“See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda.” - George W. Bush, Greece, N.Y., May 24, 2005
The term BUSHCO is not idiotic in and of itself. While a generalization, it, as Highwayman eloquently puts it, represents the particular business interests of this administration. The top of which, surprisingly I do not recall being mentioned in this thread yet, is OIL. Oil being a key lynchpin to understanding the foreign policy of this nation for 80+ years. Anyway, I would rather use others words to prove why I think BUSHCO is an appropriate term, since it is historically accurate that a small cabal of moneyed interests have typically run this country.
Quote:
"These international bankers and Rockefeller-Standard Oil interests control the majority of the newspapers and magazines in this country. They use the columns of these papers to club into submission or drive out of office public officials who refuse to do the bidding of the powerful corrupt cliques which compose the invisible government…
The warning of Theodore Roosevelt has much timeliness today, for the real menace of our republic is this invisible government which like a giant octopus sprawls its slimy length over City, State, and nation… It seizes in its long and powerful tentacles our executive officers, our legislative bodies, our schools, our courts, our newspapers, and every agency created for the public protection…
To depart from mere generalisations, let me say that at the head of this octopus are the Rockefeller-Standard Oil interest and a small group of powerful banking houses generally referred to as the international bankers. The little coterie of powerful international bankers virtually run the United States government for their own selfish purposes.
They practically control both parties, write political platforms, make catspaws of party leaders, use the leading men of private organisations, and resort to every device to place in nomination for high public office only such candidates as will be amenable to the dictates of corrupt big business…
These international bankers and Rockefeller-Standard Oil interests control the majority of newspapers and magazines in this country."
–John Hylan, Mayor of New York 1927
Lets go with heavier hitters…
Quote:
"We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled governments in the civilised world - no longer a government of free opinion, no longer a government by… a vote of the majority, but a government by the opinion and duress of a small group of dominant men.
Some of the biggest men in the United States, in the field of commerce and manufacture, are afraid of something. They know that there is a power somewhere so organised, so subtle, so watchful, so interlocked, so complete, so pervasive, that they had better not speak above their breath when they speak in condemnation of it."
–Woodrow Wilson
Shall I go back farther?
Quote:
“Whosoever controls the volume of money in any country is absolute master of all industry and commerce… And when you realise that the entire system is very easily controlled, one way or another, by a few powerful men at the top, you will not have to be told how periods of inflation and depression originate.”
–James Garfield 1881
**Anyone want to debate the cause of the revolution? Hint: it was the economic interests of the wealthy…
The more things change the more they stay the same…
To bring this back to the original point; is terrorism a boogeyman? You bet it is. This is not to say it does not exist but the current government is blatently manipulating it to create an enemy so as to further its goals. This is not modern psychology people. It has been used for millennia**
Quote:
“Beware the leader who bangs the drums of war in order to whip the
citizenry into a patriotic fervor, for patriotism is indeed a double-edged
sword. It both emboldens the blood, just it narrows the mind. And when the
drums of war have reached a fever pitch and the blood boils with hate and
the mind has closed, the leader will have no need in seizing the rights of
the citizenry. Rather, the citizenry, infused with fear and blinded by
partiotism, will offer up all of their rights unto the leader and gladly so.
How do I know? For this is what I have done. And I am Caesar.”
–Julius Caesar
We are all being manipulated on a daily basis, by inaccurate history, false news, propoganda, money, corporations, etc, etc, etc… This is not some raving conspiracy post, this is simply fact. I will debate it with anyone on any of the points. So of course terrorism is a boogey man. All governments that rely on manipulation to control policy NEED them. We all must not only be skeptical of the Government’s stated goals, we must demand proof before supporting them. This administration has proven adept at providing neither proof nor even logic for their actions but rather uses psychology to simply goad half of the country into forcing the other half to go along. They are however, not the first to do so, nor the last. Really, some of you need a wake up call.
Quote:
“An evil exists that threatens every man, woman, and child of this
great nation. We must take steps to ensure our domestic security and
protect our homeland.”
– Bush? No. Adolf Hitler, proposing the creation of the Gestapo.
Quote:
“We recognize it’s a dangerous world. I know this nation still has enemies, and we cannot expect them to be idle. And that’s why security is my first responsibility. And I will not permit any course that leaves America undefended.”
– Yeah that’s Bush. August 29, 2001
Congrats Highwayman…Law School is easy. 
Fuck you, Angry, you’re a paranoid nitwit.
Hey angry -
You forgot to mention the real power behind the scenes…
Regards,
Shodan
Didn’t Laura Croft alread kick their asses? 
Terrorists and Neo-Cons are Two Sides of the Same Coin because without Terrorists, the NeoCons™ have no reason to exist? Thus, the NeoConsofDoom™ have reason to support the continued existence of terrorism?
Well, without crime, the police would have no reason to exist. Obviously, then, the police have reason to support the continued existence of crime, manufacturing instances is necessary.
Right?
Right?
Ah the warming flame of a naive lonely alleycat. Wake up you dumb shit.
C’mon. You’re over simplyfing. Im merely saying the problem of terrorism is vastly overstated to create the impression of an enemy. In an “us vs them” envirmonment its easier to accomplish goals that would otherwise be unsupported.
Also, Im not here to suggest the world is run by the illuminati. Nor am I saying that some other “SINGLE” entity runs the US or the world. What I am saying is that there is a moneyed elite that have always called the shots in this country – the policy shots, not what you ate for breakfast. Often to our (the teeming masses) detriment. (Lets seriously debate the causes of the revolution and I tell you for a fact it wasnt genuinely the issue of “taxation without representation”, it was business interests – and not that of the peasant farmer)
But rather than a conspiracy theory, these moneyed elite are not always unified nor do they always act in concert. Lets say they act more like the mafia. Often they act with the same goals, but technically in competition – both within groups and amongst groups. But, “They” (collectively) in an attempt to further their selfish goals continually corrupt our system. As with your crime/police example, remember that the police are not self-created to fight crime but rather are a political tool created by government to help (obviously not solely) justify its existence. By making people feel safe the government can use the tool of police control the populace. This can be for the betterment of our lives and it can be abused. (Look at the role of the police in the south during segregation.) Now since the US is a complex place AND there really is crime, its easier to see the truth of this statement by viewing the function of the police in a police state where the police’s role becomes completely political and not at all for the benefit of general populace.
The point here is that the neocons are not the top of the feeding chain but rather cogs (in the figurative sense, not the literal) in a larger system meant to preserve the wealth of the elite in the country. The neocons are just rather ham handed at what they do and attract more attention and anger from the liberal intellengencia. John Kerry would not have been that different in the interests he represented but I’m sure the way in which he represented those interests would have been different and made the liberals feel better.
Lets not over interpret any of this. Im not actually angry and I dont think the world is that bad a place. Its just the many of you – are you listening lonelyalleycat – need to wake and see how things really work.
The true question here is does anyone of us care to do anything about it as long as we have car and house and a job…?
:smack:
Of course! Now it all makes sense! How could I have doubted you for an instant?
Regards,
Shodan
(on the grassy knoll)
Hey! **I ** called the grassy knoll first! You get the book depository!
I thought the CIA had the book depository reserved so they could plant the evidence. Then we brief Jack Ruby, pick up the Mafia hit men, jump into the time cube, and rendez-vous at the Underground Lair for the final meeting with Judge Crater, Amelia Earhardt, Jim Garrison, and David Ickes.
You might want to come - they’re bringing doughnuts.
Regards,
Shodan
“The truth is out there - waaaaaaay out there.”
Don’t forget Big Pharma - they’ll be bringing free Cialis.
Let’s not argue the facts. Let’s resort to HYPERBOLE!
YAY!
I’m not fucking impressed.
First of all the Angry person is right. Big business has been the motivating factor in American politics for at least one hundred years. Remember the Progressive Era? You know when all those big government laws to regulate monopolies and such were passed? Well you know who was behind those laws such as Pure Food and Drug Act? That’s right the BIG food and drug companies. They wanted the extra regulation because they could absorb the cost of it but the smaller competing company could not. Drove them out of business in droves. Same goes for the logging laws that the big logging companies were behind. Remember, big business uses government to aid itself better than we individuals could ever hope to.
Now I agree, there is no monolithic organization per se that purposely drives government, that is a human intelligence. I believe that Big Business is an amorphous mass that has its tentacles into every aspect of our lives. It crushes competition and perpetuates wars. It’s not a human intelligence, merely a large machine that has been constructed bit by bit from the personal greed of many men and women over many years. I often wonder if it has ever held as much power over the individual as this…
Not hyperbole, punkin-chunks - mockery.
Hyperbole is a rhetorical device, used in debate, This isn’t a debate, it’s me making fun of the fact that your delusional paranoia is in only partial remission.
Let me guess - this is a quote from the last girlfriend you had that you didn’t have to inflate.
So you have never actually heard of Teddy Roosevelt or Upton Sinclair, is that what you are saying?
Those four years you spent in eighth grade were wasted, it seems.
Sweetheart, I don’t care what the comic store owner told you - real life is not like Japanese pornography.
And Big Business is not like your ass.
Let me guess - it’s giant, shape-shifting lizards, right?
Well, just a hint - it tends to have less power over individuals who are good about taking their medication.
I’m just saying.
Regards,
Shodan
Teddy Roosevelt, Highwayman!! We forgot he permanently solved the worlds problems with Upton Sinclair’s help :smack:
Shodan, you genius!! :wally
There can be no effective control of corporations while their political activity remains. To put an end to it will be neither a short nor an easy task, but it can be done … Corporate expenditures for political purposes, and especially such expenditures by public-service corporations, have supplied one of the principal sources of corruption in our political affairs.
– Theodore Roosevelt, speech at Osawatomie, Kansas, “The New Nationalism” (August 31, 1910)
angry performs fellatio on dead crocodiles in sleazy Tijuana sideshows.
- Shodan, “Why Angry Over-privileged Assholes Give Me Gastric Reflux and Excessive Flatulence”, June 2, 2005, on the SDMB.
try reading a little about The Jungle, then get back to us.
Regards,
Shodan
I love this asshole,
Speaking of the eighth grade, it seems Shodan has put his Jr. High library card to good use. However, he fails miserably at grasping the point. Ideas have traction because they are placed in the public’s eye which necessitates a certain degree cooperation from the powers that be. I’m sure you don’t believe this and probably believe that anyone, even an outsider, can write a book and have it published by a major publishing house with little or no hassle. Damn, it sure would be nice to live in candyland. You probably realize this by doing those same drugs you accuse me of using. Psychologists call this “projection”.
Mockery? Oh, that is what you are calling lame ass exaggeration in the face of legitimate points? Still fucken lame in my book. You aren’t even good at it either.
Hyperbole is not just a forensic tool, dumbfuck (BTW, not hyperbole), but a figure of speech that is often used as a literary device. You should be familiar with things literary because what you write would be considered fiction. Furthermore, since debate involves each party having SOME command of the facts relevant to the argument I would have to say you are right given you’re the non-informed half of that equation.
I couldn’t put it better than Angry but will only add that you probably barely know the difference between Upton Sinclair and Sinclair Lewis.
No, I have a wife. I was able to take a healthy relationship with a woman to a proper conclusion. I doubt you have had a relationship with a woman other than your mom or sisters and if I insisted on the word “healthy” they would be factored out as well.
Changing gears here:
Don’t call me sweetheart unless you want to be my prison punkass bitch with a pair of tits tattooed to your back. If that was the case, I’d trade you in for a pack of fucken Kools.
So do you see Shodan, nitpicking, name-calling, and endless quoting does not make your argument any stronger. It’s called the “Straw Man” informal fallacy in logic, that is, taking snippets of my argument and constructing something less than the whole that you can tear down. You couldn’t even manage that. I pity you, you petulant turd.
As far as my medication, I do not take any. You must be mistaking me for that deaf and dumb fat-ass hypocrite Rush Limbaugh.
This thread is turning into utter bullshit, even by Pit standards. Angry, it doesn’t matter who you quote at this point. Obviously. It didn’t work for me either. Highwayman, I (at least) get what you are saying, that it isn’t the Illuminati or the Masons or Dr. Evil, it’s more of a chaotic unorganized greed, every crook for himself. Shodan, have a beer and relax. You are not winning any points at all, and the insults could at least be more original or imaginative. Good insults get points, poor ones lose points. You never even played the standard “goat felcher” card. You’re slipping 
Highwayman, where did you get into Law School? Just curious. I went to Hofstra in NY.
-notactuallyANGRY