Today's Daily Quiz: October 28, 2007
Has the Bush/Cheney regime, with the help of corporate media, turned America into a banana republic?
Previous DQ: Is the Democratic Party of Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi so cowardly and corrupt that it is beyond redemption?
Answer: Many fine answers. Check them out here.
Publisher's note: There was some disagreement as to whether or not the Pelosi/Reid Democratic congress was truly cowardly and corrupt. America Jones and joe think that this congress is aggressively pursuing the war policies of the Bush administration and is not acting cowardly on that score. I would simply reply that, in the case of this congress, being cowardly and corrupt go hand in hand. Many Democratic senators are taking bribes from major transnational corporations and members of the military industrial complex in exchange for their votes and for letting their lobbyists write the legislation. This is not brave. It is corrupt, albeit legal. At the same time, most Democrats in congress are afraid of taking any principled stand lest they be called weak or treasonous by the pundit class and corporate media. That is cowardice. Being brave is standing up to bullies, even when you are by yourself. Lately, Chris Dodd has shown some bravery but that is just a drop of rain in the middle of a severe draught.
posted by Virt at 10:19 AM
4 Comments:
no. this was accomplished some time ago
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Mockingbird
https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/winter99-00/art1.html
bush and cheney are, however, excellent marketers for america's brand of corporate fascist propaganda.
Taking a page out of America Jones' book, I look to Widipedia for a clue, and edit to my heart's content:
Banana republic is a pejorative term for:
1. a small, often Latin American, Caribbean or African country that is politically unstable. [The USA isn't in Latin America.]
2. dependent on limited agriculture, and ruled by a small, self-elected, wealthy and corrupt clique. [We're have plenty of agriculture, but the self-elected wealthy corrupt clique part sounds okay.]
3. In most cases they have kept the government structures that were modeled after the colonial Spanish ruling clique, [not guilty here!]
4. a small, largely leisure class on the top and a large, poorly educated and poorly paid working class of peons [but plenty of similarities here!]
5. Frequently the subject of mockery and humour, and usually presided over by a dictatorial military junta that exaggerates its own power and importance. [flight suit, anyone?]
6. A banana republic also typically has large wealth and income inequities, poor infrastructure, poor schools, a backward economy, low capital spending, a reliance on foreign capital and money printing, budget deficits, and a weakening currency. [We're working on it, we're working on it!]
7. Banana Republics are typically also highly prone to revolutions and coups. [We'll have to wait and see on this one.]
kb
Only Fielding Mellish could turn America into a banana republic.
First fascist and now a banana republic? The last straw! It's one thing to line your pockets with profits from war, but it's another to deliver elevated design, luxurious fabrications and covetable, uncomplicated style at affordable prices to a mall near you.
PS: Just to clarify, I agree 100% with the publisher's assessment that the Democrats in Congress are acting cowardly and corrupt. In the spirit of this site's tone, and as with most all of my posts here, I was attempting a bit of satire with tongue planted firmly in cheek in my last post referring to them as brave. That's what makes this site fun and why I keep coming back.
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