murdoch listening in on private voicemails. explains a lot, doesn't it?

the spineless dems.

the scandals that always seem to snag the good guys and never really bother the bad guys.

impeachment off the table.

the compromises that always end up far to the right of the electorate.

the inability of democrats to rule the roost when controlling the white house and both houses of congress.

the ability of republicans to control the agenda with a majority in only one house.

the legitimacy of the filibuster when in republican hands, the illegitimacy of same when in democratic hands.



it has long appeared to me that many democrats were acting as if they were being blackmailed, and i think it's safe to say that, yes, that has been going on, and the culprit lies in murdoch's propaganda organizations.

maybe they had something on pelosi when she said impeachment was off the table. or maybe they just told her they had enough on key allies.
the bottom line is that to rise within the ranks in the democratic party, you needed to be acceptable to emperor murdoch. and that meant either a conservadem or a spineless dem, or maybe both. in any event, pelosi agreed to play ball, a as a result she got her promotion.

this story has repeated itself in so many ways large and small over the last decades it seems absurd, at this point, to think that spying and blackmail were not at play.

Yes, Murdoch is a complete scumbag with way, way too much influence. He has had a thoroughly pernicious effect on both politics and the media. But Murdoch isn't responsible for the Democrats' perpetual spinelessness; they have no one to blame but themselves for their failure to get things done.

seriously? republicans are, practically down to the last one, united and arrogant and insistant of winning it all or taking the ball home.
democrats are, practically down to the last one, meek and wimpy and ineffectual.

you seriously think that's because of something other than spying and blackmail, now that we KNOW the spying part was rampant?

Never attribute to malice or conspiracy that which can be explained by incompetence. It's kind of an Occam's Razor concept.

That's not to say that there haven't been instances of coercion or blackmail. I just don't think that 30 years of ineffectual action by Democrats is solely the result of blackmail by Murdoch and his minions.

even will rogers said he didn't belong to an organized party -- he was a democrat. so democratic disorganization has a long history, true enough.

but much of what we've seen over the last decades has gone beyond what can be adequately explained by stupidity.

Nothing completely surprises me any more.

It ignores the fact that there ARE conspiracies out there (i.e. look at the goddam Murdoch headlines - if that is not conspiracy, what is?) and there ARE malevolent people out there (i.e. Murdoch).

And it has not been 30 years of incompetance. Even during the Clinton years there were a great many dems who knew how to stand up to the republicans - even if Clinton chose to triangulate. It didn't really take off until the 2000 election. And when did the Murdoch phone hacking begin? The Koch funded Fucking DLC started back some 30 years ago, and that is a different problem than 'incompetence' and 'ineffectual action'.

But think of all the good progressive Dems who started out strong, then suddenly, inexplicably folded. I used to joke that Kerry's collapse in 04 could be explained by W holding his grandmother in an undisclosed location - this is a better explanation. That is the REAL Occam's Razor - the simplest theory that addresses all the questions is probably right.

Absolutely. Republicon Family Values are straight out the cesspool, as they have demonstrated over and over and over. This is malice.

I will not be remotely shocked if we find out much of it has been because of Murdoch-backed blackmail.

to be the media arm of the Republican party as well as a stable for its candidates.

I have the feeling we haven't seen but the tip of the iceberg of Murdoch's scumbaggery. They are all acting so panicked at this point - Brooks' husband (or her) dumping her cell, a laptop and some papers, which of course were found - that they are acting like they are guilty of a hell of a lot of things.

I think by the time the entire curtain gets pulled back, there are going to be some things that shock even the most cynical among us.

...every single politician has their phone conversations and emails monitored. Our government
is so damn corrupt and not one person has the balls to come out and talk about it. Why is that?
Because they've all got the good on each other. They've all taken bribes or had affairs or sent
an incriminating email or insulted their constituents on the phone. Each of them could lose power
and their good name--if someone pulls the rug.

Murdoch is doing it--and so is our government and other corporations. The corporations own our politicians
and our politicians no longer serve us. They serve the corporations. This transition to Fascism didn't
happen with the corporations saying, "Pretty please". They had to play hard ball and blackmail games
along the way.

Our entire country is a rotting pile of corruption--and it's in this rotting pile where the government
is making all of the deals and running the country.

A week ago, it was reported that Murdoch tapped the phones of the 9/11 widows. Does that strike
anyone else as horrendously telling? They wanted those women muzzled. Heard anything from the 9/11
widows lately? Or in the last year? They were on fire and speaking out quite a bit. Then suddenly...nothing.
Did they suddenly lose their moxie or did they change their minds about understanding that Bush, the neocons
and the rest of them are a bunch of criminal punks?

They were silenced. This is just the tip of the iceberg folks. I bet they've got the goods on just about anyone
who dares to speak out against them and possibly bring them down.

That shit is just falling over the sides and truth be told, nobody wants to touch it because mostly it has no good uses and kind of stinks if you get any on you while your messing with it

I'd bet money, (if'n I was a bettin' man that is,) that there was/is some blackmail going on. I think that maybe murdocks goons were doing the heavy lifting for the dick and w. No stretch at all as I see what has happened these last 20 or so year.

When you're in that job, you have to be prepared for the dirtiness and ready to face it and fight for what's right. That also means, among other things, you need to keep your pants on for four years.

Ever wonder how the Republicans have such ironclad party discipline?
Why they NEVER break ranks, no matter what?

you don't always need blackmail when bribery works just as well.
but i suppose it doesn't hurt.

Vitter, Larry Craig and the rest.

Jeff Gannon was a honey pot operation. Abu Ghraib photographs were for blackmail. It works apparently.

without saying anything...

heads that would cause them to abandon the people of this country.

Now we at least have a clue.

agreed

when ppl act like they're being blackmailed, perhaps they are

sometimes the simplest explanation is also the most outrageous.

The NSA and bush admitted they can and intended to wiretap anyone they wanted.

It is a well known fact.

The question is: who, what, when, and where.

Answers::::
Who... Anybody they wanted too.
What: Phones, email, etc. Anything they could tap.
When: Ever since the tech was developed. 10, 20 years ago. At least.
Where: Everywhere.

Everyone has been tapped. Everyone.

and yes, I too believe that this is the only explanation for the capitulation of the Dems.

This would explain a helluva lot!

We used to "joke" about what "THEY" must have on people to twist their arm so easily.

Wow... who knew???

One of his employs...Roger Ailes was there from the early days of the Nixon regime and he's hired other political hacks to spread right wing claptrap through his papers and cables, but he's not the one rolling the dice here. He's exploiting...as he has in Britain and Australia...using his status and power to keep politicians in his pocket or in their place.

That said, I do think there's some very fuzzy lines between the relationship between faux noise and the previous regime. The Plame case showed us that regime wasn't beyond outting a covert CIA agent to score a political point and go after an opponent. Surely other "revelations" that appeared through "undisclosed" sources and found their way onto faux noise could have come from some kind of wiretapping...be it from faux (Aile's dark room) or the NSA.

The story...if someone dares to go there...is to truly dig at the connections between Murdoch, faux and the rushpublican estaiblishment...from his being fast tracked for citizenship to his relationship with the Chamber of Commerce.

it was built long ago and the model he based his empire on was goebbels'.

NewsCorp knew all the sexual and financial secrets of politicos on both sides of the aisle, celebrities... the unfolding of this scandal will be revealing in all kinds of ways, from titillating to appalling to terrifying

Seems that the timelines between the beginning of the hacking and Tony's sudden enthusiam for all things conservative match up quite well.

or blackmailing large numbers of liberal politicians. I have been pooh-poohed to no end right here on DU.

Probably by folks who, if they didn't themselves know the truth, work for those who do.

Money talks. Especially propaganda budgets.

or blackmailing large numbers of liberal politicians. I have been pooh-poohed to no end right here on DU.

Probably by folks who, if they didn't themselves know the truth, work for those who do.

Money talks. Especially propaganda budgets.

or blackmailing large numbers of liberal politicians. I have been pooh-poohed to no end right here on DU.

Probably by folks who, if they didn't themselves know the truth, work for those who do.

Money talks. Especially propaganda budgets.

I am so glad SOMEONE is trying to hold these people accountable.

hugh grant actually confronted and secretly taped(!) the guy who did it, so that one's confirmed, at least.

they should still have said, in effect," Fuck it. this isn't about me, it's about democracy. Bu$h & CheneyCo. stole many elections, and murdered many of their political opponents, started illegal wars, etc., etc. Maybe I cheated on my wife/husband, or I smoked some weed, but I am here for the voters, not republican criminals." Well, I can dream anyway.

if they even get elected in the first place.

somewhere. These rich bastards never pay for their crimes. Look at the War Criminals, Bush and Cheney. Fucking rat bastards.

I used to think it was tinfoil hat to think this...but not so much anymore.

Sad thing is...they have all the ammo they need now and we'll never ever be able to prove how they got it.

Mostly it's just money, but I'm sure blackmail plays a part. Not necessarily by Murdoch alone, but by the GOP and corporate interests. I mean, they know who they bribed or did favors for (Chris Dodd and his generous Countrywide loan terms). They can threaten a primary or issue ads against them. I'm sure all the tabloids try to find out about sex scandals and Murdoch's media just has to pick the ones they want publicize. The hacking and spying probably did take place, but I doubt if it can be connected to Murdoch himself. I hope there's a smoking gun that points right at his ugly face, but I don't think so.

That said, there are some strong indicators that something has been afoot. Spitzer was ratted out by a bank - while he was investigating Wall Street. Maybe the bank was just a cover because the tabloid spooks already knew about the prostitutes. Remember Jesse Jackson's love child? That came out just as he was planning a major protest against voter suppression in Florida 2000. And what else but blackmair could explain Tony Blair's man-love for Bush? Murdoch must have owned a video of him shagging farm animals.

republicans are honest about being corrupt, at least. they pretty much admit to lying for the money.

check out the contributors to some of our fair Democrats. Many of them get a chunk of the corporate largesse. For example, Harry Reid gets large money from AT&T, Goldman Sachs & Time Warner; Jim Webb from Altria (tobacco); Chuck Schumer from Lockheed, Time Warner, Citibank and J P. Morgan.

With the cost of running a campaign today, big donors are essential to all candidates. It is nearly impossible for anyone who is elected to run without them. Dangerous situation.

or at least, some corporations are far more evil than others.

Thanks for the thread, unblock.

WEINER !

They "lick the undercarriage" of power for lunch.

Watergate? Ford pardoning? :dem:

Many of us has suspected this for some time.

And with today's nutty, unimpressive Republican party being in the "driver's seat" -- 24/7 media coverage as if these Republicans' rhetoric made sense -- we know why.

I do hope we find out why all the major news networks are playing along with Murdoch.

Maybe the conspiracy theories aren't such "theories" anymore.

That's going to be the fun part where the shit will really hit the fan. Maybe we'll get that Bush/Cheney conviction after all? I hope so. Keeping my fingers crossed.