The Institute For New Economic Thinking has published the interesting rant Without fair elections and a viable legislative process at federal and state levels, the republic no longer exists.

Congress: Oligarchy has defeated the very idea of a legislative process. The Republican Party is the blunt tool of Oligarchy in the United States, Oligarchy’s hammer, but not for the purpose of achieving Republican goals. Oligarchy’s goal is to deadlock federal lawmaking bodies into permanent dysfunction and create a power vacuum that only Oligarchy can fill. Its method has proved foolproof: Bankroll the GOP’s extremists and ignoramuses; count on them to freeze the political process. Also, count on Democrats and the media to obsess about the so-called issues and ignore the fundamental shift in the power structure that Oligarchy has, in large part, achieved. Absent a surge of public participation (not likely, but not impossible), the collapse of our national legislative process has probably reached the point of no return: the point at which our national problems can no longer be redressed through traditional politics.

The real reason why I note this item is for the Thomas Pynchon  quote near the end.

If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don’t have to worry about the answers.

Just about every news story in the Lame Stream media is a case of getting you to ask the wrong questions.

Truth Out has the article Monsanto’s Herbicide Linked to Fatal Kidney Disease Epidemic: Could It Topple the Company?

Monsanto’s herbicide Roundup has been linked to a mysterious fatal kidney disease epidemic that has appeared in Central America, Sri Lanka and India.
.
.
.
At this point, this elegant theory advanced by Dr. Jayasumana and colleagues can only be considered hypothesis-generating. Further scientific studies will need to confirm the hypothesis that CKDu is indeed due to glyphosate-heavy metal toxicity to the kidney tubules. For the present, this may be the best explanation for the epidemic.
.
.
.
Glyphosate-resistant seeds are engineered to allow the farmer to drench his fields in the herbicide to kill off all of the weeds. The glyphosate resistant crop can then be harvested. But if the combination of glyphosate and the heavy metals found in the groundwater or the soil destroys the farmer’s kidneys in the process, the whole house of cards falls apart. This may be what is happening now.

I wouldn’t worry about this.  The connection hasn’t been proven yet, and we are talking about an unimportant organ, your kidneys.  (Although the word fatal might have grabbed your attention.) So it seems like a small risk to take to keep your weeds under control.  See that he-man in the television ads; he isn’t doubled over with pain from his kidneys, so why worry?

Warning: Sarcasm in the above paragraph, in case you didn’t notice it.

The Nation has the article What Does the Democratic Party Actually Believe? by William Greider

Only the people themselves can dig themselves out of this trap. My personal hunch is that Democratic office holders will not find the courage to embrace the future and the reform vision that some of their colleagues are advocating until their party feels threatened by its own constituencies. That is, the Dems need to experience more of the surprise rebellions that took down some old bulls in the GOP. If the people cannot get either major party to lead the way, maybe they will need to create a new party that will.

If you are part of the Democratic constituency and you aren’t threatening the party, then you may be part of the problem.  I support the Elizabeth Warren/Sherrod Brown wing as mentioned in the above article.  If the rest of them don’t come around, I am not giving them more support than they are giving me.  Unlike Elizabeth Warren, the rest of them seem willing to quit after any setback.  Those people don’t get my support either.

Don’t take your lessons on negotiation skills from Barack Obama.  Stop negotiating with yourself to figure out what is the least you can ask of your party before you even ask for what you actually want.

Thanks to Michael Horan for posting this on his Facebook page.  He has some interesting things to say about this article.