Looking in the Crystal Ball, 2012, CE

[flintlock]

Re: Looking in the Crystal Ball, 2012, CE

I agree Raja. I think that "threat" is the only reason we are doing as well as we are now. Otherwise it would be Orwell's "1984"by now.

I think the government is basically instigating a policy now of divide and conquer. Breaking the people into little groups. Democrats vs Republicans, or those who work for the govt, or certain favored corporations, vs the rest of the private sector. Even police and other public sector employees can be "bought off" so to speak with the threat of losing their jobs. They've broken up the country into a lot of penny packets which can be controlled more easily. Despite the idealism, most people are basically self interested and will vote for status quo if they getting what they want. All they have to do is keep any one large sector from becoming too pissed off. That will become harder to do now with rising unemployment of course. I think we are in for some interesting times.

[raja]

Re: Looking in the Crystal Ball, 2012, CE

"Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun."

Chairman Mao

Sorry, not my preference, but history tells us this is pretty much the road any real "change" takes. Not likely to happen, so get used to the status quo.

In the US, who's got the most guns and the most people to shoot them? :eek:

1) Politicians?

2) Financial Elite?

3) Police?

4) Armed forces?

5) The People?

If you said #5, you win what's behind Door #3

Remember, police and the armed forces are The People. Most of them now know that they, their friends and their families are losing jobs and homes because of the misdeeds of the politicians and the Financial Elite.

I favor peaceful political change . . . but if that's not possible, there are alternatives. The threat of alternatives is far better than employing the actual alternatives.

[ggirod]

Re: Looking in the Crystal Ball, 2012, CE

"Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun."

Incurable optimist that I am, I still hold out for Ballots over Bullets.

[flintlock]

Re: Looking in the Crystal Ball, 2012, CE

"Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun."

Chairman Mao

Sorry, not my preference, but history tells us this is pretty much the road any real "change" takes. Not likely to happen, so get used to the status quo.

[ggirod]

The year is 2012, the month ... December. The gears of Democracy have produced yet another crop of political spawn and, while the names and faces are still rather fuzzy, some things are very clear. Since December, 2009, the gears have ground methodically and chosen 435 Representatives and 33 Senators in 2010 and then 435+33+President/VP in 2012.

Sarah Palin played a part ... oh, wait, the crystal ball is getting cloudy, the details of the outcome are obscured. Barack Obama played a part too ... Oh My!... The suspense!!! How can I wait three years to find out??? Oh, please do not toy with my passions like this!!! Inquiring minds need to know!!!

The clouds in the crystal ball dissipate...

Partisans across the land are joyous/despondent at the outcome of their particular ballots. The campaigns were waged on issues of immigration, globalization, welfare, abortion, creationism/evolution, marriage, union/right to work, The Second Amendment, Euthanasia/Assisted Suicide, Scientific Ethics, and a particularly rancorous Social Security debate that split the nation on generational lines. Meanwhile, the media was full of bullhorns reciting continuously the consistent sound-bite partisan stands on those issues. Sadly, the crystal ball does not show the post-election USA Today, or even Time/Newsweek, so precise outcomes are unavailable. However, do not despair. The truly important business of our elect is assured.

What do we know for sure about these elect, those who will shepherd us through the increasingly challenging valley of darkness and the shadow of ... that is our economy, environment, and government? Well, here is what the crystal ball shows:

Neither the Democrats nor the Republicans have achieved a Filibuster proof majority in the Senate and the balance in the House is near 50/50. So, it would appear, for issues that the electorate seem to value most, the 50/50 split will assure that victories will be hard won. Each constituency has spent its bundle on its candidate and maybe they can win a bit of progress. But, wait .... That is not all!

It seems that the Health Insurance companies along with major Pharmaceutical and health delivery corporations have funded fully 63 Senators and 285 Representatives, drawn more or less equally (55/45 or less) from both parties. They have also funded various Astroturf organizations to assure that the public who can be mobilized responds as desired and with their consummate leadership, healthcare in the US will be the best in the world, for those who can afford it.

Oh, and an externally loose-appearing association of oil, coal, and gas interests have managed to fund 64 Senators and 280 Representatives extracted again from both parties, so issues of conservation, anthropogenic global warming, and alternate energy are safely in the hands of those who understand best what science really is and what needs to be done. Our energy future is assured and research funding for climate change has been cut from those dishonest science establishment types. R release of NOAA raw data is provided only to privatized meteorology services. Finally we have peace on the Global Warming front. Pleasantly cool weather with gentle spring rains prevail everywhere as normal sunspots steadfastly refuse to return. Some complain that the summers are too cool, but the AGW resistance uses the weather as evidence that warming is bogus.

Wait ... something else is showing up in the crystal ball...

Banking regulations threaten the health of the entire economy so the final majority required is that of the Wall Street/Bankers/FIRE interests. Patriotic to the last, the FIRE forces unify and support 62 realistic and concerned Senators and 260 similar Representatives. That majority assures that no burdensome regulations are adopted and that Federal funding for security, health, entitlements, and empire are handled, as they should be, through borrowing from the banks and the powers of Wall Street. Main street interests were represented by the few survivors out of 38 Senators and 225 Representatives who transited the election gauntlet with injuries aplenty.

Whenever troublemakers (if they were more numerous or effective, they would be called terriorists) point out that the game seems rigged, the media points out Alan Grayson, Ron Paul, and a couple other people I don't recognize right now as the exceptions that prove the rule of the success of Democracy in This Great Nation. Their roles as spokespersons for the people who realize what is going on serve to release the tensions in those constituencies and let the main thrust of the financial manipulation to continue unabated.

Then some nitpicker blogger cleverly points that NO ONE REPRESENTATIVE or SENATOR is a part of all three majorities. No, the majorities are totally independent of party and ideology ...

The powers that be start the spin machine to show that these are THE MAJORITIES THAT MATTER!!! We have finally achieved the kind of non-partisan leadership that we know our founding fathers wanted so much for us to have. If you don't believe this, simply listen to the breathless news reporting on the media...

Finally the Crystal Ball reveals the future after 2012-2014 and 2016. It is too late; laws have been passed and the die is cast. The outcome is detemined and many of us know what it will be.

WHEN WILL WE STOP THIS NONSENSE? WHEN WILL WE WRESTLE CONTROL OF OUR GOVERNMENT FROM THE POWERS THAT BE TO THE POWERS THAT SHOULD BE?

Maybe Someday ... Maybe Never.

Discuss.