Read Thomas Frank's ++The Wrecking Crew++

I want to reiterate the importance of reading The Wrecking Crew:How Conservatives Rule. Few Democrats, or republicans for that matter, understand the path upon which the Republican party treads. Often, conservatives blindly follow the American flags and Christian crosses, without realizing their nationalistic symbols and faux patriotic slogans mask a sinister agenda. Reading this book will help you understand the mindsets of elite conservatives, and recognize their campaign code-words. Once you understand their motives, you can explain them to your friends and family, before they vote in the coming election.

By now, you're familiar with right-wing advertisements containing lie after lie. They assume the electorate is stupid, and to a great degree, they are correct. Wealthy oligarchs, and their corporate minions, fund right-wingers with millions of dollars, and their propaganda convinces millions of unwitting followers to follow their cause. Few have any idea of their nefarious intentions. But, surreptitiously, cynical and corrupt conservatives undermine our institutions for one reason: to destroy your rights.

Anyone familiar with Stalinist propaganda recognizes their methodology. Conservative propaganda disseminates "revolutionary" ideas, with theoretical and practical knowledge of neoliberal/neoconservative economics , while agitation forms favorable public opinion and stirs political unrest. Reagan's "revolution" placed theory into practice when conservatives slashed taxes to "improve" economic activity, which, supposedly, would have created greater tax revenues. All neoliberal assumptions failed miserably; they were nothing more than conservative fantasies. Yet, once again, in 2001, when conservatives regained political power, Congress enacted the same failed policies. Creating huge public debt only weakens the State, and should only be used during emergencies, unless of course, leaders want the State to fail.

The Wrecking Crew should be read by anyone who believes in democratic government and our Republic. It's better to stop them now with ballots, unless you own a guillotine factory... Sic semper tyrannis!

Evangelical Nationalism and the Four Horsemen: Religion and Populism, Fear and Nationalism

Randy Foote (GRFoote@aol.com) http://www.dickrussell.org/articles/foote.htm



“…People who are most ignorant of history are those who are most constrained by the past. The more we understand and know the past, the more free we are to depart from its repeatable patterns, to choose our way: the great profound difference between free will and determinism, between the reality of human history and the theories of evolution.” (Lukacs)



Since the 2004 election, and in light of what seems to be increasing Republican dominance on the national level of government, there has been a steady stream of books and articles attempting to explain this fact and casting about for a ‘solution’. Some of these solutions include:

- Improved “Framing” of the Democratic message, as per George Lakoff, Professor of Linguistics*

- Holding to a clear ‘economic populism’ message, to convince working voters that Democratic policies are much more in their economic interest than are Republican policies. This is well explicated in Thomas Frank’s “What’s the Matter with Kansas”+

- Moving back to the centrist pro-business and -globalization position of Bill Clinton and the Democratic Leadership Council.



DNC Chair Howard Dean (who wrote a preface to Lakoff’s book) is trying to get the Democratic Party to listen to both Lakoff and Frank: to change the language and to take the battle to every county and township in the US -- Red, Blue or Purple. This is necessary, but it will not be sufficient.


Much more> http://www.dickrussell.org/articles/foote.htm

of how totally fucked we really are.

I've already discussed the Wrecking Crew here on this thread. And I can't speak highly enough for Naomi's book. I may listen to it for the THIRD time!

But I didn't really care for the "Confessions of an ...", and never finished listening to it. This may be MY fault. I sometimes function in fairly "hostile" venues, and may have unconsciously adopted some of their mindset. I read this sort of books VERY critically, and look carefully for imprecision, vagueness, or sloppy presentation. But I may give it another try.

pnorman

A text version would be better for this sort of book, and I may get that too. But I can pack this (and many other audio books) into my shirt-pocket media player. That's a GREAT advantage when you need to use hands & eyes for other purposes.

But listening to it is MADDENING. I can't go for more than a half-hour straight, without having to stop and blow off steam! (That's also a good time to Google what I've learned. So far, it all checks out completely.)

I URGE all here to GET THAT BOOK! It's THAT GOOD!

pnorman