Greed Inside and Outside the Empire

Inside the empire, the governor of one State (Wisconsin), destroyed the public worker unions. He did this even though the majority of the people were opposed to it, and the unions had already agreed to all monetary concessions.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/03/10/AR2011031005940.html


On this, let me relay a great paragraph from Paul Krugman's Op-Ed today:

Like anyone who writes regularly about what passes for economic and fiscal debate in American politics, I’ve developed a strong tolerance for nonsense. After all, if I got upset every time powerful people were illogical and/or dishonest, I’d spend every waking hour in a state of raging despair.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/11/opinion/11krugman.html


Outside the Empire, it becomes clear that the US is continuing to support its dictator-puppet in Bahrain:

After weeks of pro-democracy protests — at times more than 100,000 people have massed in the streets — the royal family has pledged to enter a dialogue with the demonstrators after their initial crackdown killed seven people.

So far the dialogue has not happened. But in contrast to the uprisings in Egypt ... Washington has continued to back the government of the Sunni royal family — to the growing consternation of the largely Shiite protesters.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/12/world/middleeast/12unrest.html



Adding a surreal clown-like aspect to this debacle, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates whined about the Afghanistan War, which is ten years along, the longest war in US History. Just last week, US bombings killed 9 boys chopping wood for fire, mistaking them, somehow, for 'the enemy'.

Anyway, here is Gates whining:

Earlier Friday, in Brussels, Mr. Gates sharply rebuked the United States’ allies for preparing to effectively abandon Afghanistan, threatening what he described as tenuous progress in the nearly decade-old war.

In a deliberately undiplomatic speech to NATO defense ministers, Mr. Gates called on European allies to put aside their domestic politics and work with the United States to secure the “semblance of normalcy” that he said was emerging in some parts of Afghanistan.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/12/world/middleeast/12unrest.html


"Semblance of normalcy." "Tenuous progress in the nearly decade-old war."

Isn't that pathetic.

My country has turned into a cruel parody of a champion of justice--except it isn't funny because atrocities are happening and people are suffering and dying.

Michael Moore summed it all up recently: 400 Americans own as much wealth as the bottom 50% of all Americans, over 150 million people.

Viva La Greed!