"Think about what these leaders could do if they really wanted to," Klein suggested. "When you have a crisis like this, which so clearly shows the need for those types of regulations, when you have an election like there just was in the United States, where people have said clearly that this is a priority, the leaders have an opportunity to act. ... But they blew that opportunity, and they actually called for less regulation."

"This crisis isn't over," Klein warned, "and the same people who justified this bailout, who clamored for this bailout, are the very people who are going to turn around and say to Barack Obama, 'We can't afford for you to make good on your election promises. We can't afford universal healthcare.'"

"The money has been given to the people who needed it least, and it's going to be used to justify austerity measures imposed against those who need it most," Klein concluded. "It's going to be used to justify cuts to food stamps. It's going to be used to justify cuts to Social Security, to health care, let alone being used to justify why more ambitious plans for a national health care program, for green energy are not affordable. So people have to be ready for this. You know, the next shock is yet to come."

I want to tell the pond "I told you so."

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/958A1E6C-FC0F-4FE1-8264-984481C03C31.htm

Here's my filtered excerpts:

I've been surprised to hear you speak very often about racism, do you still feel discriminated against, even now that you are president of Bolivia?

As a trade union leader and leader of  peasant  movements, I witnessed and  had to endure racism. And I thought that once I was in the presidency that would stop. But the racism from the groups I have  mentioned has only increased.

The things that some opposition groups and leaders are saying against the indigenous movement are increasingly more radical. For example, the governor of  Santa Cruz referred to President Hugo Chavez [of Venezuela] as the chief monkey, meaning that the other monkey, the other ape, was Evo Morales.

To think that in this new millennium we can be referred to as animals is unacceptable. But it's the  colonial mentality of these people, who cannot accept that the indigenous people have the same rights as any other Bolivian in this country.

But there are people, though, who do not consider themselves indigenous, who consider themselves mestizos, of European descent, who accuse you of actually practicing reverse racism, of promoting hatred amongst different races rather than governing for all Bolivians. What do you say to that?

It seems that it's a crime to seek social justice [and] equality among all Bolivians. Historically those who have been most abandoned have been the peasants and if you work to help them you are accused of being racist.

Our economic policies are for every Bolivian, not just for one sector. But if we do not resolve the problem of the indigenous people, who make up the majority of the population, it is impossible to think that there will be social justice in our country.

So each and every one of us should seek to repair the damage done over so many years ... and so now, it's the racists who are accusing us of  practicing racism.

and:

You recently said that the United States government was pushing to try to turn Bolivia into a kind of Kosovo. What proof do you have of that?

First the American congressmen that visited me recently asked me to support that division of Kosovo. It's impossible that we can support the division of a country. Secondly, the conspiracy against my government is headed by the US ambassador.

USAID, with funds that come American tax payers, who think they are helping the Bolivian people, is using the money in a dirty campaign against my government and especially against me. They meet with NGOs and other groups here, always with the intention of conspiring. They offer them money on condition that they take part in the campaign against Evo Morales.

The mayor of a city, who recently visited me, told me he was offered money by the USAID agency to run as an opposition congressman. They even offered to pay for his campaign.

And the mayor told me that the people who work for the US agency go from house to house telling people that if they get rid of Evo Morales, they will have more money.  If we wanted to document this we could. We are going to present the documents to prove this to the US Congress.

This is exactly the same problem we have in the United States, as the ultra wealthy and their lackeys in the top levels of both parties and media hierarchies try to transform our country into a feudal kingdom. The will of justice and equality is a tidal force that cannot be stopped. Let Bolivia be an example of the complex and hard work it takes for a society to mature and recognize we all have a share in our lands, just by right of birth. No one should be elevated, nor should any one be denigrated.

This post by Cenk Uygur at the Huffington Post is a great encapsulation and reminder to us not to look down into the gutter of the administration's destruction but to look squarely across Lafayette Park at the "White" House at the evil demons who are wreaking havoc all across the globe, whether it be the acceleration of global warming, the toxication of our land, waters and seas, the political destabilization of nation states, the bloody murder of thousands of innocents, or the bankrupting of the global economy, we must keep these evil people right in out crosshairs of political might.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cenk-uygur/top-ten-worst-people-in-t_b_29603.html

But I believe that commission is not necessary, it's just a simplistic wild goose chase that leads to nothing, not indictments, no justice. What we need is an independent commission to oversee the disbursement of funds from the Treasury to business, individuals,and governments to mend the wounds of Katrina and the flooding.