greed (gr
d)n. An excessive desire to acquire or possess more than what one needs or deserves, especially with respect to material wealth:
d)n. An excessive desire to acquire or possess more than what one needs or deserves, especially with respect to material wealth: 
ha·tred (h
tr
d)
n.
Intense animosity or hostility.
trd)n.
Intense animosity or hostility.
n-sûrv-tv)adj. 1. Favoring traditional views and values; tending to oppose change.
2. Traditional or restrained in style: a conservative dark suit.
3. Moderate; cautious: a conservative estimate.
4. 
a. Of or relating to the political philosophy of conservatism.
b. Belonging to a conservative party, group, or movement.
hy·poc·ri·sy
n. pl. hy·poc·ri·sies 
1. The practice of professing beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not hold or possess; falseness.
2. An act or instance of such falseness.
e·lit·ism or é·lit·ism (-ltz
m, -l-)
-ltzm, -l-) n.
1. The belief that certain persons or members of certain classes or groups deserve favored treatment by virtue of their perceived superiority, as in intellect, social status, or financial resources.
2.
a. The sense of entitlement enjoyed by such a group or class.
b. Control, rule, or domination by such a group or class.
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It is common knowledge that 1% of our population as a country controls 95% of our money. That's not hard to believe at all considering that Republicans had controlled the White House 28 out of the last 40 years, prior to this one. One percent of our population is roughly three million people, based on a population rounded to 300 million. That leaves 297 million of us to fend for ourselves.
Below are some statistics of just how fiscally "conservative" and sound William Jefferson Clinton was in his eight years as President in comparison to the undeniable failure of George W. Bush, who is still aredently supported by many in this country. The question you have to ask yourself is why? I do take into consideration that the Republican Party base is now two groups, the elite who want to continue to be rewarded by blatant unregulated banks and Wall Street but it's the other half that so perplexes me. They seem to be beyond incapable of rational thought.
The rest of these Bush/Republican Party supporters are moronic. They have blind ideology to a Party who does not even practice or even believe what it preaches. Fiscally conservative? Ha! When one administration takes a 5.5 trillion dollar national debt and doubles it in 8 years, that's the opposite of fiscally conservative. That is blatant fiscal recklessness. Family values? Below is a laundry list of sexual escapades and other greed based scandals by leading Republicans that make Bill Clinton's trysts look like a Disney film.
Compassionate conservatism? Where is compassion within the Republican Party? Because they are 100 % anti-abortion? I don't call it "Pro-Life" because everyone on this forum is pro-life. To my knowledge none of us want anyone dead. Maybe we want them to go join Gordon Osmond in Brazil, but not dead. Our education programs were floundering as Obama took office. Our economy in shambles. We have two wars raging and more possible on the horizon. All set it motion by "compassionate conservatives." Our miserable health care system has been prohibited of change by the Republican Party, just as they tried to stop Social Security. Yes, that bastion of "social democracy" (not Socialism) was ardently opposed by the right and hailed by it now.
I wonder how the parents of dead American soldiers who found out their sons and daughters died because of lies about WMD's feel? Do you think they feel that compassion was poured upon them? How do you think Pat Tillman's family feels knowing their son was used as a pawn in a political war? (Are there any other kind?) I wonder how all the families of the dead in New Orleans feel about "compassionate conservative" George W. Bush who took no action as their city and people drowned. How do the families of the hundreds of thousands who die each year because of no health care feel?
The political pundits on the right, one and all are repugnant at best. The laundry list of hooligans is long. There are even pundits within their own sitting Congress men/women, Senators, Governors and former Governors. Sarah Palin, she who quit her job for fame and fortune midway through her first term as Governor, started the entire "death panel" debate via something as inane as Twitter.
Beck, Hannity, O'Reilly, Coulter, Limbaugh, you go down the line and they are, not one, a true journalist. They call themselves "entertainers" and that's only to avoid lawsuits. What they really are is a group of enciters of violence. They dish out hatred and anger on a daily basis. They hold no prisoners and they pull no punches yet the sheeple keep lining up for more. They feel the need to fuel their anger at the situation they find themselves in, created by the very party they support.
No, not the 1% that I mentioned. They know that these pundits are paid hit men/women to preserve their best interests which is greed and money. Halliburton and Blackwater, they were the real winners in the past 7 years of war. There are many winners, but they all fall within that tiny 1% of our population. The rest of us children got left behind.
I've said it over and over again, time after time, the Republican Party is no more a party of conservatives in any way, shape or form. That means they are by their very nature, hypocrites. There is no arguing this point. There's no defense, it is simply indefensible. If you see one saying differently, they are part of that 1% or part of that other pecentage that fall into the brain washed moron category. There is no gray area.
I know that the Democratic Party has its problems. I'm no blind follower of politicians. I too am growing impatient on certain items on the agenda. But I do realize that 28 years of damage (yes I include the 12 years of Reagan/GHW Bush as very damaging) cannot be undone in 10 months. Obama is a lot of things, but he's no miracle worker. I see him bashed on here by the usual suspects which doesn't surprise me. What does is the people I thought knew better. Could anyone else truly do better within the system in place? If so, please enlighten me as to whom.
It's pure and simple. We cannot trust our government. But that 1% of people only possess one vote each. There are 99% of us left to force changes. It is that roughly 40-something percent who hold blindly to an ideal that is all but dead. There's no such thing as a conservative Republican. They may love the ideology, but the reality is certain. People whose very lives are fueled by greed and oppression of the middle and lower class are neither conservative nor compassionate.
We live in perilous times. To begin a list of why would be redundant. Questioning the administration left with the responsibility of cleaning up this mess is justifiable and I do it, daily. Hating them is not. Hating anyone is not responsible. We have to be the change, not the roadblock to change. If we need to help steer the ship in another direction, so be it. But we can't be punching holes in the hull and expect to stay afloat.
I keep referring to America as "The Divided States of America." We are no longer united other than the fact that our states meet on borders. Until we are truly united again (and I just don't see it happening), we are doomed. It's a grim future I see for my 9-year old son but I will never stop trying to make it brighter.
“Unity to be real must stand the severest strain without breaking”
-Gandhi
“I know that my unity with all people cannot be destroyed by national boundaries and government orders.” - Tolstoy
"United we stand, divided we fall." - Aesop
The last quote above sums it all up. We live in a country that refuses to compromise for the greater good of mankind, only the greater good of their own selves.
Bush spending up to 5 times more than Clinton
Reagan Revolution architect calls it 'era of obese government'
Posted: August 03, 2006
1:00 am Eastern
© 2009 WorldNetDaily.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 24, 2004
Under Bush, Federal Spending Increases at Fastest Rate in 30 Years
"President George W. Bush is now on his way to becoming the first full-term president since John Quincy Adams (1825-1829) to not veto a single bill. The result is a congress that has been completely unconstrained in satiating its appetite for pork and corporate welfare. In response, Democratic challenger John Kerry has maligned alleged spending cuts and called for even higher taxes and spending. The consequence is that we now have two parties competing to see which can grow government faster."
Bush administration scandals
Oct-17-2007 07:15
Republican Sex Scandals Dwarf Those of Democrats
Perspective by Tim King Salem-News.comThe sexual antics of President Bill Clinton have been a dangerous tool in the Republican campaign arsenal, used to the fullest possible extent, but what have they been up to all these years?
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Comments
Tell me... WHEN precisely are you going to pillory President Carter for the fact that during his administration the deregulation of banking STARTED. (It was during HIS administration that banks were allowed to CHANGE the way that they calculated how much house you could "afford"... previous to the Carter Administration it was calculated at 25% of your AFTER taxes income... AFTER Carter it was 25% of your BEFORE taxes income. )
WHEN precisely are you going to pillory President Clinton for being so STUPID that, even though the Republicans did NOT have the votes necessary to over-ride a veto, he SIGNED the REPEAL of the Glass-Steagall Act? The Repeal of Glass-Steagall is what led DIRECTLY to what we are ALL dealing with TODAY.
WHEN precisely are you going to pillory DEMOCRATS for THEIR sex scandals? You know.. LITTLE things like their propensity for hiring prostitutes... and lack of fidelity to their spouses.
IF you are going to pillory ONE then to avoid being a hypocrite yourself you MUST pillory the OTHER. (For those who don't know the meaning of the word "Pillory" I will HAPPILY provide the definition: 1 : a device formerly used for publicly punishing offenders consisting of a wooden frame with holes in which the head and hands can be locked
2 : a means for exposing one to public scorn or ridicule )
I'm at least even handed in my loathing for politicians. They are ALL, regardless of gender, political party, sexual preference, marital status, income, ability or lack thereof... LIARS in suits and NOT deserving of the public trust.
I hate that some people/conservatives call this greater good socialism. I seem to recall a favorite story of theirs about a guy who shared a little bit of food with a lot of people and that no one went hungry. There was even some left over. Is that socialism?
As far as the divided states of america, that will happen once "our" people win the culture war. Those who are will me know what I'm talking about.
Rated ol' buddy.
"I've got mine, the rest of you can all go to Hell." Anonymous American Conservative (actually I just made that up).
How to reconcile these disparate thoughts? Seems like a lot of human history has been about just that and we always seem to come up short. Is egalitarianism the answer? I guess I've always thought it was and have always thought that to a large extent that's what this country is all about.
As usual, Greg, you get my brain firing on more of its circuits than it usually does. Thanks.
Morris A. Schapiro, who ran his own Investment Banking firm for decades, was an officer and owner of both the Boston Metals Processing Company and The Baldt Anchor and Chain Company. He will someday be known as: The Pentagon's Personal Investment Banker. He operated with only patriotic good intentions during World War II and the Korean War. Some of his cohorts and employees at The Boston Metals Processing Company who also worked for the CIA took his model and used it for their own illegal, immoral and illicit purposes. To finance and promulgate international conflicts and extralegal military operations.
For the most part, Morris A. Schapiro helped the U.S.A. get through both World War II and the Korean War doing patriotic investment banking. He helped keep several companies
afloat during tough times, (described as times of Peace with no worldwide conflicts) like The Boston Metals Processing Company and GramTrade International from Baltimore, MD and most of all Baldt Anchor and Chain in Chester, PA.
Unfortunately, some of his more rambunctious proteges, like Harold B. Chait and Ray S. Cline, both employees of the CIA, took it upon themselves to emulate his model for Patriotism and support of defense contractors during times of truly Patriotic World Wars to run amok just before The Viet Nam War. They transported laundered money to the South Florida SOFs via The Boston Metals Processing Company and Baldt Anchor and Chain using The Bank of Maryland Trust Accounts run by co-operative trust officers and bank management. This money ended up in the hands of the anti-Castro Cuban exiles in order to carry out anti-Castro, anti-Cuba and later anti-Kennedy operations with one intention in mind. To fabricate the premise for an all out assault and later a war against Castro and Cuba, Russia and Communism. When JFK resisted their efforts to create such a conflagration, using the Willoughby model for war-mongering for profit, they collectively decided to eliminate JFK from the picture, for good.
Later they used this same Bank of Maryland money laundering model to fund the international trafficking in arms for the Iran-Contra effort according to Robert Maxwell. This source of funding operations which Congress will not approve has to be terminated with prejudice. Permanently and immediately. Please contact your congressperson to eliminate this extralegal loophole for good.
And for the good of mankind.
Again, I hope it sinks in.
Rated.
Chris Mathews
Group think is different in GOPland. In GOPland, it's all about following the party line (wherever the hell that comes from).
This leaves more Republicrud brain space available for more important things, like making money, religion, and adultery.
Blue, the thing about Beck et al 'just' being "entertainers" reminds me of how professional tarot readers avoid being rounded up by the police for fraud - they post signs saying what they're doing is for entertainment purposes only. Well, at least that used to be the case. Anyway, re Beck as with the tarot readers (and a whole lot other fraud artists), the entertainment label doesn't prevent the gullible from *believing*. (Disclosure - I do tarot readings, occasionally, never for money, and always with the declaration that at most it may indicate tendencies, which, if you don't like 'em, then change 'em.)
Obama's blind desire for a bipartisan bill has allowed the bill to be watered down to the point that it helps almost no one but the insurance industry. The White House has leaked that Obama is now in favor of a public option with a trigger, which is Washington speak for we ain't gonna get no public option.
The Democrat's have, rather than stick together, decided to bicker amongst themselves and water the bill down that much more. Now we have a 2000 page door stop that will favor Big Insurance and they aren't even done watering it down yet!
Granted I would take Obama over GWB or any of the rest of them, any day of the week, but one friggin' Republican vote is NOT a bipartisan bill.
Now that weasel dick Lieberman is jumping ship for his own glory. Obama should be putting the pressure on and he hasn't been doing it. I know that Obama has been handed the biggest mess in 80 years, and I know that you can't turn the Titanic on a dime, but I must say that I'm disappointed in the way things have gone so far. The CBO says that in ten years that only 2% of the population will be using the public option in its present form and most of those will be poor high risk people that the Big guys wouldn't cover anyway so how is that competition to lower costs?
I know it doesn't sound like it, but I still stand behind Obama. I also realize it's a learn as you go job with no instruction manual. I can only hope that he will start putting the hammer down. He will get no help from the Republicans, Ever. If he wants to accomplish anything he will have to forget bipartisanship. It is dead for now. Get some things done like reforming Wall Street which will be a bigger battle than health care with just as much or more money behind it. Get the ship righted and bailed out. Then we can go back to talking bipartisanship. Getting Democrats to get on the same page will be hard enough for now.
I dont' think we will ever get this right until we stop calling ourselves, democrats, republicans, liberals, libertarians, moderates and conservatives.
We have lost our way and I am a firm believer that President Barack Obama is the best chance we got to getting it cleaned up but he can't even get his own party to act right. The republicans and conservitives are dead or at least close to it. It's time to rethink this goverment thing of ours.
rated
I agree with Mical, unless we get rid of these labels and differentiations of ideology, we'll never make progress. That's not changing anytime soon either.