Here is a "secret", well not so secret for I've told it before on this list. I
voted twice for Perot. Not because he was not for the most part not a
"wingnut". For he was so, though not as much so as Trump.
I voted for him because of this NAFTA thing and solely because it was also a
vote "NO" against both Clintion and Bush and in 19966 a vote against "Dole and
Clintion".
Too bad he was a wingnut. But again not as bad of a one as the other two IMO.
Hope you catch my drift for I'm eating a lot of pain killers nowadays with
medical/dental issues and don't evenmake much sense to myself with all of my
battles.
Anyway Perot was again a wingnut, but the others were worse.
And to quote Admiral Stockman, his veep pretender, "Who am I and why am I here?"
Damnit if that wasn't the existential question of the moment eh?
It was naive and stupid and yet poignent. For after all who are we and why are
we here after all?
Man they should teach that shit in philosophy classes across the world eh!
Seriously, stupid is as stupid does as they said in "Forrest Gump".
And no one, and I repeat no one even in this oligarchy has a monopoly on
"stupid".
Now as close as I can figure is we can't beat the oligarchs by our smarts
alone. Nor, by force of arms. Nor, by rhetoric. and not by any tool that I know
of except perhaps by satire, sarcasm and constant propaganistic slights like
paper cuts where we blead them by cuts of the thousands with words and ideas.
----- Original Message -----
From: Bob Hachey
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Tuesday, September 13, 2016 3:52 PM
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Attack on the Twin Towers
Hi Frank,
This is very well put. But, I know I never supported smaller government, a
stronger military or a mandated sense of national unity. though I did like the
idea of cheper goods.
One of my bigger mistakes in my thinking was to support NAFTA. I actually
laughed at Ross Perot when he warned us of the sucking sound that would
represent all of the jobs that would move overseas if we passed NAFTA. I
supported Ross in the first part of his 1992 campaign before he quit. IT would
have been truly interesting to see how things might have been different if we
had elected Ross perot. Yes, I know, he was a very well-healed capitalist. But
many of his domestic policy ideas looked to be better than those of either Bush
or Clinton.
Bob Hachey
PS.
One of my favorite slogans from Perot's campaign was:
"IT's much less expensive to send a kid to Harvard for 4 years than it is to
imprison him for the same length of time." Well, given the skyrocketing cost of
college tuition that may not be true anymore.
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Frank Ventura
Sent: Sunday, September 11, 2016 3:23 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Attack on the Twin Towers
All good points and remember we shaped the government. We wanted a strong
military and we got the military industrial complex. We wanted cheap goods and
we got the immigration issue. We wanted smaller government and we got a greatly
reduced social safety net. We wanted a mandatory sense of national unity and
now we have armed militas and patriot groups to enforce that at, even at
gunpoint. We wanted an artificial feeling of security so now we have the
patriot act, drones and wire tapping. Where will it stop?
Frank
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Alice Dampman Humel
Sent: Sunday, September 11, 2016 12:38 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Attack on the Twin Towers
I agree with Miriam.no matter how much any of us dislikes and protests the
actions of the US government, no matter how much any of us distances
him/herself from actions and positions we find repugnant, it's still "we." And
if you don't believe Miriam or me when we say so, think about how an enemy
would treat even the most outspoken protester among us if he/she were captured
or if the US were invaded by an enemy force that blew through his/her city or
neighborhood. It truly is shoot first and ask questions later. Michael Moore,
Noam Chomsky, or Bill O'Reilly or Rush Limbaugh, they're all the same to the
"other side," whatever that happens to be on any given day. And we, the US,
ourselves have done exactly the same thing.when the government decided to
imprison all Japanese in camps during WWII, they did not make exceptions for
those families who had sons, husbands, fathers, who were at that very moment
fighting in the US forces, defending the very country that was imprisoning
their families. So, like it or not, we're all part of the we until someone
decides to renounce his/her citizenship and leave the country to find one whose
citizenship he/she would find more palatable and, I might add, a country who
would accept his/her application for citizenship or political asylum. How many
starry eyed Communists tried to move to the Soviet Union only to be told, we
don't want rabble rousers like you here in the USSR?
Donne said it best: no man is an island.
On Sep 11, 2016, at 8:29 AM, Frank Ventura <frank.ventura@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Yes, but we keep giving them more and more power due to some twisted sense
of idol worship or worse still cut off our nose to spite our face portests.
Frank
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Roger Loran Bailey
Sent: Saturday, September 10, 2016 7:45 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Attack on the Twin Towers
Just because we may benefit from some concessions that the working class
has wrung out of the bourgeois state does not make us a part of their
system.
On 9/10/2016 4:12 PM, Miriam Vieni wrote:
Yes, well we can all disapprove of our government's policies. We can
disavow
them. But at the same time, we all benefit, some of us more than others,
from being US citizens. One simple example, we have all received services
for the blind. The quality of those services may vary greatly, just as our
ability to use them varies in terms of our individual situations. All of
us
on this list have computers, a place to live, enough to eat. Those things
might not be true if we lived in India, Bahrain, or Kenya. In the same
way
that white people don't want to admit that regardless of whether they want
it, they have white privilege. American leftists don't want to admit that
whether or not they approve of what our country does, they benefit from
living here.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Roger Loran
Bailey (Redacted sender "rogerbailey81" for DMARC)
Sent: Saturday, September 10, 2016 3:12 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Attack on the Twin Towers
I understand completely and I congratulate Carl because he has been prone
to
using the word we when he should be saying they too. What the U.S.
government does is what they do, not what we do. What the imperialists do
is
what they do, not what we do. To constantly refer to them as we shows an
identification with the enemy and that is exactly what the enemy wants you
to do. It makes it easier to rule over you and to exploit you if you think
you are a part of what they are doing.
On 9/10/2016 12:10 PM, Miriam Vieni wrote:
Carl,
I'm not sure I understand. You are a US citizen. You pay taxes. You
vote.
It is the US government that has declared an unending war on terror.
It is the US government that has approximately 1,000 military posts
throughout the world. True, you're not wealthy and you have little to
no control over what your government does. But if you're a citizen and
the US has more military power than any other country, why aren't you
part of the empire? Maybe you're an unwilling part, but the reality
exists that as an American, you cannot dissociate yourself from the
empire, except in your heart.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Saturday, September 10, 2016 11:34 AM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Attack on the Twin Towers
You'll find the information I've included at the end of this note to
be interesting if you are wanting to attend community college in
Tennessee.
But first I wanted to suggest that it was not the policies of our
Country in the Mid East that has brought about the violence and hatred
of America. It is the policies of the American Empire that have done
so. Speaking for myself, I do not consider myself to be a member of the
American Empire.
I was born a citizen of the United States of America, into the Working
Class, not the Oligarchy, which has ruled this nation since the
writing of the Declaration of Independence. As such, my interests are
not especially those of the Ruling Class. Nor do they listen to me,
or want my input into their affairs. The Ruling Class can buy
anything they wish, which is a very difficult thing for the Working
Class to do. Of course I understand that as far as the World is
concerned, I am one of the hated Americans. .
Carl Jarvis
And now for information about Pellissippi State:
Pellissippi State is a vital institution accustomed to transformation
and growth. Since its founding in 1974 as State Technical Institute at
Knoxville, the College has expanded the teaching of technology, the
use of technology in instruction, and the transfer of technology to
local business and industry in support of regional economic development.
Having enrolled only 45 students in its first year of operation, the
institution experienced steady growth in the '70s, adding business
technology programs to its original core of engineering technology
programs.
As community awareness grew, so did expectations. In 1988, the
Tennessee Board of Regents approved the expansion of the technical
institute's mission to include college transfer programs.
This mission expansion was accompanied by a name change to Pellissippi
State Technical Community College, and enrollment grew quickly. In
2009, the Legislature voted to shorten the name. The institution is
now known as Pellissippi State Community College.
The College continues to support and develop career-path associate's
degrees, associate's degrees for transfer, certificates, and
continuing education opportunities for the citizens of Knox, Blount,
and surrounding counties. Pellissippi State offers credit courses to
high school students as well. In partnership with the community, the
College sustains the effort toward an ever-improving quality of life for
residents of East Tennessee.
In fall 2012, 11,259 credit students were enrolled at Pellissippi
State, as well as thousands of non-credit students.
On 9/10/16, Martian.Lady <martian.lady@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hi
Where was I when the attack on the Twin Towers happened? I was
doing my OJT at Palasippi, no idea how to spell it, couldn't find it"
State Community college which was just outside of Oak Ridge Tennessee.
That was a bit scary.
For the rest of this message, please don't come down on me with
all four feet.
yes the attack was a terrible thing to happen. Yes almost 3,000
innocent people were killed. After the attack, the world supported
us in this tragic event. We refused to take advantage of this
support, choosing to take our own course.
We, as a country, refuse to mourn the possible millions of
innocent people we have killed.
This is rambling because my mind is going slightly crazy. I nee
a cat to sooth me.
Marsha
