DU Shoutout: After the Billionaires Plundered Alabama Town, Troops Were Called in ILLEGALLY

[MagickMuffin]

Alternet gives DU a shoutout for knowing about this when it happened back in March, but the "media" did not do its job in covering this event. Big surprise!

This article is truly depressing and disgusting.

Editor's Note: The shocking transfer of public wealth to Wall Street's pockets is illustrated vividly in Mark Ames' article below, which covers some very disturbing recent events in Alabama, where billionaires and banks are squeezing the locals so hard that they're literally going bankrupt just for flushing their toilets, where violence and the threat of violence are reaching a boiling point and where even the Posse Comitatus Act is under threat.

Earlier this week, a Goldman Sachs adviser made the mistake of publicly confirming what most of us already assumed: They believe that the shocking gap between their obscene wealth and the rest of America's declining incomes is actually a good thing.

Even though the facts prove the opposite. Average American incomes are lower today than in 1998 and have largely stagnated since 1979, while the top 1 percent saw its wealth soar to such bizarre heights that today, just the Walton family alone is worth more than the bottom 100 million Americans, and income inequality hasn't been this bad since 1928 -- the year before the last economic crash.

snip

Strangely enough, there was almost no media coverage of the occupation -- you had to rely on various right-wing outlets like CNSNews.com, whose article I blogged at the time, or the left-wing Democratic Underground.

But what even the right-wing anti-government people won't report is the true reason why the Army was called out in the first place, something that goes right back to the cause of the shooting rampage: billionaire exploitation of the local Alabamans, not just by the chicken oligarch, but from higher up the predator food chain -- Wall Street banking behemoth JP Morgan Chase.

More @ link http://www.alternet.org/workplace/143485/nightmare_in_america%3A_after_the_billionaires_plundered_alabama_town%2C_troops_were_called_in/

:cry:

[AwakeAtLast]

1. Thanks for posting

:kick:

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

2. That is an AMAZING article that just lays out our future for us.

American business gets gutted, looted, and plundered by a privileged few who take EVERYTHING for themselves, bankrupt the company, leave the employees jobless and the towns devastated without jobs and tax revenues.

Your "Uniquely American" system at work. People who excuse this corruption and theft by those at the top are too shortsighted to see the end game which we are all just beginning to suffer.

The filthy rich don't need America one tiny bit. They have their mansions and condos in other parts of the world where they can retreat after leaving us homeless, desperate for work and rioting in the streets. That can't take too much longer. Soon all the cable TV will be forfeited in favor of groceries and utilities and we won't be able to sedate ourselves in front of the TV any longer.

NOW do you see why I keep calling for the realization that the transfer of corporate assets that these guys do openly is CRIMINAL and that they are ALL Madoffs bilking the entire country and financial systems? All aided and abetted by our Congress who defanged and deregulated in order to facilitate the smash and grab.

[Kansas Wyatt]

7. "People who excuse this corruption and theft by those at the top" -

Are the very same people who claim to represent us, and it doesn't matter which brand they have beside their name. The good cop bad cop scam has been going on for quite awhile, and there are very few elected politicians who give a damn about it.

Madoff was just the whipping boy that the Corporate Media focused on and blamed, while Corporate America was given the keys to the U.S. Treasury by our Government.

Can anyone tell me what the Democrats have done to stop this or reverse the crap that has been going on for the past thirty years?

Corporate America wasn't told 'it takes time, it's only been a year' when they needed help, but citizens (subjects) are told to sit down and shut up.

Unemployment benefits you say? The Administration has already acknowledged that it will be a jobless recovery, so the extended and increased benefits are only designed to slow and cushion the fall to the bottom. What then?

I realize that the Obama Administration is trying to reverse the damage from the last 8 years, but this country needs some major policy changes to stop the damage that has been done to the American People by those at the top of the 30 Year Old Pyramid Scheme.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

15. How many spouses of our so-called reps sit on BODS of the companies

they are in charge of regulating? How many have sons, daughters, spouses who are lobbyists? How many become lobbyists, themselves?

It's the Phil and Wendy Gramm model that everyone would like to emulate.

It can't even be called a gravy train anymore, it's a gravy Acela.

You have to ask yourself if these amoral vessels of corruption (the bribers and the bribees) really feel in the end that the golf junkets, the cars, the yachts, the houses, the bottles of champagne, the jewelry, the pate de fois gras, WAS WORTH dismantling our Republic over? Is it that important to have a house in the Hamptons?

Does Bernie Madoff sit in his cell and think, "Yep. It was worth ruining all those people and charities so I could enjoy the better things in life." ???

[G_j]

3. a must read, thanks! K&R nt

[Better Today]

4. So the question is. . . wtf are we all to do about it. I noticed yesterday

in a christmas presents question thread, so many careless, thoughtless people saying, "WE're doing just fine", "Most people are doing just fine." and being one unemployed and about a year away from completely going under, it struck me that even here, no one gives a shit except to oh and ah over the problems of others. We're all real concerned about contributing millions to congresscritters who in general we think focus too much on contributions, but we do little to help each other except in the few cases I've read on here about severe health related issues from time to time.

I suggested the other day that we who are not in or near foreclosure demand proof of the loan doc from the banks that have bought up our loans (for those of us whose have been, and I don't mean sub-prime here, I mean every gawd damned loan that had been bought by the likes of Citibank) or we won't pay the loan anymore. It would flood those bastards with requests, force them to hire under $50k employees to do the work of locating and providing that proof, and it would give support and comfort to those in or near bankruptcy who need to use this tactic. Start a legal fund to help DUers fight foreclosures, involve some legally knowledgable folks to help others put pressure on state and county governments to quit accepting this un-filed liens on our properties because banks tell them its too cumbersome, make them obey their own damned rules and statutes which they are ignoring. (IE if your mortgager hasn't filed the proper liens and can't locate the proper paperwork, no problem the county just gives out new ones, on the banks' say so.) It's a way virtually everyone can participate in holding the banks and the lax gov'ts supporting this bs accountable one person, one account at a time.

But no, those that aren't on the brink, or over the edge, just want to keep their banker's happy.

So I ask again. I have one year till I'm homeless and entirely broke, WTF are we supposed to do? WTF are people in Alabama supposed to do about all of this, just notice it? just be disgusted by it? WHAT!!!!!

[bertman]

25. I'm sorry to hear of your plight, Better Today. Here's a suggestion for what you can do:

Email your congressional rep(s), Senators, the President, the DNC Chairman, and pivotal state leaders explaining what you have just said. Have your other family members and friends and former co-workers do the same.

It's going to take a deluge of constituent complaints to make these folks understand the depth and breadth of the problem for everyday Americans.

I'm not in your shoes yet but I'm trying to do the same thing that I'm suggesting to you. If everyone on DU did that and convinced one more person to do it, I think we would see change.

[fasttense]

32. Is anyone else tired of writing their congressmen and women?

I write and call 3 Republicon fat, balding white men who claim to be congressmen at least once a week. I write or call the WH at least every 3 days. What is the result? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.

I'm tired of this. It's useless.

[bertman]

36. Yes, I'm tired of it. I'm tired of our Republican Senator Asswipe who votes exactly the

opposite of what I want on EVERY issue. I'm tired of my Democratic Rep from one of the most liberal districts in the nation, who is a "centrist" Democrat. Tired, yes. But I don't stop writing to them to tell them that I am sending my money to their opponent. I want them to understand that I am doing everything I can to kick their asses out of the congress.

The Democrat gets some encouragement for his good votes, but he still gets plenty of negative feedback for his centrism. I'm already supporting his replacement for the next election cycle. I'm pushing for a LIBERAL.

You may be right that it's useless to write to a Republican, but it does have some effect on a Democrat if you have supported them monetarily or by campaigning for them in the past.

Get involved in grassroots political work if you think that will help.

Don't give up yet, fasttense.

[lonestarnot]

5. JP Morgan Chase, I think it's on.

[lonestarnot]

6. kick

:kick:

[lonestarnot]

19. kick

:kick:

[lonestarnot]

33. kick

:kick:

[lonestarnot]

35. kick

:kick:

[Gregorian]

8. I'm sorry, but I have to post my reply as a Youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01rNP89pSyk


Born on a mountain top in Tennessee, greenest state in the land of the free
Raised in the woods so's he knew ev'ry tree, kilt him a b'ar when he was only three
Davy, Davy Crockett, king of the wild frontier!

In eighteen thirteen the Creeks uprose, addin' redskin arrows to the country's woes
Now, Injun fightin' is somethin' he knows, so he shoulders his rifle an' off he goes
Davy, Davy Crockett, the man who don't know fear!

Off through the woods he's a marchin' along, makin' up yarns an' a singin' a song
Itchin' fer fightin' an' rightin' a wrong, he's ringy as a b'ar an' twic't as strong
Davy, Davy Crockett, the buckskin buccaneer!

Andy Jackson is our gen'ral's name, his reg'lar soldiers we'll put to shame
Them redskin varmints us Volunteers'll tame, 'cause we got the guns with the sure-fire aim
Davy, Davy Crockett, the champion of us all!

Headed back to war from the ol' home place, but Red Stick was leadin' a merry chase
Fightin' an' burnin' at a devil's pace, south to the swamps on the Florida Trace
Davy, Davy Crockett, trackin' the redskins down!

Fought single-handed through the Injun War, till the Creeks was whipped an' peace was in store
An' while he was handlin' this risky chore, made hisself a legend for evermore
Davy, Davy Crockett, king of the wild frontier!

He give his word an' he give his hand, that his Injun friends could keep their land
An' the rest of his life he took the stand, that justice was due every redskin band
Davy, Davy Crockett, holdin' his promise dear!

Home fer the winter with his family, happy as squirrels in the ol' gum tree
Bein' the father he wanted to be, close to his boys as the pod an' the pea
Davy, Davy Crockett, holdin' his young'uns dear!

But the ice went out an' the warm winds came, an' the meltin' snow showed tracks of game
An' the flowers of Spring filled the woods with flame, an' all of a sudden life got too tame
Davy, Davy Crockett, headin' on West again!

Off through the woods we're ridin' along, makin' up yarns an' singin' a song
He's ringy as a b'ar an' twict as strong, an' knows he's right 'cause he ain' often wrong
Davy, Davy Crockett, the man who don't know fear!

Lookin' fer a place where the air smells clean, where the trees is tall an' the grass is green
Where the fish is fat in an untouched stream, an' the teemin' woods is a hunter's dream
Davy, Davy Crockett, lookin' fer Paradise!

Now he's lost his love an' his grief was gall, in his heart he wanted to leave it all
An' lose himself in the forests tall, but he answered instead his country's call
Davy, Davy Crockett, beginnin' his campaign!

Needin' his help they didn't vote blind, They put in Davy 'cause he was their kind
Sent up to Nashville the best they could find, a fightin' spirit an' a thinkin' mind
Davy, Davy Crockett, choice of the whole frontier!

The votes were counted an' he won hands down, so they sent him off to Washin'ton town
With his best dress suit still his buckskins brown, a livin' legend of growin' renown
Davy, Davy Crockett, the Canebrake Congressman!

He went off to Congress an' served a spell, fixin' up the Govern'ments an' laws as well
Took over Washin'ton so we heered tell, an' patched up the crack in the Liberty Bell
Davy, Davy Crockett, seein' his duty clear!

Him an' his jokes travelled all through the land, an' his speeches made him friends to beat the band
His politickin' was their favorite brand, an' everyone wanted to shake his hand
Davy, Davy Crockett, helpin' his legend grow!

He knew when he spoke he sounded the knell, of his hopes for White House an' fame as well
But he spoke out strong so hist'ry books tell, an' patched up the crack in the Liberty Bell
Davy, Davy Crockett, seein' his duty clear!

When he come home his politickin' done, the western march had just begun
So he packed his gear an' his trusty gun, an' lit out grinnin' to follow the sun
Davy, Davy Crockett, leadin' the pioneer!

He heard of Houston an' Austin so, to the Texas plains he jest had to go
Where freedom was fightin' another foe, an' they needed him at the Alamo
Davy, Davy Crockett, the man who don't know fear!

His land is biggest an' his land is best, from grassy plains to the mountain crest
He's ahead of us all meetin' the test, followin' his legend into the West
Davy, Davy Crockett, king of the wild frontier!

[onethatcares]

9. not to disparage your song, but

WTF does Davy Crockett have to do with this post?

[Gregorian]

10. Good question.

It's not Davey Crockett, but the lyrics to the song. The things this country has done/stood for, that led up to our present day situation. Bounties on native Americans. "Taming" the land. Basically just taking from, without thinking about the consequences of others.

I know, it just hit me, and I almost didn't know why I posted it. :)

[proteus_lives]

31. I love that song and that show.

Actually people were a lot more independent back then. That's what striking out to the frontier was about.

Davy Crockett was a bad-ass.

[Blue_Tires]

11. kick for later reading

[Kievan Rus]

12. The evil Wall Street Empire marches on

This is even more forboding than what happened at healthcare town halls and at the G-20 in Pittsburgh.

[bobshin]

13. No matter what the media and Wall Street say, we're screwed.

This story says it all. Those misnotated court calls in the 1870's giving personhood to corporations was the beginning of the end. Wonder what took so long. No matter how secure you may feel, it's going to get much worse. Real unemployment is above 20%. What I don't understand is why so many of the lesser rich don't comprehend the damage being done to all of us, them included. Doubly don't understand what use it will be to the ultra rich to have broke governments. Money can only buy so much.

[Scruffy1]

18. It will take more than some legislation to fix this

This is just another footnote in American history that continues the saga of despair, death and destruction at the hands of the few against the many. No, it didn't start with Ronald Reagan, but with the first Europeans who imported slaves and indentured servants, besides carrying on slavery and genocide against the native population. The age of industrialization saw the same thing happening everywhere and the bloody labor struggles of the late 19th and early 20th Century. During the first four years of the New Deal Franklin Roosevelt managed to improve labors condition with some reforms such as the right to unionize, the forty hour week, overtime pay and social security. These reforms are really gone now since it does you no good to unionize if the plant is gone. The forty hour week has been gotten around by declaring workers part of management and social security has been gutted by cola not matched to inflation (Bill Clinton 1994). Only six per cent of income pays social security and tax since it is only a payroll tax and doesn't apply to how the rich make money in the form of capital gains interest and dividends-which are also taxed at lower rates than workers wages. Union membership is about 12% and one survey I found shows that less than one in six gets a two week paid vacation. I think a lot of people in my generation misunderstand the reality of capitalism because we had a few good years in post world War II America with a prosperous working class, but that is not the Normal condition for capitalism, which is by its nature plutocratic.

[Uncle Joe]

14. Kicked and recommended, although I disagree with Ratigan's definition.

<snip>

"It gives new meaning to what MSNBC host Dylan Ratigan is calling "corporate communism." Not only are banking billionaires on permanent state wealthfare, but even worse, as the wealth available becomes increasingly scarce and there isn't enough left to satisfy the billionaires' grotesque appetites and regular citizens' needs to flush their toilets or heat their homes, we're heading to the point that all Third World countries come to -- calling out the troops to ensure that the peasants pay their tithes to their absentee masters in New York and Connecticut and don't get all uppity like those Europeans.

Now you can see why Alabamans are loading up on so many weapons. That makes sense. Now they need to understand who the real enemy is. Not the make-believe liberal bogeymen of their nightmares. Rather, Alabamans should focus their anger on the real-world billionaires who are making this country a living hell."

<snip>

This is corporate fascism at work, not "corporate communism" it came from the right not the left and began under Reagen and the right's belief that "We the Peoples'" government was the enemy of the people and should be weakened to the point of drowning it in a bath tub, this allowed monopolies and trusts to flourish and corporations; could in turn run roughshod over the people, while corrupting the demonized and weakened government.

The corporate media have all but ignored this story to protect their corporate commercial buying client's best interests over those of the American People.

Thanks for the thread, MagickMuffin.:thumbsup:

P.S. This is a long read, but well worth it.

[G_j]

22. corporate fascism

most definitely the better description.

[democracy1st]

16. assholes!

[snake in the grass]

17. k/r

[Anakin Skywalker]

20. The Redneck Conservatives Won't Understand This, Sadly.

Excuse my usage of "redneck". It is just an umbrella term for the working class, blue collar types who cling to conservatism for cultural reasons, the rightwing talk radio listeners, etc.

These people believe all the lies told to them by the RW propaganda machine and go on hating "liberals" and blaming "liberals" for all their problems.

It is really frustrating that blue collar conservatives/republicans cannot see that their party really doesn't serve them, but the filthy rich.

This story about Alabama is just one of countless many about how that elitist 1% knowingly, greedily screws the rest of the population. But like the OP said, not picked up by the mainstream media.

[bertman]

26. I tend to agree with your comments here, Anakin. About the only way you can help

these folks see the light is to walk them through it very slowly--if they will listen. Sometimes that works. Sometimes they just keep spitting back the right-wing talking points.

One of the biggest problems with convincing them that Democrats are not the problem is that a Democratic administration (Obama's) is the one that is now giving out the corporate welfare and demanding nothing in return. Infuriating.

[Fuzz]

21. That is infuriating.

[AzDar]

23. Kick

:kick:

[BreweryYardRat]

24. Putting aside the Con. Law issues for a minute...

The reporter (Mark Ames) who wrote that pair of articles is dangerously deluded. Ames is talking about a guy (McLendon) who went on a psychotic, indiscriminate killing spree like he's some kind of action-movie hero.

Some examples:

"...mercy-killed..."

"...the lone broken worker -- McLendon -- who took up arms in a desperate suicide mission against the beast that crushed him."

"...victim of maniacs..."

"...he was very careful and respectful with the bodies of his mother and four dogs after he killed them, placing the dogs at his mother's head and feet the way ancient civilizations buried their leaders, before setting their bodies on fire as if in a funeral pyreas if he loved her too much to have her endure not only the aftermath of his planned attack, but a world in which she was constantly being crushed by a vampiric corporation, and a culture that nurtured such corporations."

If McLendon was solely motivated by legitimate grievances, he'd only have targeted the people who abused him at his workplace, and possibly the top executives (CEO, CFO, Board of Directors) of the

The fact that he MURDERED his own family members, his own pets and innocent bystanders (including a CHILD) suggests that he would have snapped eventually no matter what.

***

Ironically, in the two articles Ames identified all sorts of problems that need to be addressed, but I bet most people won't even notice.

Why?

Because Ames was too busy fawning all over this lunatic.

Most people aren't into glorifying people too crazy to even point their rage at the appropriate target.

[LynneSin]

27. I'm going to get slammed for this but I'm saying this anyway

:wtf:


Maybe it's me, but the guy could have cut about 3 pages of excessive wording out of the article and hit a homerun, but instead I'm guessing there's probably more to this story that hasn't be shared and hidden in the cliches - like perhaps poor management by the people who owned Pilgrim's Pride? I don't know - this is a reason Alternet has not be a website I visit.

[northzax]

29. It's also, frankly

The result of fifty plus years of demeaning government. Think government is useless? Then you end up with useless people in government, who end up doing things like bankrupting utilities on ridiculous schemes. Lax regulation, incompetent oversight, de facto one party rule and greed are bad combinations, but I am willing to bet they are the things the people of these towns voted for again and again. Whaddya bet Jeff Sessions carried this county easily last time, and will again next time? Why elect idiots and expect them to be anything but easy marks for companies looking to make a buck? Yes, this town is fucked, but how much of this bed did they make themselves, voting against their own economic interests for 50 years?

Maybe they should have built a monorail instead?

[Laelth]

28. k&r for exposure. This is worth reading. n/t

:dem:

-Laelth

[BrklynLiberal]

30. K&R

[Dreamer Tatum]

34. I wish I could kill 11 people and get completely exonerated in the press

...One of this year's more disturbing stories that were ignored was the illegal Army occupation of Samson, Alab., in March following a shooting spree that raged across two towns by a disgruntled worker, leaving 11 people dead.

As I wrote at the time, Michael McLendon, 27, went on a killing rampage following years of relentless corporate exploitation and harassment against him, his mother (whom he mercy-killed), and the entire rural Alabama region, which suffered like so many parts of rural America at the hands of billionaire goons like chicken oligarch Bo Pilgrim of Pilgrim's Pride notoriety...



Sorry, stopped reading there. I fully support the opinion that the occupation was illegal, but when you excuse mass murder, I get off the bus.