LBJ had the Republican plan nailed, and the formula is still the same.

[LS_Editor]

LBJ : "If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you." ~
LYNDON B. JOHNSON, 1960, remark to Bill Moyers, "What a Real President Was Like," Washington Post, 13 November 1988

This is why there are non-wealthy Americans that vote against their own economic interests and for Republicans.

[Hoyt]

1. Pretty much agree. Although I think we'd be better off if mor people voted in society's best

interest, rather than their own.

[LS_Editor]

5. One could argue those things are the same thing.

[book_worm]

2. "We have lost the South for a generation"

[jaysunb]

3. +1...or maybe 3. n/t

[sarge43]

4. Divide and conquer. Oldest tactic on the books because it works every time. n/t

[SusanCalvin]

6. Except for Vietnam, of course,

I love that man so much. I doubt I would have liked him personally, but one never knows. He was such an example of rising above, or at least making good use of, one's inner devils.

[sadoldgirl]

7. I disagree a bit with you.

I think that TPTB allowed him to go for social
changes in return for letting him support the war.

Never underestimate TPTB, which are still as
powerful as in the sixties.

Think CIA, FBI, MIC, and NSA ,and all the connected
corporations.

[SusanCalvin]

8. You may be right.

I wouldn't be surprised, that's for sure.

[sulphurdunn]

9. It's worked here for 450 years

with the exception of a few developments like the abolitionist movement, the Civil War, the rise of organized labor, the rise of American socialism, the environmental movement and the Civil Rights Movement. There has been little success for progressive social activism of any kind since the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980 and the reactionary rise of the DLC in 1985.

[SusanCalvin]

10. Perfect capsule history.

[Octafish]

13. David Stockman estimated 7/8ths of all wealth in human history created since 1981.

Thanks to Trickle Down Voodoo Reaganomics, and its clones across the "advanced nations," the lion's share went to the top 1-percent of 1-percent, with the top 5-percent getting almost all of it.

What the 95-percent get to enjoy is called Austerity, a Buy Partisan phenom.

[hibbing]

11. Only a Pawn in Their Game - Bob Dylan

A South politician preaches to the poor white man
“You got more than the blacks, don’t complain.
You’re better than them, you been born with white skin,” they explain.
And the Negro’s name
Is used it is plain
For the politician’s gain
As he rises to fame
And the poor white remains
On the caboose of the train
But it ain’t him to blame
He’s only a pawn in their game



Peace

[blackspade]

12. +1000