Dear Charles Koch

Dear Charles Koch,

You truly are a sad, pathetic, narcissist.

The op-ed you wrote in the Wall St. Journal was the single most glaringly ABHORRENT thing I've read since MEIN KAMPF!

Let me point something out... something that you are OBVIOUSLY oblivious of, apparently...

YOU WERE BORN RICH, YOU SPOILED, BLUEBLOOD FUCK!!!

YOU are the new public face of “Affluenza”!

You have ABSOLUTELY no idea how the other side lives, so don't come to me talking about your “principles,” because YOUR (completely soulless, immoral, anti-ethical) “principles” don't mean a fuck to me.

You have CORRUPTLY PURCHASED governments on all levels, all the way down to SMALL SCHOOL BOARDS!

You pump your oil all over the world's lands and waters.

You pay POVERTY WAGES at your corporations.

You work to KICK people who are already down.

You (and your shitty brother) are the most morally and intellectually corrupt individuals since MOUSILLINI!

You may have billions in (several) banks (many of which you hide so you don't have to pay your fair share on them, you thieving fucks), but with regards to your behavior, you're completely and totally ETHICALLY bankrupt!

You worship Ayn Rand, because you feel it entitles you to have no conscience about the things you do...

Well, why don't you be more like John Galt...

… and just...

… fuck off...

… go away...

… leave...

… we don't want you OR your shitty companies...

… just take your money and fuck off...

… seriously.

You (so-called) “Libertarians” are supposed to believe that “your freedom ends where mine begins,” but with your corruption of the nation's governments, you have shown that you actually don't agree with that.  You seem to think that you can do whatever you want to THE REST OF US, but that we can't have anything to say or do about it.

To put this into context, you fucking hypocrite, this means you are essentially saying “Your freedom never begins because mine never ends.”

If you TRULY believed that, you would just take your shitty money, build your own shitty island, and keep to yourself, sustainably, so you don't have to rely on anyone else.

Instead, you take everything you can from everyone else (yes... I'm saying YOU'RE the “taker”), and walk all over everyone else to do it.

So, here's my proposal...

Do it... just go fuck off to your own island... leave society... take your shitty brother with you, so you can yacht between each others islands... and leave the rest of us the fuck alone...

… or else...

Google the date “14 July, 1789” for more info.

Here's a hint:

You've NEUTERED our government's ability to act against you, by buying enough of it off... but THE PEOPLE are pissed... your tyranny won't stand much longer... THE PEOPLE won't allow it.

So, in closing, allow me to sum up my commentary thusly:

      -You're a fucking narcissist.
      -You're a fucking Blueblood.
      -You're WORSE than that "Affluenza" kid (HE only killed FOUR people... you're responsible for
        THOUSANDS)
      -Fuck off.
      -Go away.
      -Leave.
      -You're a fucking hypocrite.
      -Fuck off.
      -Picture of a guillotine.

Pray we never meet face-to-face.


-Brode

John Roberts and SCROTUS: America's Festering Hemorrhoid

Our Supreme Court has dissolved into a pathetic catastrophe.

Yesterday's blatantly CORRUPT decision regarding CORRUPTION was another abomination from a Court I have entirely lost faith in.

John Roberts' writing of the decision was reminiscent of the graven messages left by the “Lipstick Killer,” William Heirens.

Heirens had a compulsion to kill, that he couldn't control.  He was given the nickname “The Lipstick Killer,” by leaving messages on the walls of his victims' bedrooms written in lipstick, reading “For heaven's sake catch me before I kill more.  I cannot control myself.”

Here's what I mean by that...

John Roberts wrote the decision HIMSELF.  In it, he basically said that in order to prove corruption or bribery, you have to PHYSICALLY CATCH money changing hands ON VIDEO, in order for it to be confirmed as corruption.

“Justice” Roberts, though, must have gotten this little tip from the Koch brothers, when he spoke at one of their anal-tongue-cleansing seminars (loosely billed as “conferences”).  He would have NEEDED that tip to deal with a guilty conscience, seeing as how he was about to make SEVERAL decisions in their favor, while completely ignoring the Constitution.

Let's be honest, though... there are more people in SCROTUS than JUST Roberts, who is actually SMALL POTATOES when you compare his corruption to that of “Justice” Uncle Thomas.

We should have known this guy would be an insufferable, worthless douchebag during the Anita Hill hearings... but the problem is, we have too many other insufferable, worthless misogynists in America, who decided that she must have been lying because she's a woman.  Honestly, that's the ONLY reason he was confirmed.  He's a misogynist, and he appealed to all the other American misogynists.

Before becoming a “Justice,” Thomas was a Corporate Lawyer for Monsanto.  Since then, he has never recused himself from judging a Monsanto case, and has found in their favor EVERY FUCKING TIME!!!  I should say, though... what do you expect from the company that used to make AGENT ORANGE for use in Viet Nam?  Obviously, they have no conscience; and neither does Thomas.

Thomas' wife, Ginny, is very politically active in the Tea Party, takes some of her paychecks from the KOCH BROTHERS and other billionaires, who her husband conveniently finds in favor of every time one of them appears before their court.

Thomas has also been caught cheating on his taxes... not reporting all of his income... not reporting parts of his wife's income... more evidence that he doesn't want to get caught being corrupt!

I would take a stab and say that “Justice” Thomas is THE SINGLE MOST CORRUPT SUPREME COURT “JUSTICE” IN AMERICAN HISTORY!  Furthermore, I would argue that there is plenty of evidence to back up that claim.

If the Supreme Court were “Alice in Wonderland,” “Justices” Alito and Scalia would be Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum.  I've always seen these two failures of American Education as interchangable.  I've never known them to disagree with each other, and they have the common sense of DRYER LINT, whilst maintaining the intellectual consistency of RUNNY SNOT!

Basically, these two are Theocrats masquerading as “Justices”.  They only believe that ONE religion exists, and that ONLY THAT RELIGION should be granted protection under the law; and that NO other religion matters, because it's not a “real religion,” because it's not what THEY believe.

They are BOTH Creationists, who, as we all know, are absolute fucking morons, with no critical thinking ability whatsoever!

Great... two Creationists sitting on the SUPREME FUCKING COURT... yeah... THAT'S what we need... people with an absolute absence of intellectual integrity... THAT'LL do this country good...

Creationists are archaic, moronic IDIOTS, who have NO BUSINESS being ANYWHERE NEAR law... but we have TWO of them on our HIGHEST COURT (and more than a few on the CONGRESSIONAL SCIENCE COMMITTEE... but that's another rant)!!!



So, here's my question...

Brode's New Bill of Rights

Friends, allow me to make a suggestion... one that goes back to two specific points in our history as a Nation; the writing of the Bill of Rights, and the Presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

The history of our planet has shown that when money stays in one family for a few generations, they start to think that they're BETTER than everyone else!  When they get this bullshit, inflated sense of superiority (otherwise known as "Affluenza"), they get it in their heads that they can just buy the government out from underneath us, because they're somehow more deserving of rights than the rest of us clods.

We saw it during Slavery... we saw it during the robber-baron era... we saw it during the Great Depression... and we've seen it at it's worst in the last 40 years.  

With the levels of corruption that we've seen at all these times, the time has come to say "Enough is enough" and realize that this is a cycle that will only continue, unless it's addressed as the human rights issue that it is!

Therefore, without further ado, here is my solution to the problem of the tyranny of the wealthy!

I hope you agree, and that you take this to heart as a way to improve our Nation.

If they won't play nice, then we have to MAKE THEM play nice!

text:

WE THE PEOPLE of the United States, having formed a great union, deem these Amendments to the Constitution to be necessary.  As the first Bill of Rights addressed the right to be free from tyranny by the government, it has since shown necessary to also address the tyranny of the wealthy upon the poor.

1. Every man and woman of working age has a right to a job that pays them a living wage.

2. Every man, woman, and child has a right to health care, a home, healthy food and clean water.

3. No executive position shall pay more than one-hundred times the annual salary of the lowest-paid position under their charge.  Executive wage increases must be voted on by the workforce.

4. No corporate entity may use legal representation of greater expense than that of the person suing them.

5.  All workers have a right to arbitration for unjust firings.

6.  Privately-run enterprises that are deemed to be “predatory” can be shut down and their assets seized by the United States Government.

7.  The right of the people to be free from persecution by their employers for what they say and express themselves in their private lives.

8.  The right of the people to know what information is gathered about them by corporate or non-profit entities.

9.  The right of the people to be free from Corporate Monopolism.

10.  The top twenty percent of the wealthiest individuals and businesses may not lobby Government at any level.

Well, there you go... was it everything you were hoping for?  Does this look like 10 things that will address the problems that we currently face?  Is this radical enough?  Is this TOO radical?  You tell me...

A Conundrum for the Ages

I realize I haven't written for a while.  I've been trying to branch out my talents and techniques, to encompass a broader variety of mediums.  I hope you've enjoyed my recent offerings.

So, dusting off the ol' cobwebs, I thought I'd share the most recent mental query loop I've been stuck in.  

I'm often very frustrated and conflicted between my beliefs, my thoughts, and reality. Sure, I realize that EVERYONE has these conflicts... that's what makes up half of our existence on this planet! Through a series of questions, I will demonstrate my current prevailing enigma... then, maybe someone ELSE can contemplate it as well, and I don't have to suffer this alone.

Question #1:

Is it ever ok to advocate for the death of someone (this includes capital punishment and/or murder)?

Question #2:

There are LEGITIMATE threats to society, due to lack of Psychological and/or Psychiatric treatment. Sometimes, they snap and shoot up movie theaters, malls, or schools. These people will never be re-introduced into society, and will likely only go on to kill more people in prison. Is their life as precious as yours or mine, if they are going to spend their life taking your life or mine?

Question #3:

Some of the most mentally deranged people are also the WEALTHIEST people. They use their money to ensure that the rest of the “unwashed masses” never see a dime. This is one of the effects of the recently coined term, “Affluenza.” These people are entirely destructive to society, and likely have no chance at rehabilitation. This is something that they WILL pass on to their children, further contributing to the problem. What should be done with them?

Question #4:

Given the political power these wealthy people have, it's likely that they will never see a courtroom for their crimes. If they DO somehow see a courtroom, they'll just pay a fine and continue to do what they are doing. This does NOTHING to solve the problem. If our Government and courts have been so deeply corrupted by the neutering money of the wealthy, how can we trust them to hold the wealthy to any kind of accountability for what they have done to us?

Question #5:

Given the level of corruption of governments (notice the plural) and destruction to society and the environment, which threatens us all, is this a matter that the World Court should take on as “Crimes Against Humanity”?

Question #6:

If our governments CAN'T act, and the World Court WON'T act to hold these people accountable for their crimes, including slavery, treason, global wealth theft, racketeering, bribery, extortion, and class genocide (their unwillingness to allow the poor the dignity of medical assistance, food, or basic needs by actively fighting against it while seeking greater wealth from the governments for themselves, IS a genocide of the poor!), at what point does it fall upon the duty of the PEOPLE OF THE WORLD to exact their justice from these people?

Question #7:

If the people were to do such a thing, what would justice be? Some form of “People's Court”? A tribunal held by the MASSES, rather than the courts they've corrupted? What good would that do, if we have to go through the Government and Courts to uphold any verdict?

Question #8:

Even if “the people” find these corrupt bastards guilty, their banks still have to be garnished. There would be no way to hold them accountable. What then?

Question #9:

Consider Bastielle day... the French Revolutionaries stormed the Bastielle, freed their friends and families who had been unfairly imprisoned, and then raided the Aristocracy and beheaded every rich asshole they could find; after which balance was restored to the distribution of wealth. But consider this... there were no BANKS back then! Everything was handled through precious metals!

Given the prevalence of banks in today's world, beheading the wealthy ruling elite really wouldn't accomplish anything more than kicking their fortunes down to their Affluenzic, worthless blueblood kids, and we face the same problem again. The only difference would be, the wealthy would protect themselves better, because they can afford better walls and landmines.

Result: nothing gained; problem potentially escalated. Wealthy get worse and more indignant. Hunger Games is created to give poor people SOME hope.

So, if our Governments CAN'T act, the World Court WON'T act, our own tribunal would accomplish NOTHING, and assassinations would only make things WORSE...

What should we do?

What CAN we do?

Are we just completely, incurably fucked?

A Tale of Two Chickenshits, Two More, and a Few More Chickenshits They Work With

se·di·tion

  [si-dish-uhn] 

noun

1.

incitement of discontent or rebellion against a government.

This is an open letter to the United States Congress; being that I'm REALLY fed up, and I know I'm not the only one!

BOTH houses of Congress (the House of Representatives and the Senate) are being led by two chickenshits... In the House, John Boehner and Nancy Pelosi; and in the Senate, Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell...

In the House, John Boehner is too chickenshit to take up any bills that aren't proposed by his own party! If it comes from across the aisle, it's IGNORED!

John, just because you don't agree with the people proposing a bill, that doesn't mean that ONLY your party's position matters! You're a pathetic, chickenshit, narcissist; and you have an even BIGGER problem, too... which I'll get to in a moment... a problem that should implicate YOU in some VERY bad things that certain people VERY close to you have done...

If you're NOT aware of the actions of these people, then you're even dumber than I thought... there is no conceivable way, in my mind, that you could remain ignorant of this issue for so long, and not do anything about it. The fact that you are implicated in this only shows your depravity and complete lack of decency or integrity!

PS: you're obviously a drunk, too... go to an AA meeting or something.

Nancy, you have the same problem as your friend, Harry Reid, in Senate. You're not dealing with honest people... you're dealing with liars and seditionists, and they should be called out as such! They have NO desire to get anything done, because they've all conspired NOT TO!

You KNOW it's true! You KNOW that they don't belong there, because they've conspired against the country! As Minority leader, it's YOUR JOB to call them out and demand hearings to get to the truth! Expose them for the douchebags they are, and the rest will have to work WITH you to prove that they're not seditionists, like the other guys... right???

… but you're too chickenshit to do that... you're afraid of coming off as being “too radical”... you're afraid of the Fox “news” audience, and what they'll be told by their indoctrination complex...

I get your position... I really do... but you've gotta grow some balls, and CALL OUT THE TRUTH!!!

Ahhh...Senate, where dreams go to die, and the other two chickenshits take pathetic swings at each other.

Minority Leader, Mitch McConnell is a chickenshit (similarly to John Boehner) because he's AFRAID to let anything go to a vote that might make the President or his party look good.

Majority Leader, Harry Reid, is a chickenshit (for the same reason as Nancy Pelosi) because he won't call McConnell (or his sycophants) out for what is CLEARLY a case of SEDITION!!!

Every fucking day, it's the same... Mitch comes out and says something like,

“The American people are tired of this President and his Socialist agenda...”

… and Harry Reid retorts with something like,

“My friends across the aisle need to get off their butt and vote for something.”

Harry, listen CLOSELY... those people are NOT your friends! They've been playing you for a SAP this whole time!!!

Until you start calling it what it is, you won't get any movement AT ALL from the other side! Call them seditionists (because they are), and they'll have to REALLY work to prove that they're not! The fact is, Mr. Leader, in case you didn't hear when I pointed this out to Mrs. Pelosi, the night of Obama's inauguration, they CONSPIRED against you, and the rest of America!!!

YOU CAN'T TRUST THEM, BECAUSE THEY AREN'T TRUSTWORTHY!!!

If they're going to go behind your back and PLAN to sabotage the economy, then it becomes YOUR job to call them out as SEDITIONISTS!

They don't give a damn about the country... they don't give a damn about the economy... they don't give a damn about the American people (except the $Million+ club)... all they want is POWER!!!

START CALLING THEM ON THEIR SHIT, OR YOU WILL DROWN!!!

As for you, Mr. McConnell, don't think you're getting off easy... I'm just getting STARTED yelling!

You're an arrogant, lying, anti-American piece of shit! I'm SICK of you and your worthless caterwauling about your so-called opposition to things that will help improve our country and our situation!

If Harry won't say it, I will...

Mitch, you and your mafia are guilty of SEDITION against the United States!

You're just as much a chickenshit as Harry is, and probably more; because if you're so afraid of what will happen to your precious job or your precious party if you ACTUALLY allow a vote, OR EVEN A DEBATE on ANYTHING, that only shows how spineless you really are!

If you're going to work AGAINST the needs of the country, you don't deserve your job, and you should be SHAMED out of the country!

Do you hate America SO MUCH that you would SERIOUSLY work AGAINST it???

… and as for Rep. Paul Ryan, Rep. Eric Cantor, Rep. Kevin McCarthy, Rep. Pete Sessions, Rep. Jeb Hensarling, Rep. Pete Hoekstra, Rep. Dan Lungren, Sen. Jim DeMint, Sen. Jon Kyl, Sen. Tom Coburn, Sen. John Ensign, and Sen. Bob Corker...

YOU'RE the assholes who were AT the meeting (along with Frank Luntz and Newt Gingrich)... YOU FUCKERS are the PRIMARY CONSPIRATORS in this sedition! You shitwaffles should be behind BARS, as you obviously don't give a shit about the well-being of the nation!

What you have done is DISGUSTING, and I hope you spend the rest of your pathetic lives rotting in Guantanamo!

More Than 'Just' Humans

I've worked A LOT of shitty jobs.

… I mean, A LOT...

… I mean, A LOT of shitty jobs!

In fact, the shitty jobs FAR outnumber the “decent” jobs... and I don't think I'm alone in saying that... I know a lot of people who have floated from one miserable experience to another, hoping to find something where they just feel valued in one way or another; only to find themselves repeatedly in a place where they just get shit on all day, for shitty pay, with a shitty boss, and shitty customers, and shitty conditions, and a shitty atmosphere, and absolutely no recognition for good work... you get the point...

… which begs the question... what exactly DEFINES a “shitty job?”

Well, let's see here... some people might see it as the job, itself... cleaning port-o-potties or outhouses, for example... or cleaning up blood-splattered crime scenes... or cleaning roadkill off the pavement...

Some people might see it as bad working conditions; be it safety or climate related.

Some might see it as a job where there's no chance of advancement.

There are those who might suggest it's a hostile work environment; maybe you work with an ex; or maybe you just work with a dick, or a few dicks; or maybe it's because you CAN'T KEEP YOUR DICK IN YOUR PANTS.

Some might say it's a job with shitty pay, or a job where you're not paid what you're worth.

Some might see it in the “Horrible Bosses” sense.

Some might compare it to “Fight Club” or “American Beauty.” You know... a job where you're miserable just because the job is a bad fit for you... you just hate what you do.

I've had all of these scenarios... some where I had several of these issues at once.

I've had shitty bosses that screamed in my face for taking five seconds to hang up my coat, after clocking in AHEAD of time.

I've had jobs where the company was so big that nobody had any kind of voice.

I've had jobs that would really be better positioned if they burned to the ground.

I've had a job where “part time” was 39 ½ hours; but you were still expected to work as many as 84 hours a week (seven twelve-hour shifts), if the deadlines called for overtime (translation: they didn't have to pay for benefits... cheap bastards).

I had a job at a movie theater where we had a RAW SEWAGE LEAK behind the concessions stand. I was wading through three inches of shit and piss while serving popcorn, candy, hot dogs, nachos, and soda to people who wanted to save a few bucks by going to a “value” movie theater. Then, they decided to vacuum up the mess with a shop vac (with a frayed power cord), and told us all to get back to work before the 9:00 rush.

I had a job where I was getting paid EIGHT DOLLARS A DAY, working FULL-TIME! (fuckin' telemarketing... I'll never do THAT again...)

… and that's just scratching the surface...

The common theme: the people at the top didn't give a shit about any of the rest of us. The size of the company didn't matter... one of them only had about 150 employees. But while WE were just scraping by, the douchebags who ran the company were gallivanting around the world collecting their rare hunting trophies from every continent (which had their own HOUSE... yeah... a whole HOUSE... just for their hunting trophies... every room made up to be a different continent... doesn't it just make you sick?).

They hide themselves from us in their gated communities and on their yachts. They go places where they don't even have to look upon the poor. They isolate themselves completely from us, so they can maintain their delusion that they're better than the rest of us!

Mitt Romney's 47% comments (and really, the entire tape) illustrates this fact in spades. They simply don't see us as humans at all. They see us as rodents and cockroaches. They see us as scavengers, who are always trying to take from the REAL humans... (that being the rich, of course)

… and you know what?

… they're right (in a way)...

… we're NOT humans anymore...

… we're something MORE than 'just' humans...

We're not SOFT, like them... we haven't been PAMPERED our whole lives... we don't have the cleaning staff, or the cooks, or the drivers, or the butlers... we do OUR OWN work! We clean OUR OWN houses! We cook OUR OWN food! We drive OUR OWN cars! We maintain OUR OWN lawns! We shovel OUR OWN walks and driveways! Those wealthy fucks are SOFT ASS PUSSIES because they've never actually had to do any WORK!

WE possess COMPASSION... something they lack entirely. We possess HUMILITY! We possess the HUMAN qualities that THEY DON'T!

Here's the fact, people...

We're the ones who've been hardened by our work!

We're the ones who've earned our muscles and callouses the HARD WAY; rather than in some cushy gym!

We're the ones who endure the harsh conditions in the warehouses, and in the factories, and on the roads!

We're the ones who've taken EVERY STINKIN' PILE OF SHIT they've shoveled at us, and WE'RE STILL STANDING!!!

That shows that we're resilient... It shows that we can't be stepped on that easily!

We need to USE that resilience to CRUSH THESE FUCKERS!!! We need to show them that WE'RE NOT THE INSECTS THEY THINK WE ARE!

Why am I writing this?

Why am I saying all the things I've said 10,000 times before?

Why am I repeating all this again?

… because I want a better world...

… because I see the powers that need to crumble... and it's not the government, as many have been deceived to believe...

… it's the shitwaffles that are CONTROLLING government!

To solve ANY problem, it's best to attack it DIRECTLY at the root; and my friends, the root is all that dirty money that's being shoved at the people we elect by sub-human, narcissistic, worthless, elitist, fuckers with bank accounts that could be featured on an episode of “Hoarders!”

… and WE'RE the ones that have to do it! They're not just BUYING government; they ARE government! You can't seriously expect the rich to regulate their own income, can you???

Then again, why not? I mean, we allow Monsanto to regulate itself, and oil companies to regulate themselves, and banks to regulate themselves... I mean, they have members on all the regulatory boards, so I guess we DO expect them to regulate themselves... wow... they're doing a REALLY shitty job...

WE have to take the initiative to fuck 'em! WE have to do it, because nobody else is gonna!

… and we have to do it...

… because we're SO MUCH MORE than 'just' humans!

Django, VICTORIOUS!!! (Part 2 of 2)

Are you angry yet? Aren't you pissed off? Now that you realize that you're all seen as slaves by the people who own our government, don't you want to do something to fix this? Don't you want to take those fuckers down? If Part 1 left you excited and blood-thirsty, then here's the one you've been waiting for... here's the one with the answers... the way forward to a new future, where WE have the power!

Now, here we are, fresh from our understanding of the most common form of modern slavery; in which Wal Mart is the newest incarnation of “Candieland,” and the role of Leonardo DiCaprio's character is played by the Walton family, Koch brothers, Sheldon Adelson, and all the other billionaires and greedy plutocrats who have the ability and the will to simply BUY our government!

So, with all that in mind, how can we POSSIBLY fix this shit???

Well, I'm here to say that all is NOT lost. There are a SHITLOAD more of US than there are of THEM, and that's where our strength lies! We have a voice, and the numbers to make it LOUD! All we need is a little direction...

So, in what direction should we go?

I believe that the first thing we need to do is strike directly at the heart of their power... their money!

How do we do that? What can peons like us POSSIBLY do to threaten the accumulated wealth that comes from over 30 years of corrupt purchases of government? Moreover, can we do it without talking about “raising taxes?” 

I mean, the second we mention that, heads explode and the whole thing becomes a partisan fight. So, if we can avoid ideas that are already blindly and ignorantly rejected by people on “one particular side” of the aisle, then it loses it's partisan sound, right?

Yes... and yes, we can do something it in such a way as to speak to the injustice without raising taxes even ONE PENNY on anyone...

… in fact, it'll cost very little to accomplish, and the amount that gets PAID BACK into the system will FAR eclipse the cost; meaning, it will CUT THE DEFICIT!!!

Once their power to buy government has been circumvented, they won't have the ability to control the messaging in the same way that they do now; which means that the lies they've paid to spread won't have the financial backing they need in order for the lies to continue to be spread.

If they can't afford to spread their lies, then we actually have to have a debate on the FACTS, which means they will inevitably lose the argument; giving the power back to the rest of us cool, informed, smart people.

People will be forced to look plainly at the lies they've been told, as the money behind them comes crashing down.

Going back to Part 1 of this series, I would like to re-entertain the question asked by Calvin Candie: 

“Why didn't they rise up?”

Well, we will... and here's how we can do it...

I've been saying that we need to break the backs of the bastards who buy the government by taking away their resources; and there's already a law on the books that will allow for such a dramatic and meaningful change... it's called the “RICO Act”

The “RacketeerInfluenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act” was enacted to combat the influence of organized crime (such as mafia families and drug cartels) over elected officials. Given the level of corruption among the wealthy, with regards to their moneyed “contributions” to Congress, Presidential campaigns, judges, and regulatory agencies; it seems painfully obvious to me that we've simply stopped enforcing the “RICO Act.”

Where's my proof? How about this...

Sheldon Adelson, a Las Vegas casino tyrant who largely funded Newt Gingrich's Presidential Primary campaign and Mitt Romney's Presidential campaign, was recently paraphrased as saying, “It's getting harder to buy Congress.” Now, to people like you and me, it's PAINFULLY obvious that he ADMITTED TO BRIBERY!!! If he hadn't been bribing our lawmakers, how could he make such a remark?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bribery

Now, consider the fact that he's JUST ONE BILLIONAIRE... and the vast majority of billionaires have been doing exactly what he has; paying legislators to make the laws they want Congress to make.

So, why the fuck do THEY get to get away with this shit? We wouldn't let the Gambino crime family do it, or a litany of other criminal enterprises; so why is it ok for “legitimate” businessmen to do it; if their intent is to subjugate the rest of us?

Obviously, these narcissistic fucks shouldn't be running around in society, if they're not going to follow the rules that the rest of us have to... right? If they're going to resort to bribery and extortion to get their way, then they should be behind bars; just like any two bit crook who attempts to bribe a police officer or a juror... shouldn't they?

So, why the fuck aren't they sitting behind bars?

Are they “too big to jail?”

Are they somehow BETTER than the rest of us?

You and I know that they're not... we understand that what they're doing is BLATANTLY illegal (or at least, it SHOULD be)... but they're not prosecuted for their crimes against humanity... in fact, they're REWARDED for their corruption, just like the douchebags that ALLOW THEMSELVES TO BE BOUGHT!!!

Now, here's the cool thing about the RICO Act... according to the law, any “ill-gotten gains” that come unto a person as a result of their corrupt actions are TAKEN AWAY!

This means, if we were to start ENFORCING the RICO Act, then all the corrupt assholes who bought government, and the Congressmen who allowed themselves to be corrupted would end up in Federal prison, WHERE THEY BELONG!!!

Not only that, but the power is taken away from the money... it sends a message to all those shitwaffles that we are NO LONGER THEIR SLAVES!!! It tells them, “It's ok for you to run your business and be successful, but you can't do it by suppressing the voice of the people, and lying to make them believe what you want them to, and circumventing elections by simply purchasing legislators!”

They would be forced to operate as LEGITIMATE businessmen; rather than narcissistic, corrupt douchebags!

Once the money's out of the messaging and the government, then WE have the power to influence the people WE elect with our VOTES, without the slavery-steeped BILLIONS of dollars getting in the way!

It tells those motherfuckers, “FUCK YOU!!! Buy a Congressman, lose your fortune!”

That's the message we need to send to those ass-hats!

The corruption has gone TOO FAR!!!

Maybe this IS a “radical” solution to this problem; but it's no more radical than is necessary to restore our democracy to THE PEOPLE! This IS a class war, and WE'RE LOSING!!! I believe that the RICO Act is our “Patriot Missile;” the ammunition we need to regain our power and voice!

We need to start putting pressure on our US Attorneys and Attorney General, Eric Holder to start taking these worthless narcissists down! We should have a national campaign of hate, directed at the ROOT OF THE PROBLEM!!!

Yeah, I said the magic “four-letter word”... and I MEANT it! We SHOULD be hateful of the billionaires! We SHOULD use that hate against them! We SHOULD be pissed; and most of us are! We need to use that to take our country back!

I realize that 'hate' has been used for some VERY despicable things in the past; but I believe that it can be channeled into the right places to affect more positive outcomes! 'Hate' doesn't necessarily have to be EXCLUSIVELY used by bigots and homophobes; the rest of us have plenty of hate, and if it's pointed in the right direction; at the billionaires, rather than at black people as seen in “Django Unchained”; then hate can be used as an effective tool to eradicate the disgusting use of money in politics!

Bear in mind, these assholes aren't just corrupting AMERICAN politicians...

Consider the fact that corporations like Goldman Sachs (among others, including Wal Mart) have been right at the center of the downfall of several European and other major economies as well, including Greece, Spain, Portugal, and Ireland. If we can destroy their influence over American politics, then it may have a big impact on the global economy, as well. If WE start jailing the corrupt billionaires, then maybe the rest of the world will follow suit; or, possibly, by jailing the bankers here, it solves the problems there, as well... which would have a dramatic positive effect on the world's economy; not just ours!

The end result is, those motherfuckers will have to face the fact that we're not buying their bullshit anymore! They will have to realize that their ego is not a reasonable basis on which to take away our voice, freedom, workers' rights, economic rights, and voting rights!

They may THINK they're better than the rest of us, but it's time to SHOW THEM that they're wrong about that! It's time to take away THEIR freedom, and show them what their corruption ACTUALLY buys... a trip to Federal Prison and an empty bank account!

RICO Act... learn it, know it, scream it, proclaim it, and ENFORCE IT!!!

Call your State Attorneys General, Eric Holder, and (if you have a legislator friendly to the cause, like Bernie Sanders, Diana DeGette, Alan Grayson, or Barbara Boxer) your members of Congress... tell them to pressure the Government to start enforcing the RICO Act, like we SHOULD BE!!!

Our future and our prosperity depends on it!

Django Re-Chained (part 1 of 2)

So... anybody seen “Django Unchained” yet?

Well, I hope so, because...

SPOILER ALERT!!!

If you haven't seen the movie yet, I highly recommend it! Simply put, it's one of the greatest movies I've ever seen (as well as Quentin Tarantino's best work), and had the same impact on my perception of the world as “Schindler's List” did, all those years ago.

For those of you who haven't yet seen the movie and who want the basic synopsis, read on; but understand that I will be discussing parts of the movie that might tell you more than you want to know. If, however, you HAVE seen the movie, please either bear with me, or jump ahead to where I start to make my point.

“DjangoUnchained” is the story of a slave who comes into the employ of a German-American bounty hunter, in order to identify certain specific bounties he wants to collect. The two enter into a pact. Django (the slave, played by Jaime Foxx) agrees to help the bounty hunter find the men he's after, and the bounty hunter agrees to help Django track down his estranged wife (who had been sold to another plantation), once the winter months have passed.

This movie is an exquisite example of Quentin Tarantino's ability to simultaneously tell an amazing story and shock viewers with harsh reality and extreme violence. The script and it's portrayal are equally engaging, which makes the three hours you're sitting in the movie theater pass as quickly as a commercial break.

The Academy Award given to Christoph Waltz, while appropriate, fails to demonstrate the captivating nature of both the character and the performance of the character. I hold this character and corresponding actor in the highest regard. I believe that his is one of the greatest performances in cinematic history.

… but I'm not here to talk about the movie, itself...

I'm here to talk about the movie as a reflection of society and history... I just wouldn't be “me” if I didn't put it into a greater context, now, would I?

Perhaps I should include a little personal context, as well...

This movie held a very personal meaning to me, because I know slavery from first-hand experience.

I was held as a slave by my ex-wife for over four years (of the six and a half that we were together). Until I saw the treatment of the slaves in the movie, I failed to fully see the reality of my own previous situation. While sitting in that movie theater, I found myself confronted by ghosts of my own past; which may have had an impact on my own personal feelings about the movie.

Aside from my own history, I also saw frightening correlations to modern American society, as well... things that angered me... things that disgusted me... echoes of the past that are re-visited in the modern future.

Let me put it this way... rich, white assholes haven't changed much. They still seek to own slaves; and the fact of the matter is, they've been widely successful in doing so; with a few caveats. Let's be honest, here... the only thing that's changed is the fact that slavery isn't confined to one race anymore. If you've been working for one of the corporate giants that rule America, then you are either one of the slaves, or you're one of the slave masters (if you're one of the executives in charge of these criminal enterprises).

I don't think a lot of the people in the workforce realize that fact. I don't think a lot of people realize that they, themselves, are slaves to the billionaires and executives who have the ability to simply buy our government in order to change the laws to fit their own narcissistic whims.

Where's the proof?

Well, let's start with the lack of balance with regards to wealth distribution. The rich keep getting richer, while the rest of us are drowning. The executives get raise after raise, and massive bonuses, and other benefits that they don't seem to think they can afford the rest of us. Their wages have gone up while ours have gone down... that says to me that we're doing all the work while they're reaping all the rewards of our work...

… sure as fuck SOUNDS like slavery to me...

We're threatened with termination if we get sick...

We're threatened with homelessness if we lose our jobs...

We're threatened with disease and death because our meager wages can't afford visits to the doctor...

We're threatened with termination if we speak up about what we perceive to be problems in the workplace...

… so, if our very existence is threatened by the way these douchebags run their companies, and we have no choice but to bow to their narcissistic whims, and our lives are in constant jeopardy due to their lack of accountability regarding working conditions, and we have no voice as to the way things are, then doesn't that make us all slaves?

Yep, it does.

Sure, it doesn't FEEL like it; because we DO have the freedom to live where and how (to a point) we want, and we do receive SOME pay (however insufficient). But the wages we receive aren't really very different than the cost of upkeep for the slaves owned by the honkey plantation owners before the Civil War (as adjusted for inflation). They still reap all the benefits of our labor, and we get little more than we need to afford basic housing and food... but no more than that.

Maybe our employers CAN'T whip us or beat us; but they would, if they could... gotta keep us peons in line, you know. Believe me, I've had more than a few jobs where I knew the bosses wanted to hold us hostage to their greed (American Web Printing, I'm looking at you)!

So, when a company decides that they DO want to be able to beat their workers into submission, then they just move their operation overseas somewhere that WILL allow them to do so; as seen by Apple (and other technology companies like Hewlett Packard), with regards to their manufacturing operation at Foxconn factory in China.

The workers(slaves) weren't allowed to go home to see their families... they hadto live at the factory. They were forced to work 18-30 hours a day. They were denied food, reasonable living arrangements, and humanetreatment as workers. It got so bad that the workers were threatening a protest by mass suicide, which Foxconn addressed byputting up “suicide nets” around the buildings, instead ofimproving working conditions. Yeah, they REALLY care about their “employees,” don't they...

… all of this, just so you can have your shiny, new iPhone... don't you just LOVE the injustice you've bought just so you can stay current in technology?

Now, they couldn't get away with treating their laborers that way, here in America; so they had to go somewhere that WOULD allow them to do it. Doesn't that say something about how THEY THINK we should be treated? Doesn't that just show the malice that they feel towards all of us, whom they deem to be “beneath them?”

Want another example? How about the garment factory in Bangladesh, who made clothing for Wal Mart, Sears, Disney, and other American retailers?

Apparently, Wal Mart doesn't think that their employees deserve such basic things as EMERGENCY EXITS in case of a fire... I guess emergency exits are simply not “cost-effective” expenditures. The factory's ownerdidn't even know that there weren't any fire exits, until they were faced with the fire and all the people dying around them as they were trampled and burned alive. What a compassionate asshole... he must REALLY care about his employees, huh?

Either way, American corporations prove, time and time again, that they really don't think their employees are worth a shit. They don't seem to think that we're human beings, deserving of reasonable lives. They don't seem to think that we're worthy of being viewed as actual “people”... which demonstrates the fact that they view us as SLAVES! If they saw us as PEOPLE, then this shit wouldn't happen!

Getting back to my point about “Django Unchained,” there was a pivotal scene near the end, where Leonardo DiCaprio's character (Calvin Candie); who ran the biggest plantation in Mississippi, called “Candieland;” posed the question as to why the slaves didn't rise up and overthrow the white people. He pointed out the fact that white people were vastly outnumbered, and nobody could possibly LIKE living in slavery, so why didn't they rise up?

His physiological explanation was racist beyond ridiculosity; but the question, itself, was valid. Sure, there were a few slave uprisings; but nothing successful until the Civil War. In truth, things didn't improve for the slaves unless they jumped on Harriet Tubman's“underground railroad.”

It seems to me that there was both a lack of ability to organize (primarily because the slave owners went to great lengths to keep them from communicating with other plantation slaves), and a deep-seated terror as to the consequences if a rebellion was unsuccessful (which was entirely warranted, as only white people could own guns; the Second Amendment was put in place, in part, to allow for enforcement of such laws by militias of racist crackers with guns).

Putting this back in a modern context, I beg the question...

… well...

Why DON'T we overthrow the slave lord billionaires, bankers, and executives?

Are we blind to our own plight? Yes... most of us are.

Are we afraid of the consequences? Some of us are.

Are we lacking the organization? ABSOLUTELY!!!

In Part 2, the answers; the pressure WE can apply; the knowledge we need to share and spread to make the bastards FEAR US; like they SHOULD!

Just like slave times, there are a SHITLOAD more of US than there are of THEM... the only things they have more of is money and ego; neither of which can out-scream hundreds of millions of pissed-off, disgusted, bloodthirsty slaves seeking freedom from their untouchable masters!

I'll tell you how we can not only unseat them from their positions of power; but take every stolen penny back from those bastards and throw them behind bars where those soulless shitwaffles belong!

… but it all starts with the understanding that we are nothing more than ants in the billionaires' ant farms! The sooner we understand that, the sooner we can take the bastards down!