I might as well add this deeply upsetting analysis by Ian Welsh on Crooks and Liars. I'm not a big conspiracy theorist, but stories like this--which bring together all kinds of trends and show how they fit together in a neat, dismaying package--make me lean that way. Observe:
The news in the last few days has continued the drumbeat of demoralizing events which started in the Bush administration, and with only a few hiccups has continued through the Obama administration. It is clear that Obama is, fundamentally, Bush's 3rd term.
First we have the health care "reform" debacle, where it has been confirmed that the White House pushed Harry Reid to accept Lieberman's ultimatum, not go to reconciliation. There will be no public option in the Senate bill. There will be no Medicare expansion. There will be no cap on yearly limits. What there will be is a mandate forcing people to buy insurance, some subsidies which can still leave people spending money they can't afford, and guaranteed issue of lousy plans (Plans where only 70% of the premiums have to be spent on care, for example.)
After further explication, he draws the conclusion that the very same people who are willing to spend exactly nothing on healthcare are totally willing--and have been for YEARS--to spend limitless sums waging war:
It is also noteworthy that spending billions on turning brown people into a fine red mist (a.k.a. the Afghan war) is acceptable, but health care (a.k.a. saving actual American lives) is something which can't cost money. What an interesting--and clearly evil--set of priorities that reveals. I guarantee that real healthcare reform would save more American lives than the entire war on terror—assuming said "war" hasn't cost more American lives than it's saved, which is almost certainly the case.
Welsh then brings in the continuation of Guantanamo, followed by the actions of the banking sector, which includes "bankers...giving themselves bonuses larger than the entire economy's GDP growth this year," or $140 billion in bonus pay. He quotes economist Peter Morici:
How much is $140 billion?
The U.S. economy grew at a $89 billion annualized rate in the third quarter. That was the first growth since the second quarter of 2008 and came to $22 billion in actual growth in the third quarter.
The bankers, after causing the greatest economic calamity since the Great Depression, are rewarded with six times the growth accomplished so far in the much heralded "economic recovery."
Meanwhile, seven million families face foreclosure and 25 million Americans can't find full time work.
Yeah, that. I wouldn't know anything about Americans who can't find full time work.
Honestly, I know I must be sounding like a broken record these past few days, but I just cannot get out of my head the spectacle of Lieberman and our other elected "leaders" gathering together day after day to make sure that the those of us who do not control the wealth of this country are systematically shut out of the system. (For a little tragicomic relief, check out this Onion article: Congress Deadlocked Over How To Not Provide Healthcare. LOLsob example: "When you get into the nuts and bolts of how best not to provide people with care essential to their survival, there are many things to take into consideration," Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) said. "I believe we can create a plan for Americans that allows them to not be able to go to the hospital, not get the treatment they need, and ultimately wither away and die. But we've got to act fast.")
As Welsh says:
Americans exist to be looted systematically by their elites, and if they die young and live sick, who cares? They are just sacks of money and the goal of government is to make dipping your hand into that sack as easy as possible for industries which can afford to buy government.
God, I don't want to believe that. But I'm starting to.
(H/T Space Cowboy at Shakesville.)