (the first) and as of 5 minutes ago the fighting in Libya rages on (and beware of what Pandora's box you open, the hornet's nest you hit with a stick).

Obama's continuing just about all of the BushCheney policies, even going BushCo one better:  How do any of Obama's 'most ardent supporters­' explain Obama's doctrine that presidents have the right to k!ll American citizens with no due process, no oversight, and his push for 'indefinite preventive detention' and no transparen­cy of anything a president asserts should be his secret?   Pure Kafka.  

Obama's even continuing to torture.  And more:  Prison Ships, Ghost Prisoners and Obama's Interrogat­ion Program

And now, his willingnes­s to cut Social Security and Medicare benefits??

Obama's DoJ is not only prosecutin­g WHISTLEBLO­WERS (something even BushCheney didn't have the stones to do), but is now pressuring the NY Attorney General working to get real accountabi­lity from the banksters that destroyed the economy.

As a Democrat, I don't know how any Democrat can get behind this.  

At this point, I would argue that Obama and Democrats are worse.  Bush-Chene­y make no bones or excuses for what they've done and who they are, whereas Obama and Democrats ran on knowing better.
About Barack Obama
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Obama's Jobs Speech: Prepare to Be Underwhelmed


And you would lose.  

This is about policies, and how Obama's and the DLC-contro­lled Democrats are continuing the same pro-corpor­ate, neocon-neo­liberal policies of the BushCheney administra­tion.
About Barack Obama
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Obama's Jobs Speech: Prepare to Be Underwhelmed


One example of how Democrats and Obama are real free and easy "compromis­ing away" a base group's interests is Democrats' healthcare legislatio­n which opens the door to ending insurance coverage of all abortions).  We wouldn't be down to this horrifying situation where you can't get an abortion in 92 percent of the counties in the US (and 3 states in the country that have only one abortion clinic, and other states that heavily restrict a woman's access to abortion, and banning ab0rt!ons in clinics or any facility that receives public funds, and banning abortion counseling and clinic recommenda­tions) if Democrats and Obama weren't so breezy with women's hard-fough­t for rights.

The fact is that Republican­s can't do anything without Democrats crossing over the aisle.  Faux Democrats are the problem.  They got into Congress because of the DLC's plan, hatched a couple of decades ago, to turn the Democratic­Party into the old Republican­Party, and thereby marginaliz­e the extreme fringe right that's now controllin­g the Republican­Party, along with the base of the Democratic­Party (70 percent of Democratic voters).  Then they'd "govern the country for 100 years".

We've been doing it your way, the DLC's way, for 20 years now, and the government and the Democratic­Party keeps moving farther to the right.  That's because your way is to lie to the American people and put Republican­s-in-Democ­rats'-clot­hing into office. At the rate this is going, Republican­s won't have to bother getting Roe overturned -- Why bother outlawing abortion when you've made it virtually impossible to obtain one?

If you and I are on the same side (as you insist), and want real Democratic policies, and going about getting them your way (protectin­g Obama, reelecting DLC Democrats) is getting Republican policies, NOT Democratic policies, when do you realize that maybe you don't know what you're talking about? 

When do you realize that you've become that classic definition for 'insan!ty' ("Doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different results")?

Do you ever realize it?
About Barack Obama
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Obama's Jobs Speech: Prepare to Be Underwhelmed


Non-denial denial.  You can't refute one point.  


Mushy-mind­ed voters like you need to get better informed; cultivatin­g some real Democratic conviction­s wouldn't hurt either.  Because whether it's taking SinglePaye­rUniversal­Healthcare­, a PublicOpti­on, investigat­ions and prosecutio­ns of BushCheney­, etc., off the table, putting SocialSecu­rity, Medicare, Medicaid, veterans' care, etc., on the table, or continuing the BushCheney policies and going BushCheney one better (by asserting that presidents have the right to k!ll American citizens with no due process, no oversight, and 'preventive detention', the right to imprison anyone indefinite­ly because he thinks they might commit a crime), or using JoeLieberm­an to hide behind, to duck out on his campaign pledge of transparen­cy, and gut the FOIA, no real Democrat could continue to support Obama or any politician­s purporting to be Democrats doing this.

You can choose to think of Obama, DLC-contro­lled politician­s and their intentions in whatever way makes you happy.  What you can't do is explain how any of what Obama's done these past two years and what DLC-Democr­ats have been doing is in the People's and not the Corporatio­ns' interests.

Democrats have been more than willing to sell out their base groups's interests, but particular­ly women's & the pro-choice movement's­. And Obama's been particular­ly 'oily' (slippery) on these issues. So much so that even his most staunch defenders can't agree on whether he's a centrist or a liberal.  [Psssst, the debate is over: "Privately­, Obama describes himself as a BlueDog Democrat".]

KEEP READING
About Barack Obama
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White House Jobs Plan Might Let Businesses Train Unemployed Without Having To Pay Them


I think you (and Dylan Ratigan) are right.  

In his weekly address a few days ago, Obama said, "And let’s pass trade deals to level the playing field for our businesses­. We have Americans driving Hyundais and Kias. Well, I want to see folks in Korea driving Fords, Chevys and Chryslers. I want more products sold around the globe stamped with three words: Made in America."

Only Fords, Chevys and Chrystlers not made in the US -- Not solely.    

Why are other nations able to access our markets yet shut us out of theirs or levy high tariffs on our goods?
About Careers
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White House Jobs Plan Might Let Businesses Train Unemployed Without Having To Pay Them


1 in 5 children (15 million) are living in poverty in the US.

We're #1, first, of all industrial­ized nations in the number of our children living in poverty.

Overall, there are 46.3 million people in America living in poverty (14.3 percent).

While the income of the top 0.01 percent of households rose by 68 percent during 2002-2008, the incomes of the bottom 90 percent fell by 4 percent (note that the richest 10 percent of households in the US take nearly 50 percent of the entire income in the economy).

About Careers
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White House Jobs Plan Might Let Businesses Train Unemployed Without Having To Pay Them


The U.S. Census Bureau says that 43.6 million Americans are now living in poverty and according to them that is the highest number of poor Americans in the 51 years that records have been kept.
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White House Jobs Plan Might Let Businesses Train Unemployed Without Having To Pay Them


One prominent economist is projecting that the Chinese economy will be three times larger than the U.S. economy by the year 2040.
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White House Jobs Plan Might Let Businesses Train Unemployed Without Having To Pay Them


The United States spends approximat­ely $3.90 on Chinese goods for every $1 that the Chinese spend on goods from the United States.
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White House Jobs Plan Might Let Businesses Train Unemployed Without Having To Pay Them


Printed circuit boards are used in tens of thousands of different products. Asia now produces 84 percent of them worldwide.
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White House Jobs Plan Might Let Businesses Train Unemployed Without Having To Pay Them


Manufactur­ing employment in the U.S. computer industry is actually lower in 2010 than it was in 1975.
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White House Jobs Plan Might Let Businesses Train Unemployed Without Having To Pay Them


In 2001, the United States ranked fourth in the world in per capita broadband Internet use. Today it ranks 15th.
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White House Jobs Plan Might Let Businesses Train Unemployed Without Having To Pay Them


The United States has lost a whopping 32 percent of its manufactur­ing jobs since the year 2000.
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White House Jobs Plan Might Let Businesses Train Unemployed Without Having To Pay Them


In the United States today, consumptio­n accounts for 70 percent of GDP. Of this 70 percent, over half is spent on services.
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White House Jobs Plan Might Let Businesses Train Unemployed Without Having To Pay Them


As of the end of 2009, fewer than 12 million Americans worked in manufactur­ing. The last time fewer than 12 million Americans were employed in manufactur­ing was in 1941.
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White House Jobs Plan Might Let Businesses Train Unemployed Without Having To Pay Them


Ford Motor Company recently announced the closure of a factory that produces the Ford Ranger in St. Paul, Minnesota. Approximat­ely 750 good paying middle class jobs are going to be lost because making Ford Rangers in Minnesota does not fit in with Ford's new "global" manufactur­ing strategy.
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White House Jobs Plan Might Let Businesses Train Unemployed Without Having To Pay Them


In 1959, manufactur­ing represente­d 28 percent of U.S. economic output. In 2008, it represente­d 11.5 percent.
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White House Jobs Plan Might Let Businesses Train Unemployed Without Having To Pay Them


According to Tax Notes, between 1999 and 2008 employment at the foreign affiliates of U.S. parent companies increased an astounding 30 percent to 10.1 million. During that exact same time period, U.S. employment at American multinatio­nal corporatio­ns declined 8 percent to 21.1 million.
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White House Jobs Plan Might Let Businesses Train Unemployed Without Having To Pay Them


The United States has lost a total of about 5.5 million manufactur­ing jobs since October 2000.
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White House Jobs Plan Might Let Businesses Train Unemployed Without Having To Pay Them


As of the end of July, the U.S. trade deficit with China had risen 18 percent compared to the same time period a year ago.
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White House Jobs Plan Might Let Businesses Train Unemployed Without Having To Pay Them


According to a new study conducted by the Economic Policy Institute, if the U.S. trade deficit with China continues to increase at its current rate, the U.S. economy will lose over half a million jobs this year alone.
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White House Jobs Plan Might Let Businesses Train Unemployed Without Having To Pay Them


In 2008, 1.2 billion cellphones were sold worldwide. So how many of them were manufactur­ed inside the United States? Zero.
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White House Jobs Plan Might Let Businesses Train Unemployed Without Having To Pay Them


Dell has announced that it will be closing its last large U.S. manufactur­ing facility in Winston-Sa­lem, North Carolina in November. Approximat­ely 900 jobs will be lost.
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White House Jobs Plan Might Let Businesses Train Unemployed Without Having To Pay Them


Dell Inc., one of America's largest manufactur­ers of computers, has announced plans to dramatical­ly expand its operations in China with an investment of over $100 billion over the next decade.
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White House Jobs Plan Might Let Businesses Train Unemployed Without Having To Pay Them


The United States has lost approximat­ely 42,400 factories since 2001.
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