Another Great Day for Democracy

By David Glenn Cox

There is good journalism and then there is bad journalism and then there is reprehensible journalism. The reprehensible journalist is akin to the kid whose parents worked two jobs so he could attend the Julliard school of music. Only to graduate and take a job with Muszak rewriting Black Sabbath songs to be used as elevator music with a Paul Anka impersonator singing, “I am Iron Man.”

It is reprehensible not just because it is bad, but because the opportunity is there to do so much more but it is squandered. Newspapers that become organs of the state usually become their penis and their purpose is the same as that of any other penis, to screw you. They lie to you to get you in bed and whisper sweet nothings into your ear, all to make you believe that they actually care about you.

Reuters, French Protests Turn Ugly as Riots Hit Wealthy Lyon

CNN, Fresh Clashes as French Protests Continue

Los Angeles Times, French protests against pension reform turns violent

But now, here is the New York Times headline,

Scattered Protests Still Grip France as Fuel Runs Low

Scattered protests? Union estimates say that three and half million French took to the streets while government estimates place the number at over a million. Eleven of twelve oil refineries in the country are shut down. Schools are closed, garbage isn’t being picked up, public transportation is spotty, so yes, I suppose that you could call this scattered.

It all depends on what your definition of is, is. These protests are scattered in the same way the battle of Stalingrad was just a scattered battle along a massive Russian front. Scattered in the same way that the battle of Gettysburg was far removed from battle for Lookout Mountain.

Good Journalism tells the story, bad journalism omits important pieces of the story, while reprehensible journalism creates a new story out of whole cloth. While Reuters, CNN and the LA Times were wasting their space telling us of incidences of violence and the reason for all the tumult the New York Times took a different approach.

“French Leader Vows to Punish Violent Protesters”

PARIS — Maintaining a tough line, President Nicolas Sarkozy warned on Thursday that “troublemakers” using violence in the protests against his proposed pension changes would be pursued and punished “with no weakness” on the part of the authorities.

Straight out of the Völkischer Beobachter, so much for calling for calm and offering to mediate a solution. No, it couldn’t be that Sarkozy’s plan is wildly unpopular in the Democratic French Republic. It couldn’t be that average French citizens have seen their standards of living fall while the while wealth has accumulated at the top of the society. Sarkozy sees himself as “der leader” and doesn’t care what the people think and if they protest they will be pursued and punished “with no weakness”

Another great day for Democracy!

This is just one more domino to fall, first there was Iceland, then Greece, Ireland and Spain and soon the United States. The international bankers screwed up, they lost trillions in fiat profits and somebody has got to pay for those losses and that somebody is you!

Try to understand that there is no class warfare here, only because that battle was decided long ago. You lost, this is the next phase, the class concentration camp. They’ve taken your jobs and your homes and your prosperity and pocketed most of it and are now investing the rest in Asia. You are fleeced, you have no more wealth, the banks can’t make up these massive losses on your scrawny backside. So who is left to fleece? Who else borrows lots of money from the banks? Why your government does!

The somber bankers shuffle into the finance ministers office. “Mr. Finance Minister, I’m afraid that with this countries balance sheet we have no other choice other than to raise our interest rate.”

“How can this be?” The minister protests, “Interest rates are ridiculously low right now. If you raise your lending rate we will be pushed further into debt. We create this money and give it to you for free and now you use it to push us off of a cliff!”

“No,no,no, it’s not like that at all Mr. Finance Minister you just need to balance your books, that way we can easily cover our massive profits, I mean, your added lending costs. Perhaps, if you were to cut entitlements?”

“No, I couldn’t do that! That would be morally and ethically wrong. Forcing older workers to stay in the job market will make our unemployment problem even worse!”

“It’s either that or raise taxes on the rich Mr. Finance Minister!”

“You’re right! We must cut entitlements.”

New York Times - “Mr. Sarkozy said strikers and demonstrators blocking fuel depots did not have the right to “take hostage people who have nothing to do with it.” He was referring to 10 straight days of strikes at refineries and blockades of fuel depots that have left motorists struggling to find fuel.”

Yes, he was referring to 10 days of strikes not to the millions of workers who have nothing to do with financial turmoil but who are being asked to bear its cost. It has been widely reported that Mr. Sarkozy’s plan will raise the retirement age from 60 to 62 while this is true, it is inaccurate, because it will also raise the age for a full retirement from 65 to 67. This emphasis on the 60 to 62 number is designed to stifle sympathy for the worker and evoke anger in this country.

American workers most always get the gooey end of the stick, so, many of these Americans feel that others should get the gooey end of the stick as well, just because we do. The French pay five to ten percent more in taxes than average American’s and they get, a higher minimum wage, full national healthcare, five weeks paid vacation and a 35 hour work week. The elderly in America can enroll in Medicare at age 65 the French get it on the day that they are born!

Many Americans feel this way because of newspapers like the New York Times. The Times takes a story about public outrage and turns it into a story about governmental authority and fuel shortages. Newspapers like the Times which parse their words very carefully do so as to achieve the desired outcome and are no different than Fox News only with a patina of dignity. Newspapers like the Times which shill for the banks and the powerful and are the reason that newspapers are dying in this country and the reason that they should be euthanized.

Mr. Sarkozy said, “troublemakers will not have the last word in a democracy, a republic. It is not acceptable,” he said. “They will be stopped, tracked down and punished, in Lyon and anywhere else, with no weakness. Because in our democracy, there are many ways to express yourself. But violence is the most cowardly, the most gratuitous, and that is not acceptable.”

Mr. Sarkozy does have a flair for irony, he condemns violence in a democracy but threatens to use it against those who protest against his governments undemocratic plan which is wildly unpopular amongst the people. Sarkozy has the dynamic all wrong, the people have a right to be wrong but the government has no such right. The government has a responsibility to listen to the people while the people are under no such reciprocal agreement.

“For in a republic, who is "the Country"? Is it the Government which is for the moment in the saddle? Why, the Government is merely a servant- merely a temporary servant; it cannot be its prerogative to determine what is right and what is wrong, and decide who is a patriot and who isn’t. Its function is to obey orders, not originate them. Who, then, is "the Country"? Is it the newspaper? is it the pulpit? Is it the school superintendent? Why, these are mere parts of the country, not the whole of it; they have not command, they have only their little share in the command. They are but one in a thousand; it is in the thousand that command is lodged; they must determine what is right and what is wrong; they must decide who is a patriot and who isn’t." Mark Twain

It is just one more domino and one more nasty telegram from the banks. Give us more money or we will ruin your economy. Iceland, Greece, Spain and France, you see, there is this wild west bonanza going on back east.

The International Monetary Fund forecasts annual world economic growth at 4.6 percent. The expected annual growth rate for the US economy is a sickly 2.6 percent, in France that growth rate is only 1.5 percent the same as Japan. In China however, the annual forecast for growth is 8 to 10 percent. Chinese Real Estate values are going sky high and with no end in site. Now, if you’re an international banker borrowing money from the Federal Reserve do you want to invest in French bonds and miss the big party in China?

Lending in China was $89 billion in September, a full 11 percent over the governments target. The Chinese government this week raised interest rates in hopes of cooling this lending down, but it can’t. With huge profits to be made in Asia and a flat line economy in America and Europe why would bankers want to lend money to stodgy old France or Iceland? Its like being forced to go to your frumpy cousin Wanda’s party instead of the cool kids party. If I’m forced to go, I’m raising interest rates to offset what I’m losing by missing the cool party in China.

This is why the banking cartels and the IMF are pushing austerity programs, there is little money left to be made in the US and Europe, so wring out the sponge and get what you can, pack your bag and head for the Beijing boom town. Of course China is poorly regulated and corruption is rampant and if the bubble were to burst, well, I’m sure the bankers have thought about all that and learned their lesson from 2007. If not, they can always push more austerity measures onto the workers and the poor and newspapers such as the New York Times can be counted upon to describe any protests as scattered and focus on fuel shortages.

Another great day for Democracy!