I had lunch with a old friend the other day and we got talking about the “Red Shift.” Not the astronomical one, the political one. “For example, take a look at the health plan that Nixon proposed in 1971,” my friend said. “It was far more radical than anything the Congress is taking up now. And that was almost 40 years ago from a Republican president!”
He’s right. The real triumph of Ronald Reagan was creating a huge shift to the right in American political concepts and discourse that is still very much with us. Which brings us to last night’s (12/13/09) History Channel and “The People Speak” based on Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States, which has sold over 1.5 million copies (and that’s just the American print edition from 1980 in an initial press run of 5,000). I found the program pretty standard stuff-history from the bottom up tailored to a progressive audience. It was always tasteful, well-produced–not exactly hard-hitting. But it’s jarring to experience how unusual seeing this kind of perspective on American television is. And, predictably, the wingnuts are going ape. How very far we have traveled to the right when Glen Beck’s ravings are not at all unusual and when the calm, measured presence of Zinn seems like something from another world. Well, it is from another world. We’re on our way to becoming a second-world right-wing country with a plutocratic governing class, a vast underclass (2.3 million of whom are in prison) and a diminished middle class. It’s looking more and more like, say, Argentina 20 years ago, as we await our own Pinochet. We need more Howard Zinn to begin-just begin-to restore some semblance of balance.
This health care debate shows that. The Obama plan is far to the right of Nixon’s plan that the Democratic House rejected, to the right of Bob Dole’s 93 compromise plan that Kristol forced him to withdraw. And yet any talk of expanding health care coverage, which more than 60% of Americans support, is considered a socialist takeover, by even MSM outlets. Quite sad, and the Dems can only retake the agenda if they fight, not if they keep kissing Lieberman and Nelsons ass.
are arguing on Hardball that there is evidence Joe Lieberman’s war on health care reform may very well be revenge on those who he considers responsible for his primary challenge including kos and firedoglake.
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p>His reversal (in the last three months) on expanding medicare to include ages 50-65 is cited as part of the evidence.
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p>What a schmuck… he’d put his own petty retribution agenda ahead of good bill that wold help people and advance the Democratic party’s cause.
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p>The Senate Democratic Caucus is meeting tonight with Lieberman on the issues.
…Pinochet was from Chile who took power from a duly elected socialist with help from guess which nation.
Allende likely stole that election, had plenty of his opponents killed, and was going to start accepting Soviet military equipment. The way I see it we stopped another Castro and averted another missile crisis. I only wish we picked a better patsy…
This would indicate that the only violence (kidnapping ending in fatal wound to a resister) came from a plot backed by the CIA. He won a plurality requiring Congress to pick (similar to what happens if one of our candidates can’t get a majority of electors). There was a campaign to deprive him of the benefit of precedent whereby Congress usually ratified the popular winner, but ultimately they did. He may not be a saint, but his election appears to be perfectly legit. In any case, it really wasn’t for us to intervene like that.
boo America.
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p>Zinn would be proud.
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p>… you do realize that the Democrats, whom so many BMG believers, liberals and socialists-lite campaigned so ardently for in the last 2 elections, currently control all branches of government in your state, your country and likely your town or city as well?
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p>(Plutocrat senators aside, of course)
A pessimist would say that we have ineffective dilletantes in charge of our government.
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p>An optimist would say that we no longer have disastrous kakistocrats in charge of our government.
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p>So it is a step up, I guess…technically…
that I actually think you are smart. (This despite your penchant for invoking an obfuscated lexicon). Just misguided.
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p>Unfortunately though, lying underneath your statements are assumptions of value that probably contradict strongly with my own, and those of the founders of this nation.