I’m Mad As Hell. How About You?
Yesterday, on TV, I exploded. I spent two minutes giving a primal yell at our political system, demanding the extraction of our money and dignity end. It was my most heartfelt and emotional moment on television, ever.
And the emails poured in. I hit a chord, because it’s something we all feel. Take a look.
With the markets in turmoil and the global financial architecture groaning under the weight of fraud and corruption, it’s a good time to think about what leadership would look like. Believe it or not, we have had good leadership, purpose, integrity, and aligned interests in this country.
In 1961, President John F. Kennedy faced a dilemma — how could he direct our intense competitive passion with the Soviet Union in a direction other than war? The answer was his call for America to beat the Soviets to the moon. Kennedy understood power; if he did not lead us towards peaceful productive competition, that same animus would have turned violent (see this key memo on the real rationale for the space race). So he took the passion and focus of our society, the technology of war and missiles, and turned it into a great mission to explore space. He gave us a shared goal.
But that’s not the full story. Kennedy also demanded we use the finest scientists and engineers to design the rockets, and made sure that the path to the moon was based on the best possible solution to get there. For large rocket boosters, he was open to chemical, nuclear, liquid fuels, or any combination. He did not put a commission of astrologers in charge, and he did not put political cronies with no scientific background in charge of designing the rockets.
We had a shared goal, and we had a problem-solving process with integrity and aligned interests. Kennedy was the leader of this initiative, but Americans at that time, possibly because of a shared experience in World War II, had a shared purpose. They believed in prosperity as a goal, and they had a shared set of problem solving values to get there. They believed in education, in health and welfare, in mutual security, in dignified work and in Americans making things. The moon shot didn’t just avoid war with the Soviets, it created the largest surge of American students into math and science in history.
Today, we face the same demons as decades past. We have passion, and focus, and we want to compete. What we lack is a set of shared prosperity goals, and a shared problem solving values to get there. There’s no consensus, for instance, on the need to solve the problem of climate change. But even where we have some consensus, say on creating jobs, there’s no integrity or aligned interests in how we’re approaching the problem. It’s well-known in DC among lobbying firms that every policy initiative must be wrapped in the shared goal of creating jobs. It’s unclear whether anyone there has that as an actual goal, but even if they did, there’s no integrity in the way they are going about creating jobs. We still trust the same corrupted economic establishment, an establishment with no ethos of the importance of problem solving. Astrologers (like S&P) are in charge of job creation.
So now we are locked in a war of ideas and mechanics in a battle for power. But power to what end? The political solutions proposed by DC today are the opposite of Kennedy’s moonshot. We are taking our collective passion and focus and turning it toward manipulating power for the self-preservation of a few instead of working together towards shared goals with shared values knowing our ideas and mechanics will change as long as we try to get there.
Whether it’s full employment, clean energy, building a bridge, whatever — there’s no mutual consent to a set of shared goals, integrity on how to achieve them, or aligned interests. Even where there are policy discussions on, say, how to cut our debt load, it is the opinions of discredited ratings agencies that seem to matter. So our choices are organized around austerity measures that we know will not cut debt loads. Again, it’s using astrology to get to the moon.
I’ve realized, over time, that it isn’t policy ideas we need. We need, as citizens, a shared purpose. And we need a commitment to integrity of process, and aligned interests so the incentives exist for all of us to contribute. You can talk to billionaires — and I have — who are scared for their children, for their country, and for the world. And if billionaires can’t create the changes we need in the machine, if Congress can’t, if the President can’t, then we must look to ourselves.
When Kennedy called for the country to go to the moon, he said that “no single space project will be more impressive to mankind… and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish.” The difficulty and expense were great problems to overcome, not reasons to shrink from greatness. He said we would experiment with different rocket technology, “until certain which is superior.” Every engineer, politician, and bureaucrat focused on the overall goal — not how to look like America was getting to the moon to get power and credit, but how to actually do it. And it was not his project, or even the project of the astronauts who went there. “It will not,” he said, “be one man going to the moon… it will be an entire nation. For all of us must work to put him there.”
This is shared purpose — Americans paid taxes, worked on rockets, trained as astronauts, cleaned NASA buildings, or did whatever they could do — to get each one of us to the moon using shared values to solve problems that got us closer to our objective. Later on, the space station in the 1970s, using even more advanced technology that could have been used for war and weaponry, helped us develop a new cooperative posture with the Soviet Union, cooling off the Cold War. This remarkable problem-solving value set helped create not just leadership in the space program, but the technological spinoffs we enjoy today.
This is the spirit we need today. We need to fight against the great ideological machine that lacks purpose, lacks integrity, and lacks aligned interests. The first step is to recognize our own place in it. If we believe that our problems are all due to the Tea Party, or Obama, or corporate power brokers, or liberals, then we’re lacking the integrity necessary to reach any goal. The reality is, by boxing ourselves into a tribal two-party state, we are all part of the machine. And so, in order to change it, we must simply change our own minds. We must reorient our own ways of thinking, to a leadership driven model of citizenship. It isn’t enough, or even necessarily important, to care about which politician is in charge. We must seek within our own lives and our own politics, food, culture, families, and schools, values. We must share a set of prosperity goals — full employment, clean energy, patient driven health care, high-quality universal education — and push our leaders and ourselves to achieve them.
Ultimately, peace and prosperity will not be made because we get rid of the animal instincts within us, the competitiveness, the passion, the need to argue. It will happen because we will use those instincts, as we did with the moonshot, to build a society that lets us take care of each other and solve our problems. And so we must figure out how to stop giving our consent and legitimacy to an unthinking mechanical beast that runs our lives, a beast which enslaves us to accounting mechanisms like debt ceilings instead of the shared prosperity we seek as a culture and society. We must figure out how to restore the integrity necessary to actually solve our problems and we must understand how to align all of our interests so we each have the incentives to solve them. That way, we can ensure our bridges don’t fall down and our job creation initiatives actually create jobs.
I have no doubt that by rededicating ourselves, another moonshot is inevitable. That’s just what happens when problem-solving people dedicate themselves to prosperity as a goal, make sure that integrity is the keystone of how they achieve it, and align their interests so it is doable.
~~~
Send emails to MADASHELL@Dylanratigan.com
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August 11th, 2011 at 8:19 pm
right on
you ARE todays sane howard beale
we are still democracy mostly
my feeling is when the citizens massively demand something concrete and in detail
the pols fall all over them selves to do it-at least the image-at least till the attention span fades
and if pressed… the reality
August 11th, 2011 at 8:35 pm
Funny, but a rant like this is exactly how the Tea Party started.
August 11th, 2011 at 8:37 pm
After short fighting in the leafy shade,
He spake to the young man, ‘Is there no maid
Who loves you, no white arms to wrap you round,
Or do you long for the dim sleepy ground,
That you have come and dared me to my face?’
‘The dooms of men are in God’s hidden place,’
‘Your head a while seemed like a woman’s head
That I loved once.’
Again the fighting sped,
But now the war-rage in Cuchulain woke,
And through that new blade’s guard the old blade
broke,
And pierced him.
‘Speak before your breath is done.’
‘Cuchulain I, mighty Cuchulain’s son.’
‘I put you from your pain. I can no more.’
While day its burden on to evening bore,
With head bowed on his knees Cuchulain stayed;
Then Conchubar sent that sweet-throated maid,
And she, to win him, his grey hair caressed;
In vain her arms, in vain her soft white breast.
Then Conchubar, the subtlest of all men,
Ranking his Druids round him ten by ten,
Spake thus: ‘Cuchulain will dwell there and brood
For three days more in dreadful quietude,
And then arise, and raving slay us all.
Chaunt in his ear delusions magical,
That he may fight the horses of the sea.’
The Druids took them to their mystery,
And chaunted for three days.
Cuchulain stirred,
Stared on the horses of the sea, and heard
The cars of battle and his own name cried;
And fought with the invulnerable tide.
August 11th, 2011 at 8:41 pm
As being perhaps the youngest age person who can remember the Apollo 11 landing in 1969 (It was just after my 5th birthday); and then as an avid proto-scientist following the with great interest the Viking landing on Mars in 1976 (I as 12), I can relate to the sentiments and metaphors expressed here. Like all metaphors, they are not exact or meant to be. But the metaphor to Apollo is correct in that it relates to science, which at least is governed by an overt dedication to critical thinking and empirical evidence and is antithetical to ideology.
August 11th, 2011 at 8:45 pm
Folks can start out by reading Andrew Liveris’s book, “Make it in America.” I didn’t agree with everything the Dow Chemical CEO proposes but it is refreshing to hear candid talk from the head of one of America’s biggest companies about how to rebuild manufacturing. The CEOs need to speak out more rather than sitting on the sidelines waiting for the next shoe to drop. We used to make things the world wanted and there is no reason why we can’t start back in that direction.
August 11th, 2011 at 8:50 pm
After all the regulations and regulating agencies were put aside under Bush and the best capitalists won. What they didn’t realize was that the business of Wall St is not to aid companies growth through public offerings but to game the system to extract every cent by every means they could think of from the markets and the world be damned as long as they got theirs. The motto is ” I’ll take being a rich moral and scruple free winner over honest loser with integrity “. Hell its all legal, they buy the politicians, lobbyists re write the law and it’s game on. Congratulations the best capitalists with connections and money win.
I don’t know what Barry is talking about. They have all the money and they aren’t thinking about moon shots. Maybe a $50 million Van Gough painting for the hallway outside the foyer on the 3rd floor but not a little moonshot in their neighborhood without dollar for dollar tax breaks and tax free status for years until their next political move decided.
Let the USA go down ,it deserves it. The shame is the top 1% the people who caused this aren’t affected ,they can lose $50 million and still go to the coast of Spain and buy a villa where they don’t have to listen to the real.
August 11th, 2011 at 9:11 pm
I am discouraged that our corporate condensed media is so innefectual (think Iraq war rationale) and spews so much propaganda (think Fox News). I am discouraged our politicians are owned by multinational corporations, and that the Supreme Court recently essentially rubber stamped it. I am discouraged that immoral/corrupt/criminal entities are bailed out by the middle class, for which they are rewarded by cuts to programs they really need. I am discouraged that the aforementioned entities keep doing better, but aren’t even willing to throw a few crumbs to the rest of society. I am discouraged that a significant portion of society believes this is a moral/fair/sound stance.
But there’s a lot to be excited about. SpaceX is pioneering private cargo transport to orbit, while Virgin Galactic and others are making space tourism a reality. NASA has had a very successful robotic exploration program of the solar system, such as the rovers on Mars. We are making tremendous progress in genetics, microbiology, nanotechnology, materials science, and a host of other scientific endeavours. You’re right though – we aren’t pursing programs that inspire a sense of public purpose and social cohesion like the space program did. Hell, we can’t even do anything about our increasingly third world infrastructure, nor can we even send another human being to the moon – 40 years after we did it the first time!
The overriding goal of society today is too squeeze as much profit out of business for the next quarter. And that’s pretty damn sad.
August 11th, 2011 at 9:19 pm
A shared purpose. Hmmm.
This decade is the start of severe oil production declines – the post-peak oil world.
Please set you sites on terra-firma – not moons and stars (or clovers – or old platitudes and stories of greatness from the growth days of the oil age).
August 11th, 2011 at 9:21 pm
Great!!
Affirm that: ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL, that the first sentence of the Declaration of Independence trumps property, happiness in hoarding and the false christian Calvinist idea about “Cain’s spawn”.
Auction all the MBS/ABS at treasury and the fed, and mark the banks’ balance sheets to those prices.
Liquidity is not solvency, dun the insolvent banks. Let the foreclosures fall on those who took the risks, quit whining about the insolvent householders. Cut all moral hazards in the money and banking.
Outlaw wall st gaming parlours which mimic and hide behind banking fronts.
Raise taxes on those who have the most to lose from a wasted society, those who benefit most, who should care but refuse to contribute.
Let Galt leave.
“The man of great wealth owes a peculiar obligation to the State, because he derives special advantages from the mere existence of government” – Teddy Roosevelt.
Include tariffs in deficit reduction because if the federal government were not borrowing the demand would better match the supplies.
End the militarist empire, look at what is lost by throwing away 5% of GDP blowing up insurgents, while they kill the flower of the people.
Romney is a corporatist………………………..
Perry, Bachman, and the rest are calvinist slave masters’ apologists.
All men are created equal.
August 11th, 2011 at 9:31 pm
Bravo, very well said Mr. Ratigan. I’m old enough to remember the Apollo moon shots, and barely remember JFK. He was a truly great president for the reasons you have enumerated, even if he had his human failings (who doesn’t). We need an FDR or JFK today and we need great projects. There is no sense of optimism left in the country – its been squashed out of us. Great projects lead to that shared sense of hope and optimism. Look at China and its great engineering feats; we don’t even attempt them anymore.
I’d suggest looking at the NAWAPA project to terra-form the western half of the US/Canada/Mexico. An Apollo type program to achieve fusion energy. And instead of shutting down our manned space program, re-double our efforts to colonize the Moon, then Mars and beyond.
Of course, we must first reinstall Glass-Steagall and revolutionize the US and world financial systems. The Monetarist empire has brought us to our knees. Now is the time to return to a Hamiltonian credit system, or the empire will destroy civilization itself.
August 11th, 2011 at 9:31 pm
You tell ‘em, D-man!
August 11th, 2011 at 9:42 pm
Put me in the unimpressed column. It was an obvious setup rant imo.
If you really feel that way why did you have the two spinmisters on that show.
I had the show on to see Barry then you brought them on and *click* I hit the button. Missed your planned rant.
But you were the hit in the lefty echo chambers, got to help the ratings.
Jack
August 11th, 2011 at 9:55 pm
[...] Ratigan on his TV rant (though I think the writing is better than the rant) Eco World Content From Across The Internet. Featured on EcoPressed Breaking the Taboo on "Toilet to Tap" Like this:LikeBe the first to like this post. This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink. ← An excellent post from EconoSpeak [...]
August 11th, 2011 at 9:55 pm
Yo Dylan. Cool story, brah.
August 11th, 2011 at 9:57 pm
;-)
August 11th, 2011 at 9:59 pm
Paraphrasing Bill Maher: It used to be that the stupid people in this country knew they were stupid.
August 11th, 2011 at 10:04 pm
A very thoughtful, aspirational and non-partisan piece. Thank you DR. However, I think the fact that over half of the comments on this site alone are considered unsupportive of your sentiment is evidence of how entrenched we have become. It makes one wonder if we could ever really once again achieve a shared purpose.
August 11th, 2011 at 10:12 pm
A bit off topic, just a word about JFK’s quest for the moon.
While it’s great to think it was about national pride and competetiveness, albiet somewhat true, there was a greater more ominous truth at work. The Soviets had demonstrated a clear and present danger with Sputnik. A visceral demonstration of the ultimate in “air superiority”. The Nuke Race was on. The very balance of global military power was at stake. We needed nukes. Lots of ‘em. Fast. Why? Mutually Assured Destruction. They were evil but not insane (as opposed to some religion based ideologies in play today). What better way to employ a manufacturing army to make ICBMs but as far as the aerospace workers were concerned, it was all for the Astronauts, our heros. No lack of craftsmanship or pride (who would let something shoddy get by if it endangered Them?). What better way to make clear to the Soviets of our technical prowess than landing men on the moon?
Yep, off topic? You bet. Military in nature? Sure. Rallied the national Spirit DEFINITELY!
While American Rome burns, the Congress of Nero fiddles. No Patriotism. Just “What’s in it for me”.
Dylan, While both on and offshore wholesale bribery in the form of Lobbying is legal, what can we hope for?
Iran et.al. need only incrimentally influence through Lobbying shills, buy our demise.
What will it take for these guys to say “No. Not for any amount! This is OUR country not yours. Sorry, store’s closed.”? Cynical. Maybe. Kind of hard not to be. Wealth is leaving our shores at a phenomenal rate. While the guy on Main St. is losing his house, his job, his country, Nancy Pelosi is up 62% . Yeah, I’m cynical.
August 11th, 2011 at 10:26 pm
Good stuff, Barry…sounds like we all need a massive dose of Level One of “Maslow’s Hierarchy of Human Needs”…my post of July 26, 2011: http://strawberryblondesmarketsummary.blogspot.com/2011/07/holy-grail-and-maslows-hierarchy-of.html
August 11th, 2011 at 10:28 pm
whskyjack — I’m leaning toward the same opinion.
Dylan Ratigan is my absolute favorite. When I heard the rant whilst cooking supper, I quickly turned the stove off, my eyes popped out, and my mouth was in jaw drop position. I was so pumped, I never even finished dinner. Couldn’t even sleep that night. I really thought it was the beginning of something big. I watched it again and again and again this morning, thinking to myself — he should have appeared a little more out of breath — maybe popped a blood vessel or two, clutched his heart, or even broken out into a little more of a sweat. Just because he has our back, doesn’t go far with me anymore.
Remember that 5-4 decision by our SCOTUS — Roberts said that upholding the limits would have restrained “the vibrant public discourse that is at the foundation of our democracy.”
We don’t have a chance in hell anymore, Dylan. Next Rantigan — please use the word OLIGARCHY, as in TWO PARTY OLIGARCHY over and over and over again. It might be a start
I’m sure you meant EVERY word you said — push for a viable THIRD PARTY — and I will forever be your love slave!
August 11th, 2011 at 10:29 pm
I wonder why the USA is stucked with the two corrupted parties. Both Democrate and Republican parties are corrupted and got bought by the super rich.
I don’t get why there won’t be a 3rd party coming up to go against them. Both parties are getting old and getting more and more corrupted. It seems no matter who would be elected, things just won’t change.
Among all the politicans, the only guy that seems to make sense is Ron Paul, but his policy would probably bring instant pain to all Americans that it is not too realistic that he could be elected.
There are more and more people aware of the problems in the US, but when would someone actually step up and bring the solution to the White House…
August 11th, 2011 at 10:31 pm
from.. http://cryptogon.com/?p=24103
(note: these are Not my Words, though, He makes, at least, one valid Point in his Commentary.)
“August 10th, 2011
I hardly ever see these talking heads shows, so I don’t know if this type of thing happens often. Apologies if this is just standard fare on the TV nowadays.
Ratigan’s description of the issue represents a lie by omission, and his prescription would perpetuate the problem. Mainly, I liked how workers in the background became concerned and started to gather around to watch what was happening. HAHA. Although this ‘audience’ was probably just set dressing, I found it entertaining anyway.
Ok, so even during a pants shitting rant, the Federal Reserve system should not be mentioned. Isn’t that interesting?
Yes, politicians are corrupt. Thank you, Captain Obvious, but what makes it possible to “Extract America,” by the tens of trillions of dollars?
How about asking why there are trillions of dollars in the first place? That would lead to the real core of this, which is the fact that, by design, the Federal Reserve system makes it impossible for the U.S. to get out of debt. The goal of the ritual is to make the victim believe that the way out of the hole is to dig the hole deeper.
Even during a vein popping rant, where the soundtrack from The Exorcist should be playing in the background, these issues must not be mentioned, and the prescription winds up being more low interest loans…
I agree, though, that it would be a good start for the president to come out and address the issue of political corruption and lucre. Oh, woops. It’s impossible for anybody who isn’t completely corrupt and compromised to be elected president.
The U.S. is a shit sandwich—sprinkled through with thousands of nuclear weapons. There is no way to reform that thing. They’ll just keep looting the shop for as long as possible, and then they’ll torch the place. (‘Place’ meaning the U.S. and possibly much of the rest of the planet.) Anyone who doesn’t see the beauty of these mafia tactics, confetti currencies and burnt offerings will quickly find themselves relegated to the fringes of any discussion about how to proceed.
So what can be done?
At the state, regional and global levels, nothing can be done. Too many people are on the take or busy just following orders.
I would say to get to a place with abundant clean water, decent soil and relatively few people. Produce your own food and participate in local food economies. There will probably be pockets of survivors, and the place that you pick to go might contain to some of them…”
~~~
Dylan,
if you’re not going to Speak about the FedRes, and its Monopoly on ‘Legal Tender’, all you’re asking “Us” to do is, really, be that ‘Gurnsey’ that, you know, for “the Higher Purpose”, produces 5 Gallons/Day, instead of 4 …
unless I’m, radically, misunderstanding your ‘Message’, I’d think that seeing some of http://mises.org/books/TRTS/
would be of Aid, to you..
http://www.graceharborfarms.com/Guernseys.html
http://www.tc.umn.edu/~puk/cow/milk.html
August 11th, 2011 at 10:42 pm
and, further, in re: ‘Moonshot’, really, avail yourself to Galbraith’s work..
“With searing wit and incisive commentary, John Kenneth Galbraith redefined America’s perception of itself in The New Industrial State, one of his landmark works. The United States is no longer a free-enterprise society, Galbraith argues, but a structured state controlled by the largest companies. Advertising is the means by which these companies manage demand and create consumer “need” where none previously existed. Multinational corporations are the continuation of this power system on an international level. The goal of these companies is not the betterment of society, but immortality through an uninterrupted stream of earnings.
First published in 1967, The New Industrial State continues to resonate today…”
http://press.princeton.edu/titles/8389.html
http://www.amazon.com/industrial-state-John-Kenneth-Galbraith/dp/B0006D600K
I’d be, more than, happy to re-imburse you, if you find JKG’s Book less than edifying..
August 11th, 2011 at 10:56 pm
Ratigan is a clown, this guy was encouraging flipping stocks like hamburgers on fast money until he got canned because his temper got the best of him.
~~~
BR: Ratigan was not canned, he quit to go to ABC news — got a huge contract — then NBC exercised its right to match ABC with the MSNBC program.
Part of the reason he quit was the short term focus on trading — he wanted to address bigger issues that were more than the next 15 minutes. And, to his credit, he frequently tried to do that on the show.
August 11th, 2011 at 11:09 pm
” The CEOs need to speak out more rather than sitting on the sidelines waiting for the next shoe to drop. We used to make things the world wanted and there is no reason why we can’t start back in that direction.”
WHAT A LAUGH! As a trader I have CNBC on in the background on all day and CEOs and/or their hired PR people/advertisments are THE ONLY thing “speaking out”!
August 11th, 2011 at 11:11 pm
If I’m not mistaken, NASA was originally a civilian agency, with a science and benefit to mankind as its reason for being (what a bunch of simps Americans were, back in the day):
“It is instructive to recall the objectives for NASA that emerged in section 102 of the final Space Act:
The expansion of human knowledge of phenomena in the atmosphere and space;
The improvement of the usefulness, performance, speed, safety, and efficiency of aeronautical and space vehicles;
The development and operation of vehicles capable of carrying instruments, equipment, supplies, and living organisms through space;
The establishment of long-range studies of the potential benefits to be gained from, the opportunities for, and the problems involved in the utilization of aeronautical and space activities for peaceful and scientific purposes;
The preservation of the role of the United States as a leader in aeronautical and space science and technology and in the application thereof to the conduct of peaceful activities within and outside the atmosphere;
The making available to agencies directly concerned with national defense of discoveries that have military value or significance, and the furnishing by such agencies, to the civilian agency established to direct and control nonmilitary aeronautical and space activities, of information as to discoveries which have value or significance to that agency;
Cooperation by the United States with other nations and groups of nations in work done pursuant to this Act and in the peaceful application of the results thereof;
The most effective utilization of the scientific and engineering resources of the United States, with close cooperation among all interested agencies of the United States in order to avoid unnecessary duplication of effort, facilities and equipment
http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/whyweexplore/Why_We_29.html
Then in ’85, under Uncle Ronny and in response to his Star Wars wet dream, the mission for the US in space was increasingly driven by the military under the United States Space Command.
It’s about that time that shit started blowing up and falling out of the sky. Civilian research was relegated to hind tit.
You can bet a shitload of money was borrowed and spent/wasted to support the military space projects.
The reason we can’t unite is because we are so goddamned stupid and ass-backward we make Afghanis look sophisticated. We went to the moon, and we can’t even have a meaningful discussion about science. Nothing scares the god-fearing ignorant like science. Or homos. Or Socialism. Or lily-white blond girls missing on vacation in Mexico. Or Muslims (Obama’s a Muslim, by golly, don’cha know?). Or Sharia Law. Or Mexicans. Or abortions. Or having their pistol taken away. Or The War on Christmas. Or evolution. Or taxes. Or liberals.
Someone in this country is exploiting the fearful ignorant among us. I have a feeling it’s the same people who fucked NASA up.
August 11th, 2011 at 11:17 pm
I agree with the general sentiment but using the moon shot as a an example is a bit ‘off target’.
Whenever I think of this endeavor, it reminds me of a guy who wants to buy the grandest car so that he can show off to his neighbor his sworn foe. And if his family is all in, then yes it’s a great uniting project to work for it, and every member of the family will feel great in the achievement to drive around the corner while the neighbor’s jaw drops down, but ultimately it’s a waste of resources for showmanship. Do we really need such nonsense to focus people on a vision?
The real uniting project that the US needs is to reestablish democracy.
August 11th, 2011 at 11:24 pm
The arrogance that surrounds the arguments regarding climate change is a bit grating. Instead of accepting the fact that there is has been no single “normal” climate on earth during the past 4-Billion plus years this planet has been around, folks lock in on a miniscule slice of recent history and extend it indefinitely into the future.
There was an ice age resulting in much of North America being covered in a glacier from 100,000 BC to 10,000 BC. A comet hit in Lake Erie may have hastened the end of that ice age. There have also been periods of intense warming over the past 4-billion years.
Creatures who adapt to changes in earth’s environment have survived multiple mass earth extinctions. Rather than adapt, some humans wish to play planet-maker and think they can do things to make our planet behave accordingly.
I’ve got news. While people may want to save the earth, the earth is busy killing these very people every single day of the week. Ask the people of Joplin, MO. Ask the people in northern Japan. The earth doesn’t care about humans. Humans should care about themselves, and they should understand climate is an awful lot more complicated than plain old carbon dioxide. Sunspot activity, meteor hits, volcanic activity, comet hits, deep ocean currents, and even tectonic plate movement all have huge impacts on the climate of the earth.
When someone comes up with a plan to control all of these events in addition to carbon dioxide and methane releases in order to reach some ideal climate on earth, I’ll be all ears. Until that time, we should keep learning more about the interactions of these catalysts and how we can survive the next global mass extinction, which tend to arrive every 75,000 years on average.
It’s been about 75,000 years since the last one, FWIW, so we’re due.
Meat grown in warehouses as biotechnology indicates we will see in the future will probably do more to reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere than anything we can do today or in the near future. Meat from grazing cattle will likely be a thing for the history books in 2035. Ray Kurtzweil and many other futurists see that transition in the next 20-years.
August 11th, 2011 at 11:29 pm
“…the extraction of our money…”
Precisely.
Call it that, or Financial Repression, or Negative Real Interest Rates, or what you will, but it amounts to a stealthy looting of the savers by the spenders, and the injustice of it gets far too little attention.
August 11th, 2011 at 11:29 pm
I’m pissed as hell myself, Barry. Here’s some things that need to addressed:
1) End the wars. Yesterday. Period.
2) Slash military spending; reinvest part of savings [Austrians cringe] into national infrastructure initiatives — overhaul energy grid, rebuild roads, airports (JFK, anybody?) boost agricultural output, etc.
3) Figure out why we spend more for healthcare yet aren’t as healthy as Europe, Canada, etc.
4) Blow up the revolving door between public service and private enrichment; eliminate the “career” politician.
5) Address the growing income gap between the haves and have-nots. Or don’t — and deal with the inevitable social unrest later.
6) Fix entitlements; stop pretending Grandma is bankrupting the country with her $1,500 monthly checks.
I don’t know. That’s a quick list.
I’m so mad I’m exhausted.
August 11th, 2011 at 11:31 pm
Back in the days when NASA was just civilians doing it… doing it for the children:
http://www.nro.gov/news/press/2005/2005-06.pdf
http://www.theblackvault.com/documents/spysatellites/PoppySatellite.pdf
How about, instead of redirecting folk on Platonic noble-lie programs, crusades, new frontiers, Mars, wars on drugs, fighting the Yellow Peril and the Red Menace, we embark on a path to educate our kids?
But for certain powerful elements, a mind is a terrible thing.
August 11th, 2011 at 11:32 pm
and the Saturday Night Live version….
In 1961, President John F. Kennedy faced a dilemma — how could he direct our intense competitive passion with the Soviet Union in a direction other than war? The answer was his call for America to experiment with drugs. Kennedy understood power; if he did not lead us towards peaceful productive competition, that same animus would have turned violent (see this key memo on the real rationale for the space race). So he took the passion and focus of our society, the technology of drug manufacturing, and turned it into a great mission to turn on, tune in, and drop out. He gave us a shared goal.
But that’s not the full story. Kennedy also demanded we use the finest scientists and engineers to design our drugs, and made sure that the path to the inebriation was based on the best possible solution to get there. For hallucinogens, he was open to chemical, nuclear, liquid fuels, or any combination. He did not put a commission of pharmacists in charge, and he did not put political cronies with no scientific background in charge of designing LSD.
When Kennedy called for the country to go get wasted, he said that “no single effort will be more impressive to mankind… and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish.” The difficulty and expense were great problems to overcome, not reasons to shrink from greatness. He said we would experiment with different drug manufacturing technology, “until certain which is superior.” Every engineer, hippie, and drug dealer focused on the overall goal — not how to look like America was getting wasted…. to get power and credit, but how to actually do it. And it was not his project, or even the project of the deadheads who went there. “It will not,” he said, “be one man going to the moon… it will be an entire nation. For all of us must work to get us there there.”
August 11th, 2011 at 11:33 pm
Forceful and heartfelt it is. No doubt!
There are a few things, however, about “Feeling Extracted”. Especially wrt the money flowing out of America….
It is a natural law that flow is always from a high potential area to low potential area. Examples…
1) Knowledge flows from more enlightened to lesser ones
2) Electricity flows from high po to low po
3) Fall due to gravity is from hi po (height) to low po (ground) region.
This applies to money as well. It flows from hi cost regions to low cost regions for the want of better competition.
Possibe shared purpose at this time can be
1) To flow with the money and mingle America with other regions. This means actually go and start living in low cost regions of the world. Or,
2) Stop the flow and compete only internally. It will affect global growth.
August 11th, 2011 at 11:50 pm
Wait you just talked about one of the largest domestic spending programs that led to lots of great science and some very useful inventions etc…but it was a giagantic government spending program.
yet in your rant you talk about how spending is out of control.
I feel the need to rant over your rant.
the only thing you said worthwhile was how our congress is bought and paid for… that’s been true for a very long time and I am sure that the military industrial complex was the real reason behind the NASA program…in fact I’m certain there is proof of that.
In any case, energy independence is a fine place to start. yet any solar or wind project gets super ceded by some caustic natural gas/oil drilling process instead.
Ratigan, you hit on only one issue and the one that matters most. REMOVE THE MONEY FROM POLITICS….I guarantee you that we will begin to have a better country the minute that occurs…but you tell me how the hell we get there.
I don’t see it happening in my lifetime…and I am relatively young.
August 11th, 2011 at 11:55 pm
My first thought it that the problems we face today such as reforming finance and healthcare, ultimately serve as a great threat to well entrenched industries that will fight to the death to defend the status quo. I don’t think a similar situation existed with the moonshot.
August 12th, 2011 at 12:11 am
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14485592
Mr Cameron also set out a range of measures aimed at helping businesses and homeowners affected by the riots.
They included:
-To look at whether it would be right to stop people communicating via social media when “we know they are plotting violence, disorder and criminality”
————
Anybody fucking paying attention? Anybody?
August 12th, 2011 at 12:16 am
Tiny squeaky voice in the back of the room….Can’t we just try making the federal government adhere to the constitution again? Remove from them all the powers they aren’t granted, and return those powers to the states. 50 states can try 50 experiments, and the best approaches will become evident. When no one can prove they have the right answer, then it’s best to conduct as many experiments in parallel as possible.
The federal government is spending most of its time right now figuring out how to keep it’s benefits programs flowing instead of how to get the economy going. We’ve simply diverted, perverted and diluted all their most clearly defined constitutional tasks: Regulate commerce, tax, provide for defense, and protect individual and property rights.
But what about promoting the general welfare, you ask? The general welfare has been going negative for 30 years!!! The federal government is failing at promoting the general welfare, it’s been going negative ever since they claimed that responsibility. Remove it from them.
August 12th, 2011 at 12:38 am
Dylan,
I like you. But you seem to be a blind man, a product of a generation raised under the values of Political Correctness and multi-culturalism.
“I’ve realized, over time, that it isn’t policy ideas we need. We need, as citizens, a shared purpose.”
No. Without shared cultural values, without shared beliefs, without shared ideals, there can never be a shared purpose.
There can be no shared purpose in a group, be it a country or gathering of people, who at root share no fundamental, defining culture.
And what is culture? Are not the trappings known as society merely the fruits of a culture?
Culture is what a people choose to embrace as their shared values, beliefs and ideals.
Dylan, please go re-read the Federalist Papers. Please meditate, pray, or contemplate over these things.
And if you find you can not do so, please consider this.
If men who do not study history are doomed to repeat it, what awaits men who do not study philosophy and theology?
Is not Philosophy nothing more than the history of man’s thought, the history of the development of man’s mind?
Is not Theology nothing more than the history of man’s soul reaching to understand ultimate truth?
Take care of these things and you will find what you seek.
Good luck & God Bless,
AMDG
Centurion
August 12th, 2011 at 12:39 am
Housing. Keep it up DR. Is BR your Bill Holden?
August 12th, 2011 at 1:02 am
Dylan,
Thank you for your rant and your post.
August 12th, 2011 at 1:03 am
My advise BR….and it’s free…..don’t sweat small stuff…..lifes too short
August 12th, 2011 at 1:16 am
Money in politics works because nobody gets involved.
The mass of the independent voters believe that if they vote they have done their civic duty, so they go back to what ever distractions that voting interrupted.That is until the next election When they stick their head up again yell angrily “what WTF happened?”. Then they go vote again, thinking they have solved the problem.
Jack
August 12th, 2011 at 1:27 am
Unless we have campaign finance reform politicians are going to keep pitting us against each other to fight the battles of the corporations against our own interests. It never ceases to amaze me that people still think that Obama/Bush/Boehner/Reid et al are actually doing ANYTHING in the best interest of this country and its citizens. Almost nothing happens in America anymore unless a small group of connected people will become fabulously wealthy as a result – this is not free market capitalism, it’s straight corruption. It’s all about setting policy based on the financial interests of the group with the biggest lobbying corps, and then demonizing anyone who dares question the policy. Before we can have a shared goal as a country we need to:
1) get the money out of politics;
2) grow a thicker skin, and retrain ourselves to recognize that debating and disagreeing on policy can be healthy, it doesn’t have to be personal, and a disagreement doesn’t have to mean that the other person is the anti-christ
3) recognize that politicians, including the ones that seem to share our values, stopped working for 99.5% of us at least three decades ago
4) stop assuming that shared sacrifice means everybody but ourselves
I think if we could make reasonable progress with those tasks we could start talking about some pretty significant shared goals and accomplishments.
August 12th, 2011 at 1:31 am
I forgot number 5 – Stop pretending that some classification of people (ethnic, social, or economic) is responsible for getting us here. It’s not the mexicans, it’s not the gays, it’s not the evangelical christians, it’s not the tea party. We were all here, we all drove the bus into the ditch together. Now it’s time for everybody to get off the bus and start pushing.
August 12th, 2011 at 1:47 am
“While we are free to choose our actions, we are not free to choose the consequences of our actions.”
———Stephen R. Covey (b. 1932), American writer, author
“If a nation values anything more than freedom, it will Lose its freedom: and the irony of it is that if it is comfort or money that it values more, it will lose that, too.”
——–William Somerset Maugham (1874-1965), British writer
We need to understand that liberty and human dignity are literally joined at the hip. It is the nature of our history, the wonder of our very being, that the story of our achievements has and shall always lie on common ground.
August 12th, 2011 at 1:57 am
Probably the most mis informed post I have read in awhile. The entire space program was stolen German tech. Civilian space program? Its has been run by the gov since the 40s. The fact that this completely wrong post turned into a political debate is pathetic. For people obvi using the net it shocks me how misinformed one allows themselve to be. Just awful!!!
August 12th, 2011 at 2:07 am
Very well said. When you talk about the wonders of the Moon Shot, you should add that it triggered the research into miniaturization of computers that led to the PC revolution.
The problem today is that your message will not get out to enough people. Talk radio rules, and they are spreading so much hate and lies, that your message will not get through the noise unless you find a additional media platforms.
We have become an oligarchy that controls our government and our news media.
August 12th, 2011 at 2:17 am
I really enjoyed the rant, but the rosy-eyed look back to glory days of the Cold War leaves me, er, cold.
Much of what is really fucked up about the US has to do with lies we told ourselves during that period and even more so in the years between the demise of the USSR and the financial collapse.
Let me cite one example. Mexico. That place is utterly corrupt from top to bottom and every which sideways, but we pretend that sharing a 2000 mile land border with such a mess has no national security implications and is beneficial because desperate illegals will hold down wages. Could it have been otherwise? Well if we’d treated the Tlatelolco Massacre like we did Tienanmen, maybe.
I’m more with Umair Haque. We really need to do some serious re-thinking, and this Cold War glory days line about everyone waving a fucking flag just does not cut it. Dylan you may think this is all people can handle but it’s a road to failure. Buck up. Don’t be sure. Entertain the outlandish. Attend to deep trends (see David Brin on privacy in the latest Surprisingly Free podcast for example, or Peter W. Singer on robots and war). And for what it’s worth coming from an atheist, God bless you.
August 12th, 2011 at 2:51 am
While I’m at it, and because I’ve had enough to drink that I believe there’s a actually a 0.01% chance that Dylan will read this words — here’s a comic book sketch.
During WWII we had a Stalinist economy and utterly kicked ass. The right never came to terms with that.
We ran up giant debt, but it was denominated in our own currency. Mostly low but steady inflation along with conservative fiscal policy and high marginal tax rates nibbled it down over the next 20 years. But (and I grew up in Pittsburgh) we never achieved the labor-capital balance that, say, Germany has.
Labor’s power was spotlighted during the Vietnam/Great Society/oil shock era which culminated in Tall Paul’s ruthless purge and Morning in America. What followed was the Clinton/Blair model of “who the hell needs labor when we’ve got Goldman?” model. And the Shrub theft; Greenspan going off the rails and tax cuts sold as “returning surplus to the wage earners.”
Labor? WTF izat? an earnest 20-year-old might well say today.
Meanwhile our global cop routine has metastasized into, for example, using private armies to train Mexican special forces personnel who see far greater rewards in applying their skills in the service of a thriving industry rather than a failing state. (I’ve traveled a lot in Mexico and lived near the border for years.) And this global cop routine is *the* sacred cow, people would love to see their neighbors lives cut short by a decade in return for killing Al Quaeda’s number-three leader for the fiftieth time.
Enough. I do appreciate your efforts to get people thinking.
August 12th, 2011 at 5:16 am
Give it up, Mr. Ratigan. America is not worth saving.
August 12th, 2011 at 5:27 am
After the disappointment of Obama I, as a Brit, look at where the “buzz” is in the GOP, Bachmann, Palin and Perry, and can only despair. Is this the best response the US people can get to the corpocracy that is modern US politics?
Note, this isn’t a gloat. I’m well aware of the complete failure of leadership we have here in the Eurocracy.
August 12th, 2011 at 6:52 am
The 545 People Responsible For All of America’s Woes
http://www.apfn.org/apfn/woes.htm
“The more things change, the more they stay the same”
~some french person
(See the picture of our “Super Committee of 12″) — have you seen your congressman lately?
Have a splendid weekend everyone. I’m mad as Hell — been screaming my fingers off for way to long — my shoulder is frozen and I can’t squeeze my mouse anymore.
It’s deja vu (ON STEROIDS) all over again
August 12th, 2011 at 6:56 am
Oh, and Dylan, my love — A LETTER introducing your rant — “TAKE A LOOK”???
Take a hike
August 12th, 2011 at 7:07 am
Tooooooooooooo long – ouch!
August 12th, 2011 at 7:07 am
It would be nice if your next well-publicized and much appreciated rant addressed:
• Getting the money out of politics
• Addressed the appropriateness of the Banking / Federal Reserve system of finance
• Getting the SCOTUS to admit the needs of the CITIZENS are not the same as the needs of corporations – and they answer to the CITIZENS
• Point out the timeliness of a constitutional convention
http://conconcon.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Article_Five_of_the_United_States_Constitution
August 12th, 2011 at 7:21 am
Way to go DR, but worked my butt off for Hope and change and didn’t get the slightest change in direction from the last clown. Now I’m exhausted and dispirited.
August 12th, 2011 at 7:37 am
@Snickers – Re: WWII economy, did you know that we did massive war bond drives during the war in order to sell that debt to the American people? To the AMERICAN PEOPLE. The citizens bought the debt.
So why don’t we do a Americans-only bond drive and only sell our debt increases to American citizens? Let’s see all the liberals step up to the plate and invest in this crap scheme we have now.
~~~
BR: what makes you think that isn’t what we do now? 2/3rds of US debt is held domestically
August 12th, 2011 at 7:48 am
While I agree that we might well need that sort of shared purpose on a grand scale to move our nation forward, I’m skeptical that it is doable in this day and age. We, quite frankly, have too much “overhead” in the form of mammoth bureaucracies and large swaths of the population whose only link to our “common purpose” is the government paycheck/benefits they receive and who are much more interested in the outcome of American Idol than the outcome of our economic endeavors. While I think it is nice to speculate about such lofty national goals, my guess is “you can’t get there from here…”
August 12th, 2011 at 7:50 am
The 28th Amendment to the Constitution: Separation of Corporation and State.
Bleeders rule.
One Corporation; One Vote.
Our founding documents made this point, but it got lost in the mad rush to the glory hole.
August 12th, 2011 at 8:03 am
[...] Dylan Ratigan on why he freaked the f**k out on TV this week. (TBP) [...]
August 12th, 2011 at 8:06 am
These are the only TALKING HEADS I will be listening to this weekend — whilst howling at that FULL MOON
THE ROAD TO NOWHERE —
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWtCittJyr0
GET OFF YOUR MEDS PEOPLE AND EMBRACE YOUR TWO MINDS
August 12th, 2011 at 8:08 am
nofoulsontheplayground:
You were OT on climate.
But anyway; thank you for using “the comments to demonstrate your own ignorance, unfamiliarity with empirical data, ability to repeat discredited memes, and lack of respect for scientific knowledge. Also, be sure to create straw men and argue against things I have neither said nor even implied. Any irrelevancies you can mention will also be appreciated. Lastly, kindly forgo all civility in your discourse . . . you are, after all, anonymous.”
Since you apparently can’t handle chemistry and atmospheric physics, let alone scientific method, at least try to read up on some paleoclimatology so you won’t come off as a complete doofus the next time you attempt to thrill us with your acumen on a subject you clearly know next to nothing about.
What you do NOT know about the subject would fill a Pacific sized ocean.
August 12th, 2011 at 9:20 am
It might be useful to remember that JFK was removed from office on the fields of Dallas and those that had an interest in that outcome are still in power. Look to the survivors and the Tonkin Gulf false flag operation in 1964. The Texas Schoolbook Depositary is particularly ironic in that the Texas Schoolbook Commission determines which books children read about US history and about the separation of Church and State. The Media runs on the money as the Fox watches the hen house.
August 12th, 2011 at 9:26 am
BR: Regarding 2/3 debt owned by the US. If you assume a direct pro rated result, that would cut the debt by 1/3 then. There’s nearly $5 Trillion and we’re not at crisis point are we?
And more likely, not selling to foreigners would keep US consumers a bit more wary, The purchased debt might fall a good bit more, or they ask for higher rate/risk premium. Pure conjecture right? Could sell the same amount of debt or more, neither of us can prove either outcome, right? Japan’s citizens own most of their massive debt, I recall.
But think about the war debt BR: If the American public were asked to begin war bond purchases before the the Desert Storm II, that would have sent a healthy “we’re buying in” or “we’re not investing” signal, right? Such war bond drives BEFORE the action begins would foster healthy debate and firmly indicate public wallet support.
August 12th, 2011 at 9:40 am
Graf, climate change was mentioned in the Dylan Ratigan rant, so it was not O/T.
The earth’s climate is always changing. That’s normal.
The last VEI-8 supervolcano eruption 74,000 years ago in Lake Toba, Sumantra wiped out about 60% of the human population at the time, so you’ll forgive me if I am a bit more concerned about mass extinction events like this than my kid exhaling on me or a cow in a pasture belching.
At this rate I can imagine a future when we’ll have people fighting to try and stop continental drift.
August 12th, 2011 at 9:47 am
history suggests that a future of ‘peace and prosperity’ is about as likely as santa claus coming down your chimney this christmas
August 12th, 2011 at 10:47 am
We need a huge project to make US independent of imported oil.
1. Replace most airplane travel with high-speed (400 mph) trains.
2. Get cars off gasoline.
3. Make alternative/sustainable energy cover 50% of our use.
Problem is that to get everybody behind a common purpose they have to feel an existential threat. The Apollo project was able to gain the national purpose status it got because of the fear of the USSR and the fact that they had gotten people into space. People feared that the next thing they might get nuclear weapons up there and totally dominate us.
August 12th, 2011 at 10:47 am
Way back when I was privileged to meet William O. Douglas, who told me his biggest fear was that we were becoming a nation of clerks. Today I’d change that to sheep. You can distill all of politics into 3 words “give me money.” Behind every debate, every sound bite, every position or rationale lie those words. And the sheep are not only approving one side or the other, they’re investing in the slaughterhouse.
August 12th, 2011 at 10:57 am
Cultural Entropy in action; driven by shorting ethics and morality since the kindergarten teacher is clearly out of sight.
August 12th, 2011 at 11:34 am
Anyone seen the TV show Holmes on Homes? Holmes goes to a home that just had a home inspection and he investigates a “small” problem reported by the homeowner only to find there are massive problems requiring tearing apart the foundation and rebuilding it.
Right now there is a “I’ll take care of myself and the hell with the rest” attitude. So, AARP will defend Social Security as it is now, NRA will fight any hint of gun control, Chamber of Commerce will fight any loss of tax breaks, and on and on. Who cares if those outside of the protected group lose out? Reminds me of an old cartoon showing a lifeboat sinking at one end and at the dry end they were saying “thank God I’m not one of them.” When will we realize that if we go down we ALL will go down?
So, Mr. Prez., pick some topics (maybe 6) that there is general agreement needs to be addressed and, even if it means financially goring others to do this in a balanced budget way, direct government investment in that direction. As with Mr. Holmes, we need to rebuild the nation’s foundations. And, that does not mean just throwing money at the problem – as has been tried with education. A Plan means targeting investment. The outcry anticipated with taking from some in order to give to others is why we have no such plan, yet I would argue that it is one role of government to influence the direction of national investment. That is what we did in the Space Race as cited by Ratigan.
August 12th, 2011 at 1:18 pm
DR wrote:
That’s just what happens when problem-solving people dedicate themselves to prosperity as a goal, make sure that integrity is the keystone of how they achieve it, and align their interests so it is doable.
Dylan,
Commendable.
But movements need a mother. Without a nurturing, dedicated leader, you idea goes nowhere.
If you aren’t ready to lead it and if BHO isn’t ready to lead it, then you’ll have to find someone to channel your frustration and make it their goal to ‘fix’ it. I expect there is a huge number of folks ready for a ‘change,’ a change that didn’t materialize when they thought it might.
BTW, you time slot sucks. You get no respect from the other anchors (good or bad, I’m not certain there).
When is your contract up and when can you get yourself to someplace where you have a chance?
August 12th, 2011 at 1:41 pm
Transor Z,
“How about, instead of redirecting folk on Platonic noble-lie programs, crusades, new frontiers, Mars, wars on drugs, fighting the Yellow Peril and the Red Menace, we embark on a path to educate our kids?”
Nouriel Roubini on a recent Charlie Rose:
“The scariest number I’ve seen … the Armed Forces came out with a study saying that 74% of young Americans ages 17 to 24 do not qualify for the Armed Services, because of either being obese, or drug addicts, or criminals, or because they don’t have a high school education. Seventy-four percent.
Unless we invest in our new generations, give them the skills and the education, we’re not going to be able to compete…“
August 12th, 2011 at 2:24 pm
nofoulsontheplayground:
Your argument seems to be that since disasters happen every few 10′s of thousands of years, we shouldn’t worry about the self-inflicted disaster that we are producing in the next hundred years. Why should we hurt the next couple generations just because there is a (small) chance that a comet could come along and make it all moot?
Smokefoot
August 12th, 2011 at 5:30 pm
“Smokefoot”
you know, maybe, his argument/Point was, given.. http://www.toxicsoupmovie.com/blog
and/or
http://search.yippy.com/search?query=Alphabet+Soup+the+Toxic+Poisoning+of+America&tb=sitesearch-all&v%3Aproject=clusty
that..We should wonder about the Premises behind GHG-induced ‘Global Warming’, Study it further–before going off half-cocked, on half-baked Theories..and, in the meantime, address, Seriously, those Issues that are well-known, and well-solvable, before We do unrepairable to Ourselves, our Environment, and our Economy (?)
but, hey, that’s Heresy–contra to the Liturgy, right?
you should wonder ‘whose Hymnal you’re Singing from(?)’ ..
August 12th, 2011 at 5:32 pm
“unrepairable to Ourselves” , above..
unrepairable Damage to Ourselves…
August 13th, 2011 at 9:42 am
Haven’t commented in a while, because I can’t keep up with regulars as they seem to say it all. However I was truly inspired by Barry’s passionate words that describe what’s needs to be done in order to turn the direction of the country around. No fiscal or monetary can change things for the better without true leadership. We require someone with the integrity to tell us the truth and provide an honest plan to restore this county to a position in which we can move forward.
I invite you to engage in the following:
The glass half empty:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__C9XNx2Mlw&feature=related
The glass half full:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lm3Bntsp2ck
full speech – http://www.hpol.org/fdr/inaug/
Who among you will step up to the plate…..