Chris Hedges: Teabaggers vs Occupy Wall Street

[Grassy Knoll]

Run time: 03:15 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_X5NiGJBys   Posted on YouTube: October 07, 2011 By YouTube Member: munderlarkst Views on YouTube: 21   Posted on DU: October 08, 2011 By DU Member: Grassy Knoll Views on DU: 7858

 

[wxgeek7]

1. Alot of good info

...in such a small amount of time.

[Cali_Democrat]

2. K&R

[The Wielding Truth]

3. Here is someone else who can express some quick truths.Jesse LaGreca

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EN_--FiUkE

[hourglass1]

4. well said!

mr. hedges

[Douglas Carpenter]

5. kick and recommend!!

[RBInMaine]

6. Just marching and chanting won't solve ANYTHING. You need LEGISLATION. How does he want to get it?

[tama]

7. How does more legislation

solve the problem that legislators don't follow the laws they impose on others and violate law with impunity?

[russspeakeasy]

42. Your cynicism is matched only by my own..

:toast:

[tama]

46. Realism, alas

There have been also scientific studies about the matter showing - not so surprisingly - that those who make the rules tend to think and act in the manner that their rules don't apply to themselves. Matter of human nature to be gravely considered in search of a functional political system.

[Douglas Carpenter]

8. that is EXACTLY what Adam Clayton Powell Jr. said in regards to Martin Luther King Jr.

The reality is there is not going to be any legislative accomplishments without significant pressure to force the hand of legislators through real mass action - not when it comes to real change that truly alters the balance of power. The world simply does not work that way. Elections are only part of the picture.

[nashville_brook]

37. +10000

[Enthusiast]

14. The legislators will not

make an effort to remove money from the political process until they are given a big swift kick in the ass. If Occupy Wall Street cannot accomplish this we are finished as a nation, if it isn't too late already.

[rwsanders]

27. Deny them campaign cash

The DSCC called me and I ranted at them for all the failures recently and told them that I might hold my nose and vote for them, but wouldn't send them money. It was then I reached an "Aha!" moment. What they really want is campaign cash. They don't care about much else. Why send our money to them, if the serve the corporations let them get it from the corporations.
If I do contribute it will be to one of the progressive organizations.

[Enthusiast]

31. The thing is, we can't hope to

compete against corporate cash, especially Wall Street's ill gotten gains.

I donate to individual Democratic candidates when I can -if they are leftish candidates. It would be nice if we felt "good" about the DNCC.

I believe 'our' party needs to re-access their position on a number of issues so we will feel good about our party.

First and foremost our party should be rigidly opposed to new job killing free trade deals.

Secondly, they should be working toward enacting legislation to remove the influence of money in campaigns. I think both are winning issues.

Of course President Obama and the rest should have been riding the populist pro-union sentiment in Ohio and Wisconsin. What was Obama's reaction to the pro-union sentiment? Propose new free trade deals. I swear I think someone hit him in his head.

[Xtraneous]

44. With Obama expected to raise $1billion for his campaign...

why would anyone who isn't a millionaire bother to shell out any money towards his campaign?

[MarinCoUSA]

9. EVERY fu*king word of this is true. EVERY WORD!

Thank you Pastor Hedges.

Now pass the ammunition.

[Enthusiast]

15. Every word!

[Lorien]

35. Yes, it is. Nothing to disagree with there!

Awesome speech. Hedges speaks for me!

[Mosaic]

10. This is a powerful movement.

Yesterday on Hardball, Chris Matthews says we need, as a society, to start thinking of radical, don't be afraid of that word, solutions to our complex problems in government. He gets it right sometimes.

[democracy1st]

11. Incredible rant! ty

[fascisthunter]

12. American Fascist Party=Tea Party

[Enthusiast]

16. He was precisely correct on that.

[fascisthunter]

17. I was glad to hear someone in the media state it

about time... fascism needs to be placed front and center in the public sphere.

[Enthusiast]

13. Perfectly well said.

[A wise Man]

18. Lets call it what it really is......

We are fighting the NEW MAFIA. The corporates are doing everything that Capone and all the mafia's did to control and steal their wealth. It took a long time coming but these greedy thugs have money interest from Presidents all the way down to your neighborhood watchman. We have no other choice but to fight fight fight by any means neccessary.

[PotatoChip]

19. Love Chris Hedges

Great interview too...

As an aside, I hope the OWS movement will consider adding publicly financed campaigns in their demands. That wouldn't fully solve the problems, but nonetheless would go a VERY long way in addressing some of the issues Hedges raised in the video.

Thanks for the link and K&R

[The Wizard]

43. As long as there are off shore tax havens

where legislators can send bribe money, nothing matters.

[Hotler]

20. Not a dimes bit of difference. eom.

[2banon]

21. K&R Glad to see Rec's for Chris Hedges on DU!

:hi:

[jerseyjack]

22. His insight, "There is no way to vote against the interests of Goldman Sachs

within the American political system.

That Hitchens statement says it all.

[dixiegrrrrl]

23. Yes!!!!

Looks like Chris was doing a lot of interviews down there that day.
The more the better.
He and Arundhati Roy are two of the most important, powerful, accurate and lyrical voices we have today.

[ejbr]

24. k & r !!!! n/t

[Scuba]

25. Excellent interview, highly recommended. n/t

[me b zola]

26. K&R

[pam4water]

28. K&R Best summation of the situation I've heard!

[rgbecker]

29. America! You have to get out on the streets to hear the truth.

[Gregorian]

30. CHRIS HEDGES IS OUR MAN.

I'm yelling it. I want everyone on the side of humanity to support his clarity and leadership.

There is nothing I don't agree with him on.

[zinnisking]

34. He is one of my favorites since 2003 when I first heard him on Al Franken

or some AirAmerica show.

War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning (ten years old now, I know)is next on my endless list of books to read.

[Lorien]

36. +1. nt

[Swede Atlanta]

32. Wow.........

Agree with him. Obama has done some good things but those are only at the "fringes", i.e. nothing that would upset the Koch brothers too much. He has given them jock itch with his Financial Reform plan but since the Republicans have effectively neutered that he can claim he tried while the reality is that banks will continue to screw the American people with no lubricant.

The system is fucked. We need to whack every Democrat and Republican and start over.....plain and simple. As long as one of the vermin remain alive we are screwed.

I suggest that only metaphorically because I am opposed to violence. But what do we do? How do we effect change if it doesn't involve violence and wiping the smirk off the Koch brothers' faces?

[TheUnspeakable]

33. Huge K & R !!!

[ScottLand]

38. He couldn't be more right about all of that. No surprise there.

Just shows he's paying attention. The American people have it in their heads that if we just get the right person in office, it'll fix the problems. The POTUS is as much a figurehead as the Queen of England.

[big lu]

39. k&R! Great clip, thank you

[DeSwiss]

40. K&R

In the Bill of Rights of the United States, there is an attempt to secure certain freedoms and protections by way of mere text on paper. Now while I understand the value of this document and the temporal brilliance of it in the context of the period of its creation, that does not excuse the fact that it is a product of social inefficiency and nothing more. Declarations of laws and rights are actually an acknowledgment of the failures of the social design. There is no such thing as 'rights' - as the reference can be altered at will. The fourth amendment is an attempt to protect against state power abuse, that is clear. But it avoids the real issue, and that is: Why would the state have an interest to search and seize to begin with? How do you remove the mechanisms that generate such behavior? We need to focus on the real cause.

I’m not saying that laws and rights are not needed at this time. They certainly are. But we need to hone our focus toward solving the actual problems. And by the way for all the nationalists out there, I'm not attacking the US Constitution. However, it's not the answer. It's naive to think that this document has that much relevance. I am a fan of people like Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich, I believe that there is a place for the work that they do. But it's not the answer. The history of America is just like the history of every other country on this planet: It is a history of deception, fraud and corruption. There is nothing to 'return to' for the integrity was never there to begin with. We must move forward, not backwards.

We have to understand that government as we know it today, is not in place for the well being of the public, but rather for the perpetuation of their establishment and their power. Just like every other institution within a monetary system. Government is a monetary invention for the sake of economic and social control and its methods are based upon self-preservation, first and foremost. All a government can really do is to create laws to compensate for an inherent lack of integrity within the social order.

In society today the public is essentially kept distracted and uninformed. This is the way that governments maintain control. If you review history, power is maintained through ignorance. ~ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPmHaTirnCc">Peter Joseph

- rEvolution, because it can't be fixed......

[spicegal]

41. So true.. and no one articulates it quite as well as

Chris Hedges. Question is, what can be done about it? There's too much money in politics. You can't get elected without big money OR remain in office. Democracy has been sold out to the highest bidder.

[RoccoR5955]

45. K & R. Every word is 1000% correct! n.t.

[whirlygigspin]

47. word

K & R

Full Interview link
10:29 secs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uz5RxhahHK0