Charlie Rose

NeilMacCallister  01/01/2013 06:26 PM Report

I do not believe that any particular people are the danger, Max. I believe our dangers lurk in faulty ideas -- like yours of a "Social Democrat".

Socialism is the antithesis to democracy -- just as Keynesianism is the absence of economics.

When subsets of societies vote to commandeer ALL of their society's resources, and place them into the single hands of a charismatic 'promissar' (..of "good fortune for all") THAT is when poverty reigns, and wars bloom.

I prefer a truer democracy: Let the individual buyer choose their daily purchases.

***

A related issue which needs to be more appreciated is the distinct difference between democratically elected LAWS, and autocratically imposed REGULATIONS.

***

Let's stop the lazy "dreaming and hoping" into which we are asked to lose our lives -- Let's work with the strong and solid truths that we are all aware of in the end. Let's progress into the equitable and sustainable peace that only an accommodation with reality and budgets can afford us.

I don't want my children forced to accept a world where trucks mounted with machine guns run through crowds of people with upstretched hands struggling to grab a tossed loaf of bread.

Let's return to the appreciation of "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness" -- for our children's sake.

(..and for a HAPPIER New Year .. :)

[Thanks to: Monte Pelerin, 'Keynesian Economics as The Anti-Economics'; Larry Arnn 'Time to Give Up or Time to Fight On']

Max83  12/30/2012 08:08 PM Report

Neil I assume you have not opened the Holiday present yet, that I left you on the previous Julianna Goldmann interview in the comment section: http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/12684

''Max83 12/25/2012 04:06 PM

That was clever of you Neil to alter my user name from Max83 to Marx83 :-)

I would like to give a digital Holiday present to you which is the following:

''The Billionaires' Tea Party (Full Length Documentary)''

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSAzYWmsiwI

'' Published on Aug 19, 2012

Full length version of the 2011 documentary film "The Billionaires' Tea Party".''

Look up the Council for National Policy too, very important right-wing think tank that influences and manipulates much of American, especially, conservative popular public opinion:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_for_National_Policy

The Council for National Policy are the evil shadowy cousins to the Council for Foreign Relations :-) Very sinister and dangerous people, much more dangerous than harmless Social Democrats like me :-)

I wish you einen Guten Rutsch ins Neue Jahr Neil :-)

Your special German friend :-)

NeilMacCallister  12/29/2012 06:25 PM Report

Hah!

Max lusts for "a Leisure Society, ..for Working Americans",

..after John G. begged for "more entitlements! -- and more employments!!"

***

Meanwhile, ..Al, Julianna, Charlie, and Barack just sit back and smile pleasantly - as the American mind drifts a little further off to sleep.

Max83  12/29/2012 01:45 AM Report

Great information with Thom Hartmann from yesterday.

''Generals speak out on the War Profiteers & the Cliff''

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzva3k_quZw

'' Published on Dec 28, 2012

Lieutenant General Robert G. Gard, Jr., Center for Arms Control & Non-Proliferation, joins Thom Hartmann. 4 days to go until the nation goes off the so-called "fiscal cliff." And nobody is paying closer attention to what's going on on Capitol Hill than the war profiteers in Virginia. What impact will looming defense cuts have - and might they actually be just the thing America needs to get back on the right track?''

and

''Corporate America has Messed with the Wrong People''

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBfiFJYOuwE

'' Published on Dec 28, 2012

Professor Richard Wolff, New School University NYC, joins Thom Hartmann. Facing salary cuts, Port workers on the East Coast are threatening a strike that could impact the economy to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars. We'll talk about why THIS strike in particular is so important - and how - if it's successful - it could bring about a future Leisure Society for working Americans.''

NeilMacCallister  12/28/2012 02:33 AM Report

America used to call this commercial-free/non-profit television station "Educational TV", ..for the last 30 years, Americans have just called it "PBS" or "The Public Broadcast System", ..I am tonight CONVINCED that this broadcast wavelength must now be truthfully identified for what we now see it is: "The Government Broadcast Network".

These 3 Government Obamite Democrats gave NOT ONE CLUE as to what was WRITTEN and SUBMITTED in the contracts to which the Republicans have offered to stand accountable.

Then these 3 propagandists here delve into a recitation of several items which our President "may consider" ..BUT HAS YET REFUSED TO RECORD ON PAPER WITH INK!!!

And then they slam their vulgarly dishonest gavel and declare, "Yes!! ..Obama has gone further!!!"

***

America has long been DISHONEST in its abuse of children's education dollars, ..and now we see how supposedly "smart people" like Charlie Rose can blatently falsify facts as they then present fictions to those same American children now grown into adults!

Lift those stage-lights higher! ..search the audience!! ..look outside the window!!!

Somewhere there MUST be someone brave and HONEST enough to tell the TRUTH -- for America's sake!!!

Max83  12/27/2012 04:11 PM Report

I wanted to bring up one more topic that was discussed in this conversation with Al Hunt and Julianna Goldman and that is the nomination of Chuck Hagel as Secretary of Defense. I am very happy and glad that John Kerry received the nomination for Secretary of State and I think Mr. Hagel would be an outstanding Secretary of Defense, especially because he,like John Kerry, has actually seen and participated in real combat and not just in office geo-political strategizing. He knows what is at stake if you go to war lightly.

I do not know if some of you remember but I was accused by a member of this forum to be a crypto/closet anti-Semite a while back in the comment section of the Jane Harman interview, which you can find here: http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/12441

when I criticized the close ties and the back scratching that was going on between the pro-Israel lobby in Washington and the military industrial complex and how they are and were trying to influence politics in their favour through very questionable fear-mongering and false propaganda tactics.

Chuck Hagel it seems is being targeted in the same way right now and I really hope this untrue defamation will not succeed.

Bernard Avishai wrote a very good article on Open-Zion defending Chuck Hagel and pointing out similarities between the tactics used by some radical factions of the pro-Israel lobby and McCarthyites to defame good American citizens and patriotic public servants in order create more room and power for their out dated ideologies in Washington D.C.

Here is the link to the article:

''Hagel And The Neo-McCarthyites''

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/12/26/hagel-and-the-neo-mccarthyites.html

Max83  12/27/2012 03:33 AM Report

A most insightful and wonderful program with Bill Moyers:

''Moyers & Company Show 149: Fiscal Cliffs and Fiscal Realities''

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eqya8s87q-s

'' Published on Dec 14, 2012

When it comes to America's economic health, all anyone seems to talk about is the "fiscal cliff," and the perils of our inevitable plunge. But media's favorite metaphor is distracting us from actual and crucial fiscal realities. Independent political and economic analysts Bruce Bartlett and Yves Smith join Bill in a discussion that's become as rare as it is necessary -- why are Washington insiders talking about the deficit crisis and not the jobs crisis?

Bartlett, former advisor to Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush, got into hot water with fellow conservatives when he aired concerns about the direction of their ideology and wrote critically of the second George Bush. His most recent book is The Benefit and The Burden: Tax Reform -- Why We Need It, and What It Will Take. Yves Smith, who spent more than 25 years in the financial services industry, is the founder and editor of the popular blog Naked Capitalism, and runs a successful management consulting firm.

Following the conversation, Bill shares his perspective on one of the most corrupt D.C. fixtures -- the revolving door between Washington leadership and lobbying. That lucrative pathway ensures that "when push comes to shove, corporate interests will have the upper hand in the close calls that determine public policy... no matter which party is in power."

Finally on the broadcast, poet and former publishing executive James Autry joins Bill to talk about issues of art and of heart. He shares his poems with Bill and discusses his and his wife Sally's challenging but inspiring experience raising their autistic child.''

Max83  12/26/2012 03:45 PM Report

Hello Gelles,

I wanted to thank you for contributing so positively to this forum and other forums and giving people a chance and opportunity to change their thinking about economics and politics. You are a great example of the true American grass roots, not like the fake plutocrat grass root movements like Americans for Prosperity, Freedom Works or Tea Party Patriots. It seems that the main stream media is finally picking up on ''The Billionaires' Tea Party'' narrative, see the Washington Post from yesterday: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/freedomworks-tea-party-group-nearly-falls-apart-in-fight-betwe en-old-and-new-guard/2012/12/25/dd095b68-4545-11e2-8061-253bccfc7532_story.html

and their billionaire backers like the Koch Brothers and the Michigan Amway Network Marketing DeVos and Blackwater Prince families. It is all a big political pyramid scheme.

Gelles, you might be interested in this Cornel West and Michael Moore discussion from last May at the Brecht Forum. It is over two hours of viewing, but very informative and inspiring and you might gain some new insights from it for your activism:

''Cornel West and Michael Moore- The Beginning is Near Hosted by Esther Armah''

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTUtvL9FDUQ

'' Published on Dec 19, 2012

Conversation between Cornel West and Michael Moore at Hunter College, CUNY. Hosted by WBAI's Esther Armah and produced by the Brecht Forum (www.brechtforum.org)''

Thank you again Gelles for keeping it real and for protecting America :-)

Gelles  12/26/2012 07:34 AM Report

My Argument below is expanded by: http://www.amazon.com/forum/economics/ref=cm_cd_et_md_pl?_encoding=UTF8&cdForum=Fx1K53KZRRALRH&cdMsgI D=Mx1GX9WXY2M2EDK&cdMsgNo=1&cdPage=1&cdSort=oldest&cdThread=Tx1QFVLXW5KYCN4#Mx1GX9WXY2M2EDK

Gelles  12/26/2012 07:22 AM Report

. . . . . TAX CUTS, ENTITLEMENTS, INFLATION, EMPLOYMENT

Unemployment, Taxes and Inflation (the unwritten tax on savings,) are the real penalties on the income and wealth of American individuals and firms. Voters must choose a party to support if they fear these penalties. Most of us chose the Democratic party. The issue now is "what does that party owe us in light of their promise to us and their hope to stay in office themselves.

I t should be obvious to all voters that the candidates they elect do not put the voters' economic needs ahead of candidates' economic interests or political ambition. This obvious fact is tragic and may be unavoidable.

At the moment, all working and middle class voters need higher entitlements and lower taxes. Any future penalties to these voters pale to insignificance compared to their present needs--especially because if and when such penalties represent a measurable near-term threat, the law imposing them (or removing them) can be changed. The immediate hurt of unemployment and paying taxes is real. Future risks are just that--a risk of penalty not the penalty itself.

What, therefore, all of the above means is that the continued failure by Democratic candidates to deliver jobs ought to have cost them their job this past November: EXCEPT the Republicans are far worse.

The only logical implication of these thoughts is that only a THIRD party will deliver jobs now. And there is no third party now.

Will we get a third party if high unemployment persists? Probably not. America is suffering from its own political allegiances. Nothing new. Should we fear plutocracy or worse as the outcome of this malady? Yes. And it is already here.

SharkswithfrikingLazers  12/22/2012 02:20 AM Report

All right "Al Goldman"--good one Charlie.

'Rancor and pettiness transposes party lines and there is hubris in the White House.'

Then just strike another deal that defaults to something else and let the Drama Queens move on to something else if that is at all possible.

tabs  12/21/2012 08:36 PM Report

NCP2:

The issue of Gun Control and Violence in America deserves its own comment. The question of whether various mass media is a causative or is a reflection of the American cultural penchant for violence is a moot point. The fact is that Americans are taught to emulate violent behavior from the ealiest age. From the school yard fight to seeing the All American Hero Jimmy Stewart punching a guy in the face for being called "yellow" in the 1954 movie "Broken Arrow," Americans are taught to strike first and ask questions later.

So President Obama, Mayor Blumberg and Ms Feinstein pass all the gun control legislation you want. BUT..the next time one of these tragedys occur we can then blame you, for chasing a fools errand for you can NOT legislate morality, conscience nor mental health. Someone famous in American history said,"That those who would trade freedom for a little security deserve neither." One would trade the whole lot of Obama, Blumberg and Feinstein for one of him...Ben Franklin. For Ben Franklin understood up close and personal what freedom and liberty meant. None of the above has ever put anything on the line for those freedoms that they enjoy today.

In Billionaire Mayor Blumberg we have a man who couldn't even wait for the bodies of the victims to get cold before he loudly started clamouring zealously for more Gun Control. Or who would break the laws of another state (Virgina) by sending his agents to make straw purchases of guns.It seems that Billionaire Mayor Blumberg has penchant for wanting to control peoples behavior by dictorially banning guns, soda pop and fat content. Billionaire Mayor Blumberg then goes on to say roughly 34 Americans die everyday day from homicide, suicide and accidental firearms deaths. Considering that there are 75,000,000 Americans who own nearly 300,000,000 guns it does seem that when it comes to guns Americans are in fact a responsible people when compared to the 8700 Americans that die everyday from diabetes.

In Ms Feinstein we do indeed find a pip of a person who is a stauch advocate of Gun Control, yet has a CONCEALED WEAPONS PERMIT to carry. But what one finds so interesting is her comments on Sunday (12/16/12) Matt Laurer show on NBC, "That the RIGHTS of a MINORITY GROUP should not override the CONCERNS of the MANY." Is this just being disingenous or is it being selective in ones morality? One has thought that the Progressive cause was to PROTECT the LITTLE GUY the MINIORITY from the collective. Wasn't that the intent of the Framers of the Consititution, the purpose of Unions, why Miranda was upheld, the reason the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed, Womens and Gay Rights promoted? So what kind of demagogic elitism is being practiced here by Ms Feinstein?

As far as President Obama is concerned,it is Christmas and as such let us just say that a demiurgic personality he ain't.

Finally the following were ones comments posted on this Board on 7/17/12. Which was after the Aurora tragedy and now after New Town a further observation has been posted to this Board on 12/18/12. Perhaps what we should consider the most is that Freedom brings reponsibility that we should consider the sensibilities of our neighbors, our own limits and just because we can do it doesn't mean that we should.

"Fri, 07/27/2012 - 08:31 —

American Society promulgates the use of violence as a means of resolving ones problems. At the core of the Liberals abdication of moral responsibility is their blaming inanimate objects for this malaise instead of dealing with the core causality. To the Liberal mind it is as if an inanimate object supercedes an indivduals responsibility as it has control over the actions men take. Further passing more Gun Laws serves as political theater rather than a useful recourse in solving the core issue of violence. This in the end is just more Liberal delusional thinking, hypocrisy and or just plain being disingenuous.

12/18/12. After Newtown:

Here is something that people should consider as being a partial causality of the recent tragedy's. With the current economic malaise and the dysfunctionality of the political leadership in the nation there is UNCERTAINTY in the air which causes stress, fear, and anxiety which trickles on down to the more fragile members of society who are less able to have effective coping mechanisms and as such becomes more reactive to such uncertainty."

tabs  12/21/2012 06:13 PM Report

The following were either sent to and/or posted to this Board on or about the dates indicated.

"All Used UP

11/17/2012 04:56 PM

Susan Rice for Secretary of State???? To put it bluntly Susan Rice has a very low TRUST coefficient which means she has NO CREDIBILITY. The very fact that her words about the Benghazi massacre proved to be MISTAKEN either shows she is a foolish dupe of the Obama administration or she purposely told untruths. In appearance her nomination for Secretary of State seems to be a payment for services rendered. This is a bad start for an administration that already has credibility problems. Does President Obama need more problems?

As Marlene Dietrich told Orson Wells in the movie "A Touch Of Evil," "Susan Rice your future is all used up." For one round of Sunday political talk shows MS Rice used up all her credibility and thus future. Obama for the sake of political positioning used her up. For Obama she is going to be an embarrassing reminder to have around and the sooner she disappears the better it is for him."

------------------------------------------------------------

<With regards to "All USED UP" Exactly what has happened to Susan Rice since this was posted on 11/17/12? She withdrew her name from consideration for Secretary of State. That is very polite of her to do that for her President.>

------------------------------------------------------------

"Governing II

Friday, November 30, 2012 8:10 AM

This is what one said in an e-mail to Squakbox on CNBC yesterday morning which was entitiled "The Crossroads of Destiny" :

"Barrack Obama only knows one thing well and that is how to campaign and that is because all he has to sell is his image and not his substance."

And today what is President Obama going to be doing, but going out to give a speech to arouse the American people to support his plan. In other words going back into the campaign mode, which is not Governing.

The Plan that when presented by Secretary Geithner yesterday was laughed at by the Senate Minority Leader McConnell. Even if this was political posturing as an opening gambit, alienation of the opposing party under the current circumstance by conducting a business as usual negotiations is poor decision making. The rational is simple the stakes and thus emotion is running too high to create an environment where ones actions can be misunderstood by the opposing side, which will cause the opposing faction to become reactive rather than proactive. This is NOT A TIME for GAMESMANSHIP but clearly stating ones positions so that an air of trust and cooperation can be achieved.

Drawing lines in the sand is counterproductive as postions become rigid and forces ones back up against the wall. Where one sides blinking becomes tantamount to losing. Both parties when they walk away from the table have to think and feel that they gained something. Either this nation comes together to do right in an air of trust and cooperation or God will let us go our own way to our ruin.

TABS

The President seems to arrogantly feel that he has a mandate from the American people to enact his policies which as enumerated during the campaign is divisive class warfare. Let us tax the rich till there are no more rich. Yesterday evening CNN was interviewing Represenative De Fazio (D) from Oregon who seemed to think that "the Wall Street was manipulating the Government" to get its way and that he was fine with bringing that manipulation to an end by going over the fiscal cliff. This kind of mindset is completely destructive of America both politicaly and economically. Is this what this nation has come to? If so we are finished!"

-------------------------------------------------------------<With regards to Governing II, what exactly has happened since this was sent to Mr Rose on 11/30/12 and later posted to this Board? As mightly as Speaker Boehner tried the divide was too far to bridge and exactly nothing has been accomplished and we are back at the "cliff.">

-------------------------------------------------------------

REMant  12/21/2012 12:54 PM Report

There may be little difference in the Washington view of things, but a LOT of precedent, and probable crowing. The president's remark about honoring the Newtown victims with fiscal conciliation, suggesting as it does that Republican recalcitrance is to be blamed for both, is really outrageous, and cannot have helped. Since his re-election he's given new meaning to his party's image. Maybe he thinks if he acts this way none of them will notice he's conceded more, but I doubt, under the circumstances, the opposition will be anymore accommodating. FDR talked like this - read for instance his "Fala" speech http://www.wyzant.com/Help/History/HPOL/fdr/fala/ where he blames the Depression and bank closures on the GOP, wrapping himself in the flag - and remains an object of derision to this day. And even if the Democrats and the Republicans do agree, these plans are not nearly enough, and so none of the bluster will matter except to apologists and historical revisionists.

I was wondering, myself, how the "First Family" can be celebrating another White House Christmas, as if nothing were the matter, when the country is still in this kind of mess, and planning a second inaugural, even one with only two balls. Just six weeks ago our televisions beheld non-stop images of impending doom, not the coming of the Christ child. Unless...

To Mr Hunt I'd say rather that American big business isn't the same big business, living off easy money so much these days when the Fed prints and the govt spends the stock mkt goes instead of down, people buy things they can't really afford, and poor ppl elsewhere are left to pick up the tab. Maybe we can produce our own version of Downton Abbey out of that, but I doubt anyone in Hollywood would dare be so honest or enterprising.

The gun control issue is not only unlikely to go anywhere, having been referred to committee already, and even if it does, be opposed in court, and is just another Chicken Little episode. Surveys by Gallup (http://www.gallup.com/poll/159422/stop-shootings-americans-focus-police-mental-health.aspx?utm_sourc e=alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=syndication&utm_content=morelink&utm_term=All%20Gallup%20Headli nes%20-%20Politics) and CBS (http://www.scribd.com/doc/117172535/CBS-News-Poll-Gun-Laws) show a ban on the sale of assault weapons not what most Americans think would help prevent another mass shooting. Tho with the Internet and so much PAC money around, that situation is not likely to improve anytime soon, either.

But I think Kerry and Hagel - neither zealots - reasonable choices, and not likely to face serious opposition.