Quote: Original post by curtmax_0
The EIC wasn't a traditional company, it was a mercantilistic one like we have in many corps today. Monopolies are essentially impossible without state support.
The BEIC set the pattern for "an investment model that led to the modern limited-liability corporation." Corporations are essentially impossible without state charters. At any rate, that doesn't change the tenor of the original tea party revolt nor the silliness of the tea baggers of 2009.
Quote: Original post by curtmax_0
Also: Glenn Beck is a bit weird. You know he was talking about the same stuff when he was on CNNHN right? It's not just Fox News.
I knew better than to watch him on HLN. The difference now, however, is that his ratings are much better. Did he invite Alex Jones on his show when he was on HLN? Did he talk up the fear of "total police-state control" back when Ashcroft arrested Padilla in Chicago and denied him habeas corpus and due process for five plus years? I don't know for certain, but I'd bet that he thought that was great, the kind of thing that a true American leader does.
Quote: Original post by curtmax_0
And regarding Waco: I've never seen any compelling evidence that they had machine guns, or any types of illegal weapons. None. Zero. .50 calibers? Useless, and not illegal anyways.
Even if they had machine-guns. So what? What's the big deal? The functional difference between a semi-auto and full-auto firearm is generally a sliver of metal. What about an AR-15 with a happy switch, as opposed to one without, warrants killing someone and running over their place with a tank. Especially when you realize that it's a tax law violation to possess a machine-gun without a tax stamp. So you attack someone with tanks because they didn't pay taxes?
Also, it was never shown who set the fire to the Waco compound. There really is no way to know. Considering most police are fascist ass-hats I wouldn't be surprised if they set it. I give it a 50/50. It doesn't really matter. Whatever the ATF wants to say about the Waco incident, it was a dismal failure surpassing Ruby Ridge. Even if the branch davidians did have machine guns and they did set themselves on fire.
Here's a list of Weapons Possessed by the Branch Davidians. You may not find that report credible. It doesn't matter. Koresh and his followers were a bunch of whack jobs whose paranoia got them killed. Jim Jones in West Texas. Suicide by ATF.
The larger point is that irresponsible rhetoric in the media has the potential to inspire borderline personality types to engage in violence. The sad thing is that for Beck et al. it's about making money and little else.
Here's another perspective: US News Media Fails America, Again
Quote:
Watching Glenn Beck of Fox News rant about “progressive fascism” – and muse about armed insurrection – or listening to mainstream pundits prattle on about Barack Obama as the “most polarizing President ever,” it is hard to escape the conclusion that today’s U.S. news media represents a danger to the Republic.
By and large, the Washington press corps continues to function within a paradigm set in the 1980s, mostly bending to the American Right, especially to its perceived power to destroy mainstream journalistic careers and to grease the way toward lucrative jobs for those who play ball.
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One consequence of this media imbalance is that Republicans feel they can pretty much say whatever they want – no matter how provocative or even crazy – while Democrats must be far more circumspect, knowing that any comment might be twisted into an effective attack point against them.
So, while criticism of Republicans presidents – from Ronald Reagan to the two Bushes – had to be tempered for fear of counterattacks, almost anything could be said against a Democratic president, Bill Clinton or now Barack Obama, who is repeatedly labeled a “socialist” and, according to Beck, a “fascist” for pressuring hapless GM chief executive Rick Wagoner to resign.
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Through talk radio and mailed-out videos, the Right also disseminated accusations that Clinton was responsible for “murders” in Arkansas and Washington. These hateful suspicions about Clinton spread across the country, carried by the voices of Rush Limbaugh and G. Gordon Liddy as well as via videos hawked by Religious Right leader Jerry Falwell.
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Bush skeptics were essentially not tolerated in most of the U.S. news media, and journalists who dared produce critical pieces could expect severe career consequences, such as the four CBS producers fired for a segment on how Bush skipped his National Guard duty, a true story that made the mistake of using some memos that had not been fully vetted.
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Ultimately there is a double standard at work in the media that carries with it vestiges of white privilege. Gallup released a poll yesterday showing that some 60% of the country think the income tax they pay is fair [1], [2]. Instead of hearing that news repeated again and again for a week, we get news about the gripes of the 35% minority again and again and again for a week. The news media is dysfunctional and Beck et al. are prime examples.
