Tag Archives: politics

The Trump Success

31 Jul

So tiresome, the incessant media question . . . “with all of the ignorant, course, foul comments made by Trump how can he continue to do so well?” This is not a question; this is a well worn media strategy to keep a marketable story kinetic. In media land it’s like Trump, it’s the gift that keeps on giving. This maneuver masquerading as a question insures an endless parade of talking heads babbling on about how unprecedented and confounding it all is. This media position; this disingenuous search for the answer is as Madison Ave. as Trump himself. The repetition from program to program broadcasts to us that there is no explanation to be had, we are hopelessly adrift in the Trump fog but we, the media, will keep up our end by continuing to book experts. The covert aspect of “the question” is that it has boarders. Permissible on air conversation is confined to Trump’s charisma, media savvy, his sculpted persona of strength and decisiveness, his blue collar language and attitudes, his fearless use of deceit. For the supporters piece the boundaries include disenfranchisement, disillusionment, stagnant wages, perverted patriotism, and plain old rage.

What is never discussed is racism, sexism, homophobia, and Christian bias. It doesn’t matter what Trump says it only matters what he projects. He constantly spawns new ways to say the same thing over and over, to reassure straight white people that they will not become a dreaded minority class; that they will always remain the ruling power in America. More than anything his supporters desperately need to hear that their whiteness will always be preeminent in the American caste system. There are millions upon millions of scared white people who can feel it, the shift. It’s been coming since the sixties and seventies. They thought they had it tamped down but beneath the boot mitosis was under way. People of color have been procreating as Jesus counselled. Also some serious mixing has been unleashed; unabashedly bi-racial babies are on the rise, why they’ve had to add a new box on the census form. The cultures of people of color have soaked permanently into main stream Americana: music, cloths, food, language, attitude, philosophies, the staples, the launch pad for life. For God sakes the TV ad folks have even bet their all mighty money on commercials featuring diversity. The white comfort of the 1950s, even for poor whites, is slipping further and further into the before time. Despite the white man’s premier military position it hasn’t knocked out anyone since World War II, even the shockingly under armed Vietcong kicked our ass. This evolution creates great confusion and fear for white folks. With the advent of the internet the white people’s control of US history is increasing being exposed to the light of day, authority over the narrative is being lost. The internet coupled with “devices” is neutering the once powerful tool of isolation. The masses can now communicate and educate at will, hell, give them a second and they’ll send you the video.

This is the very simple ugly unspoken answer to why Trump continues to do so well. May the Force Be with Us.

Power to the People

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ISIS Crisis

23 Aug

The US, who are we? Who do we want to be? As a nation we should finally be maturing beyond this cape crusader crap. The countries that surround ISIS (besides Iraq/Syria) are Turkey, Iran, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt. Given ISIS’ business plan, why aren’t these wealthy countries pounding big time on ISIS? But then why should they spend their money and resources when the ever adolescent US is always more than eager to don the saggy pants, flash some bad ink and play toughest kid on the block. The US forever trying to prove its manhood to its young self, to be the quarterback hoisted onto the adoring shoulders of the world. The world that holds us in contempt. Manhood must be singled out here as there are no women anywhere in charge of any war machines. When do we ever get to move to the boring adult table where wisdom reigns and manhood is measured by how well one cares for the family, the extended family stretching from shore to shore? All this BS about being the only country that can save the world from______________, fill in the blank, is standard teenage rationalization for continuing to play the video game. We have no savior destiny; we’re a simple mortal player like everyone else doing a stretch on the planet. And where is Switzerland, Japan, Russia, Brazil, to name a very few? Why aren’t they terrified of ISIS? They are by definition infidels too, surely they need some bloody CC, conquering and converting, why do they have no skin in this game? Could a US citizen turned ISIS commando fly on home and blow some of us up, yes. Or some cop in Missouri could blow us up, dead feels dead by any hand.

Even the evil ISIS needs a trumped up excuse to rampage, God tells them to; not too original but what are you going to do, it is a tried and true classic. Reduce temptation: we could just round up ALL the Americans in Iraq and bring them home removing one excuse that we use for ourselves. Actually what are these Americans doing in Iraq anyway? What vital function do they provide toward our general welfare? We need some cost analysis on this one. Even if you pretend that their continued presence is essential to American well-being how the hell could they get any work done under these circumstances. Is their charge in Iraq now really just to stay alive? What Iraqis are they conducting official US business with these days, the woefully inept Iraqi government? Picture that, Iraqi officials and diplomatic representatives of our congress working on anything. This refusal to extract Americans from Iraq feels very much like “you’re not the boss of me”. It’s the kind of posturing that neighborhood gangs do to act out sad fantasies of gloriously defending property that someone else owns. Think we will look weak to totally vacate Iraq? Think the Lindsey Grahams and John McCains are strategically brilliant? Face saving is a childish response to adult problems. Our crumbling infrastructure and failing transportation systems actually do make us weak. Our declining educational product makes us weak. Our unemployment crisis makes us dangerously weak. The assaults on voting rights weaken the core of our ideology. And on and on. Say no to war.

Power to the People

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War

9 Aug

We have no business maintaining hundreds of military bases all over the world. We can’t afford them; we can’t even provide for our own people, maintain a basic infrastructure, run a robust even steady economy. This is rudimentary budgeting: revenue/expense. What kind of men satiate their need for global recognition at the expense of their own people? This base money is desperately needed at home. You don’t think the 1% is going to pick up the slack do you? These bases provide no benefit to us and worse they breed resentment abroad. They’re official State bling. If you must calm your paranoia use the satellites, the Navy, the Air Force, hell bring Snowden back, slap him in a cubical and give him a terminal. Other countries don’t need to have bases abroad to be successful and safe in the world. These bases are obsolete strategies marinated in testosterone and egoism.

We were not elected to police the world. Sorry flag wavers, Americans do not possess exceptional wisdom. We pick and choose our world policing based on self-interests; this is not noble and we’re not fooling anyone. We are not entitled to police the world. We are not special people touched by God; within the time space continuum it’s just our turn to be powerful. So far in world history the “powerful thing” has been a slippery commodity, transitory, continually sniffing out new players to test. Global policing is ego tripping not morality in action. We need to lose the cape and get over ourselves before the universe kicks our teeth in and moves on without ceremony.

The daily news is exhausting. Blowing people and stuff up is what cavemen would have done if they’d had matches. No country can afford war, not even the wealthy ones; not in deaths, wasted money, nor destroyed cities. Global resources are diminishing for everyone, for anyone to blow them up is nuts. WWII was the last war the US ever fought which was actually connected to defense. All the succeeding wars have been bogus, loaded with propaganda and hidden agendas. The path to national security is through boring long term co-operation and respect not the centuries old tradition of competitive chest beating. Agriculture and water would be a good place to start. This is not hippy dippy pie in the sky, it is hard work. Evolution is survival and then quality of life. Say no to war.

Power to the People

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Now Let’s Try The Carrot

14 Jul

“Peace in the Middle East”, as it’s called, could be had but we’d have to stop funding the occupation. We’d have to give up the scripted delusion that an occupation is in our best interest regardless of the Wall Street/K Street hype. Then we’d have to redirect all that big time “aid” money into actual aid, not just an annual wad to be gifted to the current whomever to be spent at their discretion. If we had a financial stake in Palestinian held territories, hospitals/clinics that we funded and helped build, roads, desalinization plants, comprehensive irrigation systems, seed banks, solar and wind farms, housing, etc. we sure as hell wouldn’t want anyone blowing them up. You can bet the American tax payers would lose their collective mind over blown up tax dollars; i.e. you see how we’ve protected our colossal investment to date in the area with an “Iron Dome”. This change, this positive use of aid money turned into construction, instead of destruction, would also be a huge help to the unemployment crisis in the Palestinian territories. You know, all those young able bodied men with no jobs but lots of rocks and plenty of time to throw them. As a bonus these projects would reduce the hatred coming our way from the folks in Palestine and their many watchful neighbors. Any such reduction in hate is an upgrade in our national security. You want to get rid of Hamas, try building something with the Palestinians; improve people’s lives. This is not a new concept; this is sound foreign policy. Yes there would be problems overcoming Palestinian skepticism; “you reap what you sew”, we’d have to work hard to dismantle the reputation we’ve built but we’ve taken on difficult challenges before. The hardest element is shedding a false premise, like WMDs, and replacing it with positive action. And who knows, if the Palestinians come to like us just a little bit maybe we could begin to work on that misogyny thing they’ve got going on.

Power To The People

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No Divine Appointment

30 Jun

Who are we to decide anything in Iraq/Afghanistan? Why because it’s so easy to trash their chronic dictator style of governance as oppressive and unjust? So what, oppressive and unjust circles the globe. Redrawing territories, ousting leaders, medieval laws, get over it, none of our business. Unless, that is, you slip up and get honest about the oil. We have misdirected trillions of dollars away from our dire domestic needs, infrastructure, economic growth, education, you know the list, and blown it instead on private security for BP, Exxon, Occidental Petroleum, Royal Dutch Shell PLC, Chevron, Halliburton and others. But America is addicted to oil you say, and yes we are. Addiction is bad by anyone’s definition. What do experts say you do to eliminating an addiction, you stop using baby. Even Nancy Reagan gets it “just say no”. It’s not rocket science and not an over simplification. Many consider the US to have the most innovative people on the planet. Some alternative energy systems (solar, wind, hybrids) have already, despite all big oil efforts, been successfully introduced into our market place. Imagine the untapped potential. There’s a staggering amount of money to be made with alternative energy but we’ll have to cut the big boys loose to sink or swim, you know, capitalism style. We must stop subsidizing the big boys with corporate welfare: legal tax evasion, trillion dollar protection rackets overseas; it has destroyed their incentive, made them lazy welfare kings eating bon bons and driving Cadillacs on our dime. They have the option to take a chunk of their massive profits and retrofit their companies to alternative energy production or slip into an earned oblivion. To compete they’d have to actually work, build, invest instead of just brokering. The rest of us are constantly expected to adapt to the ever changing world usually with zero disposal income to retrofit a damn thing. The citizens will transition to alternative energy . . . . we moved from radio to TV, movie rentals to Netfix, rabbit ears to cable, land lines to cell phones, typewriters to computers, desk tops to IPads, 8 cylinders to 4 cylinders, leaded to unleaded. The list is endless. These conversions happen at an ever increasing pace. We hardly blink. We love upgrades. We’ve come to expect them. However, by in large our elected representatives are hopelessly indentured to big oil so cutting the cord will have to come from the citizens; we’re going to have to save ourselves from the ever hungry war/oil twins.

Power To The People

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Syria

11 Sep

It takes great discipline and strength to say no to military action, especially if you wield the biggest stick. Like Hollywood starlets we need to stop reading our own press, it’s poisoning our character and compromising our security. We need to put our ego in check; Jesus the Savior we are not we lack the purity of heart. Beneath the propaganda our choices of who to “save” have been self-serving; one doesn’t have to look any further than the civil war in Sudan. Two million dead, lots and lots of dead children, where was our divine intervention then? With our appetite for manipulation our military should be reserved exclusively for our defense. Any foreign use of our military should actually really require congressional approval. Calling these wars police actions, conflicts, and proportionate strikes (to name a few) is a deliberate evasion of the Constitution. The Constitution – Article I, Section 8 Congress shall have the power to declare war . . . . . . Requiring congressional action should put an end to war right there. And we also need to stop doing a Madison Avenue on these war ventures trying to pass them off as BS preemptive Homeland security measures. The best preemptive security program we could employ is one of clean living, leading by example (starting with fair voting rights), lots of well thought out foreign aid, educating and training people in relevant fields and then sending them back to their countries to help build strong US friendly nations, refusing to trade with ass hole nations regardless of the economic down side for the US, and remaining open to dialog to name a few.

A fool proof acid test . . . . . If, as a result of military action, you can’t definitively measure an increased liberation, power, and autonomy of the women in the region then the action has been an obscene waste of blood and money; it has been covertly orchestrated solely for the base purpose of material advantage and/or ego gratification. This is not a test because women are more important than men, it’s a test because consistently women’s status within a society is an unequivocal marker of its evolution. Like it or not this is just the way it is, everywhere. Don’t kid yourself, to “free” a man only to have him continue a sanctioned practice of oppressing women is no victory at all. This cannot be finessed into a feel good ending. To rationalize that one human’s freedom must come first before another’s can eventually someday in the future somehow follow is pure crap; a patriarch’s prescription for never. If Assad and his men win the civil war will there be no more child brides? If the Opposition men win the civil war will there be no more honor killings? From a female perspective this exercise is all just so much political masturbation.

Power to the People

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Racism and Obama

24 Jul

Largely I don’t see what Obama can do to reduce racism. Racism is a disease of the heart and mind. It’s nurtured so early in childhood in the family home, in school, in the neighborhood, in the social settings that parents drag their kids to, even church. It’s reinforced throughout the years. Peer pressures can compound it further in the teenage years. Etc, etc. However, there are things that would help . . . . .

Federal legislators should work tirelessly to pass laws that standardize anti-discrimination behavior throughout all the states. They should not be satisfied with the federal laws that are already on the books but ones (for example) related to voting rights, and gerrymandering, etc., etc. Not only can the states not be trusted to do the right thing, they have no right to choose discriminatory practices in the first place. This whole notion of States’ Rights as a holy untouchable concept is such crap. Back when the Constitution was penned one can understand the need they saw for a Senate structured as they wrote it but things have changed (for example) populations are extremely mobile now unlike back then and the Senate no longer is the guardian of the minority it is now ruled by the minority through the filibuster. If the main function of the Senate has, in reality, morphed into preserving a State’s “culture” then we’re now operating like the Sunnis and Shiites. Additionally, through gerrymandering the House in no way represents the will of the people; again it is ruled by the minority. Abolishing the stacked decks through legislation could not cure racism but it would help make racism harder to practice.

Then there is commerce. Certainly corporations don’t want black and brown co-mingling with their daughters but they don’t mind at all having black and brown dollars co-mingling with their investments. People who are discriminated against must realize the tremendous value and power of their collective wealth. Overwhelmingly corporations have no loyalty to white when it comes to profit. Negative impact on the bottom line sends intolerable pressure through the system. The 1955 Montgomery, Alabama bus boycott seriously impacted not only the bus company financially but the shop keepers of Montgomery as well. This year we saw business interests such as the California Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers pressure the GOP to switch-up and pass immigration reform because businesses want the cheap labor. Currently this is a huge resource that goes untapped in any meaningful way.

Another is the already “browning of America”. This cannot be stopped and cannot be reversed. We are not a nation of just one race, or two races or three races. As far as I know we are the most racially, culturally, religiously, etc. diverse country on the planet. What are the chances that we’re going to give up our highly developed palate for multi-national cuisine? No way, even places like Texas and Wyoming have Thai restaurants. Also extremely important is the birth of inter-racial babies, this cannot be over emphasized. The more bi-racial citizens inhabiting the neighborhoods of America the more racism will suffocate. Praise Jesus. This is a long term process but so goes the definition of evolution.

Power to the People

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Veterans and the Draft

2 Jun

I hold a minority view with regard to our most current veterans. Although I marched/protested against the obscene Vietnam War in the 60s and early 70s I have since donated money to Vietnam Veteran organizations because those veterans were overwhelmingly drafted, poor, and disproportionately people of color. Today’s veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are all volunteers. Now in this blindly patriotic goo that the nation wallows in I have to be very careful to preface my minority opinion with the sincere wish that no harm come to any military personnel or veterans. I wish them the same peace and good life that I wish anyone. However, I do not thank these veterans for the “job” they have done. I did not ask them to aid and abet Bush and posse in starting these latest obscene wars. The Bush/Chaney/Rumsfeld wars could never have been consummated without these people that volunteered to do their bidding. They have not made the world safer for me and my love ones; they have increased the danger. Since these wars were launched the number of people hating Americans has only multiplied. I wave no flag; they did not serve to protect my freedom nor democracy, they served to massage the egos of megalomaniacs and fatten the coffers of corporate America. I am profoundly sorry for the bad choice these veterans made, the gangs they joined, the death and destruction they dispensed in my name, the invisible target they’ve helped pin on my back. It’s illogical for Progressives to be against wars born out of an obscene set of lies and likewise glorify those who executed it even if you consider them unwitting pawns. Obviously, as with any contract, this country should expeditiously honor any commitments made to military people at the time of their induction, however, to parade them, to exalt them as heroes, is nuts. That kind of thinking only muddies the waters; it’s a closeted co-sign of the wars themselves; it’s Progressives not wanting to take heat. One way to slow this whole pathology down to a crawl is to reinstate the Draft. But not just the Draft in its old form, no amp it up, raise the age limit (not all people have to serve on the battlefield), include women, include of age students, include folks with really good jobs, rich people as well as middle class people (in this country the poor people are already a given), handicapped people (yes handicapped people don’t have to be on the battlefield to contribute skills). Citizens should have to be truly too old or seriously too messed up in order to get an exemption from the Draft. All Draft selections and exemptions should be considered a fully open public record with draftee’s names, counties, names of Draft board members, and reasons for exemptions. Boy wouldn’t that be fun.

Power to the People

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Separation of Church and State

27 Oct

What can we do to bring evangelicals in touch with the spirit of Jesus? How can we help Christian Americans at least attempt to walk in the shoes of Jesus? Clearly Jesus was not a rules man; he was a fearless man of the heart. How can we give the born again folks the courage to unclench that book and instead embrace Jesus? These are truly a people whose hearts need to be thawed out and set free. God knows, US Christians really need to be educated about their scary kinship to Islamic extremists. These two groups are the heads and tails of the same radioactive coin.

Or, maybe forget that futile task; maybe it’s just time to man up and kick the Christians out of Congress . . . . . return to the intended secular government. You know, all that Founding Fathers rah rah that so many Americans are fond of citing, such as . . . . . December 1791 Bill of Rights: Amendment I: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. Of course this amendment guarantees that members of Congress as well as the electorate can be card carrying members of any flavor belief system that suits their fancy, even the equally legitimate beliefs of the agnostics and atheists; however it is firmly stated, folks in Congress can make no law that establishes a religion, that includes segments of a religion as well, an in-utero or procreation segment for example. Regardless, there is a lot of that going on these days. Lots of God said this and Jesus said that according to today’s Christian law makers. This is willful distain and discard of Constitutional intent. It’s a stealth, arrogant “father knows best” attempt, through legislation, to put one religious group in power over the rest of the citizens. If members of Congress can’t put together a simple argument based on merit without invoking God and his posse then the argument is inherently suspect and ultimately unlawful. Laws crafted out of a Christian belief system are an unlawful imposition of a religion on any citizen with a different belief system. A citizen does not have to belong to a popular religious club in order to have responsible, moral standards in life or in law making. Example . . . . Everyone in the country is against child molestation regardless of a religious preference or atheist persuasion with the exception, of course, of the pedophiles and as we have learned some of them go to church regularly. We don’t need scripture from any organization for us to want and create anti-pedophile legislation.

If millions and millions of Americans can be mega taxed and made complicit in an enormous killing war machine that they vehemently oppose on moral grounds (regardless of religious affiliation or abstention) then why should specific Christian dogma be favored for special consideration/treatment in any legislative process?

Power to the People

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Our Stupid Commitment in the Middle East

23 Oct

The Jewish people of the Middle East are no ally of the US. By definition allies make collaborative decisions based on what is best for every group within the alliance, however, the Jewish people of the Middle East make decisions based solely on what they think is in their best interest. They justify that their horrendous past suffering has bought them an exemption from this tenet. Regardless of decades of US support, enormous financial support, enormous enough to be a detriment to our own vital domestic needs; political support that has alienated us from most of the rest of the world and put us at risk; support without which the Jewish people of the Middle East could not ignite and win (whatever that means) the next disgusting war; the Jewish people of the Middle East, without hesitation, are willing to throw the US under the bus. This is being punked; in this regard we are a chump nation. We are the rodeo clown chasing the bull.

Unfortunately the Jewish people of the Middle East are no different than hundreds of other groups through out time that worship old scraps of paper but learn nothing from their own devastating history. As most groups do, they have foolishly chosen instead to wrap themselves in wrath, self-righteousness, and entitlement. They then take their political Viagra religiously and beat the crap out of some other group. Where’s the evolution in that?

Perhaps we are emotionally unable to reject the position of the Jewish people of the Middle East because we can’t help but identify with their invasion and domination some 60+ years ago of a faraway land and people, just like we did here with the indigenous people of the East coast. Or, perhaps we just need to seriously invest in alternative domestic sources of energy.

We do need to end all support for the Jewish people of the Middle East and finally keep the money at home to help repair our education system, our infrastructure, our unemployment, et al. We need to publically disconnect from the Jewish people of the Middle East before they drag us into yet another immoral blood sucking financially crippling war, this time with nutso Iran for God sakes. Just as an aside, how are the Iranians going to drop an Atomic bomb on the Jewish people of the Middle East without killing a ton of their Muslim brethren too? Not sure how well that would be received in the neighborhood. The Jewish people of the Middle East, like all of us, need to learn to get along with their neighbors. This is the neighborhood that they supplanted themselves into some 60+ years ago. It’s plain, their neighbors are numerous and not Jewish, these neighbors of theirs are ancient and not going away; and most of these neighbors are fabulously wealthy. Most importantly, these neighbors also have their own old scraps of paper that; likewise, they mindlessly worship and vigorously wave as the absolute word of their God. Stalemate. If the Jewish people of the Middle East can’t learn to get along with their neighbors then they sew their own fate, just like all of us. If force and aggression are the only arrows in their quiver then they are not as smart as we’ve credited them with. If the word of their God is the sum total of their title to real estate then they are doomed by their own arrogance. As with all of us, eventually it boils down to pulling the poker out of our asses regardless of our history. The truth is that none of us is chosen beyond anyone else.

Power to the People

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