As anyone who has listened to Sean Hannity knows he rails about Barack Obama and the democrats advocating a huge transfer of wealth...Thomas L. Friedman quotes, in his column today, that Michael Mandelbaum, in his book "Democracy's Good Name: The Rise and Risks of the World's Most Popular Form of Government" says that George Bush has been responsible for the greatest transfer of wealth since the Bolshevik Revolution.
Sean Hannity is a master of deceit, half-truth, innuendo, straw-man argument and outright lies. He is not to be trusted on any subject at anytime, like the rest of his ilk including Rush Limbaugh, Mark Levin, Michael Savich, Michael Reagan and the rest who only promote their own narrow self-interest to keep their narrowing listener ship.
It is apparent that these guys are panicked. Their influence has, and continues to, diminish and only the most uneducated amongst us still pays any attention except for a laugh and out of boredom. These guys know it too. Their callers are pathetically uninformed and Hannity and the rest work hard to keep it that way. Most of their listeners/viewers get their information from one or two sources only: WABC Radio New York and Fox News. They are only taken seriously by the same 23% who still approve of George Bush's performance in office.
These are serious times and we have serious issues. Democracy, in order to function, requires an educated populace.
For two presidential election cycles America has voted based on who they'd rather have a beer with or because they have allowed themselves to be influenced by fear. As we know making decisions based on fear is highly likely to produce the wrong decision.
Tom Friedman:
"all I can suggest is that you vote for the candidate with these character traits:
First, we need a president who can speak English and deconstruct and navigate complex issues so Americans can make informed choices. We have paid an enormous price for having a president who could not explain and reassure us during this financial meltdown. We wasted a huge amount of time pretending that we could punish Wall Street without punishing Main Street — when, in fact, they are intricately intertwined.
A major money market fund — Reserve Primary — failed in September because the extra interest it offered customers derived, in part, from the $785 million in high-yielding Lehman Brothers commercial paper and notes it was holding. Depositors who told their congressmen to just let that greedy Lehman Brothers fail were shocked to discover this meant that their own money market would be frozen. No, we don’t need a president defending greed on Wall Street, but we do need one who can explain that we are all in the same boat, that a leak at one end can sink everyone and that while we must regulate, we don’t want to kill risk-taking and the rewards that go with that — which are essential to growing our economy.
Second, we need a president who can energize, inspire and hold the country together during what will be a very stressful recovery. We have to climb out of this financial crisis at a time when the baby boomers are about to retire and going to need their Social Security and eventually Medicare. We are all going to be paying the government more and getting less until we grow out of this hole.
Third, we need a president who can rally the world to our side. We cannot get out of this crisis unless China starts consuming more and unless Europe keeps lowering interest rates. Everyone is interconnected, and everyone is still looking to America to lead.
So, bottom line: Please do not vote for the candidate you most want to have a beer with (unless it’s to get stone cold drunk so you don’t have to think about this mess we’re in). Vote for the person you’d most like at your side when you ask your bank manager for an extension on your mortgage.
Vote for the candidate you think has the smarts, temperament and inspirational capacity to unify the country and steer our ship through what could be the rockiest shoals our generation has ever known. Your kids will thank you."
2 comments:
Multifarious is inaccurate Thomas L. Friedman in The NY Times of November 2, quotes Professor Michael Mandelbaum as follows:
We are all going to have to pay, because this meltdown comes in the context of what has been “perhaps the greatest wealth transfer since the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia in 1917,” says Michael Mandelbaum, author of “Democracy’s Good Name.” “It is not a wealth transfer from rich to poor that the Bush administration will be remembered for. It is a wealth transfer from the future to the present.”
Professor Mandelbaum did not write that in his book, DEMOCRACY'S GOOD NAME. He said it to Mr. Friedman, as the Friedman column makes very clear to all but Multifarious. Careful reading is important if you are writing a blog and expect to be trusted. Mistaking a quotation from a book for a quotation spoken to a columnist by the author of a book demonstrates a sloppiness that does not increase the credibility and trustworthines of Multifarious.
Thanks Bernard for pointing out the inaccuracy.Your comments are greatly appreciated.
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