Today I got an email from Alan Grayson, one of the few members of Congress who have not been “bought and sold” by special interests (therefore, he’s the TARGET of many a special interest groups – ie Koch brothers and their network of right wing “think tanks,” Karl Rove, Fox “news,” Rush Limbaugh, etc.) commemorating the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s “Letter From a Birmingham Jail.”  That email and another I received regarding the aforementioned Koch brothers and their attempt to acquire the Tribune Company (which includes, I believe, 7 major newspapers including the Los Angeles Times) prompted thoughts of another post, but while I was allowing the thoughts to go through my head it became clear that I should post a copy of King’s great letter.  Maybe by reading that letter it will help people who are visiting this site to better understand why I have written so many posts about the NEED to get the republican party, as it exists today, into the history books.  Since the day Barrack Obama was elected America has inched more toward the days this letter was written than toward the days Dr. King was envisioning in it.  That is going BACKWARD and we need to be going FORWARD!  We need more in America to realize that the motivations of those who wish for our first BLACK president to FAIL are precisely because of the color of his skin.  There should be no place of leadership (I realize people are going to believe what they believe) in our society for the racists who are trying to undermine an American presidency (they did this to a lessor extent with Bill Clinton, called by some facetiously as the “first black president”).  Read this letter and pause to think about the reality of today’s political arena and I believe you will see the importance of standing strong behind the basis of King’s famous words:

MY DEAR FELLOW CLERGYMEN:… .

I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly….

We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God-given rights. The nations of Asia and Africa are moving with jetlike speed toward gaining political independence, but we stiff[ly] creep at horse-and-buggy pace toward gaining a cup of coffee at a lunch counter. Perhaps it is easy for those who have never felt the stinging dark of segregation to say, “Wait.” But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you have seen hate-filled policemen curse, kick and even kill your black brothers and sisters; when you see the vast majority of your twenty million Negro brothers smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society; when you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six-year-old daughter why she can’t go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see tears welling up in her eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children, and see ominous clouds of inferiority beginning to form in her little mental sky, and see her beginning to distort her personality by developing an unconscious bitterness toward white people; when you have to concoct an answer for a five-year-old son who is asking: “Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?”; when you take a cross-country drive and find it necessary to sleep night after night in the uncomfortable corners of your automobile because no motel will accept you; when you are humiliated day in and day out by nagging signs reading “white” and “colored”; when your first name becomes “nigger,” your middle name becomes “boy” (however old you are) and your last name becomes “John,” and your wife and mother are never given the respected title “Mrs.”; when you are harried by day and haunted by night by the fact that you are a Negro, living constantly at tiptoe stance, never quite knowing what to expect next, and are plagued with inner fears and outer resentments; when you go forever fighting a degenerating sense of “nobodiness” then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait. There comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over, and men are no longer willing to be plunged into the abyss of despair. I hope, sirs, you can understand our legitimate and unavoidable impatience….

But though I was initially disappointed at being categorized as an extremist, as I continued to think about the matter I gradually gained a measure of satisfaction from the label. Was not Jesus an extremist for love: “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.” Was not Amos an extremist for justice: “Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” Was not Paul an extremist for the Christian gospel: “I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.” Was not Martin Luther an extremist: “Here I stand; I cannot do otherwise, so help me God.” And John Bunyan: “I will stay in jail to the end of my days before I make a butchery of my conscience.” And Abraham Lincoln: “This nation cannot survive half slave and half free.” And Thomas Jefferson: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal …” So the question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be. Will we be extremists for hate or for love? Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice or for the extension of justice? In that dramatic scene on Calvary’s hill three men were crucified. We must never forget that all three were crucified for the same crime—the crime of extremism. Two were extremists for immorality, and thus fell below their environment. The other, Jesus Christ, was an extremist for love, truth and goodness, and thereby rose above his environment. Perhaps the South, the nation and the world are in dire need of creative extremists….

I have no despair about the future. I have no fear about the outcome of our struggle in Birmingham, even if our motives are at present misunderstood. We will reach the goal of freedom in Birmingham, and all over the nation, because the goal of America [is] freedom. Abused and scorned though we may be, our destiny is tied up with America’s destiny. Before the pilgrims landed at Plymouth, we were here. Before the pen of Jefferson etched the majestic words of the Declaration of Independence across the pages of history, we were here. For more than two centuries our forebears labored in this country without wages; they made cotton king; they built the homes of their masters while suffering gross injustice and shameful humiliation — and yet out of a bottomless vitality they continued to thrive and develop. If the inexpressible cruelties of slavery could not stop us, the opposition we now face will surely fail. We will win our freedom because the sacred heritage of our nation and the eternal will of God are embodied in our echoing demands….

One day the South will recognize its real heroes. There will be the James Merediths, with the noble sense of purpose that enables them to face jeering and hostile mobs, and with the agonizing loneliness that characterizes the life of the pioneer. There will be the old, oppressed, battered Negro women, symbolized in a seventy-two-year-old woman in Montgomery, Alabama, who rose up with a sense of dignity and with her people decided not to ride segregated buses, and who responded with ungrammatical profundity to one who inquired about her weariness: “My feets is tired, but my soul is at rest.” There will be the young high school and college students, the young ministers of the gospel and a host of their elders, courageously and nonviolently sitting in at lunch counters and willingly going to jail for conscience’s sake. One day the South will know that when these disinherited children of God sat down at lunch counters, they were in reality standing up for what is best in the American dream and for the most sacred values in our Judaeo-Christian heritage, thereby bringing our nation back to those great wells of democracy which were dug deep by the founding fathers in their formulation of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.

Never before have I written so long a letter. I’m afraid it is much too long to take your precious time. I can assure you that it would have been much shorter if I had been writing from a comfortable desk, but what else can one do when he is alone in a narrow jail cell, other than write long letters, think long thoughts and pray long prayers?…

Let us all hope that the dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away and the deep fog of misunderstanding will be lifted from our fear-drenched communities, and in some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty.

Yours for the cause of Peace and Brotherhood,

Martin Luther King, Jr.

I haven’t done much “patting” on my own back lately, but I can still remember writing posts at the beginning of Barrack Obama’s first term as president explaining the gravity of his decision to “look forward instead of back” regarding the illegal activity of the Bush/Cheney “crime family.”  I pointed out that the republicans should have been exposed for the reality of what they were at that time – the American public deserved no less.  I also pointed out this, in my view, was one of the major executive branch blunders in my lifetime.  (This is following the “blunderest” administration of all time – Bush/Cheney)  It was not hard to see that this mistake would come back to haunt Obama and the democrats and it has – OVER and OVER!  Couple this with a spineless bunch of Democratic Senators and the republican propaganda “machine” (which has been operating at “full throttle” ever since) and you now have a recreation of the “Clinton years” as the topic coming from the “right” is “impeachment.”  Tonight, on my way home from work, I heard a clip on the radio of Dick Cheney (of all people) claiming (to Sean Hannity – go figure) that the Benghazi incident last year was the worst national defense disaster in the history of our country.  Other republicans, evidently, are comparing it to Watergate and who knows what.  And, the word is that the House is intent on impeaching President Obama.  OMG!

Talk about your “pot calling the kettle black!”  OK, I know I need to come up with a better analogy, because the real problem here is that the President of the United States is half BLACK.  The racists have been fulminating out from under their rocks since before Obama took the oath of office.  They even were blaming him for the failed economy and the TARP bailout before he took the oath of office.  And, their thoughtless “minions” have gone along with all the BS since the day the reality struck them that over 50% of America would vote for a Black person as president.  Who knows, some day it could be a woman – or even a Latina!  These people are in full out panic mode and it would be embarrassing if they didn’t have so much money and control of the media behind them.  This is exactly why I’ve been calling for the removal from office of every possible republican – until this right wing fringe group gets expunged from any kind of position of authority.  Really, is there anyone out there who really believes Benghazi was a worst disaster than 9/11, or the lying our nation into invading a sovereign country (for the first time ever without provocation) causing HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of lives to be lost and MILLIONS to by uprooted?  Was Benghazi worst than over 200 Marines killed in Lebanon (yes, during the republican’s god Reagan’s watch) with virtually no push-back from America?  Was this more dishonest than Iran/Contra? (I’m saying this not knowing what level of misinformation came from the Benghazi incident, because the republicans are simply recreating the “Whitewater” “witch hunt” that took place during the Clinton years – and the reports I’m hearing are pointing out the right wing “info machine” is “doctoring” their evidence.  I don’t know why that doesn’t surprise me)

The loss of the diplomats in Benghazi was a tragedy, no doubt, and there may have been mistakes – who knows at this point.  But, it seems a bit curious to me that the same people making a big deal out of this terrible situation gave not even a whimper during the Bush/Cheney years when something on the order of 60 American diplomats perished on duty in various places around the world.  The sad reality is that, due in large part to our militaristic government, being a diplomat in America’s diplomatic corps is very dangerous.  There are many places in this world where Americans are “Persona non Grata.”  And, the idea that none of them are going to be in harms way is absurd, even more-so in the face of a congress that has chosen to cut back on the available funds necessary for protection.  Again, this would be ridiculously funny if it wasn’t so real and so absurd.  How anyone in America can give any credence to media outlets such as Fox “news,” or radio talkers such as Rush Limbaugh is beyond me.  These republicans stated from the first day of Barrack Obama’s term in office that their number one goal was his defeat (they used the term FAILURE) notwithstanding the effect of that policy on our nation and our attempt to recover from the ills of the Bush/Cheney administration – which left America on the brink of financial and military disaster as they left Washington DC with their “tails between their legs.”

I hate to revisit all the ills of Bush/Cheney, but since Dick Cheney is right in the forefront of the most recent attacks on President Obama, I’m guessing some in America are suffering from severe political partisan amnesia.  And, I’m saying that as an elderly person who sometimes can’t remember if he washed his hair when he gets out of the shower in the morning.  However, I don’t think it’s possible for me to forget the damage Bush/Cheney did to this nation I love.  I can agree that Obama has committed some serious mistakes, but Benghazi and its aftermath are way down the list for me (whatever those mistakes might be).  Blocking the investigations into Bush/Cheney was – if Obama has committed an impeachable offense – a failure of massive proportions – he took an oath to enforce the laws FAIRLY.  For starters, both George W Bush and Dick Cheney have repeatedly admitted to being WAR CRIMINALS.  Both have confessed on national TV that they authorized WATERBOARDING – and worst, in my mind, they both have said they would do it again.  (click here to read about how America prosecuted Japanese interrogators who waterboarded American prisoners during WW II) This is a direct violation of American law and International law – CLEARLY violating the Geneva Conventions ban on this form of interrogation.  Additionally, you don’t have to read many books on Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo to realize that torturing was much more severe than the waterboarding.  Prisoners were killed and brutally tortured by Americans and sent to “black holes” (ie Egypt, or Central Asian “prisons”) around the world knowing what would happen to them upon arrival.  I guess GW Bush and Dick Cheney – two men who “chickened out” of the Viet Nam war wanted to demonstrate how “tough” they are.  This is ABSURD!  You have to have your “head in the sand” not to understand that the orders to torture prisoners came from the White House and the office of Donald Rumsfeld in the Pentagon.

Yet there’s much more.  How about outing a CIA agent because you don’t like her husband exposing the truth about the lies used to get America entrenched in Iraq (which subsequently has destabilized the entire world to this day).  This was clearly Cheney’s doing but he was all too willing to “throw” his assistant, Scooter Libby, “under the bus.”  Of course, Bush commuted Libby’s sentence so that he could disappear into the sunset and Cheney, once again, could “get away” with breaking the law.  (Cheney even proved he can shoot people in the face while being drunk and avoid any consequences)  In case you wondered, outing a CIA agent is a treasonous offense.  Of course, we’ll never know how many under cover agents perished once Valerie Plame’s identity was on the front cover of every paper in the world – but, there’s a reason why disclosing the identity of a CIA agent is such an egregious violation of the law. (now, I’m no fan of everything the CIA does, but “I’m just saying…….”)

Then, you’ve got the undermining of the Justice Department (which, in my view, is still reeling to this day) where assistant attorneys general were fired for refusing to politically prosecute democrats – or for investigating republican lawbreakers.  They actually had a young attorney (from Regents University law school – home of Pat Robertson) who was forcing attorneys hired at Justice during the Bush/Cheney regime to take a “loyalty oath” to the republican party – in itself, a felony.  Undermining the appearance of impartiality at the Justice Department is, to me, an attack on the very foundation of our government.   And, then Attorney General Gonzales had to be quietly sent out to pasture because he got up before congress and perjured himself OVER and OVER for about three days of absurd (“I can’t remember”) testimony.  Of course, the democrats were unwilling or unable to call him to account for his lies and he was ushered out of town quietly and “all was forgotten.” (obviously, not by me – and, I suspect, millions of other Americans who believe the Justice Department has an obligation to be non-partisan and operating with integrity.)

Let’s get back to 9/11.  Whether Bush/Cheney will admit to this or not – this disaster happened on “their watch.”  They had more warning for this than I think Obama had on Benghazi if you want to look at it that way, but this was terrorists invading the United States from Saudi Arabia (mainly) with the response aimed at Afghanistan and Iraq.  Go figure!  I’ve read books that document that the NSA knew at least some of the “attackers” were in the country as early as January of that year and there were plenty of warning signs that went without response even suggesting an attack using aircraft.  That being said, I never tried to place blame on Bush/Cheney until their irrational and incompetent actions required revisiting EVERYTHING they did.  I actually was totally in support of the United States going to Afghanistan to get Osama bin Laden, which of course the Bush/Cheney regime had no intention of following through on because that would have undermined their REAL intention which was to FIND a way to justify invading Iraq.  When I listened to Cheney tonight on the radio (as mentioned above) it was clear that much of his motivation regarding the attack on Obama for Benghazi was an attempt to undermine the success Obama had in “getting” bin Laden, which of course, Bush/Cheney failed miserably in doing.  These people (republicans) are desperately attempting to rewrite HISTORY in a way that “looks forward instead of back” and, unfortunately, their biggest ally in this is President Obama himself.

I could go on and on with the FAILURES of the Bush/Cheney administration – or the illegal behavior – like the undermining of the very institutions they were under oath to protect (again, for you Obama “haters” – he’s under oath to enforce the laws which is why letting Bush/Cheney “off the hook” is such an egregious failure on his – and Eric Holder’s – part), the tax cuts which turned a 250 BILLION dollar surplus ultimately into a multi TRILLION dollar debt (which they, again, blamed on Obama before he’d taken the oath of office), and the deregulation which led to the “Too Big to Fail (Jail)” bankers and the TARP bailout under BUSH’S “watch.”  Remember, Hank Paulsen did not act until it was evident that Goldman Sachs was within days of crumbling into a pile of unredeamable debt – just like Lehman Brothers – one of their main competitors – Goldman Sachs being the company Paulsen had led prior to his stint as Treasury Secretary – and undoubtedly, in my mind, the home of his fortune in stock or stock options that was about to go away without government intervention.  I might be wrong on this, but – again – not even a hint of an investigation.  And, not one Wall Street Banker who had a hand in almost destroying our economy (and succeeding in destroying many a workers pension plan) that I know of was prosecuted and went to jail for their reckless gambling of public funds.  Again, for all you Obama haters out there – this lack of prosecution is on “his watch.”

The end result of “looking forward and not back” is the revitalization of Richard Nixon’s claim that “if the president does it, it must be legal.”   Is Obama’s message to us little folk that there’s a fraternity of presidents and that they really are “above the law.”  When I look back at Ronald Reagan and then look at George W Bush and Dick Cheney that’s the message I get.  Well, if I was face to face with the president right now I would ask him, “How’s this plan working for you now?”  Because, obviously, the republicans operate in an entirely different sphere.  Now, I really believe that the public is smart enough to see past any attempt to impeach our president over whatever excuse they’re (republicans) going to come up with, but none of this had to happen.  The investigations (as I believe I pointed out around 4 years ago) were inevitable, but they should have been about the actions of the administration that began (or accelerated) the downward trend of America in the eyes of the rest of the world as we emerge into the 21st century – Bush/Cheney.  There’s the old saying, “Those who ignore history are destined to repeat it.”  We’re seeing how true this is OVER and OVER again in the recent past of America.  I would love to put it all on the republicans (really, Iraq – to me – was from DAY ONE Viet Nam all over again – perpetrated no less by two Viet Nam “chicken hawks”) but President Obama should have known better than to let Bush/Cheney off the hook!  Now we’re likely to have to endure another ridiculous republican impeachment circus.  Really, at some point maybe the American public will listen to me and people like me and vote these thugs (right wing republicans) 0ut of office so that we can regain some semblance of a working representative democracy in our nation.  If democrats want this dream to have any chance of reality it’s time to quit placating republicans for a few meager votes (ie – putting Social Security and Medicare “on the table”) and start FIGHTING for the values this nation stood on from the end of WW II until the days of the “Reagan Administration” which began this terrible “lurch” to the “right” and set the precedent (Iran/Contra) that republicans can violate America’s laws and it’s OK because the democrats don’t have the stones (in the words of Bill Clinton at the last democratic convention) to hold them accountable for their blatant lawbreaking.

One last thought – it just popped into my head – the reality is that is how this site evolves – As usual, I believe the republicans are always “one step ahead” of the democrats because their tactics ALWAYS have a diversionary component to them.  That is, there seems to be an obvious “point” to their actions, but there usually also is a “hidden agenda” to every move they make.  You have to give them credit for being conniving and overtly dishonest in a way that almost implies people operating without conscience.  They CLEARLY believe “the end justifies the means.”  I believe they DO want President Obama to FAIL in the worst way – yet, they also understand that impeachment has no chance of being upheld in the Senate.  It’s a political side show and circus designed to throw “raw meat” to their most rabid base.  However, it’s entirely possible, in my mind, that the real object of their attempt to impeach Obama will be Hillary Clinton.  (via the Benghazi “blame game”) I ask myself, what could be worst for these racists who’ve been less and less covert about their motives since the day Obama took office?  Well, the obvious answer is how about another Clinton? – and, a woman at that.  Believe me, John Boehner, Mitch McConnell, the Kochs, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney, Jeb Bush, and I could go on and on, DON’T want a woman as president AND they really don’t want another Clinton.  One thing they know for sure about Hillary Clinton is that she will not be as amenable to their CRAP as President Obama has been.  I believe it’s very possible all this Benghazi “to do” of the past few days is directed as much at the possibility of Clinton running for president in 2016 as Obama being impeached in 2013 or 2014.

There’s an interesting (and tragic) phenomenon going on in America as I write this, and it’s been ongoing for the past few years.  Our government has failed to respond to the unemployment crisis in a way that would have prevented the huge numbers of long term unemployed – as republicans argue the debt they created is sufficient reason to ignore millions of Americans who’ve been turned into the “unemployable.”  These “unemployable” potential workers are no longer paying taxes so government revenues are down, yet they still require things like medical care, etc. causing government expenses (and those of the rest of us) to increase while “right” wing politicians continue to prevent increases in taxes from those who are succeeding at an astonshing rate – taxes that would allow investment in things like infrastructure which would create good paying jobs.  And, while all this is going on, more and more of the incredibly rich are moving their money to offshore tax havens so they can avoid any taxes that might “right the ship” in America’s economy.  No wonder so many people are throwing their arms up and saying things like “There’s no hope for America because the corruption in Washington DC is just too pervasive.”  Even the “low information voters” know that it is the politicians in Washington DC who enable all this.

I remember almost as if it was yesterday my thoughts as the “Reagan revolution” unfolded that Ronald Reagan and his supporters were attempting to change America from a “we” society to a “me” society.  And, it appears they have virtually succeeded.  These are the people who have been fighting the “New Deal” of Franklin Roosevelt since the inception of all the “socialist” ideals it put forth.  The FACT that the New Deal fostered the greatest middle class in the history of mankind is irrelevant to those who still worship Reagan as if he was some kind of god.  As I put forth in my previous post, Reagan was actually an informer for the FBI, he was a major hypocrite when it came to “following the rules,” and he believed that the wealthy SHOULD be in control of America’s wealth – not America’s elected government.  Reagan spearheaded the assault on America’s unions which is continuing to this day as we witness a kind of “race to the bottom” regarding the wages and benefits that major employers seem to believe their workers deserve.  The statistics say that worker productivity has increased tremendously in the past 30+ years while wages have remained stagnant, or worse.  The FACT the focus of our government has been shifted to the wealthy could not be clearer as we experience the so-called “sequestration” “cuts” to our nation’s budget.  Already “exceptions” to the cuts are being made for those fortunate enough to travel by air, but – as per usual – “the least of us” (in the words of Jesus Christ) will be “left behind.”

Well before sequestration went into effect I commented that the people at the top would hardly notice it – virtually all the “pain” would be focused around those at the “bottom.”  Well, that wasn’t totally correct as we saw when those who had to wait in the long lines at airports got action from their congress for an “exception.”  Did you notice that it was the congress members who were some of the people standing in those lines?  I wonder how much that affected their decision to vote an exception to their “across the board” cuts.  And, you can pretty much be guaranteed that when sequestration “hits” the department of defense there will be more “exceptions.”  Most of my “railing” on this site has been directed (with good reason) toward republicans.  But it’s almost more frustrating to be forced to depend on the democrats to be the counter force to the republican assault on America’s middle class.  For example (looking away from the sequestration) many democratic populists and many independents (like me) once again got behind President Obama during the last election.  (I pointed out that my vote was AGAINST Mitt Romney and the republicans)  It didn’t take long and Obama was proposing cuts to Social Security (which is absurd) and Medicare (which does need to be “fixed”) – a MAJOR slap in the face to the MILLIONS who got behind him leading up to the election.  To me, this is an obvious attempt by our president to get the republicans to agree to SOMETHING.  However, it also demonstrates his failure to understand that this is an INTERNAL war for the heart and soul of America.  We need to DEFEAT this brand of republicans, not find a way to get them to say “yes” to something – especially at the expense of the signature successes of almost 100 years of progressive battles for “the least of us.”  In a representative government it’s depressing when your TOP representative makes proposals AFTER the election which would have caused you not to support him/her BEFORE the elections.  If I was in favor of cutting Social Security and Medicare Mitt Romney/Paul Ryan would have been the “answer.”

In fact, the so-called sequester was the result of the same kind of bargaining we’re apt to see over Social Security and Medicare.  The benefits will go to those at the “top” while those at the bottom get even more SCREWED.  When democrats start showing a willingness to bargain away the signature victories of the New Deal, well, those of us who are considered liberals (I guess I’m supposed to use the term progressives because the right wing propaganda scheme has vilified the word “liberal”) have to be wondering “where do we turn” for support.  The stark reality of American government is that “we the people” elect representatives and we have to trust them to “represent” us in Washington.  When the “top dog” in Washington shows any kind of weakness he/she can expect to be the recipient of a swarm of special interest money intended to turn a tiny “crack” in the “dike” into a “fissure.”  I still remember during the 2008 presidential campaign Hillary Clinton basing her “claim” on the democratic nomination to her perspective that Barrack Obama was not “up to” dealing with what he was going to get from the republicans.  Over the course of time, I believe he is proving her to  be prophetic.  Instead of bargaining away programs like Social Security and Medicare Obama should be out there FIGHTING the obstructionists in Washington with the hope of turning the House BLUE in 2014.  He should be working on Harry Reid to accept the reality that the Senate’s filibuster rules are archaic and being used by republicans to block anything positive from coming out of the senate.  He should  be publicly BATTLING for the above mentioned “unemployable” members of our society.  (many of them in their 50’s or early 60’s and in danger of losing EVERYTHING they’ve worked their lives for)

The republican philosophy has been to gain power by causing FAILURE in Washington.  They are doing this through procedural methods that the democrats have allowed along with their control of the so-called “liberal media.”  One thing republicans have been up front and honest about since Obama’s election is their determination to make sure that he FAILS.  I really don’t understand why this was not considered heresy and why the democrats have not been demonizing the republicans over this more intently.  75% of America wanted a “public option” when health care reform was in the works.  The special interests prevailed against this (and when “Obamacare” goes into full effect we will understand why the democrats should have found a way to push that through).  Something like 90% of Americans are in favor of background checks and registering guns.  A large majority are in favor of other attempts to control the use of assault weapons.  Again, the special interests are winning the “battle” through their purchase of our legislatures (including democrats).  I could go on and on, but the bottom line is this is all becoming more than nauseating.

When we look again at sequestration, the whole idea was a way to force congressional action in the wake of all the obstructionist tactics of republicans (remember, their number one priority is not the success of America, but the failure of our BLACK president – I’m sure if you’re reading my blog you’re smart enough to put two and two together to understand their motives).  However, as the “chipping away” at the areas of “pain” will show – there will be exceptions which will allow the further steps of this despicable method of governing to proceed (remember, only the first “wave” of sequestration has taken place).  My prediction is that areas like Head Start, food stamps, unemployment insurance, etc. will remain in tact – that is, getting cut – but when the defense department bellows loud enough we’ll have another “exception.”  Or when we find another area that directly affects the congressional leaders who voted for this absurd way of budgeting government in the first place we’ll see another “exception.”  Kind of reminds me of how the congressional leaders who have the so-called “Cadillac” health care policies have no concern for those who have no policy and want to tax working people who are lucky enough to have health care benefits through their employment.  Really, the more you examine America’s present government, the more absurd it gets.

I stated in an earlier post that the first “job” in fixing our nation’s government is to vote out all republicans who support this present day racist tea party philosophy that seems entrenched in their caucus and puts Obama’s failure above America’s success. (remember, republicans didn’t always act and function as they are these days – much of this obstructionist philosophy, I believe, emanates from the congressional days of Newt Gingrich – although, in my lifetime, republicans have been the bastion for America’s remaining racists) Once the republicans have been “purged” the job becomes to get rid of the spineless democrats who are “feeding at the same trough.”  I believe there is one TOTALLY bipartisan issue those of us outside of Washington can agree on and that is corporate money has totally CORRUPTED our government.   Somehow, that needs to change and I don’t think you can change the corruption by relying on those receiving the bounty.  It’s the same as expecting the fox to protect the hen house!

Dwight Eisenhower’s warnings about the “military industrial complex” have morphed into a dangerous reality that continues to make America “less safe.”  It has fostered “moneychangers” who survive by promoting war and violence.  It has given us a bloated defense budget that surpasses virtually the rest of the world combined and an economy that is being drowned in the inescapable debt that is the result of those who believe in perpetual “warfare.”  The latest result, as we scramble to “get our economic house in order” is the sequestration.  That is just a symptom of how difficult it is and is going to be to overcome the incredible force behind this militarism on our nation’s economy.  Combined with the mentality of the republican party and the spineless democrats we end up governing through “sequestration.”  Honestly, I never imagined our country falling to this level of incompetence and corruption, but as I read more history it all seems inevitable.  Eisenhower knew what he was talking about.  I have to wonder: when will our people who are “down and out” become more important to our government than taking care of the “rich” and providing corporate welfare?