Open mike 20/10/2012

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, October 20th, 2012 - 46 comments
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46 comments on “Open mike 20/10/2012 ”

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  1. Flying Kiwi 1
    20 October 2012 at 9:34 am

    A paragraph in an savage attack on President Obama snared my attention:

    http://powerofnarrative.blogspot.co.nz/2012/10/cabrera-for-president.html

    Here is that paragraph. Use ‘find and replace’ to substitute ‘Key’ for ‘Obama’ and ‘Prime Minister’ for “President’ and i think it would still be entirely accurate.

    “I conclude that Obama never wanted to be president, that is, he never wanted to do the work, master the details, understand the mechanics of the overwhelming complexities of a massive, constantly metastasizing State. Yes, he wanted to have the title “President” and enjoy the power and prestige that accompanies it (to say nothing of the fact that he and his family are now set for life at the pinnacle of the ruling class). But he never wanted to be president because there were certain policies to which he was passionately committed and wanted to put into action. He wants to be called “Mr. President”; leave the dull, wearisome duties of office to the underlings. That’s what underlings are for. We might regard him as the most frighteningly complete narcissist we are likely to see, as well as perhaps the most complete solipsist. There are no policies beyond himself that he deeply cares about; there is nothing beyond himself at all. Outside of himself and his own power, he believes nothing.”

    The real, depressing problem is that you could do exactly the same for most of today’s major politicians and ‘captains of industry’.

  2. Dr Terry 2
    20 October 2012 at 10:05 am

    Obama, like any President, has a few flaws and imposed limitations. He is a Christian believer who personally respects other world religions. That reported above has been constructed by an incredibly nasty, stupid person or persons. Let me quote some of the words of Obama:

    “A good compromise, a good piece of legislation, is like a good sentence, or a good piece of music. Everybody can recognise it.”
    “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”
    “We have just begun – Today we begin in earnest the work of making sure that the world we leave our children is just a little bit better than the one we inhabit today.”
    Our job is to make sure that even as we make progress, that we are also giving people a sense of hope and vision for the future. But we will not sustain this growth if it favours the few, and not the many.”
    “We need to internalize this idea of excellence. Not many folks spend a lot of time trying to be excellent.”
    We’re hardwired not to always think clearly when we’re scared. And this country’s scared.”
    “A freedom without love or charity or duty . . . is unworthy of our founding ideals.”
    “I don’t have time to complain. I’M GOING TO PRESS ON.”

    Such words come from the dread creature we see imagined in the article above? I find nothing particularly quotable, or inspiring, from Key.

    • muzza 2.1
      20 October 2012 at 10:20 am

      Obama, like any President, has a few flaws and imposed limitations. He is a Christian believer who personally respects other world religions.

      Good morning Dr T – Where did you draw that conclusion from?

    • Flying Kiwi 2.2
      20 October 2012 at 10:48 am

      Dr. Terry – put what Obama has said to one side and look at what he has done, or more pertinently, not done.

      “A good compromise…” He has compromised and compromised and compromised with the rabid right, and fought for nothing apart from Obamacare, itself a compromise that will enrich private insurers and health providers.

      “Change will not come…” What has he changed? Guantanamo is still open, Bush’s wars still rage, bankers and CEO’s bonuses are still obscene while the middle class shrinks and the poor get poorer.

      “We have just begun…” In what way is the world even a little bit better than it was when he took power four years ago?

      “Our job is to make sure…” The thoughtful in the US are in despair while the rich get richer and the US falls apart.

      “We need to internalise this idea of excellence…” Goods and ideas are now the preserve of Asia. What good has come out of the US in Obama’s four years? Excellent drones and extra-judicial execution in total disregard of international law.

      “A freedom without love or charity or duty…” The rational that allows Walmart etc. to cut wages and pay less than a living wage because charity and duty will make up the shortfall.

      “I haven’t time to complain…” But the American people have, with the result that Obama is only neck-and-neck with a self-centred, shallow, inept, blatantly corrupt clone of G. W. Bush.

      Had Obama delivered even 10% of what he promised Romney would be dead in the water.

      • Flying Kiwi 2.2.1
        20 October 2012 at 2:19 pm

        A better resume of what Obama has done, regardless of what he says:

        The list of actual betrayal is long and virtually covering his public policy without exception.
        1) Health care, in which Obama savaged the single-payer system, thus preparing the way for the same on the public option, meanwhile silencing, or rather, delegitimating all dissident voices, at the same time as exempting health insurers from antitrust prosecution and favoring Big Pharma;
        2) Civil liberties, a good litmus test of democratic governance, in which Obama’s Department of Justice argued against granting habeas corpus rights to detainees, invoked the Espionage Act against whistleblowers, carried surveillance beyond that of previous administrations, with the National Security Agency one of the culprits practicing the black magic of eavesdropping, while renditions and “black holes” continue and even agencies like FDA spy on its employees; 3) militarism, from which foreign policy, including trade policy, cannot be excluded, in which the drone–as Obama’s signature weapon–terrorizes whole populations reeking destruction from the skies, naval power displayed from the South China Sea to the Mediterranean, a whole new generation of nuclear weapons in the pipeline (exempt from potential budgetary sequestration), a military budget itself second to none, and what appears to be a permanent state of war;
        4) the omissions, which by their absence speak volumes about the purposes and policies of his administration, in which job creation and foreclosures have not been addressed, climate change, wholly disappeared, gun control, nonexistent, poverty never, never mentioned, and business and banking regulation the compounding of phoniness on phoniness, not unexpected considering Obama’s belief in deregulation and bringing in the Clinton-Rubin crowd of free marketeers.**

        I agree that Key is, fortunately, a third-rate and inept con-artist compared to Obama but both men like so many in politics today precisely described by my original quote.

        **Lifted from http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/10/12/america-on-the-cusp-of-fascism

    • Rogue Trooper 3.1
      20 October 2012 at 10:25 am

      Thank God we have not returned to Funky Town

    • karol 3.2
      21 October 2012 at 7:45 am

      Thanks for this link, gr, which I’ve just caught up on.  An interesting, informative and thought-provoking piece.  
       
      It brings back memories to me because I was living in London during that late 70s and  80s.  I took part in the left wing protests, public meetings, networks and strikes. The left had been increasingly successful during the 60s and 70s, with gains in policy development, public discourse, etc,  There was some lingering optimism into the early 80s, mixed with foreboding.  Many of us thought our protests would have an impact. But of course, many of us also swung between optimism and fear of where the right wing governments in the western world were dragging us.
       
      I remember the period of the Brixton riots well.  I was living just outside Brixton (Stockwell) when they went off.  I remember the helicopters buzzing overhead, the boarded up windows, the bus loads of uniformed police in side streets at night when I went to parties in the area. Not all the protesters rioters were young and unemployed – the discontent was more widespread than that.  Later in the 80s I lived in Brixton – an area I loved.
       
      But gradually Thatcher’s government suceeded in destroying the vibrant grass-rooots left wing activism – mainly through dismantling the GLC (Greater London Council), supporting the shift to right wing editors in the MSM, etc, as well as through government policy.  This left me frustrated, angry and despondent. In the late 7os and early 80s in London, the left was strong in mainstream political organisations and local councils in the metropolitian areas and councils.  It was the time when (Red) Ken Livingston was leader of the GLC.  
       
      And the Reading the Maps post points to the way Thatcher never had majority support, but benefited from harnessing tools of power (media, undemocratic FPtP electoral system, opportunistic war mongering, etc). 
       
      And this is the lesson: never underestimated the power of the elites to take back control even when the majority of people seem to be successful in working well towards a more fair and just society.

  5. muzza 5
    20 October 2012 at 10:39 am

    Second man arrested in New York bombing plot

    The Bangladeshi man arrested for trying to detonate what he thought was a 1,000-pound bomb had an alleged accomplice in San Diego, who was arrested on unrelated child-pornography charges after being monitored by the feds for months.

    Phew just when I was thinking that it was going to be another lone wolf scenario again, but we have already had that twice this year at least in America – What about that 454.545455kg bomb, wow that must have been really easy to procure from all the other terrorists , woops I mean “intelligence operatives” , not to mention get into the desired position, I wonder if the two guys carried it !!

    California resident Howard Willie Carter II, 36, was arrested after Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents found 1,000 child pornography images and three video files on a laptop and hard drive in the garbage near his apartment, the New York Times reported.

    1000lb bomb, 1000 child porn pics, (sloppy), um yeah ok then, makes it nice and easy for people to make the step to terrorist, fry that kiddie fiddler. Could thing computers have like client firewall software etc these days, as I wouldn’t want the intelligence kiddie fiddlers loading up my hard drives with their wares, or dumping stuff into my emails account, good thing those are secured too. Note to self, change hotmail, gmail, and facebook passwords

    The Bangladeshi man arrested for trying to detonate what he thought was a 1,000-pound bomb had an alleged accomplice in San Diego, who was arrested on unrelated child-pornography charges after being monitored by the feds for months.

    Phew just when I was thinking that it was going to be another lone wolf scenario again, but we have already had that twice this year at least in America – What about that 454.545455kg bomb, wow that must have been really easy to procure from all the other terrorists , woops I mean “intelligence operatives” , not to mention get into the desired position, I wonder if the two guys carried it !!

    California resident Howard Willie Carter II, 36, was arrested after Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents found 1,000 child pornography images and three video files on a laptop and hard drive in the garbage near his apartment, the New York Times reported.

    Child porn, um yeah ok then, makes it nice and easy for people to make the step to terrorist, fry that kiddie fiddler. Could thing computers have like client firewall software etc these days, as I wouldn’t want the intelligence kiddie fiddlers loading up my hard drives with their wares, or dumping stuff into my emails account, good thing those are secured too. Note to self, change hotmail, gmail, and facebook passwords.

    After looking through the files (and placing more “evidence”), agents found information linking Carter to the bomb plot of New York’s Federal Reserve Bank. Carter’s computer contained e-mails, which addressed him as “Yaqueen.” The Bangladeshi who attempted to detonate the bomb, 21-year-old Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis, had told undercover officials that Yaqueen was a conspirator.

    Wow thats hardcore, wanting to blow up the NYFED to spilling your guts, just like that. Seems the jihadis are going a bit soft…

    Carter, using the name Yaqueen, had previously suggested to Nafis that they attack a military base in Baltimore, which had only one guard standing outside.

    Let’s see, next time we could say that they were actually launching WMDs by rocket to blow up the moon, not too far fetched is!

    Both men had been under government surveillance as part of an elaborate sting operation. Carter started being monitored by feds as early as August, but officials waited until Nafis’s arrest before going after him.

    So they both worked for the Feds then, good to clear that one up…

    Both men are now facing charges of conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction and with providing material support to al-Qaeda

    Look a real life conspiracy theory, WMDs, and providing “material support” to AQ….

  6. captain hook 6
    20 October 2012 at 11:09 am

    too many ningnongs seduced by the internet and teevee cocatenated with self will run riot and the world has turned into this sort of comic strip with weird monsters like beenit and kweewee running the show.

    • Flying Kiwi 6.1
      20 October 2012 at 11:50 am

      “with weird monsters like beenit and kweewee running the show.”

      If this non-sequiture in a vacuus comment is meant to refer to me, please be assured captain hook (if you don’t believe you are entitled to capitalisation who am I to argue?) that I have removed myself as far from running the show as it’s possible to get.

      “I Tiresias, old man with wrinkled dugs
      Perceived the scene, and foretold the rest—”

  7. Penny Bright 7
    20 October 2012 at 12:17 pm

    What do you think about Brian Edwards predictions on John Key stepping down in the middle of next year?

    http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/5-key-step-down-middle-next-year-thanks-ck-131029

    Penny Bright

    ‘Anti-corruption campaigner’

    http://www.dodgyjohnhasgone.com

    • blue leopard 7.1
      20 October 2012 at 12:28 pm

      We can live in hope, I guess.

    • Rosie 7.2
      20 October 2012 at 12:45 pm

      Thanks Penny. That was a good read, and like Blue leopard says, “we can only live in hope” Will he make to the middle of next year though? He’s in such a state as it is, right now. And what will happen, how will it unfold? However it does, I wish it would happen sooner rather than later. There must a collective of champagne corks itching to pop. (or cheap n cheerful bubbles as least)

    • Stephen Doyle 7.3
      20 October 2012 at 2:15 pm

      Original with interesting comments here.
      http://brianedwardsmedia.co.nz/

      • Rosie 7.3.1
        20 October 2012 at 3:06 pm

        Thanks Stephen. The reasons given by Brian Edwards seem completely plausible and mirror some of the chat that has been going on here, as do the following comments. I thought the “bucket list” reason was an efficient way of summing up Key’s personal “ambushins”.

        • Stephen Doyle 7.3.1.1
          20 October 2012 at 3:49 pm

          Maybe we should run a sweep. My money would be when poll results drop below 40. Then the knives will really come out, so he will jump before suffering the indignity of being pushed.

          • Colonial Viper 7.3.1.1.1
            20 October 2012 at 5:53 pm

            Who has the numbers in his caucus? I’m betting that even with Key gone, English will manage to stay on as Deputy.

            Parata was a rising star, but she screwed herself. Joyce? Bennett? Collins?

      • Draco T Bastard 7.3.2
        20 October 2012 at 5:45 pm

        Well, actually, here.

    • captain hook 7.4
      20 October 2012 at 2:41 pm

      who told him that?
      michelle boag?

    • marsman 7.5
      20 October 2012 at 2:58 pm

      Which Hollow Man will replace him though?

  8. Tiger Mountain 8
    20 October 2012 at 3:35 pm

    Public holidays are often about hypocrisy because most of us just plain enjoy bloody holidays! As an atheist I am quite happy to take Xmas and Easter hols, as are Māori haters on Waitangi Day, Republicans on Queens Bday, and dirty filthy anti union torys on Labour weekend.

    Holidays are to catch up with people and party on and imagine what it would be like if paid work was reassessed in relation to what we really enjoy doing in life.

  9. Chris 9
    20 October 2012 at 3:42 pm

    Found this quote by Mark Twain. “There are two types of speakers,those that are nervous and those that are liars”

  10. Chris 10
    20 October 2012 at 3:45 pm

    And another “There is nothing so eloquent as a rattlesnakes tail” Navaho.

  11. Draco T Bastard 11
    20 October 2012 at 6:09 pm

    Mitt Romney’s Real Agenda

    In fact, the tenets of Ryan Republicanism are so extreme that they even offend the pioneers of trickle-down economics. “Ryan takes out the ax and goes after programs for the poor – which is the last thing you ought to cut,” says David Stockman, who served as Ronald Reagan’s budget director. “It’s ideology run amok.”

    Sounds just like this National government.

    • millsy 11.1
      20 October 2012 at 7:40 pm

      Reagan and Thatcher knew when and where to stop. Romney, Cameron and Key dont.

      • Draco T Bastard 11.1.1
        20 October 2012 at 8:19 pm

        Reagan and Thatcher knew when and where to stop.

        Only if you consider that public opposition stopping them is them knowing when to stop. Romney, Cameron and Key want to take the reforms that Reagan and Thatcher and Douglas started to their natural conclusion. This is very, very scary because their natural conclusion is a massively oppressive dictatorship along the lines of 15th century feudalism. A few people living well and above the law while everybody else is in abject poverty with the law applied arbitrarily.

        • Colonial Viper 11.1.1.1
          20 October 2012 at 8:26 pm

          Nah, Key is relatively (though not wholly) benign. Nothing as bad as Roger Douglas, Richard Prebble, Ruth Richardson or the Iron Lady when it comes to neoliberalism.

    • muzza 11.2
      20 October 2012 at 8:44 pm

      As you know Draco, its those we don’t get to see who create this..

      Same crew who could potentially end up owning every piece of mortgage paper in America

      http://www.zerohedge.com/news/feds-balance-end-2013-4-trillion

  12. Brett Dale 12
    20 October 2012 at 6:12 pm

    I have ripped into them in the past for being hypocritical, but hats off to socialist aotearoa for attending the protest in Auckland.

  13. captain hook 13
    20 October 2012 at 8:33 pm

    Mitt und Tagg!

  14. fatty 14
    20 October 2012 at 10:11 pm

    Selwyn Manning is always worth a listen on Citizen A…but this week he was better than usual. Def worth a watch.

  15. Fortran 15
    22 October 2012 at 1:16 pm

    We are seeing the decline and fall of the US empire which began after the loss in Vietnam, and every President has done little to alter this decline since whether Clinton, GW Bush and Obama.
    The real economy is in deep poo and cannot be rescued by printing money (US$13trillion so far).
    The third trench of printing has so far had no impact on the unemployment where only a part is declared as so many have ceased to register as unemployed.
    Only the big cash dealers like drug cartels and the mafia will benefit from an increased cash flow, not here where it is required in the job market.
    We can expect a fourth injection before Christmas, still having no impact.

    • blue leopard 15.1
      22 October 2012 at 1:21 pm

      @ Fortran,

      Yes, I entirely agree and what I find remarkable is that the US continues to be cited as the worlds richest country and continues to be related to as such (US says ‘jump’ and we jump). It appears to be a remarkable feat of marketing and spin.