Category Archives: Oligarchy

The United States Is Not a Democracy: Michael Gould-Wartofsky on How the 1% Has Rigged the Game

By Elaine Magliaro Michael Gould-Wartofsky is the author of the book THE OCCUPIERS: The Making of the 99 Percent Movement, which was recently released by Oxford Press. Gould-Wartofsky is a PhD candidate in Sociology at New York University, holds a BA in Government from … Continue reading

Posted in Campaign Finance, Conservatives, Countries, Democracy, Economic Policy, Economics, Government, Justice, Labor Movement, Liberals, Libertarians, Media, Neoconservatives, Neoliberals, Oligarchy, Politics, Propaganda, Ronald Reagan, Society, States, Tea Party, Wall Street | Tagged , , , | 14 Comments

Presidential Hopeful Scott Walker Compares Taking on Peaceful Wisconsin Protesters to Fighting ISIS

By Elaine Magliaro The “goggle-eyed homunculus hired by Koch Industries to manage their midwest subsidiary formerly known as the state of Wisconsin”—aka Scott Walker—made quite a splash last Thursday during his speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). Matt … Continue reading

Posted in Campaign Finance, Conservatives, Countries, Economic Policy, Education, Fascists/Corporatists, Government, Government Propaganda, Justice, Labor Movement, Media, Oligarchy, Political Science, Politics, Propaganda, RNC, Society, States, Tea Party, United States, War on "Terror" | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 26 Comments

Drone Cost Symptomatic of Larger DHS Issue

by Gene Howington CNN is reporting that re-tasked military drone use by the Border Patrol (under the aegis of the Department of Homeland Security) is grossly expensive and of negligible benefit. According to figures derived from a report released on … Continue reading

Posted in Big Brother, Campaign Finance, CBT, Civil Liberties, Corruption, Democracy, DHS, DNC, Fascists/Corporatists, George W. Bush, Law Enforcement, Neoconservatives, Neoliberals, Oligarchy, RNC, United States, War on "Terror" | 7 Comments

Who Are Charles and David Koch: True Libertarians? Billionaire Hypocrites? Crony Capitalists? Con Artists Looking to Rip You Off?

By Elaine Magliaro On Monday, officials for the Koch brothers’ political organization announced that the group had budgeted a “whopping $889 million” for the 2016 presidential campaign. Nancy Benac of the Associated Press reported that that amount was “more than … Continue reading

Posted in Big Oil, Campaign Finance, Climate Change Deniers, Conservatives, Corruption, Democracy, Economic Policy, Economics, Energy Policy, Fascism, Fascists/Corporatists, Justice, Libertarians, Media, Oligarchy, Political Science, Politics, Propaganda, Socialism, Tea Party, United States | Tagged , , , , , | 69 Comments

Barf Warning #2: Watching This Video of Mika Brzezinski Talking about Her Weekend with the Kochs May Also Induce Vomiting!

By Elaine Magliaro One would expect a conservative Republican like Joe Scarborough to be enamored of the billionaire Koch Brothers. Earlier this week, he spoke of Charles and David Koch in glowing terms on his MSNBC show Morning Joe after … Continue reading

Posted in Big Oil, Campaign Finance, Climate Change Deniers, Climatology, Conservatives, Corruption, Courts, Crime, Energy Policy, Fascists/Corporatists, Liberals, Libertarians, Media, Oligarchy, Politics, Propaganda, Short Video, Society, Tea Party, United States | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 29 Comments

Is It Time To Make Fundamentalism A Crime? Part 4

By Mark Esposito The following is the fourth installment in a multi-part series exploring religious fundamentalism and the means of checking its excesses. You can read the first part here and the second part here and the third part here. There are 1.5 to 2.0 billion Muslims … Continue reading

Posted in Anti-Semitism, Art, Atheism, Big Oil, Christianity, Civil Liberties, Constitutional Law, Corruption, Countries, Courts, Crime, Criminal Law, Democracy, Education, Energy Policy, Enlightenment, Equal Rights, Fascism, France, Free Speech, Fundamentalism, Government, Heroism, History, Hypocrisy, Jurisprudence, Justice, Law Enforcement, Legal Theory, Liberals, Literature, Murder, Oligarchy, Philosophy, Political Science, Politics, Prison, Propaganda, Psychology, Racism, Religion, Renaissance, Roman Catholic Church, Society, Theism, United States, War, War on "Terror", World History | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 109 Comments

Is It Time To Make Fundamentalism A Crime? Part 3

By Mark Esposito The following is the third installment in a multi-part series exploring religious fundamentalism and the means of checking its excesses. You can read the first part here and the second part here. The discovery of oil in Saudi Arabia in 1939 … Continue reading

Posted in Anti-Semitism, Art, Atheism, Big Oil, Christianity, Civil Liberties, Constitutional Law, Corruption, Countries, Courts, Crime, Criminal Law, Democracy, Education, Energy Policy, Enlightenment, Equal Rights, Fascism, France, Free Speech, Fundamentalism, Government, Heroism, History, Hypocrisy, Jurisprudence, Justice, Law Enforcement, Legal Theory, Liberals, Literature, Murder, Oligarchy, Philosophy, Political Science, Politics, Prison, Propaganda, Psychology, Racism, Religion, Renaissance, Roman Catholic Church, Society, Theism, United States, War, War on "Terror", World History | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 26 Comments

Is It Time To Make Fundamentalism A Crime? Part 2

By Mark Esposito The following is the second installment in a multi-part series exploring religious fundamentalism and the means of checking its excesses. You can read the first part here. The clash between fundamentalism and modernity was an inevitable historical … Continue reading

Posted in Anti-Semitism, Art, Atheism, Big Oil, Christianity, Civil Liberties, Constitutional Law, Corruption, Countries, Courts, Crime, Criminal Law, Democracy, Education, Enlightenment, Equal Rights, Fascism, France, Free Speech, Fundamentalism, Government, Heroism, History, Hypocrisy, Jurisprudence, Justice, Law Enforcement, Legal Theory, Liberals, Literature, Murder, Oligarchy, Philosophy, Political Science, Politics, Prison, Propaganda, Psychology, Racism, Religion, Renaissance, Roman Catholic Church, Society, Theism, United States, War, War on "Terror", World History | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 27 Comments

Is It Time To Make Fundamentalism A Crime? Part 1

By Mark Esposito The horrific events that played out in Paris certainly will bring fundamental change to that society. Much like our 9/11, the massacres at Charlie Hebdo and a kosher deli have mobilized the French nation to  a new awareness … Continue reading

Posted in Anti-Semitism, Art, Atheism, Christianity, Civil Liberties, Constitutional Law, Corruption, Countries, Courts, Crime, Criminal Law, Democracy, Education, Enlightenment, Equal Rights, Fascism, France, Free Speech, Fundamentalism, Government, Heroism, History, Hypocrisy, Jurisprudence, Justice, Law Enforcement, Legal Theory, Liberals, Literature, Murder, Oligarchy, Philosophy, Political Science, Politics, Prison, Propaganda, Psychology, Racism, Religion, Renaissance, Roman Catholic Church, Society, Theism, United States, War, War on "Terror", World History | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 32 Comments

How I Went From Casablanca To Hoosiers On The Republican Party

By Mark Esposito A fascinating trope making the rounds on the right-wing blogs this week (here‘s one from the Mothership) concerns Michigan Communications Professor Susan Douglas and her provocative article originally entitled I Hate Republicans. In it, Douglas lays out her indictment … Continue reading

Posted in American History, Art, Blogs, Civil Liberties, Civil War, Conservatives, Constitutional Law, Courts, Democracy, Economic Policy, Economics, Education, Equal Rights, Fascists/Corporatists, Government, Heroism, History, Hypocrisy, Immigrants, Immigration, Jimmy Carter, Jurisprudence, Justice, Liberals, Movies, Neoconservatives, Oligarchy, Philosophy, Political Science, Politics, Presidents, Racism, Richard Nixon, RNC, Short Video, Society, Sports, United States, War | 20 Comments