Blueprint For Accountability, Long Overdue
Posted: March 24, 2012 Filed under: #Occupy and We are the 99 percent!, Banksters, Blueprint for Accountability, corporatism, corruption, ethics, just because, Rule of Law 21 CommentsMark your calendars for this Tuesday, March 27th, 7:00 pm [EST]. Why? The Culture Project will be running another of its Town Hall discussions, a
live stream production from Georgetown University. Stellar participants include: Eliot Spitzer, Matt Taibbi, Dylan Ratigan, Ron Suskind, Van Jones, Heather McGhee and Jessie LaGreca. See brief bio background here.
The discussion topic? It’s all in the title—accountability, the very essence of a sound democracy, yet sadly, an ingredient we’ve seen purposely, repeatedly ignored and shunned by government and corporate leaders alike.
Occupy Wall St. brought public attention to the problem—the yawning divide between the 1% and everyone else. Now, the hard work begins: how do we, public and private citizens alike, steer ourselves back to the premise that the Rule of Law is essential and applies to everyone. How do we make our demands felt inside a broken, corrupt system, where our vote is compromised by big money, our voices drowned in the sludge of corporate and financial interests?
The plan or blueprint needs fresh dialogue, new ideas.
What precisely is the Culture Project? you might be asking. From the site:
CULTURE PROJECT is dedicated to addressing critical human rights issues by creating and supporting artistic work that amplifies marginalized voices. By fostering innovative collaboration between human rights organizations and artists, we aim to inspire and impact public dialogue and policy, encouraging democratic participation in the most urgent matters of our time.
The Accountability series is a slight departure from what the group has done before—programs addressing human rights issues. But in a sense all of our rights are at peril, as is self-evident in the on-going Presidential campaign rhetoric.
The first of the series was launched with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow in a discussion on torture and the War on Terror. Subsequent presentations featured Robert Kennedy, Jr. ,who spoke to the continuing diminishment of American values and Cornell West last September spoke on the 40th Anniversary of the Attica Prison Rebellion.
I wasn’t aware of these programs. Hattip to Alternet for bringing me up to speed and alerting readers about the program scheduled for Tuesday night
This is another example of networking getting the message out and a live stream presentation made available, reaching a far wider audience than would normally be the case.
Personally, I’m a great fan of Eliot Spitzer. Despite his past personal problems, I think he has a true gift in explaining the financial/legal shenanigans that Wall St. adopted and continues to practice as business as usual. All at the expense of the American public. Dylan Ratigan has his own MSNBC TV show, Monday through Friday. He’s a former financial guy himself and has a book out “Greedy Bastards,” which has spent weeks and weeks on the NY Best Seller’s List. He’s been screaming daily about the country’s breakdown, the systemic corruption and lawlessness pervading everything—the financial sector, education, healthcare, energy, etc. Matt Taibbi writes for the Rolling Stone and has been equally merciless in calling the TBTF’s out for the highway robbers they were and continue to be. Add the other voices on the panel and I suspect the conversation will be lively and worth the 2-hour investment of time.
Live stream program will be found here.
Should be an interesting, informative night. Let the brainstorming begin!
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Sky Dancing 
Matt Taibbi has a new piece [or at least I just found it on his blog] on Gangster Banks Still Winning Public Business. Link here:
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/gangster-banks-keep-winning-public-business-why-20120322
He mentions the outrage in Jefferson Co., Alabama, a complete ripoff of the citizenry, which has led to a number of residents [the poor] being cutoff from basic water and sewer services because of spiked prices. These are people who had absolutely nothing to do with the illegal deals that were made, yet they’re being forced to pay the piper. It goes beyond being egregious. It’s just plain sickening.
Taibbi is asking the right question: Why? Why does this continue?
Why has become a favorite word of mine lately, as well as, how…as in… Why does this crap always happen…and how can these banks and corporations and big money executives get away with it.
I’m back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yea!!!!!!! Modem was delivered, I’m assuming. The gods are in their heaven and all’s right with the world :0).
Good show, Minx!
Welcome back, Minx!! I missed you so much!
Glad to read you again. Bet your new modem is smoking fast.
Well, it is fast…but I wouldn’t say it is smoking. Oh boy did I miss the blog. You realized just how hooked you are to the internet when you lose it.
I actually know. I pay for a back up plan on my blackberry.
Geez, you should have seen me trying to write emails and look at websites on my phone. Those buttons are so small, and some websites, like SDB don’t look too good on mobile screens. I never knew the site acts wonky on little tiny screens.
I’m really bad with the crackberry. It’s my back up connection and when I’m away and can watch the blog and everything else. I need to upgrade but it’s functional enough I can get the email and here to watch things.
Does the blog look distorted on your blackberry screen? I could see the title of the post then it runs straight down the page in a column of one character/letter.
No. I can read it. The wordpress ap is the one I use to do administrative tasks though. I can read the site easily with the browser.
My phone is a Nokia, with Symbian. The wordpress app doesn’t work on my phone.
It works OK for me with the wordpress app, but I can’t read the tiny print and can’t get used to the magnifier. I’m hopeless.
Just as backup to Taibbi’s article, this is the effect on ordinary people when the banks are allowed to get away with highway robbery:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16037798
Another question: Why do we have to rely on the foreign press to find out what’s going on in our own country???
Standing up to banks, putting who-owns-what back in order.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/vp/46841327#46841327
I’m pretty sure Rachel Maddow is American 😉
I’m not arguing that home foreclosures have not been covered, Ralph I’m talking specifically about Jefferson Co., Alabama not getting the coverage it deserved/deserves, particularly since it represents fraud to the extreme. In addition, how this corruption effects ordinary people. There’s something terribly wrong when people are threatened with having their water supply turned off because of JP Morgan’s greed and loosey-goosey ethics. And why that same financial interest is still being invited to the table. Maddow does some really good work but she’s way too reticent in criticizing the Administration when criticism has been earned. Not going after these banks is a case in point.
Jefferson Co, AL has been covered by Taibbi and several others. It’s the same damn thing that Goldman-Sachs did to Orange Co, CA in the ’80s when Orange Co went bankrupt.
Is anyone under the impression that was a new type of deal. If so, take a look at Greece since it’s not really that different.
Here’s the kicker. Without these corrupt local officials, this would not have happened.
Maybe these people should be in jail instead of only fined.
I just find it ironic and hypocritical that the ones screaming about Personal Responsibility are the very ones who avoid personal responsibility at all costs. Just another case of Do As I Say, Not As I Do. F***ing a$$holes.
PS – I love Van Jones.