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In this particular exchange, Bill Ivey — Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts under President Bill Clinton — wrote to Podesta in apprehension Hillary Clinton “is not an entertainer” and thus won’t be able to compete with bombastic reality star Donald Trump.
Ivey queries Podesta how they could “offset” this unexpected flaw in Clinton not being a “celebrity in the Trump, Kardashian mold.”
But what Ivey states next in this lamentation characteristic of 2016’s surreality has become the subject of hushed debate — because if his words are to be taken literally, they portend a possible methodological collusion to keep Americans docile and submissive — perhaps in the vein of panem et circenses.
I’m certain the poll-directed insiders are sure things will default to policy as soon as the conventions are over, but I think not. And as I’ve mentioned, we’ve all been quite content to demean government, drop civics and in general conspire to produce an unaware and compliant citizenry. The unawareness remains strong but compliance is obviously fading rapidly.
Well, we all thought the big problem for our US democracy was Citizens United/Koch Brothers big money in politics. Silly us; turns out that money isn’t all that important if you can conflate entertainment with the electoral process. Trump masters TV, TV so-called news picks up and repeats and repeats to death this opinionated blowhard and his hairbrained [sic] ideas, free-floating discontent attaches to a seeming strongman and we’re off and running.
The wise among us could answer simply, boycott the vote — this rotten, broken system is rigged for its own demise. Lead yourself. Don’t be compliant. Subvert and work outside this box intended to sculpt your obedience.
A top aide calculatingly inserted a passage critical of the financial industry into one of Hillary Clinton’s many highly-paid speeches to big banks, “precisely for the purpose of having something we could show people if ever asked what she was saying behind closed doors for two years to all those fat cats,” he wrote in an email posted by Wikileaks.
“I wrote her a long riff about economic fairness and how the financial industry has lost its way,” for that purpose, Schwerin wrote. “Perhaps at some point there will be value in sharing this with a reporter and getting a story written. Upside would be that when people say she’s too close to Wall Street and has taken too much money from bankers, we can point to evidence that she wasn’t afraid to speak truth to power.”
On Nov 23, 2015, at 11:51 AM, Mandy Grunwald wrote:
I worry about going down this road. First, the remarks below make it sound like HRC DOESNT think the game is rigged -- only that she recognizes that the public thinks so. They are angry. She isn't.
Second, once you start looking at speeches, you run smack into Maggie Haberman's report for Politico on HRC's Goldman Sachs speech, in which HRC isn't quoted directly, but described as saying people shouldn't be vilifying Wall Street.
Maybe you think the Deutsche Bank speech takes the sting out of the Goldman report -- but I am concerned that the passage below will exacerbate not improve the situation.
Reviving this thread because AP is working on a story similar to Pat Healy's article in Sunday's NYT about HRC's "Wall Street image problem." The reporter, Lisa Lerer, plans specifically to note that her paid speeches to banks were closed-press affairs, and transcripts are not available. She is asking if we wish to characterize her remarks in any way.
I think we could come up with a vanilla characterization that challenges the idea that she sucked up to these folks in her appearances, but then use AP's raising of this to our advantage to pitch someone to do an exclusive by providing at least the key excerpts from this Deutsche Bank speech. In doing so, we could have the reporting be sourced to a "transcript obtained by [news outlet]" so it is not confirmed as us selectively providing one transcript while refusing to share others.
Following up on the conversation this morning about needing more arrows in our quiver on Wall Street, I wanted to float one idea. In October 2014, HRC did a paid speech in NYC for Deutsche Bank.
I wrote her a long riff about economic fairness and how the financial industry has lost its way, precisely for the purpose of having something we could show people if ever asked what she was saying behind closed doors for two years to all those fat cats.
It's definitely not as tough or pointed as we would write it now, but it's much more than most people would assume she was saying in paid speeches.
The wise among us could answer simply, boycott the vote — this rotten, broken system is rigged for its own demise. Lead yourself. Don’t be compliant. Subvert and work outside this box intended to sculpt your obedience.
Remember, it’s not Hillary who has lost her way, it’s the American people and their inability to see through the lies and corruption.
originally posted by: CulturalResilience
I disagree with the statement that the government "Dislikes" ordinary people. She, and her simpering minions actively hate you, your guts and everything you care about. She is a sociopathic power hungry monster and cant wait to destroy the US by opening the borders to all and selling out to the evil globalists. She is the Final Solution to the American question.
Well, we all thought the big problem for our US democracy was Citizens United/Koch Brothers big money in politics. Silly us; turns out that money isn’t all that important if you can conflate entertainment with the electoral process. Trump masters TV, TV so-called news picks up and repeats and repeats to death this opinionated blowhard and his hairbrained [sic] ideas, free-floating discontent attaches to a seeming strongman and we’re off and running.
It will get to the point where, at her direction, the opposing views will be silenced.
originally posted by: projectvxn
You know as well as I do that people will cling to their political religion.
It will get to the point where, at her direction, the opposing views will be silenced.
Her supporters will cheer it on too. Because they simply don't care about corruption. All they care about is whether their political religion reigns supreme.
If this were going to be a republican presidency, you can bet the same would be true.
The polarization of this country has been so effectively completed that such a future is inevitable.
Individual liberty is no longer important.
This is why we need two seperate countries. It will be the ultimate test. SPlit the US along political lines for 10 yrs. left of the country democrat. right republican.
originally posted by: Annee
Foreign Spy hand selects info from one side, DNC, to discredit that one side.
Are you so naive you think the other side doesn't also have these conversations?
You're being played by a Foreign Spy.
And you're eating it up, Hook, Line, and Sinker.
I know this is not the answer she wants, but I feel very strongly that doing the speech is a mistake--the data are very clear on the potential consequences. It will be three days after she's announced and on her first day in Iowa, where caucus goes have a sharply more negative view of Wall Street than the rest of the electorate. Wall Street ranks first for Iowans among a list of institutions that "take advantage of every day Americans", scoring twice as high as the general election electorate. I recognize the sacrifice and dissapointment that cancelling will create, but it's a very consequential unforced error and could plague us in stories for months. People would (rightfully) ask how we let it happen.
HRC very strongly did not want him to cancel that particular speech.
HRC is reiterating her original position. She does not want him to cancel.