From Citizens United to Trump-era oligarchy, the billionaire takeover of American politics seemed unstoppable. Then Hawaii found a way to strike at the heart of the system…
Liberals, at least a certain faction of liberals are their own worst enemies. Tag a candidate with a label, even if the basis is spurious, as in the case of Graham Platner and they will knee jerk react, no wonder Trump got 77 million popular votes, The American public is reactive and stupid.
A certain faction is wetting their pants because oppo research within the party has interpreted the tattoo on Platners chest as an SS totenkopf, deaths head. The SS death head is just that a skull, no cross bones, add crossbones as in Platners tattoo, now covered up by a Celtic knot, and you get a macho tat, the skull and crossbones of a pirates, motorcycle gangs and drunk Marines.
Even if it was, people change. I once voted for Goldwater and was a right wing extremist, now I am older,wise and a proud progressive, yea even a socialist.
Thom is testing to see who is paying attention and reading carefully. Did you pass the test? He stated that Collins is a Democrat. Of course, he knows better than anyone that she is a Republican. Now pay attention. This is important!
I agree with the article in the majority but you have a rather huge typo
Susan Collins is a REPUBLICAN -- not a Democrat.
"Now look at the woman he’s running against. Susan Collins is the ranking Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, which means she sits atop the federal spending faucet for defense"
I had to reread it four times to make sure I read it correctly. Thanks for helping me to forgive my typos.
It is still the U.S.A but more expensive, everything,but pineapples are imported. I live in the Pacific NW and becaise the west coast depends on oil shipped by tank car from Texas or tankers from the Gulf of Persia, our gas ranges from $5.50 to $6.50 a gallon, in LA, 6.00 is standard,$8 if you live in Hollywood.
Meanwhile, in Delaware, corporations have begun the push for a right to vote. It may only be the tiny town of Fenwick Island, but it's a beachhead. As for actual human voting rights, the courts have decided to abridge, not affirm, that right for women and minorities. The problem with democracy, it appears, is that it is full of people.
Thanks Thom: another incredible list of ongoing treachery to this country -
No wonder the price of beef and the huge May gain in the cost of living are both going up higher and higher.
The 99% need to get in sink with the new young defenders of Democracy in this country at ALL elections - give them the break they need to overwhelm these old money grubbers and power gangsters.
Don't let the latest gilded age and multiple wars lead to the Great Depression 2.0
VOTE! We can do it! Keep the MAGA criminals away from our election booths and the crooked machine counting
Thom is allowed a Freudian slip now and then when you think about ALL the things he covers. None of us are perfect and he would be the first one to admit that.
Wow! HA defangs Citizens United. I encourage everyone to go back and follow the hotlink to the legislation. States are the primary branch of government, as Thom and Christopher Armitage will point out, and all politics is local.
Statement on your writing: Why not pull the charts and discussion of Hawaii's bill to the front of your discussion and then cover the other related issues? We hear a lot about the Citizen United problem, but the Hawaii news is distinct and encouraging.
Loved, loved "The Islands Rise." I lived in HI as the child of a career Navy submariner. We arrived in 1957 and returned stateside after celebrating HI statehood in 1959. I have returned many times over the years. Every visit has been an enchanting experience. Mahalo nui loa for taking corporate money out of elections in your state — a compelling call to action for 49 others.
We all need to support candidates who thumb their noses at corporate PAC money and the billionaires who back them. This is their tool to drive the herd.
Severing ourselves from this herd mentality and align ourselves with clean candidates not beholden and tied to the billionaire’s bucks should be the goal of all American’s. It’s a good one and one that may promote more interest in our country, our world, and what’s going on in it.
Like Thom’s article on the inner cooperation of the forest in his “Wisdom School” essay, we as humans could not have survived the last ice age if it were not for cooperation.
Yes, survival is an issue, but when you make separation and autonomy the goal in order to drain power from others for control, you are merely a vampire of energy. This is how you set the clock for extinction.
Yes, we can do our damage and then fly to some distant place and hide out in our expensive bunker, but that just becomes our coffin that we crawl out of to do our dirty work in order to survive. We can’t really thrive or be happy that way.
Only through cooperation will humanity truly come into its own and learn to use all of our many latent talents we have lost or that lie in potential.
One thing I can't help but notice is that you barely even mentioned Zohran Mamdani and his truly progressive grassroots campaign. Mamdani was a "clean" candidate--no history of amoral conduct, no PTSD, no unpredictable behavior, no former campaign managers leaving because of pathological lying--yet somehow you didn't champion his cause. Perhaps it's the same reason you've convinced your minions that the genocide in Gaza doesn't qualify as genocide and is not relevant to our current situation in being under the rule of dueling political mafias. Is it because Platner could defeat a Senate Republican? Last I checked Democrats in the majority have done little to nothing apart from aiding and abetting a genocide, blocking a railway workers strike, bailing out Wall Street while leaving homeowners in the dust and privatizing our health care system. It is telling that you would champion an amoral pig like Platner but ignore an upstanding, smart progressive like Mamdani. Neither one will save us, but one is certainly has more integrity and is far more trustworthy.
Liberals, at least a certain faction of liberals are their own worst enemies. Tag a candidate with a label, even if the basis is spurious, as in the case of Graham Platner and they will knee jerk react, no wonder Trump got 77 million popular votes, The American public is reactive and stupid.
A certain faction is wetting their pants because oppo research within the party has interpreted the tattoo on Platners chest as an SS totenkopf, deaths head. The SS death head is just that a skull, no cross bones, add crossbones as in Platners tattoo, now covered up by a Celtic knot, and you get a macho tat, the skull and crossbones of a pirates, motorcycle gangs and drunk Marines.
Even if it was, people change. I once voted for Goldwater and was a right wing extremist, now I am older,wise and a proud progressive, yea even a socialist.
Thom is testing to see who is paying attention and reading carefully. Did you pass the test? He stated that Collins is a Democrat. Of course, he knows better than anyone that she is a Republican. Now pay attention. This is important!
Ignore such obvious typos - let;s talk about the real issues that Thom has raised so eloquently - many times-
Lol.
I agree with the article in the majority but you have a rather huge typo
Susan Collins is a REPUBLICAN -- not a Democrat.
"Now look at the woman he’s running against. Susan Collins is the ranking Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, which means she sits atop the federal spending faucet for defense"
I had to reread it four times to make sure I read it correctly. Thanks for helping me to forgive my typos.
My wife recently suggested we visit HA. I think perhaps we should MOVE THERE.
It is still the U.S.A but more expensive, everything,but pineapples are imported. I live in the Pacific NW and becaise the west coast depends on oil shipped by tank car from Texas or tankers from the Gulf of Persia, our gas ranges from $5.50 to $6.50 a gallon, in LA, 6.00 is standard,$8 if you live in Hollywood.
Meanwhile, in Delaware, corporations have begun the push for a right to vote. It may only be the tiny town of Fenwick Island, but it's a beachhead. As for actual human voting rights, the courts have decided to abridge, not affirm, that right for women and minorities. The problem with democracy, it appears, is that it is full of people.
You're right. It's a beachhead, sometimes called a "foothold." That's how it starts.
Thanks Thom: another incredible list of ongoing treachery to this country -
No wonder the price of beef and the huge May gain in the cost of living are both going up higher and higher.
The 99% need to get in sink with the new young defenders of Democracy in this country at ALL elections - give them the break they need to overwhelm these old money grubbers and power gangsters.
Don't let the latest gilded age and multiple wars lead to the Great Depression 2.0
VOTE! We can do it! Keep the MAGA criminals away from our election booths and the crooked machine counting
Thom is allowed a Freudian slip now and then when you think about ALL the things he covers. None of us are perfect and he would be the first one to admit that.
Wow! HA defangs Citizens United. I encourage everyone to go back and follow the hotlink to the legislation. States are the primary branch of government, as Thom and Christopher Armitage will point out, and all politics is local.
Statement on your writing: Why not pull the charts and discussion of Hawaii's bill to the front of your discussion and then cover the other related issues? We hear a lot about the Citizen United problem, but the Hawaii news is distinct and encouraging.
Loved, loved "The Islands Rise." I lived in HI as the child of a career Navy submariner. We arrived in 1957 and returned stateside after celebrating HI statehood in 1959. I have returned many times over the years. Every visit has been an enchanting experience. Mahalo nui loa for taking corporate money out of elections in your state — a compelling call to action for 49 others.
We all need to support candidates who thumb their noses at corporate PAC money and the billionaires who back them. This is their tool to drive the herd.
Severing ourselves from this herd mentality and align ourselves with clean candidates not beholden and tied to the billionaire’s bucks should be the goal of all American’s. It’s a good one and one that may promote more interest in our country, our world, and what’s going on in it.
Like Thom’s article on the inner cooperation of the forest in his “Wisdom School” essay, we as humans could not have survived the last ice age if it were not for cooperation.
Yes, survival is an issue, but when you make separation and autonomy the goal in order to drain power from others for control, you are merely a vampire of energy. This is how you set the clock for extinction.
Yes, we can do our damage and then fly to some distant place and hide out in our expensive bunker, but that just becomes our coffin that we crawl out of to do our dirty work in order to survive. We can’t really thrive or be happy that way.
Only through cooperation will humanity truly come into its own and learn to use all of our many latent talents we have lost or that lie in potential.
One thing I can't help but notice is that you barely even mentioned Zohran Mamdani and his truly progressive grassroots campaign. Mamdani was a "clean" candidate--no history of amoral conduct, no PTSD, no unpredictable behavior, no former campaign managers leaving because of pathological lying--yet somehow you didn't champion his cause. Perhaps it's the same reason you've convinced your minions that the genocide in Gaza doesn't qualify as genocide and is not relevant to our current situation in being under the rule of dueling political mafias. Is it because Platner could defeat a Senate Republican? Last I checked Democrats in the majority have done little to nothing apart from aiding and abetting a genocide, blocking a railway workers strike, bailing out Wall Street while leaving homeowners in the dust and privatizing our health care system. It is telling that you would champion an amoral pig like Platner but ignore an upstanding, smart progressive like Mamdani. Neither one will save us, but one is certainly has more integrity and is far more trustworthy.