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Or more accurately: non-news, for the most part. There’s still been absolutely no transparency on the deal that just wrapped up its 16th round in Singapore on March 13 with 600 credited corporate trade representatives in attendance. Still Congress hasn’t been privy to the text despite demands by Ron Wyden, et.al.. Japan had apparently been offered a slot in the past, but only yesterday asked to be let in on the negotiations. Business has some heavy issues with it, though not in aid of thee and me, except for Congress-critters representing states where the automobile industry is key. That’s likely legitimate, or at least the UAW thinks so. I can’t remember now what led me to this video from New Zealand this morning, but it’s an overview of why itsourfuture.org.nz is working so diligently against it.
On rumors that Japan might ask to join the talks, 4000+ Japanese farmers and fishers hit the streets of Tokyo on March 13 demanding Prime Minister Shinzo Abe keep his promises to boycott the talks despite pressure from the US. Sound familiar? Obomba’s fast-tracking this deal brings new meaning to his campaign promise to ‘renegotiate NAFTA’).
There’s been recent news that over 400 civil society organizations representing more than 15 million Americans have written to Congress urging that Fast Track be replaced by a more democratic trade negotiating and approval process’.
Electronic Frontier Foundation lists the dangers from draconian copyright and intellectual property rules, online free speech and privacy, fair use exceptions, and much more. The leaked draft 2011 text is here (pdf).
Sandra Fulton of the ACLU called the TPP ‘the biggest threat to free speech and intellectual property that you’ve never heard of’ in this interview with EFF in September of 2012.
In a post I wrote on the TPP in September of 2011, this part concerning another policy in which Obomba is far worse than Bush still rankles:
“Obama Administration Positions Roll Back Initial 2007 Reforms Made by Bush Administration on Medicines Patents, Abandons Access to Medicines Commitments.
The leaked provisions caused Lori Wallach of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch to react with incredulity and barely suppressed rage:
“The rollback of the modest Bush-era reforms is shocking, but what is truly stunning is the new proposal to empower pharmaceutical firms to attack the medicine formulary systems that New Zealand, Australia and other developed countries have used so successfully to achieve what is ostensibly an Obama administration goal of reducing sky-high drug prices.”
Lori Wallach is interviewed in the next two videos; this one with Amy and Juan covers many of the most hideous features of the deal as leaked so far, although as I remember it they don’t cover the super-muscular power Monsanto and other GMO multinationals will have, and the powerlessness of citizens in signatory nations to fight back. There are also provisions for financial deregulation and decreased capital control, Investor State arbitration (iirc; I’ve read and watched a lot today) and a US military presence to help keep citizens pacified.
In the next one, she’s with Thom Hartmann in July, 2012 explaining the history of structured multinational agreements on trade as far back as the Nixon administration, and her days working with Ralph Nader. Her explanation of the history of what she now calls ‘GATTzilla’ are stunning: those agreements and the WTO trump US law, and have hooks and barbs almost beyond belief.
If anyone can still believe that this President gives a fuck about you, or the 40% of the citizens of the world this will negatively impact forever…I’d like you to make your case. As far as I’m concerned, it‘s treasonous. Each person may have the issue that’s most important to them (fracking, tarsands XL pipeline, capitalism run amok), but for me, this one encompasses almost all of them. Fuckkery of the 99% gone wild.
You can still sign a petition here and there, or write to the White House, but it’s hard to think it will matter one iota. Obama wants the deal wrapped up by October. Happy Halloween to all you potential Zombies.
131 Comments
*&%!!!!!*^#@!!!!////*%
Hell no, those ain’t emoticons. Actually, maybe they are. And you can guess the emotion. I’m on my way out the door but I did read this and look forward to watching the videos. Actually, look forward is probably not quite the phrase I am searching for, but as a citizen of the planet I should prolly know how much longer I have.
Thank you, wendydavis, for keeping us apprised of just how much Obomba cares about us.
Quiet, you! The elites are carefully documenting Empire and they do not need to hear lesser people whining at them while they are so engaged.
Rcc’d wendydavis,
Thanks for posting, deaf ears where I try to bring this up locally. Not giving up on trying though.
More multinational corpos having unfettered and even wider access to totally destroy whatever is left of intact, yet dwindling natural resources totally removed from national, state or local control.
And that sentence is short of directly mentioning the human toll. But we already see the consequences before us. Push back with all you can muster.
He loves you this much: (dunno how to make an empty set). And everyone else, but boy, howdy, does he love the Multinationals and Banks! (genuflect, genuflect) How the fuck would Romney have been worse? I can’t imagine that I’d ever see the Days of Dubya as preferable. (immigration, war, drones, can’t even think of the rest). My stars.
I really should apologize for being an Inconvenient Person, zapkitty, but they may have their way with me one day. But: you’ll never hear of it; I’ll just be deleted from the world as we know it. You won’t even know where to write (nor will my family, of course).
This is why Occupy or any other movement for the people has to be transnational and think in terms of global institutions that can protect people instead of oppress them. This and TAP are backdoor attempts, among other things, to work the will of the motion picture and recording industry that they currently cannot get through Congress (although with CISPA, there is yet another attempt). (Yes, you can thank Chris Dodd.)
Thanks for the heads up on the pharmaceuticals attempt to break national formularies. Wonder what the health care system provisions look like?
Congress doesn’t need to be informed, their lobbyist/handlers will tell them how to vote. (Two guesses which way, first one doesn’t count.)
Rec’d, per norm.
Unfortunately, all I have left in the way of resistance is to clack my keys, and that can seriously bum me out. I’m not surprised your peeps don’t get it; reporting so much of what’s afoot now is heard by the uniformed as ‘conspiracy theories’ worthy of the Tinfoil Hat Brigade.
One can easily imagine how crucial it was to consolidate corporate media more narrowly and narrowly. I remember well when we were urged to apply for low-frequency radio licenses in order to tell the truth when the web and the teevee was closed to the truth. Consider what Newtie won, and what National Propaganda Radio has become.
We sure do need to get our shit together, and apparently armed with explanatory pamphlets a la ‘Common Sense’ on the streets, or posted a la Martin Luther on the doors of institutions. Best to you; stay strong.
wd, I know nothing about this issue, but I’m sure glad you’re on the case.
It’s hard to say how OWS is globally protesting this and other multinational ownerships of the Commons or the rules, but many groups are fighting it all per se, especially the global indiginous. Googling only found Japan and India (the EU trade deal, but I left all that out as too long to read).
I’m not quite sure what your mean by ‘the health care provisions’, THD, but the pharma provisions as leaked were hideous. I’ve never read the pdf. But consider that Obomba is fast-tracking drugs, fast-tracking drilling and mining permits, and much more…it doesn’t bode well for us. Added to which, there seems to be no money in researching drugs for the third and fourth -generation Superbugs caused by the over-prescription of antibiotics.
Thanks, blueokie.
Obumbler will give away anything and everything to get that “US military presence”. WTF place does that have in a supposedly trade agreement?
When you have time, watch at least a couple of the videos, EF Beall; it really is a whole ballgame for the global corporatocracy, as in: money hasn’t heeded sovereign boundaries for decades. We’ve either reached on exceeded tipping points now on so many fronts: climate, genetically engineered food, seed patenting (even indigenous herbs), and now this. Last stands are seen as hysterical, but this may be a biggie, imo. And…here I sit, clacking my motherfucking keyboard (though what other thing would be/could be…useful? No bulldozer to chain myself to…goddam it.
If the pharma provisions seek to use international agreements to break up national formularies, it is not so hard to imagine an attempt to break up government health care systems in other countries to force them into an Obamacare private model.
Another great job, wendy…! I do believe we still have a shot at stopping it when it comes up for a Senate vote to ratify it and all the other foul trade pacts…! One would think that the actual chapter and verse would have to be released at that juncture…! 8-(
Doctors without Borders 3.2013
Common Dreams 3/2013
.
Puts all that happened during the ACA process regarding generic drugs and drug re-importation into an even clearer focus.
Thank you for the post and all the work you do researching important topics. Recommended.
I wish I could remember the exact wording of the provisions that global trade watch provided us, but it does follow the ‘US Empire will protect the 1% from rebellion of the citizens’ theme, imo. So many nations envision that US trade deals mean protection from insurgencies or some pushback. Either one of us could google it, ocoastperson, but I think my original post (or a second, perhaps) dealt with the issue. Wish I were makin’ it up, *and*, we don’t know what the final language will look like (if we ever know), but my guess is that it will be there.
This is the closest, almost relevant, piece I could find, THD, from knowledge ecology int’l:
‘According to the letter, Industry is asking the US government for a number of TRIPS plus, WCT plus and ACTA plus provisions:
- To seek the highest possible IP protection from TPP negotiating parties.
- To built upon existing FTAs and use the US/Korea Free Trade Agreement as a baseline. Although the letter does not specifically mention the May 10, 2007 compromise that included important public health flexibilities in the US/Peru FTA, US Industry is clearly demanding the US government to reject the compromise as the basis for negotiations.’
Beats me what it means.
I’d begun a lot of this yesterday wondering: why Peru?, given the penalties they’d already incurred from former trade deals. Read a pdf on Global Trade Watch, didn’t keep the link, but it sure begs some larger questions. (Wish I weren’t slowing down, or I’d go on the hunt.)
Maybe, Tuttle, but Congress loves em some proposed increases in GDP, and sticking a needle in China’s eye, and…and…and…
Welcome, marym in Il, and yes to the extracted quotes. Perfidy, calumny, and we’d thought ‘Who’ll decide on killing granny?’ was a thing.
This is horrendous. I haven’t watched the second video yet, I’m still reeling from the first.
Can you tell us anything more about this military presence statement?
Thanks, wendydavis. Recommended. This is sickening, isn’t it?
here’s an intro to TPP ‘corporate coup’
or ‘NAFTA on steroids’:
http://truth-out.org/news/item/12934-why-so-secretive?-the-trans-pacific-partnership-as-global-coup
from the article cited @23:
“The leaked documents revealed that the Obama administration “intends to bestow radical new political powers upon multinational corporations,” as Obama and Kirk have emerged as strong advocates “for policies that environmental activists, financial reform advocates and labor unions have long rejected for eroding key protections currently in domestic laws.”
In other words, the already ineffective and mostly toothless environmental, financial, and labor regulations that exist are unacceptable to the Obama administration and the 600 corporations aligned with the TPP who are giving him his orders.
The agreement stipulates that foreign corporations operating in the United States would no longer be subject to domestic U.S. laws regarding protections for the environment, finance or labor rights, and could appeal to an “international tribunal” which would be given the power to overrule American law and impose sanctions on the U.S. for violating the new “rights” of corporations.
The “international tribunal” that would dictate the laws of the countries would be staffed by corporate lawyers acting as “judges,” thus ensuring that cases taken before them have a “fair and balanced” hearing – fairly balanced in favor of corporate rights above anything else.
A public interest coalition known as Citizens Trade Campaign published a draft of the TPP chapter on “investment” revealing information about the “international tribunal” which would allow corporations to directly sue governments that have barriers to “potential profits.”
Arthur Stamoulis, the executive director of Citizens Trade Campaign, explained that the draft texts “clearly contain proposals designed to give transnational corporations special rights that go far beyond those possessed by domestic businesses and American citizens… A proposal that could have such broad effects on environmental, consumer safety and other public interest regulations deserves public scrutiny and debate. It shouldn’t be crafted behind closed doors.”
Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch, a public interest organization, undertook an analysis of the leaked document on investment and explained that the international corporate tribunal would allow corporations to overturn national laws and regulations or demand enormous sums in compensation, with the tribunal “empowered to order payment of unlimited government Treasury funds to foreign investors over TPP claims.”
At this hour, it’s still on the Fast Track, meaning it’s a congressional-executive free-trade agreement, i.e., the POTUS negotiates, the Congress needs only majority yeas in each chamber for passage (within some 90 days). Sure, there’ll be hearings. You’ll hear from disgruntled citizens-cum-consumers who in good faith unwittingly purchased pirated and counterfeited DVDs because IP isn’t well-protected.
What’s really going to piss off a whole bunch of people everywhere, is when it finally dawns on them that ‘Home Rule’ is but a mere figment of one’s imagination…! 8-(
Exactly. Worse, it’s going to make our lame
environmental and labor protections – even lamer.
Game over for the environment and labor…
I would add, we’re on the
‘fast track’ to the third world.
(if we’re not there already).
But, the text should still be made available…! Now, what I truly fear is the same crapola as the Patriot Act and similar cop-outs…! 8-(
I’d have to search my word document for the exact link about it, OmAli, but it would have come from Public Citizen. But remember Obomba’s Great Pivot to the China Sea? This is one big swath of it. Muscle via profit for the Elites and bases. Will it work? One base is already being built in Australia, dunno where else. So many nations, so little time for watchdogging Empire.
A quick googledy-bing found these two pieces extrapolating the meaning from policy gestures, etc. I’ve just scanned them, but they do seem to address the issue.
Yep, it’s hideous as hell.
Heh. I’d been griping this morning to Mr. wd about how much I loathe the terms ‘on steroids’ and ‘kabuki’ as metaphors. They are soooo tried and almost have lost their meaning from overuse. I’d like to smash em with a tennis racket, then drown em in a teacup.
Ain’t it ironic that Obummer was beseeching the House Dems, that “if there are going to be entitlement reforms it is better to do it with a Democratic president in office”… I seem to recall the very same rhetoric/logic from Clinton with Gramm–Leach–Bliley, NAFTA, and, even Welfare Reform…! 8-(
Why wouldn’t the full text be made public when it’s submitted for adoption?
If its adoption leads fairly rapidly to total nuclear weapons disarmament and abolition, would you support its adoption?
It’s The Third Way, baby! And the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth. I know I always prefer bein’ screwed by a Dem; don’t you?
THD, anyone else: I was wondering earlier if any of the provisions, even wink-wink ones, might create a door for pressures on default currencies, or even valuations.
I’m for bed; see y’all tomorrow. Scorpio’s up now in the southern sky early in the morning, and it’s a thriller constellation. And it’s one constellation in which you can see why it’s named so.
This week, I didn’t let myself spend even one third as much time on the ‘nets. A sense of well being began to percolate…
And now, just this one entry, and its first video, and right away, my bewilderment, sadness, anger, frustration, sense of betrayal etc are again causing my blood pressure to soar!
A lot of information. A sense of being inside the Brave New World of the Brave New World Order. What to do? And remember, in the old world of the early Eighteen Hundred’s, any legislation this important had to be an “Act.” That way it required a full two thirds majority of Congress. Now all these earth-moving pieces of legislation are offered up as “Plans” so that there is only the need for a simple majority in Congress!
From New Zealand:
Up too early, coffee before posting, sorry wendydavis, repeated your NZ link.
Keep on clacking the keys when you are able, wendydavis, with so much going down, recycling things that didn’t get the attention deserved the first time around, picks up a few interested souls with each showing. Third time’s a charm?
Citizens organizing outside of parties, ran full page ads this week all around the state, denouncing all the Rep leggies in their own home districts who signed the WI
mining billcorporate natural resource giveaway, last week. Some conservatives are realizing Walker’s give away to for profit schools will be political suicide so are actually opposing Walker in the budget proposal. Tipping points are where they are, the straw that broke the regressive camel’s back.Congress has passed secret legislation before.
Also, I can see the old Democratic slam-through where no one reads the text before voting (Gramm-Leach-Bliley) and somewhere after the vote and before the Presidential signing the text is tweaked in unexpected and irreversible ways.
Game over for GAAP accounting and investor informed decision-making as well.
Also remember that the US doesn’t need bases anymore except on continental rims. Seabasing and all that. Watch for base closures. And that will be deceptive relative to the possibility of US meddling.
Arrggh; thank goodness someone has a great memory and connected the dots. Of course! For those who are unfamiliar with ‘seabasing’, this post I wrote not long ago talks about it just above the part that starts with this, and there’s a direct link to an extra video about it (my laptop won’t kick it up this morning for some reason).
““The fall of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War fundamentally altered the global security environment…but regional, local and internal conflicts have been on the rise. In recent years, the rise of failed and failing states and the growing presence of increasingly capable non-state actors has presented the US and its coalition partners with new military challenges. Concurrently, US forces face an increasing number of access challenges, including geography, potential adversaries’ capabilities, and host country concerns which prohibit access to their ports, airfields, and territory in the pursuit of action, and finally: domestic US and coalition political sentiment against large troop presence in ‘non-permissive operating environments’. The closing of US bases around the world, and austere port and infrastructure; international and domestic sentiments against a large troop presence in a foreign country, or even outright denial of US military presence have all limited the number of troops placed ashore.”
Or: ‘Even if you don’t want us…we’ll be there to help! Waterways are our friends!’
Thank you so much for reminding my addlepated brain, THD.
Now that is good to hear. That is a way we can communicate to larger groups.
You’re not alone in staying offline to save your sanity or health, elisemattu; I have other friends going through the same cure, at least for good breaks I don’t seem to be able to manage to, lol).
But as to the ‘bewilderment’ factor, Mr. wd was shaking his head last evening, wondering aloud: ‘Who are the folks designing this? How do they think it will end well?’ My guess is that they’re so obsessed with greed and lust for control that they don’t really follow it out in any meaningful timeline. If just this deal will affect 40% of the world’s 99% so cruelly, *and* kill the planet more quickly, there will be reprisals one day. And that ain’t gonna be pretty.
It’s just capitalism, Mr wd. The only goal of capitalism is more profits soonest; they really, really don’t care about the long term effects. This is why psychopaths and sociopaths make such good capitalists and are rewarded with positions of power, such as corporate CEO or President of the United States.
If it sounds insane, that’s because it is.
Whether TPP or “austerity” or other and myriad attempts at undermining the very concept of democracy in favor of a violent, militarized plutocracy, it would seem an important motivating factor guiding the powerful – as important perhaps as the money (since they’ve already got it anyway) – is vanity.
http://neweconomicperspectives.org/2013/03/slate-agrees-that-obamas-vanity-drives-the-grand-betrayal-and-praises-the-betrayal.html
All that self-esteem, charm, confidence and ambition makes a potent and deadly stew for the hungry masses, especially when those qualities are held to be virtuous in and of themselves, with no reflection on the treachery, indeed sociopathology, lurking behind the smiling and decidedly unvirtuous faces.
Self-esteem, charm, confidence and ambition… what’s not to like, huh?
Goodness, no need to be sorry, nonquixote; it was a very simple and illuminating clip. One of the most hideous aspects of Monsanto in India has been their patenting of wild herbs and plants, even down to one that many there consider to be holy. Lawsuits so far have (drum roll)…favored Monsanto.
Just found the case in point (pdf) concerning Peru, the FTA, and the ‘Investor State’, etc. provisions. Just the first page tells it; a clip):
“Unfortunately, the first “investor-state” claim brought against Peru under the U.S.-Peru FTA illustrates that the dangers of this system for Peru are not hypothetical. Renco Group Inc., a company owned by one of the richest men in the United States, is simultaneously using the
investor-state system to demand $800 million from Peru’s taxpayers1 and to derail a U.S. court case seeking compensation for children in La Oroya injured by toxic contamination.2 The
dispute relates to a metal smelter in La Oroya, Peru owned by Renco subsidiary Doe Run. La Oroya has been designated as one of the top 10 most polluted sites in the world.3 Particularly the community’s children are suffering from the effects of pollution levels far above international standards.”
So again: why Peru for the TPP? Is their leadership just as corrupt? No Bolivarism? Will there be soon? Maybe the new Pope can help. /s
Well, this is a whole ‘nother level of galloping capture and greed, Barbarian. On my other thread about Liberation Theology, wayoutwest mentioned that it was far more productive to talk about socialism than call out capitalism’s effects. But as I’m very new to alternatives and how the different ones even differ, it seems important to call out the Dark before people are willing to imagine the Light. Not to mention that I don’t know what that is.
Anyhoo, one day soon I’ll try to do an open thread so you, he, and others (maybe WelshT, even?) can bring what you know so I/we can learn more. West gave me one starting point. Wish Ludwig were still around.
You know, elisemattu. I just booted up this favorite by Nanci Griffith’s. It can sure bring tears, but I find them really cleansing.
‘When she dies
she says she’ll catch some blackbirds wings
and she will fly away to heaven
come some sweet bluebonnet spring…’
Howdy, stranger; nice to see you. Bill’s piece is a bit too long to read fully right now (my toast is calling my name), but it’s an interesting idea, but at first glance I think there’s something even below the vanity, but I’ll read it all later (esp. cuz I’m a longtime fan of his, and look forward to him calling out capitalism as a culprit soon). Michael Hudson’s come close recently. ;o)
But this:
‘All that self-esteem, charm, confidence and ambition makes a potent and deadly stew for the hungry masses, especially when those qualities are held to be virtuous in and of themselves, with no reflection on the treachery, indeed sociopathology, lurking behind the smiling and decidedly unvirtuous faces’…is simply stellar, mon ami.
Hope life is good for you these days, Man-who-makes-living-making-sounds-with-his-mouth. ;oP
Might as well not blame Obama, the presidents have been puppets since Carter. They’ve gone about this one brick in the wall at a time.
The consolidation of the media (including the music) has had the greatest effect in confusing the people to fight each other rather than this kind of business.
I don’t think Congress really wants to give up it’s power, but there are so few in the know up there anyway.
I suspect this WILL be a Patriot Act sort of deal, probably after austerity begins to take it’s toll.
So this is what we’ve beggared ourselves for, fighting wars hinder and yon, constantly since WWII. Great.
I still think the 1% have plans to vacate the planet once they’ve destroyed it. Too many searches for habitable planets in the nooz, or, at least online. I don’t think they’ll have time to do it tho, so they’ll be stuck here with the rest of us, gated communities or not
It’s also why the War on Women because the fertility rate WILL decline and they know it.
It’s Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale” come to life.
Meanwhile, ignorance is NOT bliss
Please don’t interrupt me with boring trade agreements or politics while I’m watching Duck Dynasty. Come on!!! We live in America.
Good morning, for my second awakening, here. Yes, the next agreement will likely be another Parrotic Act and as you say, only after austerity kicks up a few more levels. We haven’t been shown the entire range of myriad, “benefits,” for our cooperation and there is still a bit of, “shared,” sacrifice in store near term.
Nanci G was brought to us by our favorite beach groomers and
mess-makersjob creators, BP. We saw how useful the coast guard, local law authorities and other agents were in helping to “clean up,” the results of that responsible corporate citizen.Well, I sure will blame Obomba, if for no other reason than to poke sticks in the eyes of those who still believe his rule has been all skittles and beer, or at least are willing to make excuses for a few things…he couldn’t control on accountta those evil Republicans…
But I do take your meaning, Kassandra, as to the modern Prezes being willing to have their strings pulled, but along the way they seem to come to enjoy their deeds and puppeteers. I always come back to Clinton, and what he did to promote all this two-tiered justice and economics, not only to us, but globally. All it took for him to become the Rock Star extraordinaire again was to weep one crocodile tear for his ‘mistakes’ in Haiti (was it on Oprah? may as well have been) and now he’s celebrated for doing much the same thing, but larger, and making tons of money while he’s screwing the 99%. What a way to make a living, speaking of ‘vanity’.
We now return to our regularly scheduled program, anarcritees. You can catch some great dreck on PBS as well. It’s fundraising season, and you can’t watch Dr. Amen on health enough times. Pay no attention to the fact that he looks like he sleeps in a coffin, okay? Or reformed, now faux-Eastern guru of wisdom Dr. Dwayne Dwwwyer can help you mellow out again with a few platitudes and dropped name-quotes. ;~)
After all, it’s a beautiful world, and we’re lucky to have been born into it; we just need to adapt a bit better, eh?
There’s nothing new about it, Wendy. Oh, the dollar amount and the global reach may be more than what it was in Dickens’ and Marx’ day, but the principle is the same.
As for productive discussion, the best argument in favor of either liberation theology or socialism or any other non-capitalistic system is to point out the inherent injustice and destructiveness of the capitalism they seek to replace: How can they possibly be worse than a system that dooms the biosphere itself to extinction?
Logically, capitalism does just that. It’s a very big, inconvenient truth to those of us who still benefit from it, but a truth just the same.
As I said earlier, if it sounds insane, it’s because it IS insane.
But you do us all a service by clacking away on your keyboard and showing us the symptoms and effects of capitalist insanity. And this thread is a great one, and therefore highly recommended.
Dedicated to Dr. Dwayne Dwwwyer, take your lush mush and………
Again from Nanci Griffith, what a sweet voice.
I’m learning that the principle’s the same, Barbarian, but there was a point before globalization that the company that made washing machines, say, wanted to pay workers enough so they could actually buy one (yes, unions were alive then, too, but…), etc. Now no one cares to make one that lasts past the warranty period (one year, with caveats), or provides parts to fix stuff (cheaper to throw the crap away, buy new!), and now all this privatization of the Commons, yanking away the social safety mechanisms we’ve paid for, outsourcing so many jobs that we’re making less than in 1973, pensions are gone, Lemon Socialism for big banks and multinationals, etc. Add in this treasonous shit, and yeppers: it’s on the gallop. We can only hope that as the effects begin to hit more folks, they’ll wake up and seriously begin to ask ‘why?’
But I’d imagined a post in which some of you could, for instance, say why one of you might be a Trotskyite, Leninite, Socialist Democrat (or the reverse?), etc.
(My now estranged sister used to send me his books so I could read about how fucked up I am/was, how righteous she was, lol.) In-laws would send me books by James Dobson on how to hit our kids with a stick, not our hands, and why, tra la la. Ay yi yi!
But goddam, thanks for that Nanci G. Hadn’t heard it, and wow, listen to her grrrrooooowwwl! Gave me the shivers, seriously. ;-)
Presenting ideas around here to the libruls, I’ve been marginalized repeatedly with the if you didn’t seem so serious or angry or pushy or aggressive, (fill in the blank) in the purpose of their refusing to hear the message of examining themselves and the actions of their fearless leader Mr TPPA, (looking for a legacy for the history books).
I’d heard that song once or twice and was hoping it was a u-tube. The video was appropo and I had not seen it. I actually asked at one gathering if I really looked like Dwayne and then to please excuse the messenger and look at the message. Asking people to hold his feet to the fire before the election was not popular and my reference was more like, “I’m not here doing a pledge drive.”
To TD, above, I was fortunate to have a HS History teacher (and also to be able to be remembering that far back *g*) who spent a whole week explaining pirate capitalism from the early days of full sail and on through accurate time-pieces for calculating longitude and expansion of empires. My recognition of the implications grew and matured with personal experience. I doubt that class section is allowed in the same fashion anymore, with teach to the test requirements to compete for school funding.
Bingo!!
Thanks for the great video links! Rec’d
Hmmmm. There are the ignorant, and they’re hard to totally fault, given corporate media, the dearth of truth or investigative reporting in newspapers now. Then there are the willfully ignorant, who have read the truth and truthful reporting, yet are so uncomfortable with it that they want to i) pretend not to believe it, and ii) to blame you (or us) for being The Messenger. That’s where their accusations come from, imo, as they try to shut you the fuck up. Works well for them for the most part, but there must be a few things niggling at them in some part of their minds. It happens at this site plenty, as well, amigo.
Avoid the mush: it’s the blue pill!
Welcome, Antipanglossian.
I was just at dissident voice, and saw this story from the border between Peru and Brazil: ‘Amazon Indians unite against Canadian oil giant’; I used to hear from the ‘uncontacted tribes’ folks, and keep a video on my Posterous (who knows where?), but this one’s close. Dunno the moral issues, but this man was practical.
Peru is ignoring their promises about oil permits.
Eureka, THD! Maybe Obomba’s new group Organizing for Action can help:
“In huddles with Hollywood studio executives, California energy investors and Chicago business titans, they have suggested $500,000 as a target level for OFA bundlers and that top donors get invitations to quarterly OFA board meetings attended by the president.
The next step in converting Obama’s election apparatus to grass-roots lobbying is a “founders summit” March 13 that includes a $50,000-per-person meeting at the Jefferson hotel in Washington led by Messina and Carson. Those planning to attend said they hope the president will be part of the day’s agenda, though the White House and OFA declined to comment on that possibility.”
So ‘grassroots’; maybe fighting the TPP would give them some street cred.
Heh! That takes the time and effort of a whole new diary entry, but I’ll do one sometime soon. Just keep in mind that I don’t believe any human-created system can possibly be perfect, and I’m too cynical to believe that any new system can be established entirely peaceably or even democratically, at least not at first.
More inconvenient truths. At least I can say Al Gore ain’t got nothin’ on me. :)
Someone told the Democrats to do what the TEA Party did. So, there you go. More astroturf. It takes a community organizer to do that. Put together by Max Baucus’s old staffer Jim Messina. Here it comes: Veal Pens R’ Us in every community.
Again, I’m willing to put up a thread, and will welcome (as in: depend on contributors, you too, THD: you got some game with this), since I ain’t got much except a few impressions from recent learnings. ;o)
It really is pretty funny: Using Industry and Hollywoo’ed Big Bucks to simulate a grass-roots thingie, lol. Forgot Messina and Baucus; thanks for the reminder.
Say, amigo; why ain’t you willin’ to rent me say 15% of your memory? I’d absolutely rock with that much extra! ;~)
Let your spouse know he isn’t the only way shakin’ his head in disbelief. And the Nanci Griffith song is a treasure. Thank You!
This diary underscores my point in Another Day in the Blogosphere, Another Disconnect with Remedial Action, and Another Meta Suggestion
I appreciate your honesty, but I can’t help wonder why it doesn’t/hasn’t transitioned into a search for at least different approaches to try, even if not attachment to an approach you had great faith in.
I’m not picking on you – this analysis & info heavy / strategy light pattern is seen just about everywhere in stuff having to do with politics.
=========
Obama cannot be re-elected. To apply real political pressure, it has to be directed at Congress. An online petition is not “real political pressure”, as you acknowledge.
BTW, I don’t want to dig for the link, but there was a group who put up an online petition, directed at Governor Cuomo (and, I believe, the Governor of CT.), linking his Presidential aspirations to whether or not he signed off on fracking. (Perhaps somebody read my diary, IF NY State Get Fracked, Whose Fault Is That? (+ Bonus IQ Test)
Quite frankly, it didn’t seem to have either enough support nor enough community leaders to seriously threaten Cuomo’s future career, but at least it was good to see what I consider a step in the right direction, even if it was a small one.
I described a methodology for acquiring real political muscle in Twisting Your Congress Critters’ Arm – A Goldilocks’-Sized First Step In Domination by the Electorate (Short Version)
I’d be happy to listen to somebody else’s reasonable plan for twisting Congress’ arms, but I just don’t seem to run into any.
Welcome, elisemattu. Please come back when it doesn’t cost you so dearly; you’re a brilliant addition to My.fdl. Always. And I’ll pass on the message. ;~)
Yes, I’ve read a few of yours you linked. I often bring actions as antidotes, like this one.
Thanks for reading, metamars. Congressional arm-twisting won’t help this one.
Dear Lady, Thank you, WD for helping me understand the depth and depravity of TPP. I remember posting something here months ago about TPP, but I had no where near the understanding that your links provide. I still feel woefully uninformed, and as soon as I recover my equilibrium (this leaves me reeling) I plan dedicating some serious time to research.
As an aside, I fear losing the freedom of the internet; the ability to gain knowledge, to disseminate that information quickly, and to rally the troops. Since we have no other means, except as you noted, pamphleteering and posters (do you really think any radio licenses would be granted, even low wattage, once ‘global control’ is in place?)
Obama has turned out to be an odious, loathsome excuse for a President. The fact that he campaigned as a Liberal Dem makes me wonder if it were not all part of some corporate plot. Yes, I never thought I would say this, but I think I am beginning to be a conspiracy nut about the incest of government, corporations and banking,
I worked 16 hours until 7am, so am late coming to all this information, but the fury and resultant depression are beginning to kick in full time. The steam is rising and my blood pressure is starting to soar. Our efforts to save our country and the planet now seem so woefully inadequate compared to the might of money.
Thank you, again, for your excellent post, you are a treasure, and greatly appreciated. I raise my tea cup to you!
Wendy, how is your son? Where is he stationed now? How are you and MrWD doing?
Hugs.
Aloha, Branch Davisians…! I just got back from an Anti-GMO march thru Hilo today…! The biggest turnout I’ve seen in 10+ years, hundreds of people marched thru-out downtown, totally caught the cops off guard by the sheer numbers…! ;-)
Welcome, Gallogarden, and how good it is to see you. Yeppers, there’s a lot to know, especially since all we have to go on is the 2011 leak of the language. It’s hard to think what will emerge will be any less draconian than that, but there may be some side deals being worked out on a few issues.
That’s a long workday, my friend; don’t know how you’re even coherent yet, actually, but what a pile of rubbish to wake up to. Please accept one of my new favorite songs to heal you a bit (she said hopefully). It makes me tear up, but in a good way. ;~)
Hmmm; CIPSA. I put up a post about it not long ago, and admitted ignorance from the top, hoping others would guide us through some of the dangers. There’s still a petition at the end of the post to sign (from Electronic Frontier). It’s HR 624 (govtrack here) Yep, they know how important the internet is for swapping info, arranging actions, creating alliances, and more.
By my reckoning there will be more protests of the TPP come fall; there certainly have been a lot globally over the past year, but obviously not enough. Or maybe Metamars is right; dunno. But none of the transparency requests have paid off, so… Out-freaking-rageous even Congress hasn’t been able to see the text. It’s like fighting a chimera, eh?
Yes, all of it is so daunting, but we still have to keep getting the information out into the world as we can. I always favored simple pamphlets for Occupiers and flashmobs to hand out: educate, educate!
Right now everyone’s focused on the XL and Enbridge pipelines, and it’s all happening on the ground, which is good. But this and CISPA are huge as well, but taking a back seat…for now.
About your questions, I’ll contact you off the boards; I’m pretty sure I still have your address from the book sale days. Love to you; stay strong. We just have to keep our power alive so that we can win!
‘Allo, Tuttle. Well done! HI is pretty much ground zero now with all the ‘experimental’ plantations, yes? Well done, Hiloians. Heloites?
I’ve collected a bunch more links for another GMO post. A supposed Green Peace (or akin) Biggie in the anti-GE movement has now recanted, and is extolling their virtues. Caused quite a flap at the Guardian, and I’d wondered if his ‘change of heart’ might have had something to do with the TPP and language on patents, Investment State rules, all that. The French study is of course being derided, and to say the truth, I was a little uncomfortable posting about it, not know much more than they said it had been ‘peer reviewed’. Dunno if that means it passed review or what.
Anyway, there’s never a lack of subjects to post about eh? ;~)
Are you on the big island then? So ignorant I don’t know where Hilo is, actually. And which observatory to you work in, and what do you do? I’ve never looked through a major telescope, but so much new info is coming out now; it’s really exciting.
Thanks for the good news.
The TPP is NAFTA on steroids. Thank you for another great diary, wendydavis.
Further TPP news and overviews as well as additional links are available here . . .
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022518705
This free advice, strategy heavy / action light pattern is seen just about everywhere in stuff having to do with personal self-exaltation.
Lol! Yer just beggin’ me to get out my tennis racket, are ya, Isaiah?
Good to know DU did that piece, and yes: good links. And cuz I know that you love The Light as much as I do, this one’s for you, dear. (I used to sing it in sweat lodge, as close as we ever came to creating our own church.) ;~)
The turnout certainly warmed my cockles…! ;-)
Yes, Hilo is on the Big Isle of Hawai’i, later today there’s supposed to be another big march in Kailua-Kona, since it’s the Big Isle’s turn to ‘represent’…! I think we might’ve surpassed the other Isles’ numbers here in Hilo alone…! ;-)
Btw, one doesn’t just peer into a viewfinder, at any one of the major telescopes, you just look at a bunch of pixels on a large flat screen…! ;-)
So…you just stare at pixels all night? Such a life!
Get a real job, Tuttle! ;-P
Have you considered a career in writing 1-liners for Chinese fortune cookies? I think I see a match.
*heh* I wish I had that luxurious job, I get to make like a Human Popsicle instead…! ;-)
Ah, but those one-liners are pregnant with meaning, aren’t they? Wee poems, once I imagine them through… ;~)
Excellent. And thank you for bolding the link, for even though your links have shined in the darkness for quite awhile, I comprehended them not, and dwelled in ignorance like the Canaanites and the Sidonians and the Hivities and Hittites, and their friends the Amorities, Perizzites, and Jebusites.
Congrats, wendy, yer front-paged…! I hope you’ve got your makeup on…! ;-)
If you mean the level of Congressional arm-twisting that we are likely to see, of course, I agree. That’s because there’s no arm-twisting to speak of – not by the ‘little people’, anyway. (Lobbyists representing moneyed interests are another story.)
While activists tend to use the ‘forceful’ rhetoric – demanding this or that – it tends to be bluster, sound and fury, accomplishing very little.
As happens with individuals engaged in conflict, the strident words are partly for display, in the hopes of avoiding a real conflict. This can work, in some situations; it depends partly, or mostly, on the perception of ability and willingness to escalate.
The public is so weak, compared to moneyed interests, that populist rhetoric is surely well understood by insulated power groups in Washington as to be essentially meaningless. There’s no capability to escalate in any meaningful way that threatens power (revolution and mass rioting, and threats of mass rioting – if this is what you’re thinking – are not serious concerns, until the system is degraded far more than has happened); and given the public’s continued inability to organize a serious pushback, I myself question whether the public even cares.
You haven’t told us why twisting Congressional arms cannot work. The last I checked, you still need Congress to approve trade agreements. If you’re referring to the fact that voting for TPPA will probably occur well before election season, that is something to think about, but pales in importance to the fact that it took a long while for the system to become systemically corrupted, and fixing it will also take a long while. Organizing now, to at least make the Oct. voting interesting, and making it well understood that systemic corruption demands prolonged, systemic cleansing, will give the public a basis from which to expand. A loss on one issue, just as a loss in any given electoral contest, can be taken in stride.
Just protesting, signing petitions, etc., that threatens no Congress critter’s job, will just reinforce the disempowered state of the electorate. What, exactly, do you think you will have gained, in November, having lost on the issue in October? Apparently, the only justification for actions that you find acceptable is that there’s a tiny chance that they may work.
That would not be dissimilar to looking to ward off an impending bankruptcy by spending money on lottery tickets.
The odds of winning are very slight.
If you’re about to go bankrupt, it’s not because you weren’t regularly buying lottery tickets. Buying lottery tickets, therefore, cannot solve this problem, in general.
Wot? They spray you with liquid freon to keep the room cool er somethin’? why don’t you get a real job at the Hilo Farmers’ Market, or the Tsunami Museum? Go ahead, ask me anything about downtown Hilo; I Giggled it while you were frozen.
It sure took long enough, CTut.
*heh* We shut down all of downtown Hilo, it totally rawked…! Once the pics and vid becomes available, I’ll do a myfdl diary about it…! ;-)
Did you say ‘Canaan’, Isaiah? ;~)
Zounds, Tuttle; such serendipity! I put on my eyemakeup, a clean shirt ‘n everything, just cuz it felt right. (grin)
Lookin’ forward to the post.
Added: Where are my manners? Thank you for the front-paging. It’s a seriously crucial subject.
A lot of Chinese fortune cookie fortunes have about as much meaning as a daydream that you remember. That’s a little better than the dream you had at night, which you begin forgetting as soon as you wake up, but not much.
Do you suppose Sun-Tzu relied on cotton-candy Chinese fortune cookie 1-liners, in composing The Art of War?
We’re in a war, but all the Sun-Tzu’s are working for the other side. There’s no law of nature that this should be so; which makes the ongoing mangling of the middle class and democratic rights all the more lamentable.
Chinese fortune cookie ‘insights’ will not help. (OK, I suppose there’s a few that quote Sun-Tzu. Good luck getting any of those out of UTC1.)
Oh, goodness, metamars. All that and your other comment require too much thinking to even answer. Speaking of dreams, I just partook of some of my MMJ Blue Dream for excess pain, and I just can’t want to think that hard. Just ain’t enough potential returns even if I cranked up to do it. Sorry.
Have you considered a career in writing 0-liners for FDL? I think I see a match.
A well-deserved top-o-the-front-paging for this important diary, wendydavis. Recommended!
Congrats, WD.
I have been following since you put this up. Glad it’s FPed. Following the links and looking for more information. There needs to be much more information on TPP. Lets hope for a leaker. Thanks Wendy.
Here is why they are protesting this in Japan:
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1303/S00188/terms-of-japans-entry-to-tppa-talks-bad-news-for-nz.htm
This is a press release from Professor Jane Kelsey, which includes a letter written by members of the Japanese Diet. Incredible stuff, really unbelievable.
[New Zealand’s national newspapers, the Otago Daily Times and the New Zealand Herald are barely reporting on TPP at all – except for editorials saying how good this will be for the big businesses that are hand in glove, cheek by jowl, with Prime Minister Key (all I can say is yuck!)
Woops, meant to say the press release is dated March 15,2013, so current.
Thank you juliania and econobuzz.
@ homeroid. Remember when Robert Naiman posted a challenge to Anonymous for hacking for info? There were some ethical and legal ethical considerations that weren’t well though out, but yes: we need more info, but it will all be ugly for the global 99%. Count on it. That it’s all still secret is sincerely portentous.
Thanks for the link. One of the things they’re not talking about is that Japan kinda stopped importing US beef, which was a huge deal. Dunno if they lifted the ban once Mad Cow fell off the radar or not. I’d sure think twice or thrice before eating *any* agricultural or sea product from Japan, though. Ish. (Not that country of origin is easy to discover…)
Wonder if they’d be agreeing to GMOs in the agreement? Golden rice?
Added: And I still wonder if there are any mentions of currencies in the ‘plan’.
nagaura’s “Random Japan” diary today has this link to a brief article about Japan participating in the TPP.
Those Kiwis, and/or Maoris are doing the real grunt work behind exposing the TPP…! ;-)
There is a good amount of articles on TPP at
scoop.co.nz/
Just enter TPP into the search box upper right. One article I saw addresses a new definition of the term ‘milk’ – oh goodie. Another is the speech given in New York by Tom Donilon, National Security Advisor, to a group called the Asian Society on March 11 – this from that:
“…The TPP is also an absolute statement of U.S. strategic commitment to be in the Asia-Pacific for the long haul. And the growth arising from a U.S.-Europe agreement will help underwrite NATO, the most powerful alliance in history…”
Another goodie – Europe comes next.
You’re not doing so bad y’rself, CTuttle – way, haul away! I hear parts of the Big Island are just like New Mexico. My son felt right at home when he lived there.
A scan seemed not to have mentioned Abe’s betrayal of his campaign promise to boycott the talks, lol.
I had a photo for a time of the Maori women demonstrating in solidarity with Chief Spence’s hunger strike. Their smiles were irresistible.
Thanks, juliania. If you watched the first video, you’ll know that it was made by Kiwis. Links are in the post (itsourfuture)
I have not yet read the comments, but must offer a thought… like OWS, the Tea Party generally takes a populist bent on America. Perhaps stopping the TPP is a place where agreement can be found?
If the Tea Partiers in DC have shown one thing… they can impact legislation… and they seem to listen to their constituents more than most of the CongressCritters who’ve been in DC for decades and now work for their Corporate Masters.
Dr Paul Craig Roberts from last summer,
(always found him easy to read, and he posted his photo with his cats)
Cool cats, eh? This that he wrote went right by me in all the reading I’ve done on this hideous ‘deal’:
“This point is possibly moot as the agreement requires all governments that are parties to the TPP to harmonize their laws so that the new corporate privileges are equally reflected in every country. To avoid discriminatory law against a country’s own corporations that do not engage in foreign trade, harmonization could mean that domestic corporations would be granted the same privileges as foreign investors. If not, domestic firms might acquire the privileges by setting up a foreign subsidiary consisting of an office.”
Either I didn’t grasp what Public Citizen and other trade watch groups were saying, or he found evidence of that in the leaked pdf; it’s astounding, really. I’d like to think that the legislative bodies of the signatory nations would actually have to understand the laws they’re creating ‘in harmony’ piecemeal, or they’d be agreeing to have the TPP’s particulars automatically supersede their own. Holy smoke, either way.
Aside on PCR: funny that he was a deputy Treasury Secretary for Reagan (iirc), and is now blowing the whistle on unfettered capitalism now. My stars. Occasionally there’s an interview with him I’d almost like to post, but I almost never like the format or how terrible he looks, speaks, and his home (?) office from which he’s speaking, so I…don’t. Like this one. ;~)
It’s sure an interesting question, TimWhite, and I don’t have an answer. I’ve lost track as to which Tea Party any of the CongressCritters ally with: the Koch-astroturf ones, or the original Karl Denninger ones; Denninger supported OWS.
What would be key, I reckon, is explaining how this agreement is an example of Inverted Totalitarianism, rather than big government control. It hands control to multinationals, and lets them run the table. We’ll keep our eyes peeled for folks to ally with. In June, 130 members wrote to Ron Kirk asking for the text and to be able to provide input; here’s the pdf with signatures. A bit much for my eyes so early.
But given that the letter was sent to Kirk in June, why hasn’t there been more of a flap from Congress with the 16th round occurring? Campaign donations for silence? Pay to not play? Hate to be so cynical; would Ron Wyden have a guess?
I just searched Wyden’s Senate site, and there’s nothing about the TPP there since Aug. 2012; a meeting with stakeholders.
What I’m tempted to do (but won’t do partly because i have no idea where to start and partly b/c I feel that I don’t have the time) is to start keeping a scorecard on Congressional voting records… but not one that is simply “Y/N/abstain/present” and “R/D/other”… no, I’d like to see a voting record to begin seeing the Authoritarians vs. the Populists.
Votes actions (such as letters written) to be considered:
1) the bailout
2) drones
3) free trade agreements
4) warrantless wiretapping
Of course, most CongressCritters just follow the herd… waiting until their so-called leadership lets him/her know how to vote. But perhaps as we continue down the slippery slope, we’ll begin to see voting trends emerge?
Hey, wd, I still haven’t had the time to learn enough about this issue to contribute (WaPo has upped the ante in its 5 myths series and it’s a real challenge this time), but I’m glad you and your threadders are still at it.
Ron Wyden strikes me as a weak reed to rely on.
The TEA Partiers have not affected legislation. Talk to the ones in the TEA Parties that were not astroturfed. There are some bitter libertarians angry that they were co-opted by the GOP.
But the big problem with any alliance between progressives and the TEA Party folks is the failure of the TEA Party folks to fear corporate power. Yes, corporations are associations of private individuals. But…they have the privileges of limited liability and special taxation and now preferential political privileges provided by the government that private individuals lack. That governmental umbrella as well as the government power to enforce contracts completely escapes the individualist fantasies of TEA Party folks.
In the current political environment, even the strongest progressive member of Congress (House or Senate), if there were one, is a weak reed to rely on. Even if they are the chair of the governing committee on the issue.
PCR and his apparent clear whistle blowing here, I think, comes about as concern that whatever his current power or influence is now, would likely be seriously undermined with the TPP. Essentially he and his would become irrelevant in some fashion, smaller fish in a larger ocean or maybe just shark food. I think this shows up in his mentioning of inequality of international and domestic corporation status under the agreement.
Thanks again for bring this issue to the fore.
Akin to ‘League of Conservation Voters scorecards’? Tough gig, and it’s unclear how much voters care to parse issues, rather than support personalities and believe their teevee news and campaign ads, especially the hit jobs. (Yep, more cynicism)
Is your second paragraph about the astroturf Tea People, THD?
Mornin’, EF Beall. Yeppers, we’re still at it, and we’ll hope this might get dug out of the Giggle cache so folks can read the great comments, extra links and insights.
I’d have to say that since we have heard nothing more from Wyden or other Critters, we won’t. This press release from Wyden in August of last year says he’s been schooled. Makes noises about environmental and worker protection, uh-huh… ‘Huge for Oregon’s economic health!’ is the way it reads.
Good luck with the Myths.
Ha! And here I was hoping he was apologetic for all the hideous policies he’d helped craft in the past, based on scurrilous ideologies, lol. Strange mix, then. Thanks for all your contributions, amigoquixote.
What’s that?
The second generation Tea Party (as opposed to Denninger, et.al.) funded by the Kochs and other billionaires. This is Monbiot, but he seems at a scan to cover it pretty well.
Big chore day, so that’s the easiest grab I could make.
“…the agreement requires all governments that are parties to the TPP to harmonize their laws so that the new corporate privileges are equally reflected in every country. ”
On the point you bolded, wendydavis, here is a segment I have bolded from the March 11 speech of Tom Donilon in New York that I referenced above:
“The centerpiece of our economic rebalancing is the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)—a high-standard agreement the United States is crafting with Asia-Pacific economies from Chile and Peru to New Zealand and Singapore. The TPP is built on its members’ shared commitment to high standards, eliminating market access barriers to goods and services, addressing new, 21st century trade issues and respect for a rules-based economic framework… Let me add that the TPP is intended to be an open platform for additional countries to join – provided they are willing and able to meet the TPP’s high standards.”
Don’t you love that ‘economic rebalancing’??
…and I like ‘crafting’ too. Freudian slip?
I really had seen Donilon’s nefarious remarks before you brought them, and they were just ‘one step too arrggh’, but thank you. He held the key to the enforcement of Empire, so…it’s a big deal, proving that:
It’s an entire Empire Package, and that there are so many MOTU-would-be’s, and so many willing to sell out the safety of the planet, and their people…that it’s all but a done deal.
Where is Wyden? Where are the other 136 or whatever Critters who were daring enough (yes, snark) to send a letter to Ron Kirk to ask to be ‘included and informed’ about the plan’s language? Oh, those bold charadists (is that a real word?); we genuflect before their braver and mettle, no?
Coming to terms with the level of abject sociopathy seems to be the hardest task for so many, juliania.
‘Crafting’; globalist necromancy?