Emmanuel Todd's comments on the EU

Emmanuel Todd's comments on the EU are interesting. He contends that "the German Empire" is going to control the world. European democracy has been destroyed by the efficient and strong German economy and the common currency of the EU. In the EU, some countries are more equal than the others. Only France could stop the trend, but the ruling class in France would not have the courage to do so.

Emmanuel Todd - "The day France decides, the game is over. The euro is dead."

Poison Tea

The secret origins of the Tea Party http://time.com/secret-origins-of-the-tea-party/?xid=time_socialflow_twitter via @TIME

"Poison Tea shines a spotlight on the shadowy Koch brother network and reveals hidden connections between the tobacco industry, the reclusive billionaire brothers, and the Tea Party movement. It’s a major story that for too long has been under-reported and poorly understood." ―Rep. Henry Waxman, former chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee

“In Poison Tea, Jeff Nesbit draws on his own first-hand insider knowledge plus extensive research to reveal that, contrary to conservative mythology, the genesis of the Tea Party was neither spontaneous nor did it come from the grassroots. Poison Tea demonstrates that the birth of the Tea Party was the result of an unholy alliance between the Koch brothers and the tobacco industry that began in the 1980s. Nesbit also reveals how this decades-long campaign to capture the American political system helped spark the civil war within today’s Republican Party.” ―Andrew Claster, Deputy Chief Analytics Officer, Obama for America 2011-2012

I wonder who has had more "poison tea", Donald Trump or Ted Cruz? I saw Donald Trump with Sarah Palin on television. She is now supporting the real estate tycoon. I don't know if she is still popular with Tea Party supporters. Ted Cruz tweeted, "Without her[Sarah Palin's] support, I wouldn't be in the Senate. Regardless of what she does in 2016, I will always be a big fan."

"Seventeen percent of Americans now consider themselves Tea Party supporters, and a record 54% say they are neither supporters nor opponents."
"Several Republicans elected to the House and Senate with Tea Party support have become major players on the national stage, including presidential candidates Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz. The Tea Party movement has also been tied to the Freedom Caucus, a group of conservative Republican members of the House who have played a key role in the current battle to select a new speaker."
In U.S., Support for Tea Party Drops to New Low

Bruce Springsteen

A New Box Set Holds A Springsteen Holy Grail

I cannot explain why, but Bruce Springsteen's song made my eyes moist with tears. The title of the song is "The River".
Old people are easily moved to tears.

"They bring you up to do like your daddy done
"And for my nineteenth birthday I got a union card and a wedding coat
"I got a job working construction for the Johnstown Company
But lately there ain't been much work on account of the economy
Now all them things that seemed so important
Well mister they vanished right into the air
Now I just act like I don't remember
Mary acts like she don't care
"Is a dream a lie if it don't come true
Or is it something worse "
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN LYRICS

'Is a dream a lie if it don't come true/or is it something worse?'

"You find a job, but unlike your daddy's job it isn't unionised, you work for less and you have very little security. When the economy slows, you know your job is at risk. America grows richer for some but not for you. That hurts."
"At the end of the River, Bruce writes, 'Is a dream a lie if it don't come true/or is it something worse?'
Forty years of hurt have driven some people to answer Springsteen's question, that the American dream is something worse than a lie, and from that bleak answer they are looking for a political leader who echoes their anger. So my answer to presenters' questions whether Trump can win, is now and was before the primaries started: 'Yes.'"
Michael Goldfarb
US election 2016: The 40-year hurt(BBC News Magazine)

Bruce Springsteen - The River