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Read this. It looks as though the corporate media’s hiding something (as per usual). If the Democratic challenger holds on to their lead through recounts that are expected to take days, if not weeks, it means that Scott Walker‘s agenda is DEAD. It also means that there’s no upsurge for Neoliberal “conservatism” in Wisconsin. If there’s no “upsurge” in Wisconsin, there’s even less of one nationwide. This is not based on polls or other notional grounds. This is a down n’ dirty election; we’re talking about real-deal votes cast by legit voters. Even if the GOP candidate were to steal the election in the courts (not as possible in Wisconsin as it is in Florida, Texas, and South Carolina), this will resonate with Badger State voters, who’ll realise how CLOSE the real contest was.
A friend of mine in Wisconsin (a long-time union steward) said that two factors fed into Walker’s victory, neither of which apply in a Romney versus Obama matchup. Firstly, many voters feel that the recall mechanism only applies in case of official malfeasance. That was stated by 60 percent of voters in exit polls, and my friend confirmed it. “I had good union guys, strong Democrats, say, ‘Hey, the guy didn’t do anything wrong… he’s an asshole, but he didn’t do anything wrong’. It was hard going against that”. Secondly, the Dems ran a clueless candidate. Tom Barrett has a “shitty personality”, he “didn’t fire up the base”, and “he lost to Walker the last time because he sucked”. There was so much attention on Walker that no one realised that the recall election wasn’t to decide whether Walker was to be recalled, it was an actual rerun election… my friend said that confusion was used by Walker operatives, aided by the fact that Barrett’s loud pro-gun control stance didn’t fly well in areas outside of Milwaukee, Madison, and some union strongholds. That’s why Walker racked up a 17 point plurality amongst men… Barrett was perceived by rural gun-owners as a “confiscator”. It had NOTHING to do with national “conservative” politics. My friend said, “A lotta guys voted for Walker because Barrett’s made dumbass statements about guns and gun-owners”.
Also note this… 92 percent of the voters had made up their minds A MONTH BEFORE THE ELECTION. All that much touted Super PAC money was cash stuffed down the toilet. In short… all the crowing you’re hearing from King Rush and Queen Ann (and all the rest of their drooling crew) is utter and complete 100 percent pure unalloyed bunkum and bullshit. Wisconsin was a Pyrrhic Victory… “One more victory like this, and we’ll be undone!” This was a battle… not the war. Don’t celebrate or get down in the dumps until you hear THE REST OF THE STORY.
Barbara-Marie Drezhlo
Wednesday 6 June 2012
Albany NY
Voices from Russia 
Cabinet Supports Public Office Ban for Draft-Dogders
Tags: Bill O'Reilly, conscription, Deputy Prime Minister, Dmitri Rogozin, John Boehner, legal affairs, Mitch McConnell, Mitt Romney, national service, Paul Ryan, political commentary, politics, poster, Rand Paul, Reinhold Reince Priebus, Republican, Richard Cheney, right-wing, Rush Limbaugh, Russia, Russian, Scott Walker, Sean Hannity, Smedley Butler, United States, USA, Vietnam War, War is a Racket, Willard Romney
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According to Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, the Cabinet of Ministers supports a legislative initiative banning draft-dodgers from holding public office in Russia. On Saturday, he addressed a congress of volunteer supporters of the armed forces, saying, “In general, we believe that those who didn’t serve in the forces, or, rather, those who avoided service in the forces, shouldn’t have the right to hold public office”. Earlier this month, Franz Klintsevich, a United Russia deputy, suggested banning people who haven’t performed their mandatory military service from government jobs and slapping them with a 13 percent tax. Earlier, RIA-Novosti reported that Klintsevich’s proposal failed to win government approval. As Deputy Prime Minister, Rogozin oversees the Russian military-industrial complex.
29 September 2012
RIA-Novosti
http://en.ria.ru/russia/20120929/176299564.html
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Mittens isn’t only a cowardly draft-dodger, he’s a grasping tax-cheat who pays less of his income in tax than many working stiffs. Is that the kind of America that you want? A land where the idle and feckless rich pay less in taxes (proportionately) than we do? Think hard on that before 6 November…
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Editor’s Note:
The present Republican Party (unlike the pre-Reagan GOP… let’s be truthful) is a warmongering organisation. Here’s the kicker… the most virulent sabre-rattlers are all cowards who refused to serve in the forces. Mittens had his gazillionaire daddy buy him a bogus “clergy” deferment during the Vietnam War. Rush Limbaugh claimed that he had a cyst on his arse (no lie). Former-US Vice President Richard Cheney, US Representative Paul Ryan (R-WI), Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly, Reinhold Reince Priebus, Governor Dropout Scott Walker (R-WI), and US Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) all refused to serve (Cheney was honest, at least, saying, “I had better things to do”). US Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) served on active duty for one month and US Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) served even less. In short, the current GOP is a set of arrant warmongering cowards who want to send other people to die so that they can rake in the cash and profit from the wars.
General Smedley Butler was right, “War is a racket”… that’s why we need universal national service. I mean not merely military service, “national service”… everyone gives 18 to 24 months of continuous national service doing something for the common good at a distance from home. We also need a law similar to that of France… no conscript can serve in a foreign war unless it’s a “declared war”. That is, no conscript soldier can go to war unless the war’s declared or it’s an attack on US territory.
I’m tired of selfish money-grubbing self-centred jingoistic rightwing pukes calling those of us on the left “unpatriotic”. I’ll say, “Most of these trashy sorts refused to serve their country, therefore, don’t let them serve in the government”. Not only that, we should make it law that no one convicted of or found responsible for an offence under the UCMJ can hold public office… that means that disreputable trash like US Representative Allen West (R-FL) would get the boot… he was found responsible for abusing a detainee, but he got a slap on the wrist because he was a “black Republican”… but the board did fine him (but his pals amongst the Bushies saw to it that he retained his pension), which means that he’s utterly unfit to serve in the US Congress, and that he stinks up the chamber with the reek of his dishonour to the uniform and flag.
Let everyone (and I do mean everyone, save for the severely-disabled) serve the country at age 18 (or after high school graduation). Not only should the physically-fit serve, but those physically-unable to do military duty should do civilian service of national importance. Let blind people do office work, let people in wheelchairs do what they can (and that’s a lot more than nothing, kids), and let deaf people serve, too. There’s good work for all the hands out there. Women should serve as well as men, although most women would serve in civil capacities. Let there be NO college deferments. Everyone serves before going on to school or to work. In fact, let no one go to the military academies until they’ve completed their national service successfully.
That’s my vision, and I’d describe myself as a Democratic Labour-Socialist. That’s how we’ll get the country on an even keel… not by kissing the arses of the rich and hoping that they’ll throw us a crumb or two. We need to stress SERVICE, not PROFIT. We need to stress what we share in common and what we need to do to preserve it, not foster a pointless, fruitless, and selfish “rugged individualism”. I AM my brother’s keeper… I AM one of many, not a “solitary consumer”… and, yes, this land is OUR land… and its well-worth defending and serving. As for the rich… the less that’s said of such godless Mammon-worshippers, the better…
BMD