Greeks protest austerity measures, October 19 (RT Television)

This week was a sharp reminder that the ancient ideal of democracy is just as threatened -- and to some, just as threatening -- as it's ever been. In government offices in Athens, G20 meeting rooms in Cannes, and "Super Committee" chambers in Washington, we learned that there are still places where the will of the people can be overruled by the whims of the powerful.

From the Parthenon to the Potomac, it was the same story: Elites still hold veto power over the democratic process, and they're not afraid to use it.

Democracy: 'Radical,' 'Irrational,' 'Dangerous'

Ironically, this week's ferment began in the country that's usually credited with creating democracy. In many ways the Greek economy couldn't be more different from our own. The government's fiscal problems there are due in large part to widespread corruption and massive tax evasion -- not tax breaks, tax evasion -- which are very different from our own problems. The government's finances dramatically worse than our own -- almost like night and day -- and a default could create the next major financial crisis.

A certain level of fear and concern was understandable when Greek President George Papandreou announced there would be a referendum on the new bailout plan imposed on his country. The global economy is still unstable, top-heavy, and still riddled with too-big-to-fail institutions. In a worst-case scenario, Greece could trigger another financial meltdown.

Yet the fear was rarely balanced with an understanding of what's really happening in Greece. There was no acknowledgement that the bailout's terms might be grossly unfair (they are), that they're likely to make a terrible situation even worse (they will), or that Greece is in chaos, misery, and despair. (It is.)

And what was most striking was the assumption the elite -- the 1%, if you will -- have veto power over the democratic process. In most of the commentary that flowed from the powerful and the press, a surprising number of world leader didn't even acknowledge that Greece had the right to its own democratic decision-making process.

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Open thread below....

Peaceful G20 protest at Queen & Spadina from Meghann Millard on Vimeo.

You may ask yourself, why aren't lefties rioting in the streets because of the economy just like what we're seeing at the G20?

Digby has the answer: The Miami Model.

People keep asking where "the left" is and why they don't take to the streets in light of these neo-liberal policies wreaking havoc on working people everywhere. Where is the populist uprising from the left and why there isn't more direct confrontation of the corporatist mindset. It's a good question, but you have to wonder why we never cite these regular protests and why we don't bother to comment on the tactics that are used against them. Are we on the American left really not part of this? Do we philosophically disagree with the critique, even now, after everything that's been revealed during this economic crisis? Are these people wrong?

Now, I understand that these folks have gotten the reputation for being thuggish and destructive, largely based on the Seattle protests over a decade ago. But it's quite clear by now that this is a phony image, conjured up by the authorities to justify their police state tactics against the protesters:

They call it the Miami Model...read on

I'm going to do another post on this soon, but the shorter version is that beating the crap out of people after tasering them and then arresting them does put a damper on things.

Protesters were beaten with tear gas, sticks, rubber bullets . . . You can watch police stun cowering protesters with Tasers on YouTube. Last year, the city agreed it had trampled citizens’ right to free speech by forcing marchers back from planned protests and settled out of court with Amnesty International.

The above video shows protesters singing 'Oh, Canada,' and for no reason at all the police open fire and viciously attack them. It's safe to say that they have been emailed the Miami model and are implementing it quite nicely. Now they can add "singing" to their long list of actions that are forbidden by law enforcement when they encounter protesters.

You really can't blame them for not listening. After all, the U.S. is caught up in deficit fever, too - a cyclical illness that occurs only when we have a Democratic president or Democratic control of the House. The only thing that worries the Villagers is when the government spends money on the people who gave it to them:

TORONTO -- President Obama warned Sunday that the world economic recovery remains "fragile" and urged continued spending to support growth, an expansionist call at the end of a summit marked by an agreement among developed nations to halve their annual deficits within three years.

The president's remarks tempered the Group of 20's headline achievement at the summit, a deficit-reduction target that had been pushed by Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the host of the meeting and a fiscal conservative. Although there is broad agreement that government debt in the developed world needs to be reduced, there is concern that cutting too fast and too deeply will slow growth and possibly spark a new recession.

In a news conference at the meeting's conclusion, Obama said that the world's largest economic powers had agreed on the need for "continued growth in the short term and fiscal sustainability in the medium term."

"A number of our European partners are making difficult decisions," Obama said. "But we must recognize that our fiscal health tomorrow will rest in no small measure on our ability to create jobs and growth today."

The group's closing statement included the specific deficit-reduction target, but it was couched in caveats -- that deficit reduction needed to be "calibrated" to avoid harming growth, paced differently in each country and paired with other reforms to strengthen the economy.

Obama and European leaders, in particular, came to the meeting with sharply different views of the strength of the global economic recovery, with the U.S. president more pessimistic. The declaration, in the works for weeks, gave each side what it wanted, although the specific deadlines went further than the Obama administration had preferred before the meeting.

Protesters riot yesterday in Toronto at the G20.

It's really, really simple. The rich crashed the world economy. They were bailed out, with their wealth having almost entirely recovered and corporate profits likewise have pretty much recovered. Now, at the G20, the world's leaders are discussing how to make regular people pay for the rich's follies.

The world's developed countries have built extensive public health systems, promised citizens a paycheck for life and erected a welter of protections around some industries and types of jobs. Now their leaders are conferring over a singular dilemma: how to take some of it back without undermining the economies they are trying to sustain.

You notice that somehow, no one is talking about going back to 1950's levels of progressive taxation, with a top rate around 90%. No, what they're talking about is making the middle class and the poor pay for the sins of the rich.

The key thing here to understand is this: there is no crisis for the rich or corporations anymore, therefore as far as they are concerned, there is no crisis.

Dick Durbin once said, ""And the banks -- hard to believe in a time when we're facing a banking crisis that many of the banks created -- are still the most powerful lobby on Capitol Hill. And they frankly own the place."

It's not just the banks, of course, they are just one of the apex predators of the current court system, along with the Pentagon, pharma and various other predators. The systems is simple enough — they take care of Congress, staffers and everyone else who matters, and those people take care of them. Even if a congress member is not reelected, if they went down doing the bidding of monied interests, they are taken care of. If they don't do the bidding of their masters, on the other hand, their post-Congress career will be much less pleasant.

At the G20, today, what is being discussed is how to take away what's left of your economic future. Ordinary Americans didn't see a pay raise in the last decade. Not only won't they see one this decade, they'll take a loss, and now even the European experiment in taking care of the population is on the chopping board.

This is your future being decided, and no, they don't think you have a say in it.

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Rush Limbaugh joined Great Van Susteren last night and spent about 15 minutes bashing President Obama for everything from shaking Hugo Chavez' hand to thinking he's a GOD-like man, who has a messianic complex---who hates America which was immoral until he took office, but still he wants to destroy.

This was a particularly painful segment to watch so I just picked a few minutes out of the many distortions and smears that I could stomach. This man can spew garbage at record levels and he surely holds a place in the Guinness World Book of Records for the trash he can deliver.

Limbaugh: I think we're looking at a person with a God or messianic complex, certainly narcissistic, who looks at these trips, not just to Central America and the G20 in Europe. Looks at all these trips as making it about "him." The US is an immoral and unjust until "he" was elected...and President Obama wants to tear apart the foundation that built this country into the greatest country in the world, American exceptionalism and make it in an image that is closer to something that would be approved of by Daniel Ortega and people like Hugo Chavez.

Without comment....

Rick Sanchez was a bit offended by El Rushbo's remarks on Gordon Brown hanging with President Obama:

Limbaugh: The slobbering, the slobbering, this guy folks--- I'm telling you. If he keeps this up throughout the G-20, Gordon Brown will come down with anal poisoning and may die from it.

Sanchez: Anal poisoning. Think about what he is saying there, maybe no, better yet, don't.

We all got the crude sex joke, Rushie. He is a disgusting homophobe. Why else would he make such frequent references to people having to "bend over and grab their ankles"?

And the wonder-boy, Eric Cantor shows us once again how the GOP licks his boots on a daily basis. Britney Cantor said that the Limbaugh National Committee has really good ideas. OMG.

Via Greg Sargent:

Okay, I’ve just obtained audio of GOP House leader Eric Cantor lamenting the “overreacting” to the crisis, which is the story of the morning.

Here’s a transcript:

“As far as Rush, Rush has got ideas. He’s got following. He believes in the conservative principles that many of us believe in –- of lower taxes, of making sure that we turn back towards a focus on entrepreneurialism in this country, to promoting innovation and not stamping that out by over-reacting, if you will, which this town often does, to crisis.”

I guess Cantor also believes that Gordon Brown is about to get an STD from hanging with the President at the G-20 as they try to fix the global economy. You know they'd be singing a different song if McCain had gone there. Or RushBo's hero, George W. Bush.

It's killing them that President Obama is being received so well. My best friend just Skyped me from France and he said Obama is everywhere and Europe loves him. Of course, for these cretins, that just becomes an excuse to sneer at him.