In a nutshell (Brazil Nut), a liberal can be summed up as a person who believes that society (and he being a driver/participant in it) works to ensure that yesterday's ills and wrongs can be overcome. The resulting effect of this triumph over the "wrongs," be they technological or wrought by basic human prejudice, is that everyone eventually will live a better, happier life.
In a nutshell, a conservative believes this is all pie-in-sky nonsense and that it is each man for himself, survival of the fittest. And, if the "fittest" have a conscience then they donate to charities of their choices.
The Rule of Thumb
An economist by the name of Arthur Okun stated that when unemployment drops by 1%, GDP drops correspondingly by 2% to 3%. Many hesitate to call this a law so therefore, it is called a "rule of thumb."
Over the past 30 years, our economic ups and downs have all revolved around either the creation of virtual wealth; speculation on bubbles in the investment arena such as internet/techonology and then the real esate bubble; and, ultra-hyper-mass consumption leading to the "virtual ownership" through the abuse of consumer credit.
Conservatives and believers in the tooth fairy still like to claim that tax cuts were responsible for much of the growth of this era but what they are not willing to admit is that the vast Reagan and W tax cuts came during periods of massive deregulation of our banking and financial markets. Perhaps, it was the loss of oversight on these industries which led to the increases in investment?
Progress
30 years ago, we had no internet and the government, led by rising stars like Al Gore and then Bill Clinton, wisely aided the development of this technology. The internet today has arguably had more impact than any development since the creation of electricity. Had W been president, then we would still be mailing letters and calling each other from telephones attached to kitchen walls.
In these 30 years, we have also seen a massive assualt on modernity. The republicans/conservatives, led by their bible-thumping breathen from the Southern states, have reacted in many of the ways that Islam has reacted to US encroachment on their youth cultures via our enticing soft culture: Benjamin Barber a pompous but very wise former-Rutgers professor called it Jihad vs. McWorld. Fundamental, theocratic cultures are being threatened by the internet and its uncontrollable morals and so we see violent reaction.
These reactions manifested themselves on 9/11 and they have united and made powerful the GOP since 1994. Barry Goldwater was liberal in many of his views compared to what the conservatives of today espouse as rational, intellectual thought. They call any progressive behavior communist and as is typical in reactionary, fear-driven, change-adverse societies (I happen to live in one today), forward-looking, intellectual thought is called "pseudo" and "faux."
Yet...tomorrow may not be better
For 30 years, we have seen the lives of Americans made "better" thanks to the increase of consumer credit. Yet, today, we have more Americans bankrupt or in crippling debt than at any other time in our history. We have not seen the advance of any serious, long-lasting technologies, other than in the military industrial complex, during this period.
At the expense of our long-term well-being, for the sake of short-term profits and massive bonuses, conservatives have poohed-poohed investment in any area that might have paved the way for gradual and positive development in our economic infrastructure: what are we capable of leading the world in today other than in the field of arms? Obesity? Soft culture?
Driven by greed and void of the so-called 'invisible hand', big business has been free to make profits off of their profits without showing anything other than virtual wealth and needless consumer goods.
In the never-ending quest for lowered margins so that quarterly bonuses could be ever larger, big business, patriots all of them, "Jesus-sayers" predominately from Southern states and almost always conservatives, willingly drove their businesses out of America. Unemploying the American workers, they espoused that the market, the gospel of the profit incentive, demands such sacrifice. And so, today, we see that as 1% of Americans join the ranks of the unemployed, the GDP is dropping faster than it did in the past--and vice versa: Okun's rule is screamingly conservative compared to today's reality.
Another consequence of our failed experiment at a greed-driven economy void of governmental regulation is that these jobs, it is estimated, won't return to our eonomy after the downturn subsides. The lost jobs are lost for real because places like China and India and Mexico are now doing the work that Americans did just 20 years ago; but, for a mere fraction of the cost and all for the sake of the quarterly profits of that shrinking pool of owners.
Obama's Vision
They obstruct and they obstruct yet the conservatives haven't yet found the key ingredient to dismantling the man's vision. He has vision and being an American, I am addicted to vision and national goals: a man on the moon by the end of the decade, only fear we should fear, ask not what your country can do for you, etc., etc.
President Obama is trying to make the changes we found impossible to make beginning in January 1981 when greed came to town. President Reagan had vision, granted, but he also had an economic understanding that was perfect for the nation in which he came of age. By letting Detroit off the hook on gas emission requirements in the mid-80's and pretty much paving the way for SUV's, Ronald Reagan took our economy back to the post-WWII era of useless consumer crap in all shapes and colors for everyone at the lowest possible price. Which has directly led us to where we are today: nowhere.
We are for all intents and purposes bankrupted as a nation. What is our plan for going forward? More consumption for the sake of consumption? More unregulated profits thanks to super risky mortgages, etc.? President Obama is trying to make us a green nation because he knows that this may be one of our last pillars of world economic leadership. We are America. We used to be the smartest nation until taxs were cut so far that federal funding dried up for research grants resulting in a dumbing down of our universities (although, we still are the best in this area, the world is catching up fast).
Our college grads speak English poorly. Too many are focused on making big and quick profits in finance. We have lost our way and been dumbed down thanks to the cultural battle against modernity. We have to seize the golden opportunity which is sitting before us and we must become the world's leader of all green technologies. Europe and Asia, led of course by China, are making great strides at capturing this new and growing segment of the world's market.
It is time for us to boldly strive forward, like Americans, and to conquer yet another frontier for the betterment of our nation. If this means that we need government leadership and funding then so be it. Because one thing is for sure, the sales of more cans of soda or bigger bags of beef jerky at Wal-Mart are not going to preserve our place at the top for much longer.
Conservative response: "need to cut taxes. The market will make the necessary adjustments and then all will be good again." Been there, tried that and look where it got us.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Truths and Lies--Right to Life Hypocrisy
Recently, while fielding the condescending fly-balls of a conservative as he fungoed sound-bite after sound-bite to me: "Obama is a Muslim. Obama is making America socialist. Obama is a tax and spend liberal. Obama's stimulus has failed. Obama supports murder. D.C. is more violent than any other city and it has a no-handgun law. Blah-blah and blah;" I made a diving grab of one of his more egregiously boring and emotion-less diatribes and decided: "this one would not get away."
This conservative, like the millions of other Stepford cons with their love for country music, chewing tobacco, Reagan and fraternities, argued that while the Constitution does guarantee the "right to bear arms"; it did not permit for the right of a woman to have an abortion. Having successfully pooh-poohed this bold attempt at turning the US Constitution into silly putty, we got right down to the issue at hand: he told me that "God didn't like abortion."
This answer impressed me the most. On the one hand, if he had such an open line to God, then I have a whole list of questions that I would like to pose; and, the top is when will Rutgers football get into and stay in the top 10? But, needless to say, neither does he have an open line nor God's email address. When the cons say that "God" is against abortion, what they are saying is that they are.
The Grand Hypocrisy
That fact established and feeling as if I were getting my sea legs, it was decided that ever bolder forays into the swamp-like thought process of the conservative needed to be made. Stepping carefully, lest I fall into one of those emotive traps lined with lime-like emotional idocies for which there simply is no answer (Barack Hussein Obama is really a Muslim), the grand hypocrisy needed to be scaled and conquered.
Cons (Conservatives and Republicans) refer to the evilness of abortion. They say abortion is murder. Many were simply gleeful and rejoiced when they learned that that doctor was killed in his church in Kansas. His sin, they say, was that he was the only doctor in the US doing third trimester abortions. Whether I agree with such an abortion is not the matter of discussion here (probably I don't but I would need to consider all of the circumstances).
Their joy at his tragic murder in church can easily be reacted to with the same disgust and anger that we Americans felt on 9/11 when CNN showed crowds of Muslims celebrating the deaths of so many Americans: terror and the ill effects of it should not be high-fived. In both instances, laws were broken and most importantly the law of God, "thou shalt not kill."
And this leads us to the hypocrisy. If abortion is murder then we can assume that the cons are God-fearing folk who are against murder. Yet, they celebrate the murder of this doctor in a place as invoilable as the church on a Sunday morning. How?
Then, we can statistically say (I don't have these numbers up to date but when I worked on my master's thesis in 1994, they were accurate), the majority of children aborted are done so for economic reasons. A family, one perhaps mired in poverty, admits that it does not have the means to provide for this expected child and so, they abort the pregnancy in, quite often, the earliest possible stages.
Now, this is the part which simply boggles my mind. When we so-called liberals admit that abortion should not be abused we want to provide for people who happen to fall into high-risk groups for such behavior, family planning training. Like math, planning for a family which includes instruction and information about contraceptives, is something that needs to be taught from the earliest possible age: the moment a girl or boy are capable of mating.
Yet, the cons are almost always against such training. They consider contraception to be against God's will. When, this is the hypocrisy which really turns up the heat on my brain to a level where some steam begins to leak out, babies are born into families and communities that have had little or no training as to the why's/how's/if's of starting families void the necessary economic means the cons go berserk; in these communities where there has been no easy access to contraception and suddenly a young woman of 20 has three children already, the cons will scream should God-forbid any public assistance be offered to help this young woman provide at least a bowl of Trix for her growing kiddies each morning.
When the cons cannot guarantee that in fact no pubic assistance will be offered to these "people of loose morals," then they start cutting taxes left and right. And as it says on page two of the "How to be a Real Con" instructional manual, the tax-cutting tool is really not so to "put more money into the hands of the wealthy so they can invest more;" No, it is so the cons can take more money out of the hands of the government thereby leaving ever less and less in government coffers for nefarious things like welfare, family planning, etc.
Finally, I mentioned that he should at least like the idea of "Head Start" programs in these communities overflowing with underage, single moms. He told me that "Head Start" was just another one of those liberal 'we know better than y'all' things and that it was 'elitist.' Choosing not to fall into the trap, I merely turned away and let those words drift off like balloons into the night sky. And then after about a half hour of silence, he asked me: "What is Head Start anyway?"
I told him what it was and he listened. We clarified that abortion was not being done because the child had already been born. He realized that some of the kids might actually learn something and pull themselves up out of the poverty into which they were born. When I told him it was like teaching them how to fish rather than buying them the fish, he smiled. I had hit home. And then, we got going on hunting and how guns should be in the pockets of all Americans, etc, etc.
We all need guns to defend against the criminals. When I mentioned that had not so many children been born into abject proverty, maybe, crime would be lower. He called me a racist again. As if whites aren't born into poverty? He also managed to rethink his position on Head Start and said that a good, traditional family could provide what Head Start did and that deterence would come by having more prisons.
And, the hypocrisy continued. They are against murder. Aren't guns used to kill? But, they will say that it is not guns but people that kill. Yes, their lies and their truths are one in the same so be careful or else you too will find yourself knee deep in lime and soon you will have no knee left.
This conservative, like the millions of other Stepford cons with their love for country music, chewing tobacco, Reagan and fraternities, argued that while the Constitution does guarantee the "right to bear arms"; it did not permit for the right of a woman to have an abortion. Having successfully pooh-poohed this bold attempt at turning the US Constitution into silly putty, we got right down to the issue at hand: he told me that "God didn't like abortion."
This answer impressed me the most. On the one hand, if he had such an open line to God, then I have a whole list of questions that I would like to pose; and, the top is when will Rutgers football get into and stay in the top 10? But, needless to say, neither does he have an open line nor God's email address. When the cons say that "God" is against abortion, what they are saying is that they are.
The Grand Hypocrisy
That fact established and feeling as if I were getting my sea legs, it was decided that ever bolder forays into the swamp-like thought process of the conservative needed to be made. Stepping carefully, lest I fall into one of those emotive traps lined with lime-like emotional idocies for which there simply is no answer (Barack Hussein Obama is really a Muslim), the grand hypocrisy needed to be scaled and conquered.
Cons (Conservatives and Republicans) refer to the evilness of abortion. They say abortion is murder. Many were simply gleeful and rejoiced when they learned that that doctor was killed in his church in Kansas. His sin, they say, was that he was the only doctor in the US doing third trimester abortions. Whether I agree with such an abortion is not the matter of discussion here (probably I don't but I would need to consider all of the circumstances).
Their joy at his tragic murder in church can easily be reacted to with the same disgust and anger that we Americans felt on 9/11 when CNN showed crowds of Muslims celebrating the deaths of so many Americans: terror and the ill effects of it should not be high-fived. In both instances, laws were broken and most importantly the law of God, "thou shalt not kill."
And this leads us to the hypocrisy. If abortion is murder then we can assume that the cons are God-fearing folk who are against murder. Yet, they celebrate the murder of this doctor in a place as invoilable as the church on a Sunday morning. How?
Then, we can statistically say (I don't have these numbers up to date but when I worked on my master's thesis in 1994, they were accurate), the majority of children aborted are done so for economic reasons. A family, one perhaps mired in poverty, admits that it does not have the means to provide for this expected child and so, they abort the pregnancy in, quite often, the earliest possible stages.
Now, this is the part which simply boggles my mind. When we so-called liberals admit that abortion should not be abused we want to provide for people who happen to fall into high-risk groups for such behavior, family planning training. Like math, planning for a family which includes instruction and information about contraceptives, is something that needs to be taught from the earliest possible age: the moment a girl or boy are capable of mating.
Yet, the cons are almost always against such training. They consider contraception to be against God's will. When, this is the hypocrisy which really turns up the heat on my brain to a level where some steam begins to leak out, babies are born into families and communities that have had little or no training as to the why's/how's/if's of starting families void the necessary economic means the cons go berserk; in these communities where there has been no easy access to contraception and suddenly a young woman of 20 has three children already, the cons will scream should God-forbid any public assistance be offered to help this young woman provide at least a bowl of Trix for her growing kiddies each morning.
When the cons cannot guarantee that in fact no pubic assistance will be offered to these "people of loose morals," then they start cutting taxes left and right. And as it says on page two of the "How to be a Real Con" instructional manual, the tax-cutting tool is really not so to "put more money into the hands of the wealthy so they can invest more;" No, it is so the cons can take more money out of the hands of the government thereby leaving ever less and less in government coffers for nefarious things like welfare, family planning, etc.
Finally, I mentioned that he should at least like the idea of "Head Start" programs in these communities overflowing with underage, single moms. He told me that "Head Start" was just another one of those liberal 'we know better than y'all' things and that it was 'elitist.' Choosing not to fall into the trap, I merely turned away and let those words drift off like balloons into the night sky. And then after about a half hour of silence, he asked me: "What is Head Start anyway?"
I told him what it was and he listened. We clarified that abortion was not being done because the child had already been born. He realized that some of the kids might actually learn something and pull themselves up out of the poverty into which they were born. When I told him it was like teaching them how to fish rather than buying them the fish, he smiled. I had hit home. And then, we got going on hunting and how guns should be in the pockets of all Americans, etc, etc.
We all need guns to defend against the criminals. When I mentioned that had not so many children been born into abject proverty, maybe, crime would be lower. He called me a racist again. As if whites aren't born into poverty? He also managed to rethink his position on Head Start and said that a good, traditional family could provide what Head Start did and that deterence would come by having more prisons.
And, the hypocrisy continued. They are against murder. Aren't guns used to kill? But, they will say that it is not guns but people that kill. Yes, their lies and their truths are one in the same so be careful or else you too will find yourself knee deep in lime and soon you will have no knee left.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
I Can Hear the Thunder Already
It is a fact that not all Americans have health care. It is a fact that when someone loses a job they lose their health care, also. It is a fact that poor working families prevent their children from taking part in school sports for fear that should their child be injured, then, they could be bankrupted.
It is a fact that many of our doctors are beholden to the interests of pharmaceutical companies--prescribe a high-cost medicine rather than do a low cost procedure or hands-on treatment. It is a fact that our health care system stresses (and excels at actually) dealing with the illness when it has occurrred and not in preventing the onset of the illness.
And, it is a fact that the entire health care debate, like global warming, has been so politicized that constructive dialogue is nearly impossible.
The Democratic controlled House of Representatives has found an amazingly painless way to finance at least half of the cost of the health care reform being demanded by our president. Painless, I should say however, for a mere 98% of all American households. The other vast 2%, those earning from upwards of $350,000, will have to pay anywhere from $500 to $9000 in a surtax. Those poor souls, what will they do without that extra night in a top hotel in Naples, Florida--which for a standard double they would have paid around $1500?
You know what? I don't care what they will do without that extra night. I don't care that a person making $1 million has to pay a bit extra to ensure that his fellow countrymen, so many who are of the working poor with several kids and no health care, might now have a chance to get health care. Make health-care-less Joe's health better and his productivity levels go up; he is a better consumer of the goods and services that might be responsible for that $1 million salary; he will certainly be a consumer longer, right? Maybe, that $1 million salary will actually go up as a result.
Besides, as many probably know, when you are making so much money, there are a lot of perks that go with the job. The amount of freebies a person making upwards of $350,000, in many cases, probably add up to be more than the average salary of the healt-care-less working poor.
Hidden Taxes--Opportunity Lost
This year the US goverment will pay close to $2.5 trillion on health care. $207 billion will be lost to the economy as a result of shortened life-spans because people don't have health care. And so, a surtax that would cost the nation's wealthiest 1.2% to 2% $544 billion over 10 years, simply does not upset me in the least bit. Actually, it is fair, it is right and it is the American way.
Why is it that the lack of universal heatlh care, which puts a debilitating drain on the whole economy and disproportainately effects the middle class down, is acceptable to a nation which has never paid homage to an elite, ruling class? No universal health care is a tax against all Americans in that opportunities are lost and the costs of these lost opportunities result in bankrupted local governments, states and even our federal coffers echo in their bareness.
The American Way
We are a capitalist nation. We are a nation of free-enterprise. We are a nation that has the God-given resources to effect positive and timely change in a world that often looks after its own small, regional or national interests first. We have caused no world wars. When there is tragedy in the world, Americans join together and send money, help and even prayers. We are a good nation. However, why do we have such anger, such disregard for our fellow countrymen when they are in need?
Granted, our system of giving, of charity, is the best in the world and it is to be commended. However, for instance, in a time of economic downturn like now, what happens to charity? It too dries up. And, despite some foundations like Bill Gates' trying to provide health care, when proposals are put forth by anyone to provide governmental, systemic help for our fellow countrymen in need, the issue immediately becomes hotly politicized. The whole argument lapses into the conservative modus operandi of "us versus them", "black and white" and "communism versus capitalism."
When did we become such a greedy and almost vengeful nation? It is as if the thinking at the country clubs goes, "they are poor, they deserve no health care." Why is a payment of $9000 for a family earning $1 million not a reasonable thing to ask? Why can this uninsured American not be guaranteed health care by his nation? We are not, after all, a third world dictatorship. Although, health care in Cuba is free and universal.
The Expected and Passionate Reaction of the Right
For many of the right, travel to Europe and many other nations in the world is limited to Mexico. Yes, a generalization but a fair one. World travel by Americans has never been a great past time. The overwhelming majority of us don't have passports and why should we? Yes, we have all of the beauty and greatness right in America, so why do we need to travel?
Personally, I love travel and that is my hobby. (I live in another country.) What travel does afford us with is the ability to compare. I have sought health care in other countries and truthfully, despite the scarey propaganda of the AMA as to the dangers of "socialized medicine", their systems work; they work efficiently, are free and to fill prescriptions costs around $3. And, as a result, the drain on GDP is anywhere between 7% and 10% in Europe and Canada (and everyone is covered including visiting foreigners!).
This means that their workers are healthier and their economies are losing less. This means that our wonderful system of free enterprise, void of that ever guiding "invisible hand", is sabotaging our ecnomic health as it holds the nation hostage through unimpeded rising health care costs for every aspect of health care all for the sake of ever larger profits.
The republicans/conservatives (I really wish the conservatives would come up with a new party because I am certain many of them don't wish to be aligned with the GOP anymore) will act in the same way they have since Obama took the reins: obstructionism, lies about socialized systems and the "long lines" for what really are health procedures that take up about .0001% of all health procedures; and, as usual, they will scream about increased taxes.
Increased taxes will somehow be linked to the 2nd Amendment and to abortion and then to liberal values and gay marriage and suddenly, Bucky Davis from Mississippi (who makes $1,745 a month) and hasn't seen a doctor since a doc cleared him from the womb, will punish democrats because they dared to raise "his" taxes. Also, lest we forget, the increased taxes, as the conservatives like to say, will lead to decreased investment by this 2% of Americans and so business development won't take place and the economy will sputter further.
$500? $9000? If a wealthy American is so petty as to punish his nation by not investing in his own business because his was "surtaxed" to help pay for health care, then I say, he is not an American. In my America, we give our neighbors a helping hand, we help the world, we are God-fearing Christians, Jews, Muslims, etc. who strive for the better of all not just "me."
If the right to bear arms is so vehemently protected, why is not the right to live a heathly, productive American life somewhere on that radar of obstructionist, Goldwater-hatched conservatism?
It is a fact that many of our doctors are beholden to the interests of pharmaceutical companies--prescribe a high-cost medicine rather than do a low cost procedure or hands-on treatment. It is a fact that our health care system stresses (and excels at actually) dealing with the illness when it has occurrred and not in preventing the onset of the illness.
And, it is a fact that the entire health care debate, like global warming, has been so politicized that constructive dialogue is nearly impossible.
The Democratic controlled House of Representatives has found an amazingly painless way to finance at least half of the cost of the health care reform being demanded by our president. Painless, I should say however, for a mere 98% of all American households. The other vast 2%, those earning from upwards of $350,000, will have to pay anywhere from $500 to $9000 in a surtax. Those poor souls, what will they do without that extra night in a top hotel in Naples, Florida--which for a standard double they would have paid around $1500?
You know what? I don't care what they will do without that extra night. I don't care that a person making $1 million has to pay a bit extra to ensure that his fellow countrymen, so many who are of the working poor with several kids and no health care, might now have a chance to get health care. Make health-care-less Joe's health better and his productivity levels go up; he is a better consumer of the goods and services that might be responsible for that $1 million salary; he will certainly be a consumer longer, right? Maybe, that $1 million salary will actually go up as a result.
Besides, as many probably know, when you are making so much money, there are a lot of perks that go with the job. The amount of freebies a person making upwards of $350,000, in many cases, probably add up to be more than the average salary of the healt-care-less working poor.
Hidden Taxes--Opportunity Lost
This year the US goverment will pay close to $2.5 trillion on health care. $207 billion will be lost to the economy as a result of shortened life-spans because people don't have health care. And so, a surtax that would cost the nation's wealthiest 1.2% to 2% $544 billion over 10 years, simply does not upset me in the least bit. Actually, it is fair, it is right and it is the American way.
Why is it that the lack of universal heatlh care, which puts a debilitating drain on the whole economy and disproportainately effects the middle class down, is acceptable to a nation which has never paid homage to an elite, ruling class? No universal health care is a tax against all Americans in that opportunities are lost and the costs of these lost opportunities result in bankrupted local governments, states and even our federal coffers echo in their bareness.
The American Way
We are a capitalist nation. We are a nation of free-enterprise. We are a nation that has the God-given resources to effect positive and timely change in a world that often looks after its own small, regional or national interests first. We have caused no world wars. When there is tragedy in the world, Americans join together and send money, help and even prayers. We are a good nation. However, why do we have such anger, such disregard for our fellow countrymen when they are in need?
Granted, our system of giving, of charity, is the best in the world and it is to be commended. However, for instance, in a time of economic downturn like now, what happens to charity? It too dries up. And, despite some foundations like Bill Gates' trying to provide health care, when proposals are put forth by anyone to provide governmental, systemic help for our fellow countrymen in need, the issue immediately becomes hotly politicized. The whole argument lapses into the conservative modus operandi of "us versus them", "black and white" and "communism versus capitalism."
When did we become such a greedy and almost vengeful nation? It is as if the thinking at the country clubs goes, "they are poor, they deserve no health care." Why is a payment of $9000 for a family earning $1 million not a reasonable thing to ask? Why can this uninsured American not be guaranteed health care by his nation? We are not, after all, a third world dictatorship. Although, health care in Cuba is free and universal.
The Expected and Passionate Reaction of the Right
For many of the right, travel to Europe and many other nations in the world is limited to Mexico. Yes, a generalization but a fair one. World travel by Americans has never been a great past time. The overwhelming majority of us don't have passports and why should we? Yes, we have all of the beauty and greatness right in America, so why do we need to travel?
Personally, I love travel and that is my hobby. (I live in another country.) What travel does afford us with is the ability to compare. I have sought health care in other countries and truthfully, despite the scarey propaganda of the AMA as to the dangers of "socialized medicine", their systems work; they work efficiently, are free and to fill prescriptions costs around $3. And, as a result, the drain on GDP is anywhere between 7% and 10% in Europe and Canada (and everyone is covered including visiting foreigners!).
This means that their workers are healthier and their economies are losing less. This means that our wonderful system of free enterprise, void of that ever guiding "invisible hand", is sabotaging our ecnomic health as it holds the nation hostage through unimpeded rising health care costs for every aspect of health care all for the sake of ever larger profits.
The republicans/conservatives (I really wish the conservatives would come up with a new party because I am certain many of them don't wish to be aligned with the GOP anymore) will act in the same way they have since Obama took the reins: obstructionism, lies about socialized systems and the "long lines" for what really are health procedures that take up about .0001% of all health procedures; and, as usual, they will scream about increased taxes.
Increased taxes will somehow be linked to the 2nd Amendment and to abortion and then to liberal values and gay marriage and suddenly, Bucky Davis from Mississippi (who makes $1,745 a month) and hasn't seen a doctor since a doc cleared him from the womb, will punish democrats because they dared to raise "his" taxes. Also, lest we forget, the increased taxes, as the conservatives like to say, will lead to decreased investment by this 2% of Americans and so business development won't take place and the economy will sputter further.
$500? $9000? If a wealthy American is so petty as to punish his nation by not investing in his own business because his was "surtaxed" to help pay for health care, then I say, he is not an American. In my America, we give our neighbors a helping hand, we help the world, we are God-fearing Christians, Jews, Muslims, etc. who strive for the better of all not just "me."
If the right to bear arms is so vehemently protected, why is not the right to live a heathly, productive American life somewhere on that radar of obstructionist, Goldwater-hatched conservatism?
Friday, July 10, 2009
The Truths--Global Warming
A 'sacred precinct' is what Rome was called in the 4th Century. Too far off the beaten trail to be relevant as far as conquering and administering was concerned, Rome, a city bloated with temples, palaces, fountains and theaters was simply no longer so relevant to the Empire. It's greatest value was what it offered in terms of the symbolism.
This week, in L'Aquila, Italy, the United States led by a popular president with a near cult-like following in the world, put forth drastic measures for uniting the world against the now-obvious and debilitating effects of global warming. China and the India, number one polluter and another country soon to overcome the US for its levels of CO2 emissions, both said with a resounding thud: no. "We don't agree with you so go home and bend to our needs if you want to find an agreement."
Having long been the nation that was able to coax the world to do things that would eventually prove good for all in the long run, America, under W, became a petty and vindictive nation seeking financial gain for its decreasing minority of wealthy ever at the expense of the nation's increasing percentages of poor; and, on a world stage, we did what we wanted, when and where with no regard for the opinions of others. We acted wrongly, callously and very hypocritically.
Today, while a lazy Europe longs for a more friendly and progressive American government after the catastrope that was W, the developing world has shown us again just how far we have fallen. Conservatives will blame Democrats and even President Obama, but, a nation's power and relevance can not be measured against itself in a mirror. If we have little diplomatic sway in the world, and just a massive army with thousands of warheads, then what real power do we have in 2009?
The Obvious
Leaving the facts and graphs and figures to Google, we are today living with the obvious effects of global warming. More so now than at any time in my life, we are witnessing strange weather occurrences throughout the world: torrential downpours for days on end, tornados in places never before seen (Moscow, Russia for one), heat waves in place like Oslo, Norway, litte or no snow in the Alps, extensive flooding, long winters evolving into a bizarre Spring-Summer period (Spummer), etc.
The world needs American leadership on this issue and our failures over the past 8 years emboldened the Chinese and Indians. A tarnished America came to L'Aquila reaching into a playbook with the title "Diplomacy: 1978." This was the year that the US led by Jimmy Carter signed an agreement with Canada and Norway outlawing chloroflourocarbons (CFCs). While Europe declined to join, 10 years later they did and today the Ozone layer is again intact and danger averted.
The key here to victory was the bold and smart action of the Carter Administration. Sadly, if this problem had arisen in 1983, the Republicans would have said that this treaty would force too harsh terms on American industry and so, they would not have passed legislation. Their view would have been: let the world act first and then we will follow. Yet, what boggles my mind, is that when there is a chance to effect change through leadership in diplomatic cirlces, on things such as the CFC issue, Republicans consider this weakness. For the conservative movement, it is only our army and American so-called "free enterprise" which has any relevance. If we look at the world today compared to the way it was when President Clinton handed the keys to the mansion over to W in 2001, those two things they so worship have actually weakened us.
Name-calling
In Russia, there exists a wonderful tactic when you want to tear a good person down: swear on everything holy, promise away your unborn children if you are wrong, but, find the craziest lie about the person you seek to tarnish and start telling this new "truth" to all who will listen. A man who never drinks, perhaps, just because he does not like it, would be called a raging alcoholic. The key to this tactic is that when enough people hear, it then becomes the duty of the accused to prove that this is not true. And, in Russia, if, in your indignation at such an accussation you become too emotional, then your denial becomes almost an admission.
The Bush II administration learned this lesson well. The government under W spent its resources not studying how we might prevent this catastrophe; but, rather how doubt could be cast on the motivations of those suggesting that this castastrophe was imminent. Beginning with their mockery of Gore, the man they love to say "invented the internet", to anyone else who dared say that global warming was real, they ran Soviet-like disinformation campaigns. We, the believers in global warming, became granola-eating, tree-hugging, pot-smoking, baby-eating freaks.
So successful they were that today when the topic arises in casual conversation in the US, many people, despite willing to admit that the weather is getting weird, still love to toss out the notion that perhaps this is all just cyclical. W so perfectly politicized this issue, that today, as we saw in L'Quila, America's leadership has not only been questioned but simply ignored. As we all know, if not America, then who will lead? The rest of the world selfishly almost always puts their interests first until America forces them to act differently. With the new found power of China and India, real change cannot be realized unless we truly make economic sacrifices as per the demands of the Chinese (thanks W yet blame will go to Obama).
Stop Eating
Every processed morsel of food we plop into our mouthes contributes to global warming. Every time we drive to the corner for a paper and coffee, we are increasing our carbon foot-print. Every time we buy a strawberry in December (depending on where you live), we are worsening the problem. The battle for global survival must commence not only in L'Aquila at the G-8 meeting but with each and everyone of us. But, sadly, W has given America as way out.
To alter our eating, exercise and living habit is difficult. For many, it is simply too late. So, marketers make it easy for us. They sell us "green" this and that, adding a nickle or so to the price with promises that this more-costly technology will help in the battle against global warming. And, for most Americans, this is where their participation ends.
When they are confronted with real sacrifice, the need for real change, they can always pull out news articles or Fox and CNN broadcasts showing how a government study has nearly "proven" that the increasing temperatures are not only just cyclical but actually GOOD for the earth. So, in other words, consume more, the study suggests. Yes, this is an exaggeration (I hope), but, these are the types of "studies" that the W people were putting out. And, rather than walk to the 7/11, someone can always claim that they are doing their patriotic duty by driving.
Ultimately, the W people have linked belief in the imminent castastrope of global warming to anti-Americanism, socialism, support for terrorists, liberalism and all of the other emotive terms that so fire up and unite their base of, yes, "dumb" people. Elitist, you say? Maybe, but, I would rather be elitist than "dumbist" and this is precisely what the conservatives have let flourish in our nation today: simply crazy ideas backed by only emotion and rhetoric which just make people sound dumb and make those of us trying to debunk them sound elitist and un-patriotic--very Soviet, indeed.
It is time to de-politicize global warming. It is time to agree that we may go down in history as the greediest and most selfish generation if we don't start making changes, all of us, small ones and then bigger ones, in our daily lives. If we don't start demanding that our elected officials stop caving into the interests of big business, then soon, very soon, there won't be anything left of our grand experiment.
Global warming threatens not just our lives in the physical sense, it threatens that great, yellowed document, the US Constitution, in ways more real than W and Cheney even managed. Now, I will grab my raincoat and walk to work.
This week, in L'Aquila, Italy, the United States led by a popular president with a near cult-like following in the world, put forth drastic measures for uniting the world against the now-obvious and debilitating effects of global warming. China and the India, number one polluter and another country soon to overcome the US for its levels of CO2 emissions, both said with a resounding thud: no. "We don't agree with you so go home and bend to our needs if you want to find an agreement."
Having long been the nation that was able to coax the world to do things that would eventually prove good for all in the long run, America, under W, became a petty and vindictive nation seeking financial gain for its decreasing minority of wealthy ever at the expense of the nation's increasing percentages of poor; and, on a world stage, we did what we wanted, when and where with no regard for the opinions of others. We acted wrongly, callously and very hypocritically.
Today, while a lazy Europe longs for a more friendly and progressive American government after the catastrope that was W, the developing world has shown us again just how far we have fallen. Conservatives will blame Democrats and even President Obama, but, a nation's power and relevance can not be measured against itself in a mirror. If we have little diplomatic sway in the world, and just a massive army with thousands of warheads, then what real power do we have in 2009?
The Obvious
Leaving the facts and graphs and figures to Google, we are today living with the obvious effects of global warming. More so now than at any time in my life, we are witnessing strange weather occurrences throughout the world: torrential downpours for days on end, tornados in places never before seen (Moscow, Russia for one), heat waves in place like Oslo, Norway, litte or no snow in the Alps, extensive flooding, long winters evolving into a bizarre Spring-Summer period (Spummer), etc.
The world needs American leadership on this issue and our failures over the past 8 years emboldened the Chinese and Indians. A tarnished America came to L'Aquila reaching into a playbook with the title "Diplomacy: 1978." This was the year that the US led by Jimmy Carter signed an agreement with Canada and Norway outlawing chloroflourocarbons (CFCs). While Europe declined to join, 10 years later they did and today the Ozone layer is again intact and danger averted.
The key here to victory was the bold and smart action of the Carter Administration. Sadly, if this problem had arisen in 1983, the Republicans would have said that this treaty would force too harsh terms on American industry and so, they would not have passed legislation. Their view would have been: let the world act first and then we will follow. Yet, what boggles my mind, is that when there is a chance to effect change through leadership in diplomatic cirlces, on things such as the CFC issue, Republicans consider this weakness. For the conservative movement, it is only our army and American so-called "free enterprise" which has any relevance. If we look at the world today compared to the way it was when President Clinton handed the keys to the mansion over to W in 2001, those two things they so worship have actually weakened us.
Name-calling
In Russia, there exists a wonderful tactic when you want to tear a good person down: swear on everything holy, promise away your unborn children if you are wrong, but, find the craziest lie about the person you seek to tarnish and start telling this new "truth" to all who will listen. A man who never drinks, perhaps, just because he does not like it, would be called a raging alcoholic. The key to this tactic is that when enough people hear, it then becomes the duty of the accused to prove that this is not true. And, in Russia, if, in your indignation at such an accussation you become too emotional, then your denial becomes almost an admission.
The Bush II administration learned this lesson well. The government under W spent its resources not studying how we might prevent this catastrophe; but, rather how doubt could be cast on the motivations of those suggesting that this castastrophe was imminent. Beginning with their mockery of Gore, the man they love to say "invented the internet", to anyone else who dared say that global warming was real, they ran Soviet-like disinformation campaigns. We, the believers in global warming, became granola-eating, tree-hugging, pot-smoking, baby-eating freaks.
So successful they were that today when the topic arises in casual conversation in the US, many people, despite willing to admit that the weather is getting weird, still love to toss out the notion that perhaps this is all just cyclical. W so perfectly politicized this issue, that today, as we saw in L'Quila, America's leadership has not only been questioned but simply ignored. As we all know, if not America, then who will lead? The rest of the world selfishly almost always puts their interests first until America forces them to act differently. With the new found power of China and India, real change cannot be realized unless we truly make economic sacrifices as per the demands of the Chinese (thanks W yet blame will go to Obama).
Stop Eating
Every processed morsel of food we plop into our mouthes contributes to global warming. Every time we drive to the corner for a paper and coffee, we are increasing our carbon foot-print. Every time we buy a strawberry in December (depending on where you live), we are worsening the problem. The battle for global survival must commence not only in L'Aquila at the G-8 meeting but with each and everyone of us. But, sadly, W has given America as way out.
To alter our eating, exercise and living habit is difficult. For many, it is simply too late. So, marketers make it easy for us. They sell us "green" this and that, adding a nickle or so to the price with promises that this more-costly technology will help in the battle against global warming. And, for most Americans, this is where their participation ends.
When they are confronted with real sacrifice, the need for real change, they can always pull out news articles or Fox and CNN broadcasts showing how a government study has nearly "proven" that the increasing temperatures are not only just cyclical but actually GOOD for the earth. So, in other words, consume more, the study suggests. Yes, this is an exaggeration (I hope), but, these are the types of "studies" that the W people were putting out. And, rather than walk to the 7/11, someone can always claim that they are doing their patriotic duty by driving.
Ultimately, the W people have linked belief in the imminent castastrope of global warming to anti-Americanism, socialism, support for terrorists, liberalism and all of the other emotive terms that so fire up and unite their base of, yes, "dumb" people. Elitist, you say? Maybe, but, I would rather be elitist than "dumbist" and this is precisely what the conservatives have let flourish in our nation today: simply crazy ideas backed by only emotion and rhetoric which just make people sound dumb and make those of us trying to debunk them sound elitist and un-patriotic--very Soviet, indeed.
It is time to de-politicize global warming. It is time to agree that we may go down in history as the greediest and most selfish generation if we don't start making changes, all of us, small ones and then bigger ones, in our daily lives. If we don't start demanding that our elected officials stop caving into the interests of big business, then soon, very soon, there won't be anything left of our grand experiment.
Global warming threatens not just our lives in the physical sense, it threatens that great, yellowed document, the US Constitution, in ways more real than W and Cheney even managed. Now, I will grab my raincoat and walk to work.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Almost a Great Trip in Moscow
When there are two kids on the school playground who are supposedly equal in fighting prowess, mutual respect peppered with a fear-driven hatred exists. Coalescing around the two strong boys are weaker ones whose interests are not so much for the betterment of their "strong boy" but rather for self-preservation.
In some cases, one of the strong boys may prove to be a fair and somewhat fatherly "leader" in the vein of Napolean: doling out just punishment to his followers only when they threaten disent within his ranks. The other strong boy may be a leader in the vein of Stalin: abusive, disrepectful and ever unpredictable meting out 'justice" in cold and vicious ways striking fear in the hearts of friends and foes.
One strong boy, unexpectedly, finds himself beat up by a lesser foe and from that moment forward, his former followers, sensing his weakened state, race for the protecting arms of strong boy two: the undefeated one. Strong boy one, beaten and lost, stumbles into a period of internal chaos; he is mocked and he is resentful. He knows that his strength is real but, poisoned by hubris, he over-reached and he was smashed and beaten by a foe unknown, weaker even, yet now victorious.
This is pretty much what happened when the Soviet Union collapsed. Not only did most of Eastern Europe and the former-Soviet Republics seek comfort in the expanding reaches of the United States; but, even so many Russia's citizens wanted to find a positive and permenant place in the eye of the victor. Pax Americana settled upon the world, upon a chaotic, poor and demotivated Russia. Many Russians were relieved and now hoped for the best.
Too Much Vodka
Say what you will about Yeltsin, a promoter of democratic freedoms, a stalwart against the communists who refused to die, but, most Russians are utterly embarassed by him. He was so drunk once he could not leave the plane after it had landed in Ireland. Russia was privatized by bandits and an oligarchy was born allegedly stealing the nation's biggest prizes from the people.
With the arrival of Putin, Russia very quickly put the Yeltsin era behind itself. Rising oil prices played into his hand of nationalism and today, the Russian nation, is once again proud, angry and as usual, it's own worst enemy. Of course, "all foreigners" are to blame with America leading the way, so says Putin. However, and trust me when I say that my emotions are more lined with extreme-frustration at their pettiness and wastefulness, than with any great love, our US government does nothing to make them feel any safer.
Putin has truly manipulated facts and suppressed all opposition to the point where what appears on TV here, in the papers, on the radio and in the mouthes of famous actors and entertainers is actually an even more effective and precise propaganda tool than it was 30 years ago.
Back then, everyone knew it was all lies but nowadays, the "truth" is veiled in the shroud of economic freedoms and so, Russians, having gained some experience of the outside world, now just put their conspiracy theories and disgust for governments onto all the world's governments; they believe that the conspiracies sold by Putin about the nefarious doings of other nations; after all, they reason, "all governments are probably like ours and so they would be expect nothing less from a foreign government."
This said, W's complete disregard for their national inferiority complex, although tough and cowboy-like, did nothing to ease tensions in the world. It didn't make our so-called "war on terror" any more effective as Russia was always dealing behind our backs--something as a nation they are really adept at (this is why they are master chess players).
With them not Without them
Progress with Iran cannot be had without Russia being in agreement with us. The moment President Obama arrived yesterday and started to talk about joint-cooperation, started to put Russia into a "regional" and even "world" power role it had not experienced since the late 1980's, amazingly, the main TV stations, the internet and the newspapers started to talk of a threat from Iran. President Medvedev told the nation that "the world is getting dangerous because of these rogue powers and together Russia and America must stop them."
The change in the government-backed rhetoric was so fast that even after I tried to bookmark one article to share with people, this morning, the page could not be opened. Perhaps, someone noticed that maybe the speed at their turnabout was simply too dizzying.
And today, as I ironed my shirt for worked and watched the Russia Today channel, government-backed propaganda but in English, my iron dropped and I nearly burned my shirt: President Obama was planning on meeting with opposition leaders in Russia and leaders of non-governmenal organizations (NGO).
Why would he jeopardize the success of the trip so that he could rub Putin's nose in the fact that, whether he considered Kasparov a legitimate politician or not, we do; and, we plan on meeting with him. Putin has effectively silenced all voices that are not lockstep with his party line.
Kasparov was made out to almost be a terrorist by the media. His supporters have been regulary beaten up by the police when and if they should meet. I have seen these beatings and they are disgusting, however, by meeting with Kasparov here in Moscow, President Obama will do absolutely no good for anyone.
Not Everyone wants to be an American
The naive and arrogant belief that the rest of the world wants to be "Americans" is one of our greatest downfalls in world affairs. Why do we believe that we can go to another country, friend or foe, and lecture people on how they should run their internal affairs. Yes, there are things that should be protested if they go against our core values but how can we come to a nation, sit with the president and prime minister of that nation and then meet with a politician they have a rabid fear of? How can we expect that that might do some good for an already strained relationship?
Kasparov is to Putin as Limbaugh is to Obama. Imagine President Medvedev leaving the meeting with President Obama in the US so that he could meet republican leaders of congress, Micheal Steele and fat-white Rush? Putin simultaneously would be telling black jokes with the head of the KKK; or better yet, meeting with some known, radical Muslim clerics. This is how the Russian leadership looks at the likes of Kasparov.
President Obama also met with leaders from an assortment of non-governmental organizations. Putin believes in his heart of cold-KGB-hearts that NGO's and civil society are the nicotine in the revolutionary cancers that have brought Ukraine, Georgia and other nations to their knees. He does not want his citizens solving problems; he does not want international organizations giving his people money so that they can provide for things that he is not capable of providing.
Putin travels to America and meets with Anarchists for America or the American Communist Party. Wouldn't all of the nation's press be up in arms? Wouldn't all Americans be protesting about such brazen behavior?
Why are we allowed to act as if other nation's historical nuances and paranoia's don't exist? Probably because we think everyone wants to be one of us, citizens of America, and it is our messianic duty to aid their transition along--just don't try to immigrate.
President Obama, this was a wrong move and whoever advised you on this should be fired. I await to see just who it shall be. Building bridges in international affairs to deal with terrorists and rogue states is great idea. It is wonderful idea compared to the idiocy of W's foreign policy mistakes/tragedies. Today, you built a bridge and mined it at the same time. Don't blow it up.
Tomorrow, the propaganda will start anew. Putin was made a fool today.
In some cases, one of the strong boys may prove to be a fair and somewhat fatherly "leader" in the vein of Napolean: doling out just punishment to his followers only when they threaten disent within his ranks. The other strong boy may be a leader in the vein of Stalin: abusive, disrepectful and ever unpredictable meting out 'justice" in cold and vicious ways striking fear in the hearts of friends and foes.
One strong boy, unexpectedly, finds himself beat up by a lesser foe and from that moment forward, his former followers, sensing his weakened state, race for the protecting arms of strong boy two: the undefeated one. Strong boy one, beaten and lost, stumbles into a period of internal chaos; he is mocked and he is resentful. He knows that his strength is real but, poisoned by hubris, he over-reached and he was smashed and beaten by a foe unknown, weaker even, yet now victorious.
This is pretty much what happened when the Soviet Union collapsed. Not only did most of Eastern Europe and the former-Soviet Republics seek comfort in the expanding reaches of the United States; but, even so many Russia's citizens wanted to find a positive and permenant place in the eye of the victor. Pax Americana settled upon the world, upon a chaotic, poor and demotivated Russia. Many Russians were relieved and now hoped for the best.
Too Much Vodka
Say what you will about Yeltsin, a promoter of democratic freedoms, a stalwart against the communists who refused to die, but, most Russians are utterly embarassed by him. He was so drunk once he could not leave the plane after it had landed in Ireland. Russia was privatized by bandits and an oligarchy was born allegedly stealing the nation's biggest prizes from the people.
With the arrival of Putin, Russia very quickly put the Yeltsin era behind itself. Rising oil prices played into his hand of nationalism and today, the Russian nation, is once again proud, angry and as usual, it's own worst enemy. Of course, "all foreigners" are to blame with America leading the way, so says Putin. However, and trust me when I say that my emotions are more lined with extreme-frustration at their pettiness and wastefulness, than with any great love, our US government does nothing to make them feel any safer.
Putin has truly manipulated facts and suppressed all opposition to the point where what appears on TV here, in the papers, on the radio and in the mouthes of famous actors and entertainers is actually an even more effective and precise propaganda tool than it was 30 years ago.
Back then, everyone knew it was all lies but nowadays, the "truth" is veiled in the shroud of economic freedoms and so, Russians, having gained some experience of the outside world, now just put their conspiracy theories and disgust for governments onto all the world's governments; they believe that the conspiracies sold by Putin about the nefarious doings of other nations; after all, they reason, "all governments are probably like ours and so they would be expect nothing less from a foreign government."
This said, W's complete disregard for their national inferiority complex, although tough and cowboy-like, did nothing to ease tensions in the world. It didn't make our so-called "war on terror" any more effective as Russia was always dealing behind our backs--something as a nation they are really adept at (this is why they are master chess players).
With them not Without them
Progress with Iran cannot be had without Russia being in agreement with us. The moment President Obama arrived yesterday and started to talk about joint-cooperation, started to put Russia into a "regional" and even "world" power role it had not experienced since the late 1980's, amazingly, the main TV stations, the internet and the newspapers started to talk of a threat from Iran. President Medvedev told the nation that "the world is getting dangerous because of these rogue powers and together Russia and America must stop them."
The change in the government-backed rhetoric was so fast that even after I tried to bookmark one article to share with people, this morning, the page could not be opened. Perhaps, someone noticed that maybe the speed at their turnabout was simply too dizzying.
And today, as I ironed my shirt for worked and watched the Russia Today channel, government-backed propaganda but in English, my iron dropped and I nearly burned my shirt: President Obama was planning on meeting with opposition leaders in Russia and leaders of non-governmenal organizations (NGO).
Why would he jeopardize the success of the trip so that he could rub Putin's nose in the fact that, whether he considered Kasparov a legitimate politician or not, we do; and, we plan on meeting with him. Putin has effectively silenced all voices that are not lockstep with his party line.
Kasparov was made out to almost be a terrorist by the media. His supporters have been regulary beaten up by the police when and if they should meet. I have seen these beatings and they are disgusting, however, by meeting with Kasparov here in Moscow, President Obama will do absolutely no good for anyone.
Not Everyone wants to be an American
The naive and arrogant belief that the rest of the world wants to be "Americans" is one of our greatest downfalls in world affairs. Why do we believe that we can go to another country, friend or foe, and lecture people on how they should run their internal affairs. Yes, there are things that should be protested if they go against our core values but how can we come to a nation, sit with the president and prime minister of that nation and then meet with a politician they have a rabid fear of? How can we expect that that might do some good for an already strained relationship?
Kasparov is to Putin as Limbaugh is to Obama. Imagine President Medvedev leaving the meeting with President Obama in the US so that he could meet republican leaders of congress, Micheal Steele and fat-white Rush? Putin simultaneously would be telling black jokes with the head of the KKK; or better yet, meeting with some known, radical Muslim clerics. This is how the Russian leadership looks at the likes of Kasparov.
President Obama also met with leaders from an assortment of non-governmental organizations. Putin believes in his heart of cold-KGB-hearts that NGO's and civil society are the nicotine in the revolutionary cancers that have brought Ukraine, Georgia and other nations to their knees. He does not want his citizens solving problems; he does not want international organizations giving his people money so that they can provide for things that he is not capable of providing.
Putin travels to America and meets with Anarchists for America or the American Communist Party. Wouldn't all of the nation's press be up in arms? Wouldn't all Americans be protesting about such brazen behavior?
Why are we allowed to act as if other nation's historical nuances and paranoia's don't exist? Probably because we think everyone wants to be one of us, citizens of America, and it is our messianic duty to aid their transition along--just don't try to immigrate.
President Obama, this was a wrong move and whoever advised you on this should be fired. I await to see just who it shall be. Building bridges in international affairs to deal with terrorists and rogue states is great idea. It is wonderful idea compared to the idiocy of W's foreign policy mistakes/tragedies. Today, you built a bridge and mined it at the same time. Don't blow it up.
Tomorrow, the propaganda will start anew. Putin was made a fool today.
Saturday, July 4, 2009
John McCain's Temporary Insanity
Last year, as the election was winding down, Barack Obama, despite his great victory over Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primaries, was barely ahead of John McCain. The lead he had was the kind that could have easily been overcome in the waning months of the election should a strange fact or rumor have arisen; say, Obama likes to wear pantyhose on cold days (Joe Namath was allowed because he was a stud quarterback).
And then suddenly, John McCain, former POW and war hero almost on par with John Kerry; John McCain, truly great senator and always a man marching to the beat of his drum usually striving for the betterment of our nation, chose a woman, a mother, a governor of a small state with a great view of Russia to be his running-mate.
Today, as we all awaken on this 4th of July, we are barraged not with well-wishes of "thank God for America," as we prepare for family barbecues filled with salads and dogs and burgers and fresh celery cooling in cold water; but, we are all tickled pink by the latest episode of the Sarah Palin saga. In a jittery and stumbling announcement, Ms. Palin, mother, former vice-presidential nominee for the second major party in the greatest nation on the earth, of-late a frequently-seen face in tabloids, announced that she was abandoning the state of Alaska.
Well, poor Alaska I would say, so many scandals in the past year and half, but, I am sure many there are breathing a sigh of relief. And, with all due respect for their "troubles", I am not just sighing with relief. A sigh here just won't express my glee. I want to pour my bowl of blended carrots, pears and apples with a touch of yoghourt over my head, undress, run outside and scream to the rooftops as my heart simply overflows with happiness that John McCain did not win last year.
Imagine
Vice President Sarah Palin is meeting with the head of state for some random, small nation and in a fit of unpredictability, she refuses to come out of the ladies room because one of the reporters dared to question her preparedness for being the VP. "What does your view of Russia have to do with your ability to understand world affairs?" he asks. She stammers, stutters and runs into the bathroom until her really bizarre hubby Todd threatens the reporter leave or else.
"Yo, outta here or else I am going to shove that turbin up your ass."
In the aftermath of this incident, President McCain would have had to spend months repairing the damage done by her Alaska-ness's bizarre, emotional and completely unpredictable outburst. Our president would have been baby-sitting this governor of that oh-so-tiny state (not physically so) rather than repairing the damage done to our nation by...let's save that for another blog.
Yet, I don't blame Sarah Palin. I don't think that the sweet and angelic Susan Boyle is crazy. Who wouldn't have slightly cracked under the pressure of the entire world's press running magnifying glasses over you life like a kid over ants on a hot day; a life that before she was chosen to be the VP, before Susan appeared on "Britain's Got Talant", was idealic in its smallness; perfect in its quaintness and one that was truly dedicated to family and friendships (I am being really nice to Sarah Palin here).
John McCain may have had all the qualifications to be president but he failed his party, he failed the nation, he failed himself when he chose Sarah Palin. This blunder, I am sure, is one that probably had been depriving him of sleep ever since he made it. But, time was healing that wound until today, July 4th, 2009, when Sarah Palin so bizarrely told the world she was quitting.
Time Out
Truthfully, I think John McCain should get a time-out on the steps of the Capitol building. The Senate should vote to force him to sit on those steps for one year holding a sign announcing to all the world how he almost put that woman one heart beat away from the presidency. And, at his age, that was a real possibility.
I think the GOP should lose their right to run in major elections for at least 2 years for their complete disrespect for the White House. The so-called honor they had promised to return with W became mere mockery when they put forth that woman as the VP nominee. Made a fool by W in the eyes of the world, and yes, I know, W supporters don't care that the world thought us foolish or stupid for choosing W twice (who needs the world? they say), Sarah Palin would have been the worst thing at the worst time for our nation.
I must go and celebrate the 4th in the rain, as I am sure many will be doing today (wettest summer on record in many parts of the world, global warming anyone?). But, as I wrote yesterday, I today reiterate: thank God that we chose Obama and let freedom ring!
PS: Oh poor republicans, how are you guys going to dig yourselves out from this fiasco? Another major figure from your party self-destructs on the national stage.
And then suddenly, John McCain, former POW and war hero almost on par with John Kerry; John McCain, truly great senator and always a man marching to the beat of his drum usually striving for the betterment of our nation, chose a woman, a mother, a governor of a small state with a great view of Russia to be his running-mate.
Today, as we all awaken on this 4th of July, we are barraged not with well-wishes of "thank God for America," as we prepare for family barbecues filled with salads and dogs and burgers and fresh celery cooling in cold water; but, we are all tickled pink by the latest episode of the Sarah Palin saga. In a jittery and stumbling announcement, Ms. Palin, mother, former vice-presidential nominee for the second major party in the greatest nation on the earth, of-late a frequently-seen face in tabloids, announced that she was abandoning the state of Alaska.
Well, poor Alaska I would say, so many scandals in the past year and half, but, I am sure many there are breathing a sigh of relief. And, with all due respect for their "troubles", I am not just sighing with relief. A sigh here just won't express my glee. I want to pour my bowl of blended carrots, pears and apples with a touch of yoghourt over my head, undress, run outside and scream to the rooftops as my heart simply overflows with happiness that John McCain did not win last year.
Imagine
Vice President Sarah Palin is meeting with the head of state for some random, small nation and in a fit of unpredictability, she refuses to come out of the ladies room because one of the reporters dared to question her preparedness for being the VP. "What does your view of Russia have to do with your ability to understand world affairs?" he asks. She stammers, stutters and runs into the bathroom until her really bizarre hubby Todd threatens the reporter leave or else.
"Yo, outta here or else I am going to shove that turbin up your ass."
In the aftermath of this incident, President McCain would have had to spend months repairing the damage done by her Alaska-ness's bizarre, emotional and completely unpredictable outburst. Our president would have been baby-sitting this governor of that oh-so-tiny state (not physically so) rather than repairing the damage done to our nation by...let's save that for another blog.
Yet, I don't blame Sarah Palin. I don't think that the sweet and angelic Susan Boyle is crazy. Who wouldn't have slightly cracked under the pressure of the entire world's press running magnifying glasses over you life like a kid over ants on a hot day; a life that before she was chosen to be the VP, before Susan appeared on "Britain's Got Talant", was idealic in its smallness; perfect in its quaintness and one that was truly dedicated to family and friendships (I am being really nice to Sarah Palin here).
John McCain may have had all the qualifications to be president but he failed his party, he failed the nation, he failed himself when he chose Sarah Palin. This blunder, I am sure, is one that probably had been depriving him of sleep ever since he made it. But, time was healing that wound until today, July 4th, 2009, when Sarah Palin so bizarrely told the world she was quitting.
Time Out
Truthfully, I think John McCain should get a time-out on the steps of the Capitol building. The Senate should vote to force him to sit on those steps for one year holding a sign announcing to all the world how he almost put that woman one heart beat away from the presidency. And, at his age, that was a real possibility.
I think the GOP should lose their right to run in major elections for at least 2 years for their complete disrespect for the White House. The so-called honor they had promised to return with W became mere mockery when they put forth that woman as the VP nominee. Made a fool by W in the eyes of the world, and yes, I know, W supporters don't care that the world thought us foolish or stupid for choosing W twice (who needs the world? they say), Sarah Palin would have been the worst thing at the worst time for our nation.
I must go and celebrate the 4th in the rain, as I am sure many will be doing today (wettest summer on record in many parts of the world, global warming anyone?). But, as I wrote yesterday, I today reiterate: thank God that we chose Obama and let freedom ring!
PS: Oh poor republicans, how are you guys going to dig yourselves out from this fiasco? Another major figure from your party self-destructs on the national stage.
Friday, July 3, 2009
Let Freedom Ring!
For the first time in 8 years, America can truly celebrate Independence Day. The fireworks will glow brighter, the mustard will be a bit tarter as its seeps into the steaming hotdogs, the watermelon will be juicier and seeds will be spit ever further as Americans and non-Americans all over the world breath easier, safe in the knowledge that the most blatant assualt on our masterpiece of governance, the US Constitution, has been successfully parried.
Our amazing system of balances, of voting and an ever vigilant (although always devoted more to sensationalism than truth) press has prevented the former president and his coterie of neo-conservatives from manipulating fear to the maximum, from suspending our unalienable rights as humans, Americans (eavesdropping on our calls, reading our emails, lying about the effects of global warming, lying about the reason to go to war, just to name the most obvious assualts).
Freedom does ring this year, July 4th, 2009 and its resonance will be more harmonious for we, all of us, not just the wealthy, not just members of the GOP, not just buddies from Texas or companies formerly run by Cheney, are recipients of national government with our interests at its heart. This year, we have a president from the people, for the people and his every waking moment is spent on actually trying to solve the problems of our nation that he has inherited.
Of course, the other half of the poltical spectrum, so-called Americans, so-called Patriots, root daily for his failure. His stimulus, they say, has failed. Well, just a point of reference for those nay-sayers, $700 billion is like a baseball jumping off an aluminum bat: if you are standing 50 feet a way, you hear it immediately, if you are standing 1000 feet away, you see the hit but only hear a slight ping after a few seconds. So, too, this money has been dropped into our vast economy and so too, it's ping will only reach the outer realms of our vastness much later this year.
President Obama and his family are fully aware of the amazing opportunity the American people have given them and what are they doing with it? They are giving as much as they can back. They know just how much a meeting with the president can mean for a young man struggling to survive the effects of poverty. They appreciate that their garden at the White House just may get some families to rethink their junk-eating habits; they know that by going to a local ice cream shop for a cone just may inspire a family to do the same with their kids which just may make a difference. They know that their love-affair is inspiring to many and this is what our nation needs now, today, July 4th, 2009 after the last 8 years of pure, sad, totally-un-American arrogance.
President Obama is defending our interests. He is trying to get us all health care, he is trying to save the auto industry, his is trying to prevent, what may already be unpreventable thanks to a decade lost, the ever-worsening effects of global warming, he has gone after the credit card companies (could you ever imagine W doing that?!), he is trying to make our nation better for all Americans, for all the world.
And, on the "war against terror" front, despite the rhetoric and diatribes of Cheney and the extreme, obstructionist right, he is making improvements that W. could never have dreamed of. His speech in Egypt on national television was simply a masterpiece of statesmanship. He showed the world, the masses who are very, very tired of Al Qaeda, that there is a road to peace that does not involve complete submission to a Western-Jewish-Christian world.
On this 4th of July, freedom is ringing and I want to thank President Obama, his family and all Americans who made his presidency possible. And to those against him then and still so today, I say, don't worry. We, the majority, are now in control and despite your best efforts, we will work to protect our America from your endless attempts at making America weak, poor and just plain mean.
(Oh, yeah, watch the flying bullets, as I am sure there will be more concealed hand guns at your bbq's tomorrow than our ours and, everyone knows that alcohol and hand guns just don't mix.)
Our amazing system of balances, of voting and an ever vigilant (although always devoted more to sensationalism than truth) press has prevented the former president and his coterie of neo-conservatives from manipulating fear to the maximum, from suspending our unalienable rights as humans, Americans (eavesdropping on our calls, reading our emails, lying about the effects of global warming, lying about the reason to go to war, just to name the most obvious assualts).
Freedom does ring this year, July 4th, 2009 and its resonance will be more harmonious for we, all of us, not just the wealthy, not just members of the GOP, not just buddies from Texas or companies formerly run by Cheney, are recipients of national government with our interests at its heart. This year, we have a president from the people, for the people and his every waking moment is spent on actually trying to solve the problems of our nation that he has inherited.
Of course, the other half of the poltical spectrum, so-called Americans, so-called Patriots, root daily for his failure. His stimulus, they say, has failed. Well, just a point of reference for those nay-sayers, $700 billion is like a baseball jumping off an aluminum bat: if you are standing 50 feet a way, you hear it immediately, if you are standing 1000 feet away, you see the hit but only hear a slight ping after a few seconds. So, too, this money has been dropped into our vast economy and so too, it's ping will only reach the outer realms of our vastness much later this year.
President Obama and his family are fully aware of the amazing opportunity the American people have given them and what are they doing with it? They are giving as much as they can back. They know just how much a meeting with the president can mean for a young man struggling to survive the effects of poverty. They appreciate that their garden at the White House just may get some families to rethink their junk-eating habits; they know that by going to a local ice cream shop for a cone just may inspire a family to do the same with their kids which just may make a difference. They know that their love-affair is inspiring to many and this is what our nation needs now, today, July 4th, 2009 after the last 8 years of pure, sad, totally-un-American arrogance.
President Obama is defending our interests. He is trying to get us all health care, he is trying to save the auto industry, his is trying to prevent, what may already be unpreventable thanks to a decade lost, the ever-worsening effects of global warming, he has gone after the credit card companies (could you ever imagine W doing that?!), he is trying to make our nation better for all Americans, for all the world.
And, on the "war against terror" front, despite the rhetoric and diatribes of Cheney and the extreme, obstructionist right, he is making improvements that W. could never have dreamed of. His speech in Egypt on national television was simply a masterpiece of statesmanship. He showed the world, the masses who are very, very tired of Al Qaeda, that there is a road to peace that does not involve complete submission to a Western-Jewish-Christian world.
On this 4th of July, freedom is ringing and I want to thank President Obama, his family and all Americans who made his presidency possible. And to those against him then and still so today, I say, don't worry. We, the majority, are now in control and despite your best efforts, we will work to protect our America from your endless attempts at making America weak, poor and just plain mean.
(Oh, yeah, watch the flying bullets, as I am sure there will be more concealed hand guns at your bbq's tomorrow than our ours and, everyone knows that alcohol and hand guns just don't mix.)
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