In this segment, curmudgeon extraordinaire Dr. John (“Woody NinetyNiner”) Konopak urges the perennially low-info, denialist types in the centroid liberal legions to face a few facts about their two-faced favorite politicians. 

In the hot seat: Bill Clinton.

“Who Sold the Farm?”

Summary

Maybe by the time you read/hear this, Former President Bill Clinton will have already had prominent role in the unfolding DNC procedings, in Charlotte. His participation will have inevitably been attended by references to the successes of his regime: Lilies gilded to within one tenth of a gram of their carrying capacity, Clinton will bask in acclaim and adulation.

So, if you are going to subject yourself to the festivities, if you suffer from some irony deficiency, perhaps, and need to stock-pile against some future shortage, I want to focus on just ONE aspect of the Clinton regime which seems to me to be highly glossed-over and will have been carefully avoided in the clamor: His connection and indeed, complicity in the devastating banking crisis of 2007-and onward, the effects of which have not substantially dissipated for average Americans even five years later.

It is worth remembering that it was Bill “Clenis” Clinton who sold the farm on financial deregulation.

At the behest of his crack team of economic superstars, Robert (Citibank) Rubin, Harvard’s misogynist Larry Summers, Allen (I call him “Ayn”) Greenspan and their towel-boy, Timmeh Geithner at the NYC Fed, Clenis at LEAST turned a blind eye on–if they didn’t actually collude with–the plans of Phil Gram and the rest of the  corpoRat-owned Neo-libs in the GOP to repeal Glass-Steagall and reverse significant Depression-era reforms; reforms that were keeping retail and investment “banking” separate, and had mostly kept the psycopathic greed-heads from refucking the Economy, as they had in ’29.

SO: Cui Bono? Who profits, the wise old Roman cynic Cicero always asked with his plangent double dative!

Obviously: The bankstas, who are genetically averse to risking their OWN money, but who are pathologically eager to risk OTHER PEOPLE’S money and skim the take.

Heretofore, Glass-Steagal had forbidden bankstas from looting commercial assets for extra investment capital. That was what the Glass-Steagall did. But it was stricken, and replaced by Gram-Leach-Bliley which, with a subsequent measure that enabled the credit default swap garbage (the Commodity Futures Modernization Act, 2000; enacted by Clenis on his way out the door toward untold riches)…sowed the seeds for the coming crises.

Once that was done, what followed in ’07-09 was fucking inevitable, and they fucking KNEW it…

How do I know they knew? The logical process is called “abductive,” also “adductive,” not to be confused with the silver tape–though they have surprisingly similar properties, with which I won’t trouble you now. The question is “How do I know they knew?”

Ask yourself: Why ELSE would Rubin have so swiftly resigned from the cabinet and scurried, rat-like, over to Citibank, to cash in.” Did any of ’em LOSE money? As another Roman said: “Ipso facto! Q.E.D.

(This article first appeared as a video on World-Wide Hippies—  http://www.worldwidehippies.com/2012/09/05/wwhcje-the-soapbox-who-sold-the-farm/)

John Konopak, Ph.D., is a retired former professor (of education), journalism/writing instructor, journeyman Class-A carpenter, school teacher, writer/editor/critic, radio announcer and cold-calling Kirby salesman who now resides in Albuquerque, New Mexico with his two dogs (Budreaux, the Pink-nozed Pitbull, and Hanna-Stella, the terpsichordian hound-mix.)
He claims to have been stoned since 1968.

_________
In collaboration with World Wide Hippies

_________

Bonus feature

Below Bill Clinton DNC speech preview item on The Washington Post.  As is so typical of the corporate media, with no sense of irony whatsoever this material is served up by the WaPo after force-feeding the public some bullshit from some ultra corrupt multinational, including spots from Goldman Sachs, etc.. Well, you have been forewarned. —Eds

_________

Let’s keep this award-winning site going!

Yes, audiences applaud us. But do you?If yes, then buy us a beer. The wingnuts are falling over each other to make donations…to their causes. We, on the other hand, take our left media—the only media that speak for us— for granted. Don’t join that parade, and give today. Every dollar counts.
Use the DONATE button below or on the sidebar. And do the right thing. Even once a year.

Use PayPal via the button below.

THANK YOU.

 

In his latest column for the New Statesman, John Pilger  discuss what has become a political taboo in the West - the imperal violence of liberalism. From Kennedy to Blair and Obama, the most powerful ideology dares not say its name.

BY MICHELLE OBAMA
FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES
Special dispatch from The Onion

Good evening, everyone. Thank you so much for being here with us. I speak to you tonight as a mom, a wife, a daughter, a sister, and, of course, a proud American.

But most of all, I’m happy to stand before you as a meticulously calculated communication tool whose every action, from the color of my dress down to each wave of my hand, has been premeditated and painstakingly devised by a set of experienced political handlers working to re-elect my husband this November.

Honestly, I’m thrilled to see all of you here tonight, knowing that my presence has been consciously engineered to soften my husband’s image and give his poll numbers a quick boost. There is really no greater pleasure in the world than getting up on this stage and talking to millions of Americans not only as a first lady, but also as a cynical ploy to add warmth, humanity, and relatability to an otherwise cold, detached three-day display of political gamesmanship.

It is also an honor to tell you, in words that were written out for me by a speechwriter and then carefully reviewed and edited by dozens of ruthlessly single-minded campaign advisers, all about how my husband is a caring husband and loving father, and how, in spite of his incredibly busy schedule, he is still so devoted to our family. A moment like this is such a great chance to reveal painstakingly scripted anecdotes about how he still picks up the girls from soccer practice and how I’m always nagging him to take the trash out so that you will believe he is an everyday person like you and your friends and not a massively powerful world leader with a superhuman degree of ambition and political savvy.

After all, there are very real issues facing our country, and I’m proud to be forced to repeat some hackneyed political rhetoric that will go down much easier because it is coming out of my mouth, and to tell you about how much my husband loves these great United States and how he has met a series of challenges that you will indeed believe he has met because I seem trustworthy and not like some Washington insider who is just trying to get your vote, even though that is precisely what I am.

It’s also a true honor to have my gender exploited in order to gain support among the key demographic of female voters, who I am forced to pander to by talking about my own relatable experiences as a woman. I’m honored to have my motherhood put on full display as a tug on the heartstrings of other moms around the country, and to talk about how difficult it is to raise a family and how I understand all the struggles that working mothers face in this day and age, as though that has even the slightest relation to my husband’s ability to lead this country out of an insecure economic landscape and tackle complex debates over health care, Social Security, tax reform, and foreign policy, among other things.

And furthermore, it feels wonderful to be paraded out here, mascotlike, as an African-American woman, allowing my husband to appeal to both minority voters and women simultaneously, a rare feat which no other person in this campaign is able to carry out with such efficacy and which, again, I am so, so happy to do.

Lest we forget, I hasten to add what a privilege it is to be objectified by all of you here and the millions of people watching at home, as I’m forced to use my charming smile and physical attractiveness to distract an entire nation from what is, by most accounts, a generally disappointing presidency. I can’t begin to convey what a dream it is to be used as a puppet by the hordes of political playmakers who direct my husband’s campaign, and to stand here in a shameless attempt to appeal to voters who like how I carry myself as a strong, independent-minded woman and love the picturesque image of our seemingly ideal American family.

Needless to say, I am also overjoyed to have our two young daughters repeatedly roped into participating in this sick little dog and pony show.

If all goes to plan, after I walk off this stage, you will see my husband not only as a strong political leader, but also as an everyday man who is trustworthy, honest, compassionate, and all the other bullshit you’d expect to hear from someone being used exclusively as a totem for some uplifting and calculatedly inspiring political message. And you have no idea how proud that makes me.

Thank you, God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.

Let’s keep this award-winning site going!

Yes, audiences applaud us. But do you?If yes, then buy us a beer. The wingnuts are falling over each other to make donations…to their causes. We, on the other hand, take our left media—the only media that speak for us— for granted. Don’t join that parade, and give today. Every dollar counts.
Use the DONATE button below or on the sidebar. And do the right thing. Even once a year.

Use PayPal via the button below.

THANK YOU.