Ball Of Confusion....

It's rare that you can look at a current moment in time and recognize it for the historical significance it holds. 2011 is turning out to be the Year of the Protest, as people all over the world take to the streets, demanding fairness, equality and civil rights.

Bahrain

Libya

We watch the Middle Eastern Countries like Egypt, Tunisia, Bahrain, Yemen and Libya, who have never really experienced a true democracy, try to shake off decades of post colonial military dictatorships. They never went through the fledgling democracy state.
Today, a primarily youthful, educated and technically hip populace can accomplish more in a few weeks than it would have taken decades to accomplish only a few years ago.
America, on the other hand has a fierce tradition of independence and and an almost mythological reverence for the concept of Freedom. We fought hard for our rights to organize and form labor unions. We created a Social Security System that became the model for the rest of the world. We the People paid into it, created it and now the corporate  interests want to control it and earn profits from it that they do not deserve.
It has been an bloody uphill struggle, but the people were usually ultimately victorious.
That is why, today, in 2011, as the rest of the world struggles to discover how to create a free society, the current struggle in the American State Capitols, Madison and today, Columbus,  against the concerted effort to destroy these hard earned rights and preserve our free society is so crucial. This is happening in conservative governments all over the world. After the financial institutions wreaked havoc on the words economy, it gave the Right the leverage of fear it needed to manipulate itself into power. Their solution is almost universal. And it's not a solution, it's a bald excuse for short term massive profit to be gained by selling off national assets, gutting social programs and taxing those who can least afford it while rewarding the very forces which caused the problems.

Madison

For many people,this is a defining moment in American politics and the Republican Governors Conference has picked the fight. It is interesting to compare the rhetoric coming from the conservative media regarding the protestors in the State Capitols over proposed restraints on the State Workers Unions power to strike and negotiate with the stance of Mubarak when he was first faced with protests in Tarhir Square in Cairo.


Beck Characterizes Union Protests As "Riots" And "Uprisings." On the February 16 edition of his radio show, Glenn Beck stated of union protests: "You are about to see this president start embracing the uprisings in this country. You are going to see him embrace the teachers unions and all of the unions that are marching on the streets." Beck later characterized the protests as "riots in the streets." [Premiere Radio Networks' The Glenn Beck Program, 2/16/11]
Beck Cites WI Protests To Claim That "Evil [Is] Spreading Around The Globe." On the February 16 edition of his Fox News show, Beck stated that protests in Madison, WI, as well as in the Middle East and Mexico are part of "evil spreading around the globe." [Fox News' Glenn Beck, 2/16/11]
Malkin: Protesters "Stormed" Capitol For Demonstration; Teachers Used Students As "Kiddie Human Shields." In a February 16 post about protests in Wisconsin, Michelle Malkin wrote that the SEIU "and its allies stormed in for a sleepover protest" at the state Capitol building. She later wrote of teachers staging a protest: "Kiddie human shields become kiddie sacrificial lambs." In a later post, Malkin called the protesters "union thugs." [MichelleMalkin.com, 2/16/11, 2/16/11]
Malkin On Fox: Protesters Engaging In "Thuggery." On February 17, Malkin took her attacks on the union protesters to Fox & Friends, stating, "If this brave Republican governor can stand up to the immense amount of power and thuggery, essentially, by these unions, it bodes very well for other states." [Fox News' Fox & Friends, 2/17/11]
FBN's Byrnes: Protests Could "Borderline ... Get Violent." On the February 16 edition of Fox Business' Varney & Co., Tracy Byrnes stated that protests in Wisconsin are "actually, borderline gonna get violent, it sounds like." Byrnes later stated, "I for one hope they lose. I hope they lose. I hope they stick their ground and the unions lose in the end." [Fox Business' Varney & Co., 2/16/11]
Obenshain: Wisconsin Teacher Protests Are "Reminiscent Of Greece." On the February 16 edition of Fox News' Hannity, Republican strategist Kate Obenshain stated: "We see something that's going on, say, in Wisconsin, where they have the rallies for the teachers, where teachers are yanking kids out of the classrooms and calling in sick -- totally lying - which is reminiscent of Greece and England." [Fox News' Hannity, 2/16/11]
RedState: "Leftist Union Bosses Also Know They May Be Losing Their Grip On Taxpayers' Throats And They Are Desperate To Keep It There." A February 17 post on RedState discussed the union protests in Wisconsin, as well as others in Ohio and Indiana, and stated: "As labor activists strategize for 'class war,' Leftist union bosses also know they may be losing their grip on taxpayers' throats and they are desperate to keep it there. They're not going to let go easily either." [RedState.com, 2/17/11]
It's not the armed forces that the Conservative corporate interests are counting on to enforce their strategy. It is the manipulation and complacency of public opinion in the media. As in Egypt and now Libya the most powerful violence agains the protestors came from the ignorant manipulated masses.
It is vital that we try our very best to get the real message out to as many people as possible in the most efficient way we can. Most people have their comfort and future as their guiding lights but are easily confused and manipulated as to where their best interests lay. There is a small hardcore of fanatics who will never even try to understand...

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Ball Of Confusion, The Temptations, 1970....