I haven’t written for a bit, but the thoughts have definitely been “flowing in.”  For example, the other day I was driving around listening to MSNBC on my car radio when John McCain was given “air time” (that, in my opinion, should NEVER happen – he follows close behind Dick Cheney for me as to “conservatives” that should just “shut up” – that’s as nice as I could say that).  McCain was commenting on the fall of Ramadi in Iraq (to ISIS) and, of course, BLAMING President Obama and his “failed foreign policy.”  McCain doubled down on his stupidity by saying something along the lines of “While President Obama is worried about Climate Change ………” and you can imagine the rest.  McCain, and the rest of these right wing (nuts) republicans are regularly making me sick to my stomach when I listen to them.

In this instance, of course, the natural implication of McCain’s remarks is that President Obama should never have allowed America’s fighting forces to leave Iraq, and now that ISIS (ISIL as some refer to them) is gaining “traction” in what is essentially a continuation of the Shia v Sunni (un) “civil war” that’s been “raging” for several thousand years, America should “protect” the Iraqi’s from this evil force (other Iraqi’s).  (ISIS are the same Iraqi’s that Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld/Bremer along with all the cheerleaders like McCain “deBaathified” after Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld/Bremer and the cheerleaders destabilized Iraq, the Middle East, and the world in their push for oil and other “free market” profits they envisioned upon the defeat of Saddam Hussein)  Interesting (at least to me) is the reality that – the Iraqi’s themselves don’t seem too willing to participate in their own “protection.”  I honestly believe that people like McCain see Iraq (and the Middle East) as an opportunity to keep America’s “Military Industrial Complex” (in the words of Dwight Eisenhower) “employed” into the indefinite future.

The stupidity of McCain’s comment regarding the situation in Iraq (which he and the rest of the right wing militarists will probably NEVER admit to regarding their ownership of the damage to LIVES and PROPERTY that has resulted from their INCOMPETENCE) wasn’t enough for this guy who has thrived on incompetence since the Viet Nam War and still somehow manages to stay in the United States Senate (what’s up Arizona???), but he had to attempt to push himself towards the top of the list of “Climate Change” deniers at the same time.  Most people in America know that our Congress has been BOUGHT and SOLD by the special interests who are “INVESTING” millions of dollars on our “representatives” in congress, not only to keep us in perpetual WAR, but also to allow the continued PLUNDERING of “Mother Nature” by the fossil fuel industry.  These comments by McCain just show, along with comments by NUMEROUS others on the “right,” that the fight to save this great nation and the planet is an “uphill battle” because NOTHING positive will happen until the America public WAKES UP and votes the John McCain’s and his peers out of office!  Really, you should be required to be more informed than simply watching Fox “news” if you’re going to accept the responsibility of helping to run our government.  (and, I would remind anyone who is of the “anti-government” ilk, “we the people” are responsible for electing OUR government – so, we’re responsible for people like McCain being there – it really is time for a “housecleaning”)

I’ve listened to the stupidity regarding Iraq coming from the mouths of people like McCain since the day Bush/Cheney lied us into the invasion (and, of course, there was WAY too much Democratic enabling at the time) and none of it surprises me anymore – despite ALL the evidence (I can’t count the number of books I’ve read about the reality and the futility of the Iraq invasion – I doubt McCain has read one of them) that the Iraq invasion was possibly the STUPIDEST move ANY U.S. president has ever made.  (the results of the Iraq invasion just keep getting worse – I’ll leave that discussion for another day)  McCain and his buddies (Bush/Cheney et al) will NEVER admit their stupidity on this, but what riled me the MOST as I listened to McCain’s “canned” attack on President Obama was when he “doubled down” with his “Climate Change denial.”  I was just finishing the book, “This Changes Everything” by Naomi Klein (who also authored “The Shock Doctrine” – both of these books would be on my “most recommended” reading list) and I thought, “I knew McCain was ignorant regarding the Shia v Sunni “thing” in the Middle East, but I wasn’t aware that he was part of the Climate denier fraternity.  (after thinking that through, I wondered, “what was I thinking” – of course he’s part of that “fraternity” – he’s a republican!)

America’s (and now the “world’s” – “our” corporations are now referred to as “multinational”) corporate BEHEMOTHS have been plundering the earth for her natural resources for years.  “We the people” have been the beneficiaries of this “plundering” while being kept “in the dark” as to the manner in which these corporations have gone about their business.  And, in the process, I’m now convinced there’s a totally unreported “partnership” between our government (especially the CIA) and the industries that are profiting off of the extraction of fossil fuels from – essentially – any place they can find them (the fossil fuels).  Additionally, these interests (the corporate and the “national”) will stop at virtually NOTHING to get what they want.  Books like “The Shock Doctrine” and “Confessions of an economic ‘hit man'” clearly point out the unethical (and brutal) means this corporate/government “partnership” has gone to in order to assure the American public a continued “fix” to their fossil fuel addiction.  The result now is that “the pigeons are coming home to roost!”  Maybe the American public is still ignorant to what has transpired over the years, but people around the world are “waking up.”  (McCain and his peers are “counting” on our public remaining “in the dark”)

From the overthrow of Mohammed Mosaddeg in Iran during the spring of 1953 to CIA led coup d’etat’s in various other countries around the world (all of which had “rich” supplies of natural resources – usually OIL) The United States has put its own industrial growth ahead of any kind of “moral compass” regarding the rights of peoples in “third world” nations across the globe.  The result of this PLUNDERING has been the massive industrial “ADVANCE” in America and (mainly) Western Europe since the post WW II era.  With the “advancement” of the “Free” Trade agreements that had various effects on trade and economies for years – GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) was implemented right after the end of WW II to facilitate the post war rebuilding effort, but the agreements like NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) and others have been “springing up” since with a focus on corporate profits and “cheap stuff” for “we the people.”  The result: especially since the 1980’s – America’s “blue collar” work force has been experiencing job losses and/or stagnant wages and  workers around the globe have experienced the exploitation predicted by Marx in his “Communist Manifesto” when referencing “Free trade.”

Not surprisingly, the “forces” which I refer to as the PLUNDERERS are functioning in “high gear” as I write this – with the help of people (politicians) like John McCain who will dutifully say whatever “talking points” they are given to say – in order to keep their “status” in the republican hierarchy.  We’re talking about corporate interests from the likes of Koch Industries, Shell Oil, Exxon, BP, etc.  They are all involved in the Tar Sands of Alberta Canada – the dirtiest oil coming from the planet – which (as I understand it) is being “mined” from a HUGE open pit and requires transportation across Canada and the United States to reach refineries and ports capable of shipping it to countries willing to burn it.  (The now “infamous” Keystone XL pipeline is one of the ways these people plan to PROFIT off of this dirty oil)  Additionally, the bi-products of producing oil from the tar sands are also environmentally “unfriendly.”  The result of the carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels is already having devastating effects on the planet, but, evidently, it will take a total catastrophe to get the attention of McCain and his cohorts on the “right.”  So I expect him to continue making “light” of “Climate Change” while attempting to BLAME President Obama for as much of the Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld/Bremer (and the cheerleaders’) NIGHTMARE as he can.  The republican solution to their abysmal place in HISTORY is to REWRITE it!

However, there are no words McCain can come up with that will change the FACT that ISIS (or ISIL) is the result of Bush/Cheney et al and their invasion of a sovereign nation – ILLEGALLY! (Click HERE for info on “The Project for a New American Century” which should partially “clue you in” on why Bush/Cheney invaded Iraq)  For McCain to “frame” his disingenuous comments regarding President Obama’s “responsibility” for the fall of Ramadi with a “jab” at “Climate Change” tells us, even MORE, the stakes in the upcoming elections of 2016.  If we, as a nation, don’t SOON come to our senses and begin the process of RIDDING America of “right wing” wackos from the Congress the consequences will be disastrous.  Climate Change is nothing to be GLIB about.  I’m not sure what we can do at this point to mitigate it, but having leaders like McCain and his peers who won’t even acknowledge the problem, and who continue to support the policies which have contributed to this issue, makes no sense.  As I told a friend of mine the other day – I’m not a supporter of the democratic party – but, the starting point (for us idealists who still believe America can be “saved”) is voting out the republican party as it exists today.  Step two – is then letting the democrats know that “they’re next.”  Just as we (should) refuse to accept the republican disregard for the “will of the people” we need to let democrats know that timid “leaders” who won’t even defend their own policies and beliefs are unacceptable as well.

I’ll write at another time about the TPP (Trans Pacific Partnership) that is being pushed by President Obama.  Let me just emphasize that I don’t hold democrats blameless – it’s just that there has to be a starting point to cleaning up the mess in Washington DC – and, I believe, for the past 35 years (since the election of Ronald Reagan) republicans have been pushing us toward the “brink” – with no regard to anything other than profits, shareholders, lower taxes, and removal of every last remaining part of the New Deal.  It seems to me that republicans view the “Guilded Age” as the goal when they say they want to “take our country back.”