HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher, June 13, 2009
As much as I appreciate what Bill's saying here, I have zero hope at this point. I hate to say it, but it's true. Obama is owned by the powers that be just like every other politician in the world. I'm not sure why I felt like it was so important to elect Obama, as if things would 'change.' As I've known for many years now, there's no difference between the Democratic and Republican Parties. Admittedly, I became swept up in the moment -- mainly due to the Bush Administration's absolutely destructive eight years at the helm -- but I will no longer buy into our politicians' bullshit. Can I take back my vote, please? Next election, I'll be voting with the Green Party or the Peace & Freedom hippies.
Be sure to read the excerpts from Matt Taibbi's eye-opening piece, The Great American Bubble Machine about 'how Goldman Sachs has engineered every major market manipulation since the Great Depression -- and they're about to do it again,' from the new issue of Rolling Stone.
From the Goldman Sachs entry on Wikipedia:
During 2008 Goldman Sachs came under criticism for an apparent revolving-door relationship in which its employees and consultants have moved in and out of powerful US Government positions, where there may exist the potential for a conflict of interest. Former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson was a former CEO of Goldman Sachs. The current chief economic adviser to President Obama, Lawrence Summers, was noted for receiving $5.2 million from hedge fund D.E. Shaw in 2008 and speaking fees (ranging from $45 thousand to $135 thousand per event) from banks including Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch at a time when he was expected to become the most influential financial official in the U.S. Government. Former bank regulator William K. Black, appearing on Bill Moyers Journal on April 3, 2009, accused the financial industry of massive fraud, citing the role Tim Geithner played before being promoted to Treasury Secretary as well as the successful efforts of Alan Greenspan, former Goldman CEO Robert Rubin (Geithner's mentor) and Larry Summers in the late 1990s to block regulation of the financial derivatives market. According to Brooksley Born, former head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Summers, Rubin and Greenspan blocked her efforts to regulate the derivatives market, on the grounds that the financial industry were objecting. Born was then succeeded as head of the CFTC by former Goldman Sachs executive Gary Gensler, who stated that he "should have done more to rein in exotic financial instruments that have battered global markets". Additional controversy attended the selection of former Goldman Sachs lobbyist Mark Patterson as chief of staff to Treasury Secretary Geithner, despite President Barack Obama's pledge to limit the influence of lobbyists in his administration.
Another must-read is Matt Taibbi's May 23, 2009 article, The Big Takeover: How Wall Street Insiders are Using the Bailout to Stage a Revolution and be sure to watch the March 2009 Democracy Now interview with Taibbi on the subject in two parts:
Part 1 of 2
Part 2 of 2
3 comments:
I was just thinking about that yesterday. We were so fired up! I really tried to imagine how my personal life would be any different if McCain had been elected. But then again, CA is it's own effed up situation.....
p.s. Did you see Anderson Cooper talking with Palin's spokesman yesterday? If it's on the interwebs, it's worth a watch. hi.lar.ious.
I feel like I should apologize for being such a Debbie Downer, but I'm not going to! ;) It's how I'm feeling right now and I don't see it going away any time soon, unfortunately. All the arguments from pundits and politicians on both sides of the political spectrum seem more pointless than ever and I seriously can't watch cable news any longer. (The ridiculous non-stop coverage of MJ doesn't help.) I feel like I can't trust anything Obama says now because he most likely has nothing to do with any policy changes that will or won't happen ... this makes me very sad. I also can't help but feel like a fool for getting caught up in the Obama Mania. Oops!
Is the Anderson Cooper piece you mention the one where she tries to use sports analogies and fails spectacularly? Totally amazing!
BTW, Anderson is at his snarky best in that interview! He can't control his facial expressions!
"How is not leading, leading?"
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