About Important Links

We all know that Fox News is the right wing disinformation factory.  Disinformation Please: Fox viewers actually want it that way, which is why you cannot reason with them.  The rest of us have this strange belief that democracy works best when you have an informed electorate.  Unfortunately, staying informed is not an easy thing to do.  Although we can call other news sources "news sources," they still leave a lot to be desired in regard to accurately reporting all the information we need to know.  Hopefully the links described below will at least help to clear up some of the disinformation.

Benghazi:  The full title of Bob Cesca's article is 13 Benghazis That Occurred On Bush's Watch Without A Peep From Fox News.  Obviously Mr. Cesca was pointing out the hypocrisy of the blame game being played by the Republicans and Fox News.  The hypocrisy not withstanding, neither Mr. Cesca nor I are using the lame excuse of "everyone does it."  Our mommas taught us better than that.  What we are trying to point out is that many of the brave men and women in our diplomatic corps put themselves at risk by serving their country in very dangerous places.  Using as a political weapon the consequences that too often result from taking those risks is irresponsible and disingenuous.

Daily Kos Comparison:  presents data from an analysis of the cost of tax breaks for the wealthy versus proposed cuts to safety-net programs.  Donna Cooper conducted the analyses for The Center For American Progress, and it is a real eye opener. See also Revenue Problem by Randy Smiley.

Economic Myths: In this article from Mother Jones, Kevin Drum and Dave Gibson use charts and brief statements to debunk “6 Big Economic Myths.” Some of the myths involve the stimulus, the deficit, the effect of lower taxes, regulatory uncertainty and the value of the dollar.

Fear And Loathing: Playing on the fear and loathing of their audiences is the defining characteristic of right wing Republican demagogues.   Richard Hofstadter documented it as the paranoid style in American politics.

Human Right To Employment, Article 23: We had been through a great depression and a terrible war.  We were full of optimism and good will.  The United Nations was formed to help bring nations together and peacefully resolve issues.  Eleanor Roosevelt even composed the United Nations' Universal Declaration Of Human Rights!  It is difficult to imagine anyone objecting to the rights stated in that document, but, of course, there are exploitive people who do not want their victims to have any rights.  There are also people who are delusional enough to buy the justifications the exploiters use for denying those rights!  Look out for the black helicopters!

It Took A Civil War: The first ten amendments to our Constitution only applied to the Federal Government until the adoption of the 14th Amendment after the Civil War.  See also Does Original Intent Justify Malintnent and Celebrating Sin. 

The Numbers Don't Lie: the Democrats are better at managing the economy!  As Tom Sullivan said in his Post on Digby's Hullabaloo, "Mr. McElwee's link-filled column at Aljazeera compiles a lot of supporting studies in one convenient location."  Although the title of Mr. McElwee's Article is "Republican Policies Don't Help People Of Color," the supporting studies show that everyone does better when the Democrats are in Power; this even includes the fat cats the Republicans represent.

Lincoln Prophesy: A strong warning about the emergence of corporate America and the corruption attended thereto.

Mid-Century Dichotomy: Fair warning.  This diary entry on Daily Kos is autobiographical.  It describes part of my childhood and why I became a Democrat. While I cannot say it is important you, I hope it is of some interest.

Republican Dirty Tricks:  This blog really brings out the history nerd in me.  Did you know that "[t]he 14th Amendment which was supposed to protect African Americans was ultimately contorted to extend human rights to corporations. ...Of the 14th Amendment cases brought before the Supreme Court between 1890 and 1910 nineteen of them dealt with African Americans, 288 were argued to protect corporations..." This is just one of the interesting facts compiled and presented by Todd Smyth.  And yes, he does present an account of the dirty tricks played by sundry political parties during our history.

Still Lovecraft's GOP: Did it take this author of horror stories to so perfectly describe the Republican Party?  I don't know, but the Republican Party is still the party of the Greedy Old Plutocrats.  It has not changed much since the nineteen-twenties and thirties.

Trickle Down: How many times do I have to say this to Republicans?  "Don't piss on my head and tell me it's raining!"  As the Guardian points out in a June 15, 2015 post, even the International Monetary Fund has concluded that trickle down does not work.  Trickle down is nothing more than a bogus justification for stealing from the poor and giving to the rich, and it actually hurts the economy!

Unions And Wealth: this is a link to a chart in EPI News.  The title of that chart: “As Union Membership Declines, Inequality Rises” describes what the chart shows rather well.  “Inequality” is the disparity in income between the top ten percent and everyone else.

Vulture Chart: This shows the increasing income disparity between the top one percent and the average working American.

Wealth Gap and Fox News: In this 1/27/2015 Media Matters Post entitled "How Fox News Is Helping The GOP Disingenuously Rebrand Itself As The Party Of The Middle Class" Olivia Kittel starts by citing examples of the Republicans and Fox characterizing as "Class Warfare" all the attempts of Democrats to redress the great disparity in wealth between the top 2 or 3 percent and everyone else.  She then cites examples of Republicans and Fox trying to blame President Obama and the Democrats for the wealth gap, and she cites examples of how the Republican Party's policies have, in fact, widened the wealth gap.