What's to Celebrate this July 4, the First in the Second Decade of the 21st Century?
This? (From McClatchy Newspapers): "As an unprecedented amount of oil fouls the Gulf of Mexico, research scientists and ocean experts say the Obama administration's efforts to discover the magnitude of the damage are surprisingly uncoordinated.
"Despite a spill that may already total more than 150 million gallons of oil, however, neither federal officials nor BP has mounted a speedy, focused inquiry to understand its impact.
"That so much about the spill remains unknown is "kind of mind-boggling," said Frank Muller-Karger, a professor of biological oceanography at the University of South Florida. He said that one of the biggest problems he sees is the lack of a "war-room-type scenario" to coordinate all the research."
Or this: (From Down With Tyranny}: "....Obama's austerity commission, stacked (by him) with men and women fully committed to keeping taxes on the rich unfairly low, will give a lame duck Congress the opportunity to do what the ruling elite never accomplished with Bush-- the destruction of the program that has made FDR #1 forever: Social Security.
"Yes, Obama inherited a horrible economic mess-- among other things-- from Bush and from almost 3 decades of conservative rule. It looks like people who voted for that Hope and Change thing are seeing little or either in his first year and a half in office-- nor many impulses in those directions. He seems as reliable a handmaiden of the ruling elite or Military Industrial Complex as the Bushes, Clinton, Reagan, etc. He didn't seem to have the instinct to really go in for the kinds of systemic changes needed to save the economy or even prevent a double-dip recession (or worse),,,,"
Definitely none of the above.
But it is this: (From Jim Hightower)
"Are you an agitator? You know, one of those people who won't leave well enough alone, who's always questioning authority and trying to stir things up.
"If so, the Powers That Be detest you — you ... you ... "agitator!"
They spit the term out as a pejorative to brand anyone who dares to
challenge the established order. "Oh," they scoff, "our people didn't
mind living next to that toxic waste dump until those environmental got
them upset." Corporate chieftains routinely wail that "our workers were
perfectly happy until those union agitators started messing with their
minds." agitators
"Were it not for agitators, we wouldn't even have an America. The Fourth of July would be just another hot day, we'd be singing "God Save the Queen," and our government officials would be wearing white-powdered wigs.
"America's great rebellion didn't end with the British surrender at Yorktown.
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"Without agitators battling in politics, on the job, in the marketplace, for the environment, on Wall Street, in education, for civil liberties and rights, and all across our society, democratic progress doesn't just stall, it falls back.
"The Powers That Be — especially America's overarching corporate and political forces (often the same) — give lip service to democracy, but tend toward plutocracy, autocracy and kleptocracy. They prefer (and often demand) that We the People be passive consumers of their economic and political policies. Don't rock the boat, stay in your place, go along to get along — be quiet, they urge.
"Be quiet? Holy Thomas Paine! How could freedom-loving, democratic citizens shrink into quietude, especially when the Powers That Be feel so entitled to run roughshod over us? Even a dead fish can go with the flow. We've got to be livelier than that.
"July Fourth is a time to enjoy fireworks, flags, hotdogs, ballgames and such — but it's also a time to remember who we are: agitators!"
Categories: Events and Premieres
Tags: Obama Administration Financial Crisis Environment Energy Events
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