[Peace-discuss] Re: [Peace] Norman Solomon's plea

[C. G. Estabrook]

Reuters reported from Dublin that Ireland's biggest bookmaker, Paddy Power
[sic], paid out early more than 1 million euros (782,776 pounds) on bets that
Barack Obama will be the next U.S. president, three weeks ahead of the election.

--CGE

Matt Reichel wrote:
> Norman Solomon has always been particularly bad with his disparaging 
> treatment of principled dissent in favor of stumping for the imperialist 
> Democrats.
> 
> The fact that he found it worth his time to swing at Nader at this point 
> poignantly demonstrates his foul distaste of those who choose democracy 
> over the great American horse race. This is because in said horse race 
> Obama is such a favorite to win at this point that essentially all major 
> Las Vegas casinos stopped taking action on the election dating as far 
> back as three weeks ago. It was time for them to cut their losses rather 
> than come up with some odds number so long that it accurately reflected 
> the ruined state of the Republican campaign.
> 
> The manner in which these elections are treated as sporting events in 
> the states is extremely disconcerting. The major networks give you 
> journalists on either side: Hannity and Oreilly for the Republicans, 
> Olberman and Maddow for the Democrats. They yap on with their childish 
> tangents about the other side's character, avoiding altogether any 
> mention of any real political issues, so as to create the illusion of 
> democracy.
> 
> A true democracy does not display maps carved up into red and blue 
> pieces. That is for sure.
> 
> In my travels through the states, I have seen nothing to indicate that 
> someone from the state of New York should be more to the left than, say, 
> someone from South Dakota. If anything, a tow truck driver in the latter 
> has far more leftist tendencies than a Manhattan socialite, who has 
> never worked a real day in his or her life.
> 
> Until mainstream American political parties start speaking to people's 
> socioeconomic conditions, all we are left with is the illusion of 
> democracy.
> 
> This is why I am taking the advice of the late, great George Carlin and 
> staying home: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dqsNrmXgP0 
>