Glenn Greewald's With Liberty and Justice for Some

[Minimalist]

Fascinating book. We have totally fucked ourselves.

For all the homage we pay to equality under law, we have virtually abolished it in practice. Indeed, beyond isolated, politically motivated rhetoric, we hardly even pretend to believe in its validity any longer. Instead, the United States now has the exact opposite of a single set of laws before which everyone is equal. It has an entrenched two-tiered system of justice: the country’s most powerful political and financial elites are virtually immunized from the rule of law, empowered to commit felonies with fullscale impunity and to act without any constraints, while the politically powerless are imprisoned with greater ease and in far greater numbers than in any other country on the planet.
Over the past several decades, we have witnessed numerous examples of serious lawbreaking on the part of our most powerful political and financial leaders with no consequences of any kind. It is no exaggeration to state that the current consensus among journalists and politicians is that except in the most blatant and sensationalistic cases (typically ones in which other powerful factions are aggrieved—a Bernie Madoff here, a Rod Blagojevich there), criminal prosecutions are simply not appropriate for the country’s elites. Courtrooms, indictments, and prisons are there for ordinary Americans, not for the ruling classes, and virtually never for our highest political leaders.

[downbeatplumb]

Fascinating book. We have totally fucked ourselves.

For all the homage we pay to equality under law, we have virtually abolished it in practice. Indeed, beyond isolated, politically motivated rhetoric, we hardly even pretend to believe in its validity any longer. Instead, the United States now has the exact opposite of a single set of laws before which everyone is equal. It has an entrenched two-tiered system of justice: the country’s most powerful political and financial elites are virtually immunized from the rule of law, empowered to commit felonies with fullscale impunity and to act without any constraints, while the politically powerless are imprisoned with greater ease and in far greater numbers than in any other country on the planet.
Over the past several decades, we have witnessed numerous examples of serious lawbreaking on the part of our most powerful political and financial leaders with no consequences of any kind. It is no exaggeration to state that the current consensus among journalists and politicians is that except in the most blatant and sensationalistic cases (typically ones in which other powerful factions are aggrieved—a Bernie Madoff here, a Rod Blagojevich there), criminal prosecutions are simply not appropriate for the country’s elites. Courtrooms, indictments, and prisons are there for ordinary Americans, not for the ruling classes, and virtually never for our highest political leaders.

America is now like bourbon France just before Bastille day.

Trickle down has been proved a failed ideology but it is still peddled as though it just needs a bit more time to "bed in".

[Minimalist]

America is now like bourbon France just before Bastille day.

Agreed. The tea-bagging shitheads are fixated on the wrong revolution.

[downbeatplumb]

America is now like bourbon France just before Bastille day.

Agreed. The tea-bagging shitheads are fixated on the wrong revolution.

I saw a documentary whose premise was both revolutions were linked. The idea was that France bankrupted herself supporting the American insurgents against the Brits expecting the grateful US to trade favourably with france after their victory. But after the war the US decided to let bygones be bygones and started trading with the UK again so France never got to recoup the money it spent on the war leading to exhaustive taxes and revolution.

But I am sure there are no such contemporary factors that could be read like that.

[Minimalist]

Ancien Regime France was not a welfare state. The rich lived high on the hog and the poor were totally fucked.

Pretty much like the US is now.

[downbeatplumb]

Ancien Regime France was not a welfare state. The rich lived high on the hog and the poor were totally fucked.

Pretty much like the US is now.

Indeed the rich get richer and the poor get angry.

And lots of your poor are armed.

[Minimalist]

That's where the over-militarized thug cops come in. The poor aren't armed that well.

[downbeatplumb]

That's where the over-militarized thug cops come in. The poor aren't armed that well.

Enough Shermans could take on a Tiger.

[Minimalist]

They have numbers, too.

[abaris]

We have totally fucked ourselves.

No, we have been fucked where it hurts the most. The only problem is that the majority constantly calls for a second helping when being screwed over.