This item was written by Matt Taibbi who is one of the few investigative journalists left in the country.
Had a friend send me this article by former Republican staffer Mike Lofgren under the subject line, “Informative reading for tonight’s Republican showcase.” I’m probably late in seeing it, but Lofgren’s piece raises fascinating and terrifying questions about the future of our political system and the increasing possibility that we are headed toward something like a civil war, or a constitutional crisis.
Lofgren, in describing the reasons for his defection from the Republican party, describes a Republican camp that increasingly acts not like a traditional peacetime political organization, but more like an apocalyptic cult or one of the authoritarian movements from early 20th century European history.
[…]
As Lofgren notes, this was insurrectionary, revolutionary behavior. Only the massive scale of the gambit prevented it from being easily identified as terrorism and criminal blackmail. If in exchange for not defaulting on our debt Boehner, Hensarling, Cantor and the rest of them had asked for a billion dollars worth of gold bullion deposited in Swiss bank accounts, or the release of a dozen Baader-Meinhofs from German prisons, it could hardly have been much different from what they actually did.
[…]
Had Obama invoked emergency powers to raise the debt limit unilaterally – and I think he had good reasons to do that – we might have had a revolt on our hands.Most people aren’t thinking about this because we’re so accustomed to thinking of America as a stable, conservative place where politics is not a life-or-death affair but more something that people like to argue about over dinner, as entertainment almost. But it’s headed in another, more twisted direction. I’m beginning to wonder if this election season is going to be one none of us ever forget – a 1968 on crack.
What does this have to do with “investigative journalism”? This is just liberal fan fiction.
More Smokin’ Hot Helen Mirren. I don’t read this blog for the articles!
[I’m glad somebody has their priorities straight – ed. McCullough]
Why is it that Democrat’s and Republicans both are leaning further away from the middle? For all that Americans find wrong with Government. I don’t think we want far left or right. Maybe some do, but most Americans want a balance of Government. I don’t think we are doing anything but going back and forth between extremes of the parties.
Matt Taibbi does some good work but man, what a shill for the left!
Left obviously smokes more… and not the light stuff.
It is written and documented strategy of the Left (with authors of those writings in very high positions of Obama administration) to push for catastrophic breakdown while in power to seize even more of it.
Difference @jescott is that real grassroots people have had enough of it and the only way old style politics can deal with that new fraction is to go to extremes.
True fight is between Progressive ideas BOTH on far Left and far Right (Communists and Nazi if you please both adored Big Government and prospered for a time by pushing collective rights, of collectives they controlled) and people who want Government as a weak servant it should be. It is not question of Left/Right balance at all. Small, limited, controlled Government of Left or Right direction is just fine.
For now center-Right have woken up to that in TeaParty. Hopefully in 2012 maybe center-Left wakes up and kicks out their Barnies and Nancies bringing CoffieParty or whatever representatives ready to cut Government and compete for leadership with Leftists ideals of small Government (ex. can small, weak and limited power Government wage Imperialistic wars?…).
What was a battle of ideas, has become a battle of dogmas.
You know someday I hope that a real Democrat gets elected. I am sick of these neoliberals DLC Democrats competing with the GOP for corporate money.
Put the bankers, Democrats, and Republicans against the wall. Then we can start over and maybe it will take another couple of hundred years before we have to do it again.
OMG! I have been converted to a Tea Party nut! I have to go out and get drunk!
I would vote for any of the Repubs running over Obama. I would vote for a stray dog over Obama even if it had been run over by a car, killed, and left to rot under a hot summer sun for a week!The man’s real views are toxic waste!
If the economy continues to tank you can expect people who are hurting and have a lot of free time on their hands to start to get nasty especially if they are young, idealistic, and want to strike out against what they see as injustice. They may not have clue how to fix the situation but they do know how to break things.
You can expect people to protest, sometimes violently, when they have what they have been promised taken away from them.
Of course all of that is Duh! You should know enough to expect that even if you are a lack witted ninny hammer. It always happens in those situations.
There is no hope for our political system. The liberals will spend us into oblivion and the conservatives will make us all go to church.
We need leaders, not party politicians. Screw both sides.
#9 says: “Obama destroys jobs via regulation”
What jobs have specifically been destroyed by regulation? The “regulation” mantra, I’m sure, makes a *great* political sound bite, but I have yet to hear any republican explain, with any sufficient degree of understanding or detail, exactly what this has to do with our climate.
Have you not forgotten that it was the *absence* of regulation that put us in this economic mess?
The Republicans have made a deal with the devil in their alliance with the tea party, just like they did with the moral majority. Clinton and Obama have pulled the Dems away from their left side heritage and planted them firmly in the middle.
Expect a left leaning tea party equivalent to show up any day now.
You conservative commenter’s are making Matt Taibbis point for him.
The right wing in this country has NEVER been this far RIGHT as it is today. It is extremist to the point of dictatorial (conservatism, taken to its ultimate extreme is dictatorship, which is what all the conservatives seem to want if they were to get everything they wanted).
I have news for you right wingers: Obama is a CENTRIST!! He is not left wing, not by a long shot. If you consider him left wing, then that goes to prove just how far to the right you are currently standing. In most of our lifetimes, taxes have never been lower than under Obama, Corporations have never been more profitable than under Obama, and yet it is still not enough for the right wing extremists.
Alfie you didn’t answer the question posed by #13. Aww hell I’m kinda curious myself. Speak up your usually so verbose.
Alfie, you elitist little snob you.
Seven sins of life:
Politics without principle.
Commerce without morality.
Wealth without work.
Education without character.
Science without humanity.
Pleasure without conscience.
Worship without sacrifice.
(Mahatma Gandhi)
You wingnut morons don’t realize… you already have your Republican president.
If you were kidnapped by aliens right before the 2008 presidential election and deposited back on earth today, you’d see a president who:
1. Refused to prosecute obvious lawbreakers from the Bush administration — torturers and people who spy without warrants and much more.
2. Refused to prosecute Wall Street criminals, despite lots of evidence that their illegal activities put us in this depression.
3. Introduced a rehash of the 1994 Republican health care proposal, where millions of Americans are forced to buy medical insurance from private companies. The same kind of program that Republican Mitt Romney pushed thru in MA.
4. Not only continued Bush’s spying programs, but claimed the right to assassinate any American anywhere in the world, without any due process — trial, jury, sentencing, none of that.
5. Expressed an interest in cutting Social Security and Medicare.
6. Hired Wall Street insiders as key aides in his administration.
7. Started a couple more wars (Yemen, Libya) without Congressional approval.
8. Continued the tax cuts for the rich.
If you didn’t know the results of the election you’d assume that the Republican won, wouldn’t you?
The Democratic party has taken over the “moderate” Republican position. The Republican party has gone over the edge into insanity. The Democrat will get elected in 2012, again, and continue his Republican policies, again.
You morons have won and you don’t realize it. There is no political party in America that represents non-moron average Americans — the ones who want the rich to pay their share of taxes. The ones who want lawbreakers prosecuted, even the rich lawbreakers with fancy lawyers. The ones who want to get us out of wars. The ones who want to preserve Social Security and Medicare. The ones who want a fair playing ground in the business world, not crony capitalism. The ones who want the government to follow the Constitution when spying on Americans. No political party represents us any more.
Ok “depression” is a little extreme, recession really. And btw that EE card joke is exactly right. The Republican candidate doesn’t need to get elected. He just has to act scary/crazy enough that Obama’s Republican policies seem moderate by comparison. There is no liberal candidate for the presidency but compared to the Republican insanity Obama looks liberal.
I don’t expect you wingnuts to understand this.
Looking for Ronald Reagan, and not finding him.
May be time for a minor civil war skirmish. The 5% elite now own 90% of the wealth. That’s a distribution calling for some ass whooping by the remaining midfle class before the elite succeed in turning America into a Venezuela.
The first shots will be fired by the left.
It’s hardly surprising that an audience of older white Christian conservatives should so enthusiastically love executions. Sad, but not surprising.
I’m sure Jesus and his Apostles are smiling down from heaven.
When you look at society their is a lot of left and right. Just for example look at news media. It too has its left wing reporting and right wing.
Its very had to get just news reporting without coloring of it on one side of the political spectrum. You almost have to look outside of the US news media for better coverage. It is very sad that this Country has gone back to being American’s of two different political viewpoints rather then a Country of one united people with slightly different viewpoints.
Republican’ts can’t help themselves, they are really power hungry and corrupt Molesters at heart.
20 So as usual you can’t back up your statements. Yet you continue to wonder why everyone thinks your an idiot.
Come on rub your eyes a little more and finish waking up.
We need a new republic and a new constitution. Until we have that there will be no change.
Finish waking up your slumber has made you dull. The enemies of Liberty and Conscience are taking advantage of your torpor.
Cursor_
What kind of a joke is this ? The source article was published on Truthout.com – a George Soros operation ! What utter nonsense painting the gutless Republicans as terrorists and unwilling to compromise. All the Republicans seem to do is compromise. The Democrats must consider only complete and total submission as compromise because that is what they demand.
The article does state one true fact and that is there probably would have been a revolt if the President tried to raise the debt limit on his own authority. Because he has no such authority to do so ! The issue wouldn’t have taken a revolt to resolve. All the Republicans would have had to do is take it to the Supreme Court and that would have been it.
This isn’t journalism; it is propaganda of the worst kind.
So in affect what you are saying alfie is that regulations prevent job growth, but YOU are unwilling to provide any actual evidence to support your statement. Just provide one just one regulation that has been proven actually proven to have cost the loss of a single job. Pretty please just one. Cite the regulation and the job loss.
Lots of regulations prevent “things” from being done which prevents the formation/or loss of jobs.
Restrict salmon fishing so they can recover: there goes the West Coast Salmon Industry. Don’t allow fraudulent investment schemes?==most of wallstreet would dissappear. Simplify the tax code: there go the accountants and lawyers.
OTOH–enforce our borders, and up go the security jobs. Reduce/eliminate the H-2 work visa programs and up go those jobs to Americans.
….and so forth. Always a question of values and tradeoffs.
does it happen?===yes.
Should it happen?===yes.
does removing regulation create jobs? Most assuredly===but they mostly result in criminal activity or similar activity that harm more than help.
Same as it always was.
#39, Bobbo, I was worried about you when I didn’t see a post from you higher than #39. You are describing what I just taught my freshmen Sociology students: manifest and latent effects. Everything has them: intended and unintended effects of every action. Or as one of my teachers used to say, “Eating cake is good. Losing weight is good. But you can’t eat cake and lose weight at the same time.” (I guess you could if you didn’t eat anything else…)