How is Ron Paul like a Chevy Commercial?

Topher Morrison
PurpleSerf.com

Poll averages since November 2010 for the 2012 GOP
presidential nomination.
Image Source: RealClearPolitics.com

He's like a rock, ohh like a rock!  Dependable, long lasting and hard working a true and tested 2012 Ron Paul at a poll near you!  Maybe Bob Seger could endorse Ron Paul, I can just see the campaign ad now...


          Throughout the campaign, much like his career, Ron Paul has been the consistent conservative; like his policies his support has remained unwavering.  With the exception of two candidates whom were essentially dead-on-arrival, Ron Paul has had the lowest poll swings among all the candidates.  The GOP presidential nomination has resembled the stock market more than it has a traditional campaign.  Just look at those coasters, it could make an Imagineer blush!


          There have been lots of hares in this race from Rick Perry's meteoric rise and crash to Herman Cain's sharp ascension, but Ron Paul's slow and steady pace may indeed win him the race.  While a massive swing into the positive would of course be welcomed by the Ron Paul campaign and his ardent Paulistas, it may be better to save his growing war chest for Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Florida.


          The Drudge Report linked "New Polls Show: Romney Ahead in First Four States", but the article also mentioned something not widely accepted, the fact that it looks as though Ron Paul is beating not only Newt Gingrich, but Rick Perry as well.  Moreover, as Bachmann's summer star continues to fade Rick Santorum and John Huntsman look more than ever, irrelevant.  Once all three have finally sung their last song all attention will undoubtedly be on three others: Cain, Romney and Perry, but Ron Paul will evidently be in 3rd regardless of who is paying attention.  

1000 Nations: The Most Progressive Movement on the Planet

Topher Morrison
PurpleSerf.com

Pictures of Dubai before and after becoming a special economic
zone (SEZ) and undergoing substantial legal reform. See
also pictures of Schenzhen, China - amazing!
Image Source: AThousandNations.com

Small governments are the most effective political bodies in the world.  You often hear or see the phrase "Think Globally, Act Locally" most often in reference to climate change, however, if we applied this concept to governance, the world would be a much better place.  


          People often talk about competition making businesses better, but how can competition make governments more accountable, more useful and more responsive to the needs of their people?  The answer: create more of them!  Governments by definition cannot survive without their citizens, therefore, it would seem to benefit us if we force them to compete over our tax dollars.


          While there is of course a finite amount of land and little likelihood that the 188+ nations already established will part with theirs, there are efforts to create special economics zones if not radical open ocean platforms. These are the ideas espoused by organizations like FreeCities.org and Seasteading.org.


          Imagine a world in which governments had to compete for citizens from 1000 nations?  While central banks, politicians and technocrats more and more attempt to consolidate the world under one government, the ultimate goal of megalomaniacs over the millennia, the rights, liberties and needs of the many will factor less and less into the decision making of the few.


          Ever since the Declaration of Independence and the establishment of the US Constitution what were essentially several large spheres of influence operated by German, English, Russian, Spanish, French, etc. empires gave rise to a wave of independent nation states embracing democracy under popular sovreignity.  


          Since that time these formerly independent nation states have been slowly consolidated once again under the European Union, the Meditterenean Union, the African Union and ultimately the United Nations under the auspices of peace and prosperity.  If our current economic crisis and perpetual warfare has shown, this system which has operated over the past 50 years has not resulted in what was promised.


          These systems have been called "The Most Progressive Movement on the Planet" while libertarians refer to it as the most important step toward securing prosperity, personal liberty and peace.

BEWARE: Vatican Calls for Central World Bank

Topher Morrison
PurpleSerf.com


Read: Vatican Calls for Central World Bank


Watch: The Money Masters (1996)

This movie is essential for beginning to understand why a private central world bank has the very real possibility of bringing on economic Armageddon.  This is not to be understated.

Purple Serf's Crystal Ball: Illiberal Revolutions Realized

Topher Morrison
PurpleSerf.com

Last Feburary, at the beginning of what would later be referred to as the Arab Spring, Purple Serf through our patented Crystal Ball technology, predicted it would not resemble a liberal revolution.  Whatever occurred would be defined locally and radicalized, especially if foreign hands where seen as intervening.  What we have now is Middle East democracy: rough, Islamic and most often - illiberal.  Perhaps Americans can finally see there is no inherent redemptive qualities to democracy as such, after all it still may be called democratic when two wolves and a sheep vote over what's for dinner.


          Today, much to the chagrin of the naive among us and those working for western powers and NGOs who have meddled in the Arab Spring, the fears of Sharia law and rabid Islamism are being realized.  As secular approaches to Middle East governance are being maligned by more fundamentalist victories, the Middle East truly has experienced a revolution - ending up right where they started, exchanging a single tyranny for the tyranny of the majority.  

From "End of History for the Middle East?" Posted Feburary 19th, 2011 at PurpleSerf.com:

"In Egypt, Yemen, Libya, Mauritius, Jordan, Tunisia, Algeria, Bahrain, Iran, we hope to see the liberal democratic domino effect we never saw [from] Communism, but it seems the wrong dominoes are falling [referring to secular, albeit authoritarian, leaders].  After decades of handpicking dictators and sending in troops to secure "freedom" foreign policy hawks are dreading democracy once again.  The successful ousting of Egypt’s Mubarak and Tunisia’s Zine el Abidine ben Ali leads to what exactly?  This isn’t a calculated ideological uprising based on the violation of inalienable rights and liberties, it is merely because food prices are soaring, jobs are hard to find, and the future is bleak!  

This area of the world is very much in the throws of history, rife with ethnic division, religious intolerance, playboy leadership, and rampant tyranny (both private and public), only now budding with trappings of consumerism and a myriad of ideas regarding the future of their society as people connect to each other via cell phones, email, Twitter, Facebook, You Tube, and Google. Liberalism plays no current role in the Middle East and never has.  If Egypt is the “trend setter” everyone claims it to be then the Middle East will remain right where it is in history stagnating among awkward opinions regarding gender segregation, stoning adulterers, cutting off thieves hands, and capital punishment for those whom convert out of Islam.

It is highly dubious to believe billions of dollars in economic and military aid will soon deliver the Egyptians or anyone in the Middle East for that matter out of these bizarre notions of ideal society.  If the Protestant Reformation and the American Revolution taught us anything it is that real change requires a perfect storm, sometimes doesn’t come for generations, but most assuredly doesn’t come from foreign intervention." 

          Today Tunisia, ground zero for the Arab Spring, successfully completed its first democratic election.  This, in and of itself, is a positive step, however, as time will show democracy is no panacea for Tunisia's ills.  Many of the factors that led to the lurid self immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi still persist.  In fact, if the fears of liberals and secularists are confirmed, the election of an Islamist majority will do much to undermine freedom in what is generally considered a more liberal and moderate Tunisia than the rest of North Africa and the Middle East.  Democracy in the end may lead, as it so often does, to demagogues more interested in enflaming the old passions and fears of the people than freeing them from tyranny and dogma.            


          A poignant example of these lupine decisions in Middle East democracy comes from Libya.  Recently dispatched dictator, Mohammar Ghaddafi and his son haven't been buried within the 24 hours dictated by Islamic law and Ghaddafi's wish, to be buried in his hometown of Sirte, are highly doubted to be honored.  In its first opportunity to follow the rule law (in this case Islamic law) Libyan leadership has proven inept, that is however if you consider Ghaddafi a muslim (or human for that matter); according to the Libyan office of fatwas (religious decrees) Ghaddafi is not.  In the end, NATO has along with its rag-tag band of Al-Qaeda fighters and Libyan revolutionaries successfully ushered in, not a liberal democratic revolution, but Sharia law and this fact is growing more evident by the day.


          In Egypt we have the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood under a military junta which as of yet has not set a date for elections. In Iraq an emboldened and strengthened Moqtada Al-Sader recently returned to Iraq from Iran and partially through his party's influence managed to force Obama's hand in removing US troops.  Secretary of State Hillary Clinton unconvincingly attempted to save face by claiming that the removal of troops did not signal diminished hegemony or commitment in the region.  On the way out Secretary of Defense Leon Penetta reminded the world and the Middle East the US still maintains "40,000 troops" in the region.  Iraq similar to Tunisia insofar as it is another more moderate and secular state looks as though, under the guidence of men like Al-Sadar, may be well on its way back to the fundamentals.

Uganda, Bi-Partisanship Alive & Well in War

Topher Morrison
PurpleSerf.com


Does Middle East intervention have you down?  Tired of burkas, camels, black gold and five-times-daily call to prayer?  Don't fret because a new exotic adventure into the heart of the Dark Continent will brighten your spirits! 


          Last Friday President Obama sent a letter to Speaker of the House John Boehner to inform him 100 combat-ready advisors were to be sent to Africa.  By no means was this another seemingly brazen and unilateral decision on behalf of the Executive, to the contrary, Obama was merely fulfilling bi-partisan legislation under the authority granted to him by the Lord's Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act of 2009.  


          What is most interesting about this event is it occurred under the ostensible left cover of the Occupy Wall Street protests, an occupied media (all puns intended) and under the right cover of the traditional neo-cons, which permeate many a Beltway think tank.

The emblem of AFRICOM
Image Source: Wikipedia

          Backed up by $28 million and 64 Senate co-sponsors (19 Republicans, 44 Democrats, 1 Independent), this new adventure into the heart of the Dark Continent is arguably more than a "disarmament" and "recovery act."  What was once, much to the chagrin of this author, a seemingly insignificant command as of its founding in 2006, US AFRICOM has since become a centerpiece of American foreign policy.


          In initial reports only the Uganda proper was mentioned in headlines, however, after reading into S. 1067 it is evident that this intervention is about much more than just Uganda.  The Commander in Chief will be responsible not only for the "Great Lakes Region", but "all areas affected by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA)" under the legislation.  Therefore, the operational theatre includes, at least officially, "Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda, [newly independent] Southern Sudan, Uganda, [and even] southeastern Central African Republic (CAR)."  That is a whole lot of terrain for 100 advisors.

            While neo-con cheerleader Rush Limbaugh have used this latest intervention as a political bludgeon to further wound an already unpopular president, the LRA is not (as Rush would have it) a purely revolutionary Christian militia merely espousing the 10 Commandments and a democratic republic tolerant of all political persuasions against an ostensibly fundamentalist Islamic government  


          In truth, although spokesmen for the LRA movement have called for "competitive multiparty democracy" and an end to "repressive" policies there is an ocean of far more more nefarious reports.  Evidently the LRA is responsible for 30,000 deaths over the last 10 years and enjoys recruiting young boys and girls into their ranks.  Moreover, the LRA reportedly uses the latter as sex slaves while pillaging the countryside, raping and maiming as they please.  A highly detailed and real-time tracking system documenting attacks, deaths, rapes, torture and abductions has been made available online at: LRACrisisTracker.com (a must see), something the militaries involved have taken notice of too. 

Screen capture of LRACrisisTracker.com

            While Mr. Limbaugh is no stranger to making less than informed comments about international affairs his refusal to abjure the LRA and its activities in order to promote criticism of "the regime", as he often refers to the Obama administration, undermines the legitimate effort to criticize Obama's aggressive foreign policy. 


          While these atrocities may be reprehensible and no doubt the LRA should be brought to justice, if in fact what is reported is true, it is another question entirely whether or not the U.S. should compound its current commitments and intercede on behalf of these central African nations.  Mr. Limbaugh was right to question, what are our "national security interests" in the heart of the Dark Continent?


          This more libertarian objection is echoed by Gene Healy of the Cato Institute:

"The Obama team has embraced the U.N. doctrine known as 'Responsibility to Protect,' which holds that the 'international community' has an obligation to protect civilians from crimes against humanity—by force, if necessary—when their own governments cannot or will not.

That doctrine is at odds with the U.S. Constitution, which empowers Congress to set up a military establishment for the singular end of 'the common defence ... of the United States.'


Even so, the emerging Obama Doctrine reflects a fondness for feel-good 'humanitarian interventions,' through which we prove our nobility by putting blood and treasure at risk when there's nothing in it for us."  

          It may be argued, however, that there is very much in it for us - well at least for US multinational corporations.  Last year the New York Times reported the U.S. identified more than $1 trillion in mineral reserves throughout Afghanistan, but evidently the Chinese too were hot on the trail having already secured the development of the largest copper mine in the country, according to the NYT:


          "American officials fear resource-hungry China will try to dominate
          the development of Afghanistan’s mineral wealth, which could upset the United
          States, given its heavy investment in the region.  After winning the bid for its Aynak
          copper mine in Logar Province, China clearly wants more, American officials said."


The bid to win the contract was embroiled in an alleged scandal involving over $30 million, which resulted in the sacking of Afghanistan's Minister of Mines.  Imagine this: American soldiers attempting to win the "hearts and minds" of the Afghanis for nearly ten years to the tune of trillions of dollars and thousands of lives and China literally under U.S. Taxpayer protection is winning precious metals contracts!  This was nothing short of an embarrassment, one that was never fully acknowledged, at least publicly.    


          Considering China's rapacious appetite for minerals and Africa's abundance a less than altruistic motive for American involvement in Africa appears:

Video Source: RussiaToday

          

          The quite reasonable interpretation of Obama's intervention is tripartite in nature; to secure African minerals and fuel against Chinese competition (what I would term resource containment harkening back to a mercantilistic mentality), to combat pirates harassing ships in the Gulf of Aden and to support the Ugandan government whose military provides the bulk force supporting the transitional government in Somolia.  East African forces along with a growing number of secret and not-so-secret US drone bases proliferating throughout the Middle-East and Africa forms a coalition not dissimilar to that model exemplified between NATO and the revolutionaries in Libya.  It is this symbiotic relationship, which is fighting against Al Shabaab, the al Qaeda-linked Islamist militant group which still controls most of Somalia.


          In the end the new 100 man mission to central Africa is merely another thread in the  massive tapestry of intervention, nation building and adventurism that is American foreign policy.  Considering the fact this legislation and its execution has drawn little criticism, but in fact much support shows that although the American political class is in vociferous opposition at home and driving us nuts while they are at it are in bi-partisan fashion loath to abominate war abroad.


           

Occupy Phoenix: Guy Fawkes, Flat Tax & Black Walnut

Topher Morrison
PurpleSerf.com


The mainstream and alternative media have been responding to the Occupy Wall Street movement like a poltical Rorschach test; at Occupy Phoenix we saw why.  Purple Serf was on the scene trying to figure out what ethos is truly driving the Occupy Wall Street movement, what should be referred to more appropriately as Occupy "Insert Your City Here", not as catchy I guess.

Brazen Racism at Occupy Phoenix

Topher Morrison
PurpleSerf.com


The Tea Party has been consistently accused of racism and without substantial evidence.  This is an example of some of the most vitriolic rhetoric out there, but don't expect what you are about to see to characterize (nor should it) the Occupy "X" movement that is spreading nationally and around the world.   

Will this evidence show the left and the right that racism is a benighted feature of both sides of the political spectrum?  Doubtful... Regardless I have a lot more to show from Occupy Phoenix, coming soon...

Values Voters and Ron Paul

Jack Kerwick, PH.D.
The New American
October 12th, 2011

*EDITORS NOTE*

I have uncharacteristically included the last portion of the article.  It best drives at the ambivalence of social conservatives to libertarianism.  If these conservatives emancipate themselves from a pointless culture war and the destructive war on terror a real restoration of our republic may be close at hand.


On the News: Ron Paul wins Values Voters Straw Poll, Leaves Cain in the Dust

"...Finally, that Paul appealed to the majority of “values voters” participating in their “summit’s” straw poll just might be due to the growing recognition that his ideas are not only constitutional, but they are as well Christian. The importance of this insight can’t be overstated. 

The Santorums and Bennetts of our generation have long promoted the idea that the federal government must be enlisted in the service of “Judeo-Christian” morality. They may very well believe this. However, in appealing to “values voters” — the vast majority of whom are Christians — Paul invites his supporters to revisit a feature of their tradition, an idea rooted in the teaching of Christ to which the rise of the dominance of our federal government and the utopian politics with which this has been coupled have all but blinded them.        

This is the idea that the realms of politics and religion — “Caesar” and God, or as Augustine put it, “the City of Man” and “the City of God” — though they may and often do overlap, are nevertheless mutually distinct. Those who would conflate the two aren’t just fools; they are blasphemers. With those few simple words — “Give unto Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God” — Jesus opened an unbridgeable chasm between Christianity, on the one hand, and utopian politics on the other. Indeed, from the apostle Paul to Augustine and throughout even the medieval period, for the duration of their pre-modern history, Christians knew this well. However, the emergence of centralized governments and the unprecedented power over which they acquired a monopoly forced this old Christian concept to the periphery. 

Perhaps Paul’s victory at the Values Voters Summit signals its resurrection."


Read this article in its entirety at TheNewAmerican.com.

Elizabeth Warren Parody!

TopherMorrison
PurpleSerf.com


Elizabeth Warren is running for Massachuetts federal senate seat against Scott Brown now disowned son of the Tea Party movement.   She recently garnered some serious noteriety after being mentioned on Drudge Report and Rush Limbaugh and after her YouTube video went viral.  


This is just hilarity incarnate...
But first the original video on fair taxation and government spending:



Now the good stuff:

GOPs New Love Affair, Herman Cain and VAT Taxes

Topher Morrison
PurpleSerf.com

There is a floating faction in the GOP which can't seem to settle on one candidate.  First into the spotlight was Michelle Bachmann and her Tea Party legitimacy.  Then it was Rick Perry who in classic Texan fashion came out of the gate guns a blazin' only to be holstered just as fast.  Begrudgingly the conservative undecideds have returned to Mitt Romney who wears his experience in Massachusetts like a scarlet letter.  In every case with a challenger to this ostensible nominee their loss of appeal is someone else's gain, Herman Cain is the latest example.  But is Cain destined for a similar fate once the restless side of the GOP takes a closer look at him?


          He is a straight talker.  You feel like you know where he stands and if he doesn't know he'll tell you.  But aside from the esoteric who is Herman Cain?  What would his first 100 days look like?  Well in the words of Herman Cain himself, "Lets Get Real."


UPDATE: American Research Group says Cain is #1 in South Carolina



          No stranger to business (or admittedly to ignorance in world affairs) and evidently adept at communicating his goals, Cain has succinctly articulated his platform; 9-9-9.  He advocates flat taxes of 9% on net business profits, 9% personal income tax allowing only for charitable donation deductions and a 9% national sales tax.  The 9-9-9 plan includes a transitional stage where the "the Fair Tax would ultimately replace individual and corporate income taxes."  Why there is a need for a transition is not clear, however, Cain claims that "amidst a backdrop of the economic boom created by the Phase 1 Enhanced Plan, I will begin the process of educating the American people on the benefits of continuing the next step to the Fair Tax."  Whether America will be ready for the lesson is another question entirely.   


          There are some interesting opinions on this strategy of transition.  Considering Congress' short attention span who's to say that some "crisis" won't arise (they do so often in Washington these days) and stymies any transition from Cain's tripartite taxation system into a true flat and fair tax.  How many crises do you think would arise should the United States carve out not only the IRS, but the galaxy of ancillary organizations from Deloitte & Touche to Turbo Tax?  Who's to say we wouldn't be stuck with the whole shebang?


          The Wall Street Journal calls "Cain's tax mutiny" a "political killer."  They admit the plan is deficit neutral and would bring into government coffers as much as the current tax system, that it would eliminate double taxation on savings and investment, eliminate loopholes that have allowed companies like Google and General Electric to pay next to zero income tax.  Cain's plan admittedly would also reduce the distortions created by compliance (and avoidance), would substantially increase our global competitiveness, and would allow the U.S. economy to tap into a deep worldwide reservoir of foreign direct investment; in other words "if Americans want more jobs, this plan would produce them in a hurry" according to the WSJ.  However, there is a dark side to Herman Cain's plan.


          Americans have been snookered before, according to the WSJ:


          "the current income tax was introduced in 1913 with a top rate of 7% amid promises
           that it would never exceed 10%.  By 1918 the tope rate was 77%."


Because his plan does not first eliminate the 16th Amendment, which created the national income tax, America seduced by the intoxicating prospect of flat and fair taxes and rapid growth will in reality be made vulnerable to newer more demagogic style tax politics akin to those in Europe. 


          "Consumption tax rates usually started at less than 10%, but in much of euroland 'the
           rates have nearly doubled and now are close to 20%,' according to a study by the
           Cato Institute's Dan Mitchell.  Because a sales tax would raise hug sums with small
           increases in the rate, we would see regular campaigns like 'a penny to fight poverty,'
           or 'one-cent for universal health care' that would be politically tough to defeat."


Moreover, Josh Barro of the National Review points out that the 9% business tax needs either some fine tuning or at least clarification as it seems to be in essence a "lightly modified VAT" which doesn't exactly "equalize the treatment of corporate debt and equity."


          If you don't buy that the European track record will apply here, a head Senatorial tax advisor pointed out to PurpleSerf today the abysmal situation in California.  The politically blue state is very much in the red even though it has both sales and state income taxes which exceed corresponding rates in most of the lower 48!  "That is a staggering double whammy!" he continued "...unless the income tax is completely abolished an additional tax system like a VAT is and should be a non-starter."   


          The issue of federal taxation is of growing importance not only when it comes to reducing the debt, simplifying our lives, but who is ultimately being paid and how much control Washington should wield over the country's wealth.  Herman Cain's time with the Federal Reserve of Kansas City has been a concern for many paleo-conservatives, libertarians and constitutionalists.  The group WeAreChange.org recently followed Herman Cain in Iowa (gets interesting at 6:50):

          Evidently Herman Cain is for a sound money system and from this interview apparently one based on gold, which brings him within the orbit of Ron Paul yet there is little publicity on this point.  However, much in the same vein as his 9-9-9 plan there needs to be another transition period from fiat currency to sound money so don't expect him to end the Federal Reserve any time soon.  He offers a compelling reason not to: "the guiding economic principles is... measurements must be dependable" if we were to eliminate the Fed "there would be chaos."  

           He advocates that Congress should start doing its job by vetting Federal Reserve appointees more closely and narrowing their prerogatives.  In response to Thomas Jefferson's words lamenting the prospect of a central bank Mr. Cain claimed we now live in a "global economy and a global financial system."  The exact point at which a private central bank was required for this new world order rather than the democratically elected Congress of the United States he did not elaborate.   

          I wonder if Mr. Cain has thought about how the global system would react to him undercutting their tax rates and reintroducing a gold standard to a world based on fiat.  Talk about chaos!  For all the transitions Herman Cain advocates one has to wonder when or will the rubber ever meet the road.  With no public record to point to, lets get real, it's anyones guess. 

UPDATE: Ron Paul's Revolution Super PAC has their own incendiary compare and contrast.

Sunday's Mail Bag

Topher Morrison
PurpleSerf.com


We all receive a lot of chain mail especially when people catch wind of what is most important to us.  I want to start posting some of the best I receive each week on Sunday.  So here it is, enjoy Purple Serf's - Sunday Mail Bag.  

Don't take him back!  He broke nearly every promise
he every made to you America!  He may be a good
lookin', smooth talkin' long legged mac daddy, but
you know he just playin' you!

          Consider how Barack Obama has recently lambasted fiscal conservatives for using the debt ceiling as a political bludgeon.  These are very different sentiments than he has previously espoused.  Once upon a time you would have thought President Obama was a fiscal hawk!

“The fact that we are here today to debate raising America's debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the US Government cannot pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government's reckless fiscal policies. Increasing America's debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that, "the buck stops here.' Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better.” - 

-Senator Barack H. Obama, March 2006

          Once upon a time Barack Obama was a lot of things to everyone.  He promised restraint, transparency, but most of all change, yet he has proven as bellicose as the Bush administration, if not more. Barack Obama has now advanced America into Libya, Yemen, Pakistan and covertly in Iran.  We are more deeply involved in Middle Eastern politics than ever.  Obama double downed on Bush's torture gaffs and now tacitly supports extrajudicial killings of US citizens.  


          The virtual financial dictatorship of Ben Bernanke is more apparent than ever when it was shown that not only the biggest banks in America get bailed out, foreign banks were financed as well and behind our backs.  This administration is more involved even in the shadows as the growing Fast and Furious scandal attests.  Moreover, Obama has filled his cabinet with big business insiders, he has increased our nations profligate spending and he presides over unprecedented debt and persistent unemployment.  We are more than ever one nation under Washington.

New Media the Mid-Wife of 2nd American Revolution

Topher Morrison

PurpleSerf.com

Image Source: Third World Traveler

Unbiased news and objective reporting are nothing more than modern chimeras.  What is omitted is often the most important part of context.  As in the pursuit of any ideal all journalists can honestly profess is to labor on the path of infinite progress.  Claims to have accomplished an unbiased representation or a truly objective report should be viewed as dubious.  In other words:

"Truth and news are not the same thing." 

– Katharine Graham, owner of The Washington Post 

          The complexity of any event is always best understood much later after all the facts are understood.  Hindsight after all is 20/20.  All any one individual or organization can do is report the constellation of available facts as succinctly and accurately as possible.  

          Despite the groundbreaking advances in technology journalism remains a human production.  The real achievement therefore has not been increased accuracy as much as it has been an amelioration of inequality between establishment media, grassroots journalism and the social media which tie them together.

          The world of journalism is now all, but flat.  Our access to tools and information is unprecedented even when compared with that available five years ago.  The cost of that access has similarly been reduced.  Citizen journalism is on the rise, is providing a valuable supplement to traditional news organs and is unearthing a middle ground between the traditional left and right.

   

"During times of universal deceit.  Telling the truth is revolutionary."

- George Orwell

Occupy Wall St. is 3 Years Late

Topher Morrison
PurpleSerf.com


Is Occupy Wall Street a new Tea Party?  The simple answer, no.

"Eat the Greed!"
Two things are certain, neither the rich or the greedy will ever go away so what do we do from here?

          If anything else, Occupy Wall Street is unfashionably late to the protest party.  It seems frustratingly clear that this part of the occupation is merely transient.  While I don't want to gloss over the libertarian streak clearly evident in signs protesting America's wars, police abuses and bailouts, many in the Occupy Wall Street crowd have been protesting the age old vice "greed" as if it has just reared its ugly head.  In this case their protest is about as productive as protesting lust.


          To ignore that big government (a frequent target in Tea Party demonstrations) and Wall Street (the target of this protest) collude to our detriment is to sacrifice an opportunity to point a public finger in the right direction.  This is not a failure of capitalism, but of brazen corporatism!  Washington and Wall Street created this mess by appropriating and creating nearly $13 trillion of our money in order to buttress teetering financial institutions.


          Ben Bernanke, one of the architects of the 2008 bailouts, has now admitted the recovery is "close to faultering."  Evidently their plan has failed leaving us with a debased currency, stratospheric debt and intolerable unemployment.  Much of the Occupy Wall Street is a reaction to this failure, not to the cause.  The occupiers are seeking ends not a return to restraint.  They see Wall Street getting theirs and they want in.  They are concerned about unemployment, lack of benefits and Wall Street's exorbitant bonus structure not the close relationship between elected officials and CEOs.  The opprobrium being foisted on Wall Street, is justified, but many are not seeing the forrest for the trees.


          In short, much of Occupy Wall St. are 3 years late.  The real protest should have taken place in front of the Department of Treasury, the Federal Reserve, the White House and the FDIC.  If these elements of Occupy Wall Street are sated with more government spending in the form of free college tuition, universal health care and a living wage in the form of a Restoring the American Deal Act, watch the movement dissolve as quickly as it arose.


          There are highlights in the Occupy X movement, however.  Occupy Chicago has camped in front of the Federal Reserve for 11 days and there seems to be a mix of conservative and liberal elements.  Occupy Boston melodically chanted "fuck the Fed" to the beat of drums.

          It is possible, given these recent ancillary developments, there merely has been a strong effort by traditional organizations to re-inject themselves into relevancy before the elections.  It has been reported that labor unions have thrown their weight behind Occupy Wall Street.  Maybe it's the name Wall Street itself, which calls for the traditional left to come out and try to continue where they left off, but given the new direction and the new focus on the Federal Reserve these protests may turn out to be quite different.  Lets hope they are.

Want to know exactly who we're up against, who we should be protesting?  Click here.