Grand Banana Republic (cont.’)

Why don’t we just stop the pretense that we’re living in a democracy and allow outright bribes. “The Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision allows businesses to make unlimited political contributions to judges and politicians. When judges are elected, the need for these contributions inherently turns judges into politicians. Sympathetic judges are corrupt businesses’ most valuable allies. Corporations and their senior officials can commit civil or criminal wrongs with impunity if their case is assigned to a friendly judge…” Read more here.

In fact this would make a great banana republic bumper sticker: STOP THE PRETENSE…SUPPORT BRIBERY!

Inevitably of course there would follow the political commercial (set to [play sombre  martial music] : Sally Mae is the kind of politician you can trust.  ’Vote for me;  I promise to never under any conditions to accept any bribe higher than $5000.00.’ [sincerely smiles] Paid for by the friends of Sally Mae.

The historical role of the social/political cartoonist

From Ken Burns’ 1999 documentary.

In Russia, the new point-counterpoint for journalists

“…’Last spring, I called for the resignation of the city’s leadership,’ Mr. Beketov said in one of his final editorials. ‘A few days later, my automobile was blown up’…Not long after, he was savagely beaten outside his home and left to bleed in the snow. His fingers were bashed, and three later had to be amputated, as if his assailants had sought to make sure that he would never write another word. He lost a leg. Now 52, he is in a wheelchair, his brain so damaged that he cannot utter a simple sentence. ” Here.

The gamers

” ‘The system is built to be gamed’ ….”The voices of dissent are not being heard.’  These are the words of an anonymous executive [known as the fourteenth banker] at one of America’s 10 largest banks, who after many years of watching the worst of Wall Street’s ethics transform his company, has decided to speak out.. Despite the obvious risks to his banking career, the executive, who’s been in the industry for more than 20 years, says he can’t bear to keep quiet any longer: ‘I decided that I cannot live with the extent of the compromises to my value system.’ “Read more here.

Did the corrupt and inept Bush administration intentionally let bin Laden slip away?

Ever since the confused debacle in Tora Bora I thought this was the case. There’s no concrete proof but the circumstances point toward the truth.

Anglo/American axis of corruption

“…If you look at the deployment of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, as against other NATO country forces in Afghanistan, you’ll see that undoubtedly the U.S. forces are positioned to guard the pipeline route. It’s what it’s about. It’s about money, its about energy, it’s not about democracy.” Guess who the consultant was who arranged with then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush the agreements that would give to Enron the rights to Uzbekistan’s and Turkmenistan’s natural gas deposits and to Unocal to develop the trans-Afghanistan pipeline. It was Hamad Karzai, the U.S.-imposed “president” of Afghanistan, who has no support in the country except for American bayonets. Murray [the whistleblower] was dismissed from the British Foreign Service for his revelations [of deception]. No doubt on orders from Washington to our British puppet… Here.

Das Ice Kapital

How a nice northern country was plopped out the bowels of Capitalism–in other words,  how Iceland ended up in the toilet.

“Along a narrow strip between downtown Reykjavik and the northern coastline lies a jumble of half-built high-rise buildings that was to be the new Manhattan of the north. By Spring this year, the place had become an urban graveyard. Someone has scrawled “CAPITALISM R.I.P.” on the side of one of the buildings. Squatters have moved in, converting an abandoned house into a cosy café. The Reykjavikers cheerfully welcomed the presence of some kind of life to this ghost town. The developers, however, did not approve. So, just after Easter, the riot police were sent in with a chainsaw to hack through barricaded doors and pepper spray to disable the young squatters. The clean-up was nasty, brutal and short: it was the official end of Niceland…” Here.

Compared to Capitalism even Feudalism smells like sexy perfume.

Beloved banana republic self-replicates banana status

“…The American people have been taken hostage to a broken system. It is a system that remains in place to this day. A system where bank lobbyists have been spending in record numbers to make sure it stays that way. A system that corrupts the most basic principles of competition and fair play, principles upon which this country was built. It is a system that so far has forced the taxpayer to provide the banks with the use of $14 trillion from the Federal Reserve, much of the $7 trillion outstanding at the US Treasury and $2.3 trillion at the FDIC. A system partially built by the very people who currently advise our President, run our Treasury Department and are charged with its reform…” Article here.

Our corrupt monetary system

The original poster of these two videos on Youtube has some other informative vids and references so you might want to visit his channel.

Looks like the fix is in…

Here are just a few links to the ongoing voter corruption…

How ACORN got me into vote scam

Officials suspect fake voter registration

Authorities raid voter registration group in Vegas

ACORN’s inside goals

Over 4000 dead voters found in Houston voter registrations

One voter, 72 registrations

Radical Obama group registers seven-year old to vote.

200K Ohio voters look shady

Now these are just a measly few of voter scam investigations and allegations. One has to also wonder if some polling stats are now corrupt. We are, after all, living in a banana republic.