Here is a graph that compares the GDP of Greece to that of France and Germany. France and Germany cannot bail out Greece without severely damaging their own economies and future possibilities for growth.
Here is the same graph, with Italy added. Italy is desperate financial straights, and as you can see, a much larger economy than Greece. No bailout of Italy is possible from within Europe. Italy’s GDP is about $2T and Germany’s is about $3.5T. If Greece does not sink the Euro, Italy certainly will.
Here is the same graph as above with the United States added and scaled accordingly. Our GDP of $15T dwarfs any single European economy. Germany’s entire GDP is about the size of our Federal Budget. Our National Debt is also $15T right now and growing.
Recently there was an incident at a Claire McCaskill Table Talk at which Senate staffers attempted to restrict constituents ability to record either by video or audio means a public meeting designed to foster communication between constituents and their governmental representatives.
Although the case which Judicial Watch is reporting on was brought by a man who recorded the actions of police in their official governmental duties, the decision clearly applies to other governmental officials as well.
From the Judicial Watch article:
But a few days ago the federal appellate court settled the issue, ruling that the filming of government officials engaged in their duties in a public place fits comfortably within the principles of protected First Amendment activity. The court also noted that police officers are to expect to deal with certain “burdens” as citizens practice First Amendments rights.
“Gathering information about government officials in a form that can readily be disseminated to others serves a cardinal First Amendment interest in protecting and promoting the free discussion of governmental affairs,” the three-judge panel wrote, adding that police officers should have understood this all along and that videotaping public officials is not limited to the press.
“Moreover, changes in technology and society have made the lines between private citizen and journalist exceedingly difficult to draw,” the court continued. “The proliferation of electronic devices with video-recording capability means that many of our images of current events come from bystanders with a ready cell phone or digital camera rather than a traditional film crew, and news stories are now just as likely to be broken by a blogger at her computer as a reporter at a major newspaper. Such developments make clear why the news-gathering protections of the First Amendment cannot turn on professional credentials or status.”
Perhaps Politicians and their Staffers should take note, and REMOVE such illegal signs in the future so as to not create hostile environments in public meetings.
You can read the entire article at the link below. Perhaps Senator Claire McCaskill and her staffers should as well.
The latest from Krista Branch, in support of Israel. She is a fantastic example of the Performance of Politics. She is a fantastic artist and places her politics front and center in her art. The left has done this for years as a part of their politics. It is good to see conservatives who excel at this as well. Krista is definitely one of those.
Please read this post by Gateway Pundit. It contains a first hand account of leftist protests of Catholic Pilgrims to World Youth Day in Madrid, Spain. This fits in with my earlier piece, The World, the World, The World is on Fire which details the numerous protests taking place in other world capitals.
This work of art falls neatly into what I call the Politics of Performance.
All performance has some kind of political import. Brecht, a Marxist playwright, was famous for saying that all Art is political. It either is subversive of power or it supports the status quo.
I saw this image via Stumble Upon and for purposes of this post refer to it as Patent Leather Oppression. The shiny black shoes are supported by the many individual generic plastic figures underneath. In between a piece of clear glass distributes the weight of the black shod individual across the assembled masses, and prevents any mixing between the two.
Marx would call the black shod individual the Capitalist Oppressor and the figures beneath the Proletariat.
I would call the black shod individual Government, and the figures beneath, We The People.
Here is the same graph as above with the United States added and scaled accordingly. Our GDP of $15T dwarfs any single European economy. Germany’s entire GDP is about the size of our Federal Budget. Our National Debt is also $15T right now and growing.
