Thom Hartmann talks with John Perkins author of Hoodwinked and Confessions of an Economic Hit man

U.S. history has seen many presidents elected on a wave of progressive promises, only to see them compromise again and again once in office, caving to the very interests, military and corporate, that they railed against so effectively. Barack Obama is only the latest to get elected on a promise to end a war and take care of working people, only to preside over an administration stacked with Wall Street types and wind up continuing a war he wanted to wind down. Americans voted for change and are getting frustrated with the lack of it, but our guests have both written about the powerful forces holding the status quo in place. John Perkins is the author of Hoodwinked and Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, and has written about how corporations push politicians around and even threaten them with violence. Russ Baker, meanwhile, is the author of Family of Secrets: The Bush Dynasty, the Powerful Forces That Put It in the White House, and What Their Influence Means for America and has written extensively about the military-industrial complex. They argue the only weapon we have is public opinion and public pressure–and we need to bring it to bear not just on the government, but on the corporations.

Today’s Washington Times nicely encapsulates the wingnut circlejerk over Obama’s bow to the Emperor of Japan: This is not the way an American president impresses evildoers that he’s strong, tough and decisive, that America is not to be trifled with. [...] "Can anyone imagine George Washington, John Adams or Thomas Jefferson making a similar gesture of servile submission? Or Harry Truman? Or FDR, who famously served the lowly hot dog, with ballpark mustard, to the king and queen of England?" Can anyone imagine a Republican president making a gesture of servile submission to a communist dictator responsible for the deaths of 70 million people? Why yes, yes one can. [Note: Right-wing nutjobs at their specialty--disinformation.]

Chomsky takes on a critic. "Noam Chomsky interviewed on the BBC program HARDtalk, during his tour of the United Kingdom in Nov. 2009."

An audio plus 2 videos. "During Noam Chomsky’s recent visit to Ireland five members of the Workers Solidarity Movement met him over breakfast to talk over a range of issues from Palestine to the capitalist crisis to social partnership to Iran to Obama and the US Labour Movement. ... The notes below are a very rough outline to the conversation noted down as I edited the audio file, it is not a transcript but a summary...."

Dennis Kucinich on the Ed Show and Greta's show.

Joe Lieberman echos Rahm Emanual..... "Never let a serious crisis go to waste." "A couple of years ago, after a two-year investigation, my committee put out a report that said the new face of terrorism in America would not just be the attacks as 9/11 organized abroad and sending people in here, it would be people within this country, homegrown terrorists, self-radicalized, often over the Internet, going to jihadist websites, and there's concern from what we know now about Hasan that, in fact, that's exactly what he was, a self-radicalized home grown terrorist," - Lieberman 11/8/09 The Lieberman spin will of course go beyond 'Muslim extremists' to any patriotic American who dares to question the lies and the illegal wars of profit by the corrupt US administration, Congress and the military. Our first and second amendment rights will be under attack....again. http://kennysideshow.blogspot.com/2009/11/dual-citizen-joe-lieberman-to-hype-fort.html

Obama could have wiped clean every mortgage and credit card debt in 2008 for less than he gifted to the banks

Not only does Stewart nail the crazy politics, the convoluted logic, the Rube Goldberg chalkboard, the tears, the ticks and the goofy mannerisms, but it is so on the mark that we find ourselves concluding that Howard Beale seems stable compared to Glenn Beck. I am sure the writers and actors over at SNL are kicking themselves in the ass for missing this one.

Is New York the greenest city in America? Urban planner Jane Jacobs famously talked about population density as the driver of vibrant communities in cities. In this video, David Owen connects Jacob's views on urban planning and community sound environmental planning and sustainable living.

Another one of the nation's largest lenders has filed for bankruptcy. On the brink for months, CIT filed for Chapter 11 protection on Sunday. The prepackaged plan allows CIT to restructure its debt while trying to keep badly needed loans flowing to thousands of mid-sized and small businesses. The plan keeps CIT's operations alive and makes it possible for the company to exit bankruptcy by year's end. But here's the bad news: While senior debt holders will only lose 30% of their investment, we, the U.S. taxpayer, will lose the entire $2.3 billion we lent the company this summer. William Black, professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law is dumbfounded. "We put ourselves on the hook in a completely inept way where we lose first. We lose entirely as the taxpayers." Black, a former top federal banking regulator, blames Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner for negotiating such a bad deal on behalf of the American public. His argument goes as follows:

Matthew Hoh says that occupying Afghanistan is not going to defeat them. Hoh has gained support from troops in the military which does not understand what they are fighting for, according to Hoh. Within the Pashtun society there is a civil war and that war has noting to do with us. This is a divide amongst the Pashtuns between the urban Pashtuns and the rural Pashtuns; and just like with the Soviets this war is unwinnable and has lasted for centuries. Karzai is from the urban wealthy Pastuns. You will find his interview with Fareed and his letter here: http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/fareed.zakaria.gps/ Listen to what Hoh has to say:

The Burlington Free Press wrote in an article published on Sunday: “Senator Bernie Sanders is known as an antiwar politician. But if lawmakers on Capitol Hill are waging World War Green, he’s looking to become a general helping to lead an energy revolution. His chairmanship of the Senate’s newly created Subcommittee on Green Jobs and the New Economy puts him at the forefront of the fight to create positions building wind turbines, weatherizing homes and installing solar panels,” ...To read the article: http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20091101/LIVING09/91030011?template=printart

If you want to get away with crime, don't commit a small crime. Commit a big one, bigger than anyone can imagine. Oh, and buy a bunch of politicians. "In 2006 and 2007, Goldman Sachs Group peddled more than $40 billion in securities backed by at least 200,000 risky home mortgages, but never told the buyers it was secretly betting that a sharp drop in U.S. housing prices would send the value of those securities plummeting."

Know anyone who doesn't believe people should have healthcare? Send them this post and ask them to watch all 4 videos. Do these people deserve to die because they can't afford health insurance?

Has Dennis Kucinich finally decided to stop drinking the Kool Aide? "Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) today made the following statement about the health care debate in America: “Providing health care to all Americans is the moral responsibility of our government, consistent with the Preamble in the Constitution. Yet we are being told that it is not possible to have the kind of single payer health system which every industrialized democracy in the world has. “... In each and every step of the health care debate, the insurance companies have won. If they get hundreds of billions of dollars in new taxpayer subsidies, they get to raise their premiums, and increase their co pays and deductibles, while the public is forced to pay for private insurance, then the insurance companies win big. “If this is the best we can do, then it is time to ask ourselves whether the two-party system is truly capable of representing the American people or whether the system has been so compromised by special interests that we can’t even protect the health of our own people."

Media Matters do a great job of showing how industry funded operatives' lies end up being channelled through Faux into the mainstream and go on to show how dangerous they are to the progressive agenda and America as a whole.

Poor Adams Apple Annie; Jamie Rubin puts the boney blonde bimbo in its place over Cheney's ridiculous dithering comment.

The Blue Blood front Investment company is at it again as they rob and steal from the hard working American Sucker..Do they the American Sheeple need to be homeless on the streets b4 they take down these scumbags ?

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