[A-List] Gibbs' professional left

[Nadja Tesich]

Todd,
I agree.Read my pevious reply.
Nadja

________________________________
> Date: Tue, 31 Aug 2010 09:14:23 -0800
> To: a-list at lists.econ.utah.edu
> From: toddfboyle at gmail.com
> Subject: Re: [A-List] Gibbs' professional left
>
> At 05:27 AM 8/31/2010, c b posted this comment by Sam Webb
> A stronger case for being the decisive element in 2008 could be made
> by the labor movement or the African American people or young people
> or Obama himself. But actually, the game changer was a united people's
> coalition, inspired by candidate Obama, that powered his successful
> path to the nomination and presidency.
>
> I'm not so sure it was a "united people's coalition". Your dog could
> have won in 2008. Bush was so unpopular and the economy was in
> such decline; unemployment high; the pain index was high.
>
> The only question in 2008 was who the Democratic Party would install
> to rule over us. Everybody knew this during the Democratic primaries
> and convention.
>
> As always, the decisions were made in back room deals, long before
> the convention, before the primaries. And the next president is being
> selected by the same customary process. I honestly don't understand
> why anybody bothers to vote in presidential or congressional elections.
> The decisions are *NOT* made by any "united people's coalition".
> The decisions are made by the money people who shape public beliefs
> by their influence over print and broadcast media, their power to selectively
> fund politicians, thinktanks, movies, the megachurches, etc.
>
> That's where the battle is, and we're not even in the game.
> The battle is only *between* industries and corporations over how to
> divide the pie. It's not between the left and right, or between
> nations, or between classes. It is between power pyramids.
>
> A "coalition" is not a power pyramid. The people have never been
> a power pyramid, unless they *know* what's happening and
> *participate* and unite in something like a labor union or a
> political party to exercise power. And that will *never happen*
> until something happens to change the propaganda milieu,
> which hypnotizes hundreds of millions of stupid idiots in the US.
>
> TOdd