Politspective
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“Same-sex couples should be able to get married.”—President Obama
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From North Carolina’s Charlotte Observer. The last time North Carolina amended its constitution on marriage, it was to ban interracial marriage.
If you don’t know who Maurice Sendak is (was) and why he is (still is) so cool. Then you really have to watch this video!
Stephen Cobert interviews Maurice Sendak
Soviel zur FPÖ Sicherheitspolitik. Der Notruf zum ANHÖREN!
(Das Bild ist verpixelt, hier geht es klarer: http://www.fpoe-wien.at/index.php?id=1200&maID=2000&cHash=4efbfa09420ca9475176b85a63f7a641)
(Photo Courtesy 401k)
BY ISRAEL ORTEGA
Just in time for the start of the general election, President Obama is seeking to cast himself as a man of the people by pushing for a millionaire’s tax to promote a more equitable and fair society. It’s a predictable pitch that the president has campaigned on before. As his argument goes, the wealthy must pay their “fair share” in order to fund a seemingly limitless government.
And thanks to a number of Spanish language surrogates and a sympathetic Spanish language media, President Obama is getting virtually a free pass convincing many Latinos that enacting the “Buffett Rule,” will help solve our country’s fiscal problems.
Latinos, as all Americans, should read the fine print
It is easy to denounce a President for being populist -specially in a Democracy-, but it sure is not that easy trying to argue that claim without being populist oneself. First of all, asking people with different incomes and assets to pay different taxes is not class warfare, it is fairness. But hey, in an election year, when The Heritage Foundation is seeking to see one of their guys in The White House, using anachronistic terms to revive communistic fears is just necessary. It just isn’t populism when it comes from the right.
The text is full of misleading words and expressions chosen to generate fear and hate. Take for example this sentence: “Instead of providing the full picture on the taxes levied on America’s most successful […]”. Just one thing: being rich is not equal to being successful. If trying to sell a policy suggestion as “punishing success” is not populism, then I don’t know what is. If you haven’t heard of successful people who are not necessarily wealthy or of wealthy people who got rich just by chance, then I’m willing to introduce you to some.
Now, yes, the revenues are a small share of the whole National Debt, but I’m sorry, is just more income than no tax revenue at all. Even better, it is way more money, than spending even more on tax cuts for the wealthiest of Americans. And yes, some of the money may not go directly to pay the national debt, but that doesn’t mean that it will be wasted. There are also good things the government can invest in. And Latinos, hear well, because you may be the most benefited.
By the way, even as Latinos represent the biggest and fastest growing minority in the country, they make just a very, very small share of the wealthiest people in the U.S. This huge gap is not because Hispanics are lazy or not so “successful” and it says a lot about how wealth distribution works in the U.S. So don’t worry, Latinos, in fact you should not reject the Buffet Rule, you should embrace it. It very, very probably won’t reach you. And if it does, it well may help to fund education and health for your community and ultimately change the composition of the richest of Americans.
MLK Jr.
Probably the most powerful speech caught on tape, ever!
On a day like this Martin Luther King, the greatest of all american organizers was shot dead. Let’s remember him!
Bryan Stevenson is a public-interest lawyer who recently gave an inspiring TED Talk about racial injustice. Stevenson founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, an Alabama-based group that has won major legal challenges eliminating excessive, unfair and racist sentencing. This is a rare TED Talk for confronting issues of racial injustice„,
more. it’s pretty incredible. beyond incredible, actually.
It has been a long time since the last TED Talk worth watching. This here most certainly is!
Sartre is always a good choice!
(via maxistentialist)
Eine Antwort auf den Artikel von Jochen Bittner bei “Die Zeit”.
Wahrscheinlich meint es der “Die Zeit” Journalist Jochen Bittner einfach sarkastisch, wenn er meint, dass man dem Verfassungsschutz vorgeworfen hat “das Undenkbare nicht gedacht zu haben”.
Vielleicht entsteht aus lauter Ignoranz die Behauptung, dass Politik auf den Straßen zu brennenden Mittelklassewagen führt. Wahrscheinlich mag er es reaktionär, wenn er es so verwerflich findet “den Herrschenden ihre ökonomischen Machtgrundlage zu entreißen”.
Aber was, wenn dahinter einfach mehr steckt? Oder genauer gesagt, weniger? Was, wenn der Artikel einfach nur dumm ist?
Es ist ja nicht gerade undenkbar, illegale, neonazistische Gruppierungen wären Gewaltbereit. Der Vorwurf lautete, wo es doch so offensichtlich war, wieso der Verfassungsschutz so lange nicht agierte.
Parlamentarismus ist auch nicht mit Demokratie gleichzusetzen. Es kann Demokratie ohne Parlamentarismus geben, aber wichtiger: Parlamentarismus kann auch ohne Demokratie existieren. Und in der Tat, mit ein bisschen Recherche hätte der Herr Bittner herausgefunden, dass die Parlamente, Kongresse, Kammern und dergleichen, sehr, sehr selten (um nicht NIE zu sagen) die Zusammensetzung des Volkes wiederspiegeln. Kein Wunder, dass Leute unser System nicht immer als echt demokratisch sehen. Kein Wunder, dass viele einen Systemwechsel fordern. Das macht sie nicht zu Antidemokraten, schon gar nicht zu Verfassungsschändern.
Aber bitte, zumindest von Überwachung kann jedenfalls nicht die Rede sein. Denn der Verfassungsschutz tut ja nicht mehr als jede Zeitungsredaktion machen könnte. Nur einen Haken hat es trotzdem: Sie sind keine Zeitung, sondern ein Organ des Staates.
Blöde Artikel können auf vielerlei Humus wachsen. Auch auf “Der Zeit”.
http://www.zeit.de/2012/05/Beobachtung-Linkspartei-Pro?commentstart=9#comments
- The Washington Monthly on yesterday’s speech from Mitt Romney and how it compared to the speech delivered by Barack Obama in the same State four years ago.
