A Good-Tempered Man
Charley Reese
October 8, 2003
"....An honest man with sincere convictions will get angry when he hears lies. Some of our greatest presidents had ferocious tempers. George Washington, Andy Jackson and Harry Truman are three examples.
You don't see other candidates getting angry because they are all phonies..."
"...Whether you agree with him or not, Howard Dean actually believes in his convictions. He is a genuine man.
An honest, genuine man will not suffer fools lightly, nor will he stand around like a dummy with a phony smile on his face while he hears himself lied about..."
The Money Machinery vs. Direct Democracy in Politics:
We are not free...
Re: Tom Paine article
California Hangover
Robert B. Reich
After the California recall, it seems that American democracy only goes as far as the cash will take you.
The vote was nearly inconsequential when you examine the overall process.
What does 'direct democracy' truly mean in today's America?
WHAT?! You have no cash?!
End of the road for you, my friend.
If successful 'direct democracy' is exclusively and effectively tied to money, as Reich suggests, then freedom
is not TRUE freedom. Freedom is corrupted.
Freedom is relative to how much money you have.
Suddenly, it seems slavery is back in vogue.
When you think about it in a most realistic way, the average-to-poor person in this nation is chained to a system in which they will never have a hope of truly being able to be free...
not when the tyranny of money is the only avenue to American power...all other roads dead-ended.
Tyranny builds on tyranny.
Monarchy produced tyranny which sparked the American Revolution.
Will moneyed power-concentration in government do less?
How long will Americans stand for stolen elections and attempted coups in the guise of "elections"?
How long will media be accomplices in the process?
The only way to obtain your freedom in America.
This proves capitalism a flawed method of maintaining true freedom for individuals.
Reich has a good point here.
Things have gone too far.
It's time to take a step back and see what's happening to our country.
Democracy and freedom shouldn't be complicated concepts...
but they are.
They say you can't legislate what they call "freedom".
Eagles live on light...they soar on air.
We must put limits on this corrupted type of "freedom", if we are a nation of/by/for "the people".
Because what they are calling "freedom" is actually "money"...and nothing more.
Look up "freedom" in your favorite book of philosophy.
Keynes said of self-interest:
"Dangerous human proclivities can be canalized into comparatively harmless channels by the existence of opportunity for moneymaking and private wealth, which if they cannot be satisfied in this way, may find their outlet in cruelty, the reckless pursuit of personal power and authority, and other forms of self-aggrandizement. It is better that a man should tyrannize over his bank balance than over his fellow-citizens. . . ."
He is harmless is his miser's chamber...until he decides he wants your freedom as part of his sorry stash.
What happens when those who 'tyrannize over their bank balances' are allowed, through organized interest,
to govern a nation that was born to espouse democracy and the self-evidence of each man being created equal?
We are allowing it, my fellow Americans.
We are allowing freedom to become a perverted concept in our America.
Today's average American is no more than this...a slave to special interest.
One comment: If there was a positive to be seen, it would be the results of the recall.
It sparked many, many voters to get out and speak their mind.
I wonder how many of those voters who said "NO" to the recall realized that they never stood a chance?
Jude
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Excerpts:
".....Progressives of a century ago, such as California’s then Republican governor Hiram Johnson, never dreamed that a single person’s money could buy enough signatures on a petition to force an entire state to go through a recall vote. That would be the reverse of direct democracy."
"...now, any governor is fair game at any time, at least in California. All you need is one very determined and very wealthy person, coupled with a governor whose popularity has sunk for whatever reason and no matter how temporarily.."
"...Gray Davis wasn’t the only loser yesterday. If Californians woke this morning with a headache, it’s not surprising. They made a mockery of what their progressive forebearers intended to achieve.
"..Let’s hope they’ve learned a lesson, and the rest of the country has, too. Direct democracy is a fine idea, as long as it’s accompanied by strict limits on what people can spend on it..."
NOTE:
SEE MY BLOG ENTRY ABOUT THE RECALL FROM 6-29-03
