Noam Chomsky, "Remembering Fascism: Learning From the Past"

"For over 30 years, real incomes for the majority of the population have stagnated or declined, social indicators have steadily deteriorated since the mid-1970s after closely tracking growth in earlier years, work hours and insecurity have increased along with debt. Wealth has accumulated, but into very few pockets, leading to probably record inequality. These are, in large part, consequences of the financialization of the economy since the 1970s and the corresponding hollowing out of domestic production. What people see before their eyes is that the bankers who are primarily responsible for the current crisis and who were saved from bankruptcy by the public are now reveling in record profits and huge bonuses, while official unemployment stays at about 10 percent and in manufacturing is at depression levels, one in six, with good jobs unlikely to return. People rightly want answers and they are not getting them, except from voices that tell tales that have some internal coherence, but only if you suspend disbelief and enter into their world of irrationality and deceit. Ridiculing Tea Party shenanigans is a serious error, I think. It would be far more appropriate to understand what lies behind them and to ask ourselves why justly angry people are being mobilized by the extreme right and not by forces like those that did so in my childhood, in the days of formation of the CIO and other constructive activism."

Tomgram: Alfred McCoy, Our Man in Kabul

"There was -- and is -- a fundamental structural flaw in any American alliance with these autocrats. Inherent in these unequal alliances is a peculiar dynamic that makes the eventual collapse of such American-anointed leaders almost inevitable. At the outset, Washington selects a client who seems pliant enough to do its bidding. Such a client, in turn, opts for Washington’s support not because he is strong, but precisely because he needs foreign patronage to gain and hold office."

Robert Reich:

The Republican Strategy on Financial Reform: Make Democrats Look Like Patsies for the Street

Boy, the GOP really has its work cut out. How ever will they manage to make the Dems look like patsies for the financial community?

The Weimar Scenario

Chomsky Warns of Risk of Fascism in America

By Matthew Rothschild, April 12, 2010

Chomsky: “The financial industry preferred Obama to McCain... They expected to be rewarded and they were."

The president recently described bankers as “fine guys” and assured the business world: "I, like most of the American people, don't begrudge people success or wealth. That is part of the free-market system."

This type of deference to the financial community alienates working class Americans - and fuels the outrage directed at Washington.

Chomsky said “the colossal toll of the institutional crimes of state capitalism [such as the recent health care bill - BWH's comment]” is what is fueling “the indignation and rage of those cast aside.”

“People want some answers,” Chomsky said. “They are hearing answers from only one place: Fox, talk radio, and Sarah Palin.”

Chomsky invoked Germany during the Weimar Republic, and drew a parallel between it and the United States. “The Weimar Republic was the peak of Western civilization and was regarded as a model of democracy,” he said.

My thought: Obama does not stand between us and the forces of reaction. On the contrary, it is precisely the failure of his policy initiatives to address contemporary social realities - actual human suffering and economic uncertainty - which engenders that rage. As social conditions deteriorate so goes the political discourse.

In the end, he'll be overwealmed by the forces that he lacks the courage and conviction to confront directly.

Marijuana: Boom and Bust

Someday I'll write a Marxian analysis of the marijuana industry of Mendocino County. When I first started thinking about the project I was conceiving it as a kind of romantic tale of "social banditry" al al Eric Hobsbawm (Primitive Rebels, 1965). But it may turn out to be more of a boom and bust tragedy - not so unlike other tales of agricultural communities ravaged by the boom and bust nature of the capitialist business cylcle.

Here are a couple recent reports.

The California Report: The Changing Economics of Pot

Andrew Cockburn, Marijuana Boom and Bust

Bolivian Army Intelligence

I recently watched Steven Soderbergh's two part epic "Che: The Argentine and Guerilla." Benicio del Toro is absolutely fantastic as Che and the cinematography and screenplay are outstanding. A modern masterpiece in my humble view. It may not be an overstatment to say that it belings in the same category as The Battle of Algiers.

Here is a good review of the film.

Bolivian Army displaying the slain body of Che Guevara




Rather than achieving a psychological advantage by displaying these images, which were actually captured by a CIA photographer, The Bolivian Army's display of Guevara's body in October 1967 led some observers to note a certain similarity between that image and Andrea Mantega, Lamentation over the Dead Christ (1480). The legend of Che, has of course, only grown since his capture and execution by Bolivian forces in combination with US intelligence and Special Forcess.



Here is a nice collection of documents from GWU's NSA on US efforts to capture Che.