Rep. Michael Grimm (R-N.Y.) got in a reporter's face and threatened him after President Barack Obama's State of the Union address Tuesday night.
During an interview with NY1 after Obama's speech, Grimm refused to answer questions about allegations concerning his campaign finances. Grimm can be seen in the video walking away from the reporter, but returning and getting in the reporter's face after he went off air.From CNN:
I was extremely annoyed because I was doing NY1 a favor by rushing to do their interview first in lieu of several other requests. The reporter knew that I was in a hurry and was only there to comment on the State of the Union, but insisted on taking a disrespectful and cheap shot at the end of the interview, because I did not have time to speak off-topic. I verbally took the reporter to task and told him off, because I expect a certain level of professionalism and respect, especially when I go out of my way to do that reporter a favor. I doubt that I am the first Member of Congress to tell off a reporter, and I am sure I won’t be the last.So ya see, he was doing NY1 a favor by graciously deigning to cast a few pearls before the swine. But then that bad ol' reporter just had to go and ruin a beautiful moment by trying to ask a buncha uppity questions about how maybe the guy's a fuckin' crook.
Here's food for thought: Fast-tracking could become the model for a new and profoundly subversive model of governance – one in which elected government becomes little more than an afterthought to corporate-backed deal-making. It's not hard to imagine a dystopian future where this becomes the norm.
In the right hands it might make a good science-fiction novel: a world in which individual governments, treaty organizations and even the United Nations have been replaced by a new governing body comprised entirely of corporate representatives. Think of it as a World Financial Parliament or a Global House of Corporate Lords, where the only "voting" the rest of us do happens when we watch a movie, play a video game, or take a prescription medication.
And even when we do, we don't really have much of a choice at all.Back in the 90s, I tho't NAFTA was a great idea. I was wrong. See how that works? You take a look at the effects of a given policy after it's been in place for a while, and you learn a little something about how maybe we shouldn't have done what we did, and then you do that most horriblest thing that anybody could possibly do - ya change your mind.
A key figure in the Republican establishment surrendered belatedly on the central tactic for voter suppression, the myth of voter fraud. For the Presidential Commission on Election Administration, Jan 2014 to admit that voter fraud is “rare” is an understatement. However, for a commission co-chaired by vaunted Republican election law attorney Benjamin L. Ginsberg to sign off on that admission is epic.
Voter fraud is the rational for voter identification (Voter ID) requirements. For years, Republican legislatures across the country have enacted voter identification card (voter ID) requirements to suppress the Democratic vote. There can be no other reason since it was established years ago by the Bush Justice Department that voter fraud didn’t exist. A comprehensive study in 2007 showed that in three years of Bush Justice Department efforts (2002-2005), only 38 cases of voter fraud were brought with only 24 guilty findings. Voter fraud isn’t just “rare,” it is virtually non-existent.
Yet, thanks to the fantasy of voter fraud, we have voter ID laws in 20 plus states. It’s a little late to say “I was wrong.” But, it is not too late to repeal all those voter ID laws based on the voter fraud scam.Read all about it at The Agonist.
Always remember the first rule of power tactics: Power is not only what you have but what the enemy thinks you have.hat tip = Snopes
The second rule is: Never go outside the experience of your people. When an action is outside the experience of the people, the result is confusion, fear, and retreat.
The third rule is: Wherever possible go outside the experience of the enemy. Here you want to cause confusion, fear, and retreat.
The fourth rule is: Make the enemy live up to their own book of rules. You can kill them with this, for they can no more obey their own rules than the Christian church can live up to Christianity.
The fourth rule carries within it the fifth rule: Ridicule is man's most potent weapon. It is almost impossible to counterattack ridicule. Also it infuriates the opposition, who then react to your advantage.
The sixth rule is: A good tactic is one that your people enjoy. If your people are not having a ball doing it, there is something very wrong with the tactic.
The seventh rule: A tactic that drags on too long becomes a drag. Man can sustain militant interest in any issue for only a limited time, after which it becomes a ritualistic commitment, like going to church on Sunday mornings.
The eighth rule: Keep the pressure on, with different tactics and actions, and utilize all events of the period for your purpose.
The ninth rule: The threat is usually more terrifying than the thing itself.
The tenth rule: The major premise for tactics is the development of operations that will maintain a constant pressure upon the opposition. It is this unceasing pressure that results in the reactions from the opposition that are essential for the success of the campaign.
The eleventh rule is: If you push a negative hard and deep enough it will break through into its counterside; this is based on the principle that every positive has its negative.
The twelfth rule: The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative. You cannot risk being trapped by the enemy in his sudden agreement with your demand and saying "You're right — we don't know what to do about this issue. Now you tell us."
The thirteenth rule: Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.
"one man’s allegations are another man’s evidence."As long as that other man's a booger-eatin' moron - which is what the GOP Brain Trust thinks we all are. Unfortunately, they're right when it comes to about 25% of us.
