ENEMIES OF TRUTH AND JUSTICE! The Monsters Are Due on Justice Street Putra Jaya

WATCH:

The power has gone out in a typical American town. Wait -- it's not just the electricity. The phones don't work, either. Portable radios are dead. Cars won't start.

But then lawn mowers and cars and lights inexplicably start and stop on their own. What's going on? A meteor? Sunspots? Or are there, as Tommy's comic book suggests, aliens among us, preparing for a takeover? Suspicion poisons the air. Neighbor turns on neighbor. A scapegoat is blamed. A shot is fired. Panic, madness, riot.

And while the humans behave monstrously, the real monsters watch from a nearby hilltop, working a little gizmo that messes with the power on Maple Street, and marveling how easy it is to manipulate these earthlings into destroying themselves.

In what is arguably the best Twilight Zone episode ever, "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street," Rod Serling wrote a suburban Lord of the Flies, a parable about the fragility of civilization, paranoia and the susceptibility of nice folks to manipulation.

Watching it when it first aired, in the depths of the nuclear arms race, people thought it was meant to ward off a witch-hunt for Reds under the bed. Today, watching what's been going on in Madison, Wisconsin, as well as in Washington, D.C., I can't help thinking that the real monsters are chortling at their success in pitting neighbor against neighbor, and I can't help marveling at their genius for distraction and unaccountability.

The monsters aren't Wisconsin's public employees whose right to collective bargaining has helped their families lead middle-class lives, and who have repeatedly declared their willingness to return to the table and negotiate a shared sacrifice. The monsters are on Wall Street, where state pension funds were sunk into toxic sub-prime mortgage-backed securities. The monsters are on K Street, where lobbyists are fighting financial industry oversight. The monsters are the politicians who are using Wisconsin's deficit as a pretext to demonize public employees and bust their unions.

If you look at the budget that House Republicans just passed, if you listen to the "so be it" language of their leadership, you'd think that the federal deficit is caused by the very people who who've been suffering the most in this recession.

But the monsters aren't low-income pregnant women and mothers who can't afford adequate nutrition for their families; or sick Americans who can't find health insurance to cover them; or blue-collar workers who want to retire at an age when there's still some life left in their bodies; or students who can't afford college without Pell Grants; or people who think their government's job includes preventing their air and water from poisoning them.

Sitting on the hilltop, watching Americans turn one another into bogeymen, evading scrutiny and responsibility, are the real sources of our distress.

They're the bankers who've extorted trillions of public treasure, blowing up the deficit while awarding themselves inconceivably fat bonuses.

They're the billionaires who've benefited from a massive transfer of wealth from the middle to the top, and whose political puppets protect them from paying their fair share of taxes.

They're the corporations whose cash has convinced Congress to deregulate industry after industry, despite all evidence that it is the enforcement of rules -- not the magic of the marketplace -- that protects the public's rights.

They're the defense contractors and pork appropriators who've used the cover of "national security" to shield the Pentagon's budget and its procurement process from the cuts and reforms that even Republicans like the Secretary of Defense are advocating.

They're the front groups and propagandists, like FreedomWorks and Fox, who use class warfare and culture wars in order to turn Americans against their own economic interests.

They're the Supreme Court justices whose Citizens United decision, overthrowing a century of settled law, has made our campaign finance system an open sewer, and whose indifference to conflicts of interest in a coming case promises to throw sick people back onto the tender mercies of insurers and to destroy our best hope to curb Medicare costs - further ballooning the deficit and providing cover for even more draconian cuts.

The game in Washington is to use the deficit as camouflage for destroying government's capacity to promote the general welfare. The game in Wisconsin and other states whose new Republican governors and legislative majorities are feeling their oats is to shelter the income of the wealthiest, and to balance the budget on the backs of the middle class.

At the end of the episode, Rod Serling says this: "The tools of conquest do not necessarily come with bombs and explosions and fallout. There are weapons that are simply thoughts, attitudes, prejudices to be found only in the minds of men. For the record: Prejudices can kill, and suspicion can destroy, and a thoughtless frightened search for a scapegoat has a fallout all of its own -- for the children, and the children yet unborn. And the pity of it is that these things cannot be confined to the twilight zone."

Sometimes it's hard to watch the news and not think that things are surreal. The other day, when what's been happening in Madison reminded me of what happened on "Maple Street," I suddenly realized the theme music that goes with it.

Abdul Gani Patail, the slimiest Attorney-General Malaysia has had to endure.

Look at these faces closely, folks. Some you already know, only too well - like the infamous asshole pictured right, pretending piety while lying and oozing semen through every orifice...

A few you wouldn't recognize even if they were sitting next to you on the train. If investigating officer DSP Jude Blacious Pereira (below, left) wasn't in uniform, would you recognize him on the street?

They all have one thing in common: their involvement in the obscene plot to put Anwar Ibrahim back behind bars over a nonsensical charge of sodomy - in the hope that with Anwar locked away, the opposition coalition called Pakatan Rakyat will lose its impetus to replace Barisan Najis as the government of the day in Malaysia.

The statutes against anal and oral sex are a relic of Victorian era colonial rule. Whereas in Britain these statutes have long fallen into disuse and died a natural death, in Malaysia they have been dusted off and abused, twice, to persecute one particular individual - a charismatic political figure named Anwar Ibrahim, whose greatest crime was to challenge the extended dictatorial reign of Mahathir Mohamad, who became prime minister in 1981 and only stepped down on 31 October 2003 under pressure from his political party, Umno.

Anwar Ibrahim has the dubious distinction of being the only Malaysian to be publicly humiliated by accusations of pederasty, and forced to endure tortuous and twisted mock trials presided over by kangaroo judges - like the late unlamented Augustine Paul and the gormless Zabidin Mohd Diah (pictured left).

Anwar was also imprisoned for 6 years and an insidious attempt made on his life while serving out his sentence through gradual arsenic poisoning. All this occurred under Mahathir Mohamad's watch - and the same old shit is happening again to Anwar Ibrahim under Najib Razak's insufferable crime ministership.

Dr Seah Lay Hong, government forensic chemist, seems less concerned with the truth than keeping her job...

And we the public seem capable of only watching this perverse abuse of the law and shaking our heads in utter disbelief.

We owe it to ourselves - and our own posterity - to stop this gross mockery of rule of law and massive insult to our intelligence. In approximately one month, the mock trial of Anwar Ibrahim (Phase Two) will grind to an inevitable conclusion. Solicitor-General II Yusof Zainal Abidin (above, right), leads the prosecution with an inquisitorial fervor totally inappropriate to the frivolity of the alleged offence, and the grotesquely shady circumstances surrounding it.

After all, Saiful the Accuser stated in open court that he visited the then deputy prime minister, Najib Razak, and his power-hungry wife Rosmah Mansor, at their private residence a couple of days before lodging a police report against Anwar. Najib himself was forced to admit as much during a press conference on 3 July 2008. This fact alone is enough to cast an opague shadow of serious doubt over the entire political charade.

If we allow this great son of Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim, to be imprisoned again for a completely anachronistic "crime" - and it's absolutely irrelevant whether or not the accusation leveled against him has any basis whatsoever - then we as citizens of this nation fully deserve to be mentally shackled, morally deformed, and condemned to neverending BN misrule unto forever.

Najib Razak and his ambitious spouse Rosmah Mansor, Red Queen of Putrajaya. Goodbye... begone... and don't come back!

By 24/7 Wall St: George Washington,the nation's first President, was also one of the wealthiest men to hold the office. His Virginia plantation, "Mount Vernon," consisted of five separate farms on 8,000 acres of prime farmland. Washington made significantly more than subsequent presidents: his salary was two percent of the total U.S. budget in 1789.

(Editor's Note: This article was first published on May 17, 2010. The net worth of any of the Presidents on this list who are no longer living cannot change, except as measured by inflation. The fortune of the presidents who remain living have changed somewhat, but it would be nearly impossible to measure the full effect of that over the last nine months. The value of Bill Clinton's real estate may have risen. Jimmy Carter's publishing royalties may have improved. None of these events is likely to have a substantial effect on the rankings.

The Net Worth of America's Presidents is a study that can be updated from time-time-time, but the figures relative to the passage of a few years will almost certainly never be more than modest.)

Our 16th President, Abraham Lincoln, was not one of America's wealthiest - any opportunity to make money after his term of office was cut short. He was born in a log cabin and served as an attorney for 17 years before his presidency. He owned a single-family home in Springfield, Illinois.

24/7 Wall St. has examined the finances of all forty-three presidents. This article provides net worth figures for each in 2010 dollars. Because a number of presidents, particularly in the early 19th Century, made and lost huge fortunes in a matter of a few years, the number for each man is based on his net worth at its peak.

In the case of each president we have taken into account hard assets like land, estimated lifetime savings based on work history, inheritance, homes, and money paid for services, which include things as diverse as their salary as Collector of Customs at the Port of New York to membership on Fortune 500 boards. Royalties on books have also been taken into account, along with ownership of companies and yields from family estates.

The net worth of the presidents varies widely. George Washington was worth over half a billion in today's dollars. Several presidents went bankrupt.

The fortunes of American presidents are tied to the economy in the eras in which they lived. For the first 75 years after Washington's election, presidents generally made money on land, crops, and commodity speculation. A president who owned hundreds or thousands of acres could lose most or all of his property after a few years of poor crop yields. Wealthy Americans occasionally lost all of their money through land speculation--leveraging the value of one piece of land to buy additional property. Since there was no reliable national banking system and almost no liquidity in the value of private companies, land was the asset likely to provide the greatest yield, if the property yielded enough to support the costs of operating the farm or plantation.

Because there was no central banking system and no commodities regulatory framework, markets were subject to panics.

The panic of 1819 was caused by the deep indebtedness of the federal government and a rapid drop in the price of cotton. The immature banking system was forced to foreclose on many farms. The value of the properties foreclosed upon was often low because land without a landowner meant land without a crop yield.

The panic of 1837 caused a depression that lasted six years. It was triggered by a weak wheat crop, a drop in cotton prices, and a leverage bubble in the value of land created by speculation. These factors caused the US economy to go through a multi-year period of deflation.

The sharp fluctuations in the fortunes of the first 14 presidents were a result of the economic times.

Beginning with Millard Fillmore in 1850, the financial history of the presidency entered a new era. Most presidents were lawyers who spent years in public service. They rarely amassed large fortunes and their incomes were often almost entirely from their salaries. From Fillmore to Garfield, these American presidents were distinctly middle class. These men often retired without the money to support themselves in a fashion anywhere close to the one that they had as president. Buchanan, Lincoln, Johnson, Grant, Hayes, and Garfield had almost no net worth at all.

The rise of inherited wealth in the early 20th Century contributed to the fortunes of many presidents, including Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, and both of the Bushes. The other significant change to the economy was the advent of large professionally organized corporations. These corporations produced much of the oil, mining, financial, and railroad fortunes amassed at the end of the 19th Century and the beginning of the 20th. The Kennedys were wealthy because of the financial empire built by Joseph Kennedy. Herbert Hoover made millions of dollars as the owner of mining companies.

The stigma of making money from being a retired president also began to disappear. Calvin Coolidge made a large income from his newspaper column. Gerald Ford, who had almost no money when he was a Congressman made a small fortune from serving on the boards of large companies. Clinton made millions of dollars from writing his autobiography.

24/7 Wall St. performed an analysis of presidential finances based on historical sources. Most media evaluations of the net worth of presidents have come up with a very wide range, a spread in which the highest figure was often several times the lowest estimate. Most sources provided no hard figures at all. Most of these efforts have focused largely on the analysis of recent chief executives. That is because it is much easier to calculate figures in a world where assets and incomes are a matter of public record.

One of the most important conclusions of this analysis is that the presidency has little to do with wealth. Several brought huge net worths to the job. Many lost most of their fortunes after leaving office. Some never had any money at all.

Check out net worth of all forty-three presidents -- and visit 24/7 Wall Street for more information.

George Washington (1789-1797), $525 Million, His Virginia plantation, "Mount Vernon," consisted of five separate farms on 8,000 acres of prime farmland, run by over 300 slaves. His wife, Martha Washington, inherited significant property from her father. Washington made significantly more than subsequent presidents: his salary was two percent of the total U.S. budget in 1789.

John Adams (1797-1801), $19 Million, Adams received a modest inheritance from his father. His wife, Abigail Adams, was a member of the Quincys, a prestigious Massachusetts family. Adams owned a handsome estate in Quincy, Massachusetts, known as "Peacefield," a working farm, covering approximately 40 acres. He also had a thriving law practice.

Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809), $212 Million, Jefferson was left 3,000 acres and several dozen slaves by his father. "Monticello," his home on a 5,000 acre plantation in Virginia, was one of the architectural wonders of its time. He made significant money in various political positions before becoming president, but was mired in debt towards the end of his life.

James Madison (1809-1817), $101 Million, Madison was the largest landowner in Orange County, Virginia, with land holding consisting of 5,000 acres and the "Montpelier" estate. He made significant money as secretary of state and president. Madison lost money at the end of his life due to the steady financial collapse of his plantation.

James Monroe (1817-1825), $27 Million, Monroe's wife, Elizabeth, was the daughter of wealthy British officer. He made significant money during eight years as president, but entered retirement severely in debt and was forced to sell Highland plantation, which included 3500 acres.

John Quincy Adams (1825-1829), $21 Million, Adams inherited most of his father's land. His wife was the daughter of a wealthy merchant. He devoted most of his adult life to public service, notably after leaving office.

Andrew Jackson (1829-1837), $119 Million, While he was considered to be in touch with the average middle class American, Jackson quietly became one of the wealthiest presidents of the 1800's. "Old Hickory" married into wealth and made money in the military. His homestead "The Hermitage" included 1,050 acres of prime real estate. Over the course of his life, he owned as many as 300 slaves. Jackson entered significant debt later in life.

Martin Van Buren (1837-1841,) $26 Million, Van Buren made substantial income as an attorney. He was one of only two men to serve as secretary of state, vice president, and president. He owned the 225-acre "Lindenwald" estate in upstate New York.

William Henry Harrison (1841), $5 Million, Harrison married into money - wife's father was prominent judge and landowner. When Harrison's mother died, he inherited 3,000 acres near Charles City, Virginia, which he later sold to his brother. He also owned "Grouseland" mansion and property, in Vincennes, Indiana. Despite his assets, Harrison died penniless, causing Congress to create a special pension for his widow.

John Tyler (1841-1845), $51 Million, Tyler Inherited 1,000-acre tobacco plantation. His first wife, Letitia, was wealthy. Tyler bought "Sherwood Manor," a 1,600 acre estate, previously owned by William Henry Harrison. He became indebted during the Civil War and died poor.

James Knox Polk (1845-1849), $10 Million, Like his wife, Sarah Childress, Polk's father was a wealthy plantation owner and speculator. Polk made significant sums as speaker of the house and governor of Tennessee, and owned 920 acres in Coffeeville, Mississippi, as well as 25 slaves.

Zachary Taylor (1849-1850), $6 Million, Taylor inherited significant amounts of land from his family, which at one point included property in Mississippi, Kentucky, and Louisiana. He made substantial money in land speculation, the leasing of warehouses, and investments in bank and utility stocks. Taylor owned a sizeable plantation in Mississippi and a home in Baton Rouge.

Millard Fillmore (1850-1853), $4 Million, Neither Fillmore nor his wife had significant inheritance. He founded a college that is the current State University of New York at Buffalo, and his primary holding was a house in nearby East Aurora, NY.

Franklin Pierce (1853-1857), $2 Million, Pierce's father was frontier farmer, and his wife was well-to-do aristocrat. He served as attorney for 16 years and held property in concord, NH.

James Buchanan (1857-1861), Less Than $1 Million, Born in log cabin in Pennsylvania, Buchanan was one of 11 children. He was the only president never to marry. He worked for nine years as attorney, and spent 16 years in public office, including four years as secretary of state.

Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865), Less Than $1 Million, To the log cabin born. Lincoln served as an attorney for 17 years before his presidency. He owned a single-family home in Springfield, Illinois.

Andrew Johnson (1865-1869), Less Than $1 Million, Johnson's father was a tailor, and his wife was a shoemaker. He served the public for 20 years, including as Governor of Tennessee and U.S. Senator. Johnson owned a small house in Greenville, TN.

Ulysses Simpson Grant (1869-1877), Less Than $1 Million, Grant's father was a tanner, and his wife was the daughter of a wealthy merchant. He lost his entire fortune when swindled by his investing partner. Grant owned a modest home in Galena, Illinois. Although he died with little money, his autobiography kept family afloat.

Rutherford Birchard Hayes, (1877-1881), $3 Million, Hayes' father was a shopkeeper. He was an attorney for 15 years and owned "Spiegel Grove," a 10,000 square foot home that sat on 25 acres in Fremont, Ohio. Hayes also served as Governor of Ohio and was a member of the House.

James Abram Garfield (1881), Less Than $1 Million, Garfield was born in a log cabin in Ohio. He spent 18 years in the House of Representatives. Garfield owned "Lawnfield," a home and small property in Mentor, Ohio. He died penniless.

Chester Alan Arthur (1881-1885), Less Than $1 Million, The son of an Irish preacher, Arthur's wife came a from military family. He made substantial sums as Collector for the Port of New York. His townhouse in New York was well-appointed with furniture commission from Tiffany.

Grover Cleveland (1885-1889, 1893-1897), $25 Million, Cleveland's father was a bookseller and preacher, and his wife was the daughter of wealthy lawyer. Cleveland served as an attorney for twelve years, and also made significant sums on sale of his estate outside of Washington, D.C. He bought "Westland Mansion" near Princeton, New Jersey.

Benjamin Harrison (1889-1893), $5 Million, Harrison had no significant inheritance of his own or from his wife's family. He was a highly paid attorney for 18 years, and served as attorney for Republic of Venezuela. Harrison owned large Victorian home in Indianapolis, Indiana.

William McKinley (1897-1901), $1 Million, Mckinley had no significant inheritance. Served 30 years in public office, including local prosecutor and member of the House of Representatives. Went bankrupt during depression of 1893 while he was Governor of Ohio.

Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909), $125 Million, Born to a prominent and wealthy family, Roosevelt received a significant trust fund. He lost most of his money on a ranching venture in the Dakotas and had to work as an author to pay bills. Roosevelt spent most of his adult years in public service. His 235-acre estate, "Sagamore Hill," sits on some of the most valuable real estate on Long Island.

William Howard Taft (1909-1913), $3 Million, Taft's wife's father was a law partner of former president, Rutherford B. Hayes. Taft was president of the American Bar Association, an active attorney for nearly two decades, and only president to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court.

Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921), Less Than $1 Million, Wilson received modest compensation as head of Princeton and Governor of New Jersey. He never served in any position that provided him with a reasonable income. Wilson had a stroke in office and died five years later.

Warren Gamaliel Harding (1921-1923), $1 Million, Harding obtained wealth through marriage to his wife Mabel, daughter of a prominent banker. He owned the Marion Daily Star and a small home in Marion, Ohio. Most of Harding's net worth came from his newspaper ownership.

Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929), Less Than $1 Million, Coolidge's father was prosperous farmer and storekeeper. "Silent Cal" Spent five years as an attorney, and almost two decades in public office, which included time as Governor of Massachusetts. His net worth derived primarily from his home, "The Beeches," in Northampton, Massachusetts, the advance from his autobiography, and the money he made from his newspaper column.

Herbert Clark Hoover (1929-1933), $75 Million, An orphan, Hoover was raised by his uncle, a doctor. He made a fortune as a mining company executive, had a very large salary for 17 years and had extensive holdings in mining companies. Hoover donated his presidential salary to charity. He also owned "Hoover House" in Monterey, California.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1933-1945), $60 Million, Roosevelt had wealth through inheritance and marriage. He owned the 800-acre "Springwood" estate as well as properties in Georgia, Maine, and New York. In 1919, his mother had to bail him out of financial difficulty. He spent most of his adult life in public service. Before he was president, Roosevelt was appointed assistant secretary of the navy by Wilson.

Harry S. Truman (1945-1953), Less than $1 Million, Truman was a haberdasher in Missouri and nearly went bankrupt. He served 18 years in Washington, D.C.

Dwight David Eisenhower (1953-1961), $8 Million, Eisenhower had no inherited wealth. He served the majority of his career in the military and five years as president of Columbia. Ike owned a large farm near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1961-1963), Although he never inherited his father's fortune, the Kennedy family estate was worth nearly $1 billion dollars. Born into great wealth, Kennedy's wife was oil heiress. His Father was one of the wealthiest men in America, and was the first chairman of the SEC. Almost all of JFK's income and property came from trust shared with other family members.

Lyndon Baines Johnson (1963-1969), $98 Million, Johnson's father lost all of the family's money when LBJ was a boy. Over time, he accumulated 1,500 acres in Blanco County, Texas, which included his home, called the "Texas White House." He and his wife owned a radio and television station in Austin, TX, and had a variety of other moderate holdings, including livestock and private aircraft.

Richard Milhous Nixon (1969-1974), $15 Million, Nixon was born without any inheritance, and was a public servant for most of his life including a term as a Senator from California. "Tricky Dick" made significant sums from series of interviews with David Frost and book advances. He sold his New York townhouse to the Syrian ambassador to the U.S. and purchased a large home in Saddle River, NJ. At various times, Nixon also owned real estate in California and Florida.

Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. (1974-1977), $7 Million, Ford had no inheritance, and he spent virtually his entire adult life in public service. Over the course of his lifetime, he owned properties in Michigan, Rancho Mirage, and Beaver Creek, Colorado. After he left the White House in 1976, he made nearly $1 million a year from book advances and from serving on the boards of several prominent American companies.

James Earl Carter, (1977-1981), $7 Million, Carter was the son of a prominent Georgia businessman. He was a peanut farmer for almost two decades. Carter left office deeply in debt, but made substantial sums from writing 14 books. Part of a family partnership that owns 2,500 acres in Georgia.

Ronald Wilson Reagan, (1981-1989), $13 Million, Reagan had no inheritance, but his first wife, an actress, had her own money. He was a movie and television actor for over two decades. "The Gipper" owned several pieces of real estate over his lifetime, including 688-acre property near Santa Barbara, California. Reagan was highly paid for his autobiography and as a GE spokesman.

George Herbert Walker Bush (1989-1993), $23 Million, Bush was the son of Prescott Bush, a Connecticut Senator and successful businessman. Aided by his friends in the financial community, he made a number of successful investments. One of his major assets is his home and 100+ acre estate in Kennebunkport, Maine.

William Jefferson Clinton (1993- 2001), $38 Million, Clinton was born with no inheritance, and he made little significant money during 20 plus years of public service. After his time in White House, however, he made a substantial income as an author and public speaker. Clinton received large advance from autobiography. His wife, the secretary of state, has also made money as author.

George W. Bush (2001-2008), $20 Million, Bush was born into a wealthy family. Over ten years, he made substantial sums of money in the oil business. The largest contribution to his net worth was the profitable sale of the Texas Rangers.

Barack Hussein Obama (2008-present), $5 Million, Obama is the grandson of a goat herder. He is a former constitutional law professor and civil rights attorney. Book royalties constitute most of Obama's net worth.