I’ve spent a lot of time recently thinking about how I could write something that reflects why I seem to be so “against” the republican party.  Right now I’m reading a book by Seymour Hersch about Henry Kissinger and his role in the Nixon administration – which simply confirms again that I believe republicans have continually been WORSE than democrats for our nation.  I’m also in a Bible study on the book of Romans which has helped me to understand that my biggest concern about the republican party is that the so-called “Christian right” is the “base” of the party.  Paul’s words in Romans confirms (at least to me) that the actions of the “Christian right” is turning more and more people off to the message of Jesus, which, Christians we’re supposed to support.  That all being said, the words of the Los Angeles Clipper’s owner Donald Sterling this past week – allegedly racist comments to his girlfriend suggesting that she not “bring blacks to my games” – and, the overwhelming reaction to them has really given me “pause.”

While I TOTALLY agree that Sterling’s words were “abhorrent” as many in the National Basketball Association characterized them – I just have to wonder where everyone’s been as we’ve watched the emergence of the “Tea Party” during the years of Barack Obama’s Presidency.  Where was all the “media attention” when people like Jim DeMint (then a sitting U.S. Senator) were speaking to a “Tea Party” crowd in Washington D.C. where there was a seemingly plethora of signs depicting Barack Obama in a wide range of racially derogatory manners?  Why didn’t anyone notice, in the Presidential debates of 2008, John McCain refer to then Senator Obama as “That one.”  I could go on and on, I’ve heard anywhere from outright racist comments to an unending flow of “code words” as I’ve listened to people like Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly, Rush Limbaugh, Glen Beck, not to mention the many REPUBLICAN politicians who have been unable to hide their HATE of this president.

The now infamous “Koch brothers” – who were busily hiding “under the radar” until President Obama was elected – have been totally UNABLE to hide how they “really feel” about a Black president in the “White House.”  Despite the FACT that their net worth has essentially DOUBLED during Obama’s presidency (from $50 BILLION to over $100 BILLION!) they continue to push the message that Obama is a “socialist” or a “fascist” or a “communist” or he’s “bad for business” or etc. etc.  From my perspective, I’ve got some complaints myself about President Obama, but you would think that virtually EVERY where I’ve been disappointed, people like the Koch’s would be cheering our president.

However, the sad REALITY is that the Koch brothers and (presumably) many of their “brethren” who are helping to supply the endless supply of “Super Pac” money (enabled by our right wing Supreme Court via the “Citizens United” debacle of a decision) to right wing republicans are directly “out of” the remnants of the John Birch society.  Charles and David Koch’s Dad was a founding member of the John Birch Society which called President Eisenhower a “communist.”  I hope you can see how far we’ve come as a nation – today’s republican agenda is pretty much answerable to these two brothers.  When one of the Kochs was on a Libertarian ticket for the presidency back many years ago (I believe it was David Koch) their “philosophy” rang “true” with maybe 1 or 2 percent of Americans.  They’ve been “pressing” their agenda ever since.

And, anyone who doesn’t understand that the Kochs are dangerously smart, in my opinion, are fooling themselves.  They’ve managed to “fund” several “think tanks” that spend their time promoting the Koch’s right wing libertarian philosophy, they’re busy doling out HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS of dollars to right wing “Tea Party” candidates as  they continue to push the republican party farther to the “right,” and – probably worse – they’ve funded a group which goes by the moniker ALEC which has infiltrated state and local legislative bodies across America to “provide” pre-written legislation to legislators who (presumably) are unable to write their own stuff.  For example, ALEC is the “force” behind the “Stand your ground” laws passed in something like half of America’s states which allowed George Zimmerman to get away with murdering Trayvon Martin.  They are firmly behind the ANTI- WORKER initiatives which are taking away worker’s rights in one state after another (see, Scott Walker in Wisconsin).  They are funding politicians from the local levels all the way to the national level.  In my mind, they are without peer in the area of political power grabbers.

The other thing I have to mention about the Kochs and their affiliation with the John Birch Society is that “Birchers” are famously part of the white supremacy movement in America.  I subscribe to a group called the Southern Poverty Law Center which is the most significant force against the “white supremacist” movement I’m aware of in America and they point out some glaringly scary statistics since the election of our first Black President.  The “white supremacist” groups have grown at an alarming rate.  (I would suggest you check them out, and if you feel the same way I do, give them your financial support)  So, getting back to my main point – the Koch brothers are much more significant to the future of this nation than Donald Sterling and, yet, you rarely hear anyone in the so-called “liberal media” pointing out the racist nature of their actions against Obama.

In reality, most people knew what kind of person Sterling was long before his jilted girl friend (who must be 40 – 50 years younger than him) decided to make public his ranting during a “lover’s quarrel.”  I can only imagine that he chose not to respond to some kind of blackmail threat on her part and now he’s a piranha in the world of professional basketball.  I “get that” and I’m in no way attempting to defend Sterling (I thought he should have been “gone” long ago) – but where’s the uproar over the racist remarks of Rush Limbaugh, for example?  In my mind, he’s much more OVERT and dangerous than Sterling.  Limbaugh has an audience of millions and Sterling is an owner of a basketball team.  I agree that the NBA has done the “right thing” in banning Sterling, I just don’t understand why the silence against all the other “personalities” who are making racist comments?

Until “we the people” understand that that assault on our fundamental values goes much deeper than one ignorant sports BILLIONAIRE this kind of stuff will continue.  Again, Sterling is “small potatoes” compared to the Kochs!  Why is their racism tolerated?  Why is Rush Limbaugh tolerated?  Why is Sean Hannity tolerated?  Why is Bill O’Reilly tolerated?  Why is Mitch McConnell (republican senate minority leader) tolerated?  and John Boehner and John McCain and Lindsey Graham, and on and on?  Why is the assault on average American workers tolerated?  I think I know the answer – because “we the people” are so fragmented by irrelevant issues that we continue to tolerate a political process that is TOTALLY corrupted by money to the point where our “liberal media” is participating in our own demise.  Isn’t it time for “we the people” to STAND UP and return to the general attitude that America is a “we” nation?  I believe there will soon be a time, either voluntarily or through necessity, that “we the people” will be demanding a return to the principles of the “New Deal.”  (That’s exactly what the Kochs and their compatriots HATE)  A big part of that process will be the result of America deciding that for us to grow as a nation we MUST acknowledge that the battle against racism is not OVER and it goes way DEEPER than the words of Donald Sterling!

Since the days of Richard Nixon republicans have been busily cramming a “secret” agenda down the throats of the American people.  (I believe both Ronald Reagan and George W Bush were much more damaging to America than Nixon, but that’s a story for another time)  And, the Christian movement was commandeered by the false promises regarding the abortion issue.  So, many Christians are supporting a political party in which they have no idea what’s going on behind the scenes.  (to my republican friends, I’m not lobbying for democrats)  This racism in the republican party is NO SECRET to anyone paying attention.  I’ll end my rant tonight by asking again – why such a “stir” for the words of Donald Sterling when the words of Limbaugh, Hannity, O’Reilly, and the rest of the republican “front,” (which includes the actions of the Kochs and their brethren) which are much more racially damaging, continue to go unchallenged?

Well, as most people  (I listen to) who are tuned into the political scene have been predicting, the McCutcheon v Federal Elections Commission decision has been rendered by our Supreme Court in a way that may take our focus off of the HORRIBLE Citizens United decision of a few years ago (maybe the debate will be which is worse?).  I can still see in my mind Samuel Alito shaking his head as if to say “no way” as President Obama shared with the nation in his first inaugural address the disaster which was Citizens United.  Here was one of the two “I don’t believe in judicial activism” judges appointed by George W Bush – the other was Chief Justice Roberts  – rendering a decision that made other “judicial activism” decisions of the court seem insignificant.  At the time, I was thinking that Citizens United could be the key component of the right wing republicans succeeding in achieving their “permanent republican majority.”  The dearth of republican candidates for president has stalled their plan – but, the court has been busy doing its part to make sure that America becomes some sort of oligarchy – and, the really sad part of all this is that “we the people” are liable to vote this on to ourselves!  Yikes!

Since Citizens United we’ve seen the court join the right wing fight to suppress the vote by GUTTING the Voting Rights Act of 1965.  The right wing state governments were on the edge of their seats waiting for that decision and they had their suppression tactics “in play” within days of the court’s action.  So, at that time, the “plan” evidently was a MOUNTAIN of money funneled into “non-profit” SUPER PACS by the likes of David and Charles Koch and their group of peers (billionaires) along with an OBVIOUS plan to STIFLE the vote in areas where voters are likely to vote for democrats (all of this with a very subtle support coming from our “liberal media”).  It’s a very sophisticated strategy.  And, now to add to the “party” (from the republican perspective) comes the McCutcheon decision which will allow RICH PEOPLE to spend something like $3.6 MILLION per election “cycle.”  (still not sure what that means?  Every two years? or every 4 years???)

As I understand this decision, it will allow wealthy people to influence MORE of our politicians.  I realize Justice Roberts argued that there is no connection to this ruling and more corruption in our political process.  That makes about as much sense to me as Alito claiming that Citizens United would not open our election process up to foreign money – FLOODS of foreign money.  What is even scarier to me is that Justice Clarence Thomas (who rarely says ANYTHING) argued there should be NO restrictions whatsoever on campaign finances (evidently, they left in place some limits on the amount you can “invest” in one individual politician).  That leaves me the impression that what he (and Roberts) are thinking is that, because there’s more of us (the so-called 99%) than “them,” the only way to “level the playing field” is for the “1%” to be able to spend their way to victory and suppress the vote – so the wealthy can continue to compete in our elections!  They (the court) apparently see NO connections with allowing the unleashing of unlimited funding to politicians and the resulting corruption which disgusts most Americans.  (a couple years ago, I wrote a post suggesting [thanks to my brother in law] that members of Congress should be REQUIRED to wear clothing similar to race car drivers with PATCHES identifying ALL their “SPONSORS” – the larger the “donation” the larger the patch!)

So, let me remind you of the “plan” coming from the likes of Karl Rove and others of his “ilk” who talk about the “permanent republican majority.”  They have a scheme to circumvent the system of “checks and balances” set up so brilliantly by our founders.  This (McCutcheon) decision clearly shows their strategy is working and that the corporate interests (usually referred to as “The Koch brothers” or “billionaires” or the “1%”) are TOTALLY represented by our Supreme Court.  And, keep in mind, all these RIGHT WING justices are on the court FOR LIFE!  I guarantee you, they will keep making these types of suffocating decisions (in regards to us peons and our “democracy”) for a generation – kind of a lasting legacy of the Bush/Cheney regime.

They (“conservatives”) also have a stranglehold on our so-called “liberal media.”  In fact, so much so, that I’m sure a majority of Americans (possibly even a majority of people who read my posts) actually believe our media is LIBERAL (after all, don’t they – the media – keep pointing this out to us?  Doesn’t that make you wonder?).  Nothing could be further from the truth.  I’m finally hearing a bit of “blow-back” from Chris Matthews and others on MSNBC (he’s at least figured out and gained the nerve to call out the racists and their sophisticated use of “code words” on his show “Hardball” as the Obama assault “marches on”) – but, by and large, most in the media accept the ridiculous claims of “fair and balanced” by Fox and some of their surrogates as “mainstream.”  What was once the “main stream media” seems paralyzed by the power of the right wing owners of the media conglomerates.  (do you remember CBS reflexively FIRING Dan Rather because he (correctly) challenged George W Bush’s bogus military record? What message did that send to other reporters?)

Then there’s the control of the House of Representatives (essentially, by the radical “tea party” whack jobs) – possibly in republican “hands” for the foreseeable future thanks to a brilliant scheme of gaining control of state houses in 201o and GERRYMANDERING enough House districts to make it extremely difficult for democrats to retake control of the House.  For example, in 2012 the democratic House candidates garnered something on the order of 1.7 MILLION more votes than republicans, yet still had a significant minority in the “people’s” part of congress.  It will take a MAJOR backlash to republican obstruction to reverse control of the House.  And, I guarantee you that Citizens United, McCutcheon, and the gutting of the Voting Rights Act are all part of the scheme to make that MORE difficult – if not impossible.

Let’s regroup here:  The Courts are in republican control, the “liberal media” isn’t liberal at all, there’s a TON of MONEY coming from wealthy individuals who believe in government by the few that can now be INVESTED in a plethora of politicians who are “for sale,” and by all accounts in 2014 republicans have a reasonable chance to regain control of the Senate.  (The Kochs have already spent over $7 MILLION attacking the democratic senator in North Carolina and evidently there isn’t even a republican candidate yet to oppose her – that says it all)  Should republicans succeed in gaining a majority in the Senate, then the only missing link to their strategy is the White House.  And, they are already (it’s not even close to the 2014 midterm yet) spending MILLIONS to attack Hillary Clinton on the assumption that she will run for president as a democrat in 2016.  These people (republicans like Charles and David Koch) don’t seem to even pause to take a breath.  They have HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS, they are getting up in years, and they seem to be willing to spend whatever it takes to gain their “dream”

Speaking of Hillary Clinton, are you getting the picture as to their “plan.”  With the Court giving them free reign with their money, the media afraid to call them on their despicable behavior, with the House willing to do the bidding of the monied elite who are going to be funneling even more money into their campaign “coffers,” and – should they “pull it off” – with control of the senate, all they need is one win of the White House and “we the people” could be STUCK with republican DAMAGE to our system of government for the foreseeable future. They (republicans) would have – in their minds – rendered “checks and balances” as a moot point.  They would control EVERYTHING!

Their plan would be that we (liberals) would be unable to mobilize enough support to stop their “permanent republican majority” through a combination of their control of “all of the above.”  I can’t even get my mind to understand what part of their scheme is the scariest.  My first thought is that the control of the media – and the willingness of our media outlets to allow complete falsehoods to be broadcast repeatedly as what I can only surmise as a sophisticated propaganda scheme – might be the biggest threat to stopping them should they gain control of every aspect of our government ( I want to add here, Thank God for the internet – but, it won’t surprise me when they exert control over the messaging there – for example, it would be easy for them to “shut up” people like me).  But, when you combine that thought with the idea that the “1%” can spend almost unlimited sums – in different ways – to influence our political process and their plan for VOTER SUPPRESSION is working – ALL of it (their “scheme”) makes me a bit nervous.

I keep telling myself that the republicans don’t have a candidate for office that isn’t so weird that they could NEVER win a national election – so, if democrats continue to win the White House – eventually, the majority of the Supreme Court could be changed to something more resembling the “will of the people.”  However, for some reason, I keep thinking that republicans with all their money might just believe they could cram another Bush down our collective throats and they might talk Jeb Bush into running in 2016.  I keep having this nightmare that a Bush v Clinton presidential race in 2016 could possibly turn off enough LIBERALS to actually – with all these other issues considered – give the republicans a chance to regain the White House (the thought of another Bush as president makes my stomach queezy – probably somewhat similar to republicans looking at the possibility of another Clinton).

Which brings up the thought with which I will close.  I’m convinced all the obstruction (and everything republicans do) has a very specific “stealth” objective.  That is, along with the voter suppression moves they’re making around the nation, I believe they think (and, they’re probably correct) that by “muddying” the political “waters” to the point where “we the people” believe our government is incapable of functioning, even more people will be turned off and will withdraw from actively participating in the process.  For those of you who remember Paul Weyrich (famous republican strategist), he famously said, “As a matter of fact our leverage in the elections quite candidly goes up as the voting populace goes down.”  He was talking about how republicans should want LESS VOTERS!  Their present “plan” clearly follows Weyrich’s “advice.”  Overtly, they are trying to restrict access to the polls for MILLIONS – covertly, they are trying to turn people OFF by the MILLIONS.  In the end, they are working “overtime” to reduce the number of Americans voting and if liberals don’t vote the republican strategy which includes McCutcheon, Citizens United, and a gutted Voting Rights act will lead to their success!  If you’re reading this and you don’t want multinational corporations running America’s government, participate somehow in the process of voting the present day republican party into the history books!

As an afterthought – if you want a perspective that is not beholden to corporate interests (remember, even MSNBC is owned by GE) check out Free Speech TV.  It’s definitely NOT part of the “liberal media” that sucks up to Fox “news” and America’s corporate oligarchs.

So much to say, so little time (and energy) to say it!  Honestly, that’s how I sometimes feel as I watch the political “landscape” in America.  I have a friend (an interpreter) from Russia who, quite naturally, is very concerned with the “flare up” in Ukraine.  One of her parents is from Ukraine, the other from Russia – and she’s been in America for at least the past 20 years.  Watching the reaction of America’s politicians to this “crisis” is much more difficult for her than it is for me – although, it’s REALLY difficult for me.  If you’ve read my previous post you know how I feel about the republicans who are continuing the ENDLESS assault on our sitting president.  As far as I’m concerned, the republicans wore out their OBSTRUCTIONIST “welcome” long ago.  But, when there’s a world crisis like this – for the McCain’s and the Graham’s and the others to be – essentially – propping up Vladimir Putin as the picture of a “leader” and calling President Obama names that can only be described as “red meat” for their IGNORANT base – we’ve all got much to worry about that these people (republicans) even have an audience.  (My apologies to my republican friends – but, it’s just not “American” to do this – I don’t care who the president is)

Keep in mind that the republicans who are relentlessly attacking Obama are minions to America’s “military industrial complex.”  As we’ve witnessed in Iraq and Afghanistan, there’s not a WAR that doesn’t thrill them – (and their benefactors)  If John McCain would have had his way America would have “Bomb, bomb, bomb”ed Iran and probably North Korea as well.  Of course, they are very selective in who they want to “bomb” – do you remember Bush/Cheney funneling tens of BILLIONS of dollars to Pervez Musharraf in Pakistan so that we could become bogged down in Afghanistan for the past 13 years?  That’s the same Musharraf who was funneling portions of that money to the very people we were supposedly fighting.  Of course, you didn’t hear ANY complaints from the likes of McCain, Graham, and the rest of the republicans back then.

Seriously, despite my reservations about President Obama and his decision to allow Bush/Cheney a “pass” from their transgressions while in office (and, believe me, the rest of the world will be bringing up Iraq to Obama as he attempts to bring sanity back to the Ukraine crisis) as I listen to him in contrast to the McCain, Graham, Rand Paul, etc. etc. crowd, it’s as if President Obama is the “adult in the room.”  He’s going about addressing this Russian misadventure in a measured and thoughtful manner – as opposed to the “shoot from the hip” republicans.  I hope the American people notice this – I really can’t imagine that a MAJORITY of Americans would side with the likes of John McCain or Lindsey Graham.  I’ve been a teacher for 20 years and as a teacher you learn to read people’s eyes – and both McCain and Graham, when spouting the so-called “talking points” of the republican propaganda “machine,” appear to be totally aware of their own lies.  As the saying goes, if you repeat the lie often enough, even the liar starts to believe it’s true. (although, they appear to be cognizant of EXACTLY what they’re doing)

This relentless attack on our president from the “right” is turning so many people off to the political process that it might just succeed at its goal – which is to gain a stranglehold on America’s government by any means possible.  As absurd as many of the attacks are, they are succeeding in TURNING OFF a huge portion of America’s electorate and just might win another election because the “liberals” stay home.  I just finished reading the second part of Blanche Cook’s biography of Eleanor Roosevelt which is focused on the 1930’s in America.  The parallel to today’s challenges are startling.  This lying, greedy, selfish, business oriented group – called back then by historians the “Robber Barons” – is nothing new.  Some of the same battles we’re having or are going to be having today, were part of the routine during Roosevelt’s years in the White House.

While I’m hopeful that President Obama will succeed in calming the international “waters” (actually, I always hope our president succeeds – I even wanted George W Bush to succeed) I’m concerned that the parallels of his approach to government is leading to the same mistakes FDR made prior to WW II.  I’ll try to explain.

While Eleanor Roosevelt was pushing a LIBERAL agenda in the 1930’s, her husband (FDR) was terribly pragmatic on MANY issues of importance to those people who were looking for progressive change (sound familiar?).  In fact, FDR led America right back into recession in 1937 because he became focused on balancing the budget at the expense of expanded JOBS programs and investment in America’s PEOPLE!  Up until 1940 FDR refused to support “anti-lynching” laws, he refused to condemn Hitler as Hitler ramped up the Third Reich, he tried to cut spending in order to “balance the budget,” and he was “landing” way too close to “conservatives” for the likes of people such as his wife.  The end result was FDR turned off his “base” (liberals) and in the mid-term elections of 1938 his party (the democrats) were “slaughtered.”  Does any of this sound familiar?

Well, what many democrats are worried about is an impending republican “takeover” of the Senate in 2014’s election (similar to the 1938 mid-term elections) which will allow them even more room to ensure that our sitting president “fails.”  Of course, my fear is that should this scenario “play out” President Obama will continue his agonizingly frustrating attempts to “placate” the very republicans who won’t rest until he’s considered a worst president than Bush/Cheney.  (Of course, knowing that history will have somewhat of a data driven sense of accountability, that seems impossible – with the exception of books written by republican apologists)  Unfortunately, it is Obama’s attempts at bridging the “gap” between the right wing of the republican party and his own base that is turning off LIBERAL voters and could lead to another disaster this coming November.

Many besides myself predicted what happened in 2010 (the republicans gained a stranglehold on the House of Representatives along with many state governorships and legislatures) because of Obama’s attempts to be a centrist.  This is where I so identified with Eleanor Roosevelt – and, I believe a majority of “every day” Americans do as well – we DON’T want to placate the right wing republicans.  We want to DEFEAT them.  We want them to crawl back under their rocks.  The problem, as I see it, is that with the help of a Supreme Court which somehow declared “Corporations are people my friend” and unleashed the corporate bank accounts on our electoral process, along with Obama’s continued attempts to stand in the “middle,” (which, I have to add, under normal circumstances would, at least by me, be considered admirable)  has led to a circumstance where, despite the democrats advantage in NUMBERS, (I feel) the republicans have the advantage in money and strategy.  The ONLY way democrats will “hold serve” in the Senate and continue to make gains in the House, is if they understand this is a WAR for the heart and soul of this nation.

President Obama needs to, along with democrats, draw a clear distinction – with no compromise – between the republican agenda and their own.  Democrats need to define their positions CLEARLY and push for popular support – they need to make the upcoming election meaningful.  Too many times I’ve felt as if the line between who I was “for” and who I was “against” was razor thin.  That MUST change if the democrats wish to defeat this right wing assault on our nation.  The republicans (with the help of the “liberal” media) have pushed the debate so far to the RIGHT that people like me don’t see much benefit in many of the democratic positions.  For example, I’m refusing to send ANY money (I don’t have much) to President Obama or many other “liberals” until the final decision on the Keystone XL Pipeline and the “Trans Pacific Partnership” (TPP) have been made.

The truth is, I don’t trust the democrats to have the GUTS to block these propositions.  I’ve read enough about the Keystone pipeline to realize their is NO significant benefit to “we the people” for this pipeline being completed, but there is SIGNIFICANT probability that it will create environmental problems that COULD border on catastrophic.  And, the trade agreement, TPP, is just further “recipe” for fewer jobs for our middle class workers and higher trade deficits for our nation.  More than likely, HIGHER profits for American “multinational” corporations which they will “invest” in places like the Cayman Islands in their seemingly unending effort to avoid paying American taxes.

All of this is the natural progression of a political system that allowed Ronald Reagan into the White House almost 35 years ago, and for some reason, despite all the national debt problems, trade deficit problems, jobs problems, social safety net problems, (and more) “we the people” still have failed to recognize that we MUST REJECT this “me me” philosophy and return to the “we” philosophy that created the greatest middle class in the history of the world following WW II.  For 30 years after the end of the second WW there was a strong degree of bipartisan agreement in America that we were obligated to “pull together” in an attempt to support the Civil Rights movement, end poverty, provide education to all, “fix” the environment, and support our people from “the bottom up.”  It was Reagan who pioneered the “Top down” approach (at the time they called it “trickle down” economics – I’ve always called it “trickle up”) to government and it was his administration which began the assault on the “New Deal” which pulled America out of the Great Depression.

Bush/Cheney ALMOST put us into another Great Depression and I’m beginning to think that until that happens again people might be willing to continue voting in republicans.  I hope I’m wrong on that last sentence – but, I believe we need a STRONG leader in the White House who relishes the challenge of fighting off the big money coming from the Koch brothers, Wall Street, and many in America’s so-called 1%. (I realize that many members of America’s financial elite are not affiliated with the republicans – or, at least today’s right wing version)  I get why President Obama wants to bridge the gap between “right” and “left,” but until he remembers that he was voted in to implement “The change we can believe in” and, if it’s not too late, lead the FIGHT against this right wing juggernaut, liberals will continue to be turned off.

Republicans are publicly claiming President Obama is “weak” because of his unwillingness to send troops to fight the Russians (unbelievably as that seems) – but, in my mind, the real reason they believe he’s weak is because he’s allowed them to walk all over him – and, he keeps “reaching out” for that elusive “grand bargain.”  If they are right, he’ll cave on Keystone XL. he’ll continue his support of the TPP, and he’ll ultimately keep trying to reach an agreement (any agreement) on the budget that will turn democrats off.  (like agreeing to cuts in Social Security and Medicare)  If he wants democrats (and independents) to support him he needs to take the FIGHT right at the republicans.  Hit the road and lead a populist assault on the republican ideas!  When it’s clear that President Obama is against Keystone and the TPP and for increases in Social Security and Medicare his supporters will mobilize.  Take those FIGHTS along with fighting for JOBS, INVESTMENT in infrastructure and people and BARNSTORM America – I believe he still has time to be considered a STRONG president and set the precedent for a generation of progressive ideas as America (and my children and grandchildren) progress into the 21st century.

I’m going to try to catch a thought tonight and finish it in the next few days.  I was reading on the front page of the newspaper I buy my wife every Sunday (for the ads :o) about how the Russians have “invaded” Ukraine and our fearless American leaders are “up in arms” over this violation of Ukraine’s “sovereignty.”  Honestly, it almost makes me gag listening to the likes of John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, Rand Paul, Lindsey Graham, and the other republicans pandering to our war machine.  I can only imagine what every civilized person around the world – outside of the United States – would be thinking of our “holier than thou” righteous indignation at the Russians.  Seriously, the American voters proved to me what a short attention span they have when they returned republicans to control of the House of Representatives only two years after Bush/Cheney “high tailed” it out of Washington DC.  That’s the same Bush/Cheney who INVADED Iraq and TOTALLY destabilized the Middle East while AT THE SAME time keeping America’s military stuck in Afghanistan with NO apparent “plan” for the last SEVEN years of their regime.

It’s true that Iraq and Afghanistan were foisted on President Barack Obama like a bad dream, but the reality is that Obama seemed in no hurry to get America out of Iraq (he basically followed the prearranged schedule negotiated by the Bush crew) AND  we’re STILL in Afghanistan as I’m writing this – with some reports suggesting we could remain there for another TEN years! (ugh)  So, where do you think America’s leaders stand in the world community influentially as they criticize the Russians?  I can tell you the first thought that came to my mind was – who outside of America’s borders even care what 0ur leaders think on this subject?  By now, EVERYONE who can read a book knows how ridiculous American foreign policy has been since the day Bush/Cheney took office.

Now, I will say that I consider the actions of President Obama a step in the right direction from Bush/Cheney, but it appears to me that he’s beholden to the same “liberal media” that seems to be in the “pocket” of America’s “military industrial complex.”  Let’s face it, America’s media conglomerates (like GE and News Corp) don’t have a history of promoting peace.  And, the people who are actively BUYING America’s politicians don’t seem to have a tendency to encourage reducing America’s “war machine.”  While we’re busy cutting things like food stamps, unemployment insurance, Social Security (so far, they’ve failed at this one), Medicaid, Medicare, taxes for the rich, etc. we seem to have an UNLIMITED budget for WAR.  Yet, we also seem to be the first in line to dictate to the rest of the world to “do as I say, not as I do.”  Do you really think “foreigners” are that stupid?

The truth is that by all measures that ordinary people should use to evaluate a society America is on a downward spiral.  Our education system is losing ground (and, as a teacher, I believe the “fixes” being proposed will ensure we continue in the wrong direction), our health care system is embarrassingly bad compared to the wealth of our nation, our middle class is losing ground to the so-called 1% every year (and, yet there seems to be enough voters to keep “trickle up” economics “in play”), we clearly have MAJOR racial issues in America along with an increasing percentage of people living in poverty (again, despite being the “wealthiest” nation on earth), and EVERYONE knows that our national legislature and political system is CORRUPTED to the core.  We have a CIA that has a history of TORTURE and assassination – in order to provide governments (dictatorships) friendly to American corporate interests, and, presumably, Americans wonder why the international community could care less and less what we think.

As I looked at the headlines regarding the Russian invasion of Ukraine, naturally there was John McCain and Lindsey Graham at the forefront of BLAMING Barack Obama for America’s role in “allowing” this to happen.  As if Obama could do anything to stop it – just as the Russians had to sit by and watch America invade Iraq in 2003.  Today, I even had to listen to some of the republican “talking heads” call Vladimir Putin, Russia’s President, a “leader.”  Seriously, listening to Rudy Giuliani calling Putin a “leader” while attacking our own president during a time of crisis is to me, well almost treasonous! Are these republican “leaders” so STUPID to actually think that attacking our president (of course, they attack Obama reflexively – the issue is irrelevant)  and lauding Putin is helping ANYTHING???  Tonight on TV I saw John McCain doing a fairly good impression of Rush Limbaugh (when Limbaugh stood before the CPAC convention bouncing up and down urging his propaganda on the “conservative” minions) as he almost came our of his suit claiming that this Russian action is the result of our “feckless” foreign policy.

All I can say is that if our foreign policy is “feckless” it’s the result of the difficulty of recovering from the damage caused by the invasion of Iraq, the quagmire in Afghanistan, and the near endless attacks on President Obama since he accepted the unenviable job of reversing the ILLS of the Bush/Cheney regime.  It seems to me that whatever the United States SHOULD be doing in this situation will get lost in the CONTINUED partisan rancor that the republicans have thrust toward Obama since the day he was elected.  They announced before President Obama took the oath of office that their one goal was that he would FAIL.  To me, if they continue this rancor, they should be THROWN out of office.  Honestly, anymore, when I’m forced to listen to republican “leaders” I get sick to my stomach!

It’s true, in my mind, that if Obama had done things differently, America would be in a better position to criticize the Russians.  However, my reasoning – which I’ll get to – is FAR different than McCain’s, Graham’s, Giuliani’s, or the other republicans spouting off with their illicit rhetoric.  If you’ve read many of my previous posts, you know what I’m going to say.  Obama SCREWED up when he allowed the Bush/Cheney administration to walk away from Washington with no consequences.  The natural conclusion to that action would be that Obama was planning to continue enough of the policies of his predecessors that he gave them a “free pass” on some serious illegalities.

I will only bore you with a few of the examples:  Let’s start with TORTURE.  Everyone in the world, as of now, understands that America, the beacon of “Human Rights” in the “Free World” allowed the overt commission of TORTURE in violation of her own laws and international laws – including the Geneva Conventions.  Then there was the outing of a CIA agent, almost certainly by Dick Cheney.  We’ve prosecuted others for leaking “classified” information related to the CIA, but it seems Dick Cheney was considered “above the law” by the incoming Obama administration.  Do you think this is where they began to see Obama with the “weak” label? (he apparently didn’t want the “distraction” of all the investigations) Of course, in relation to all the above, what about LYING America into the Iraq “war?”  Shouldn’t that have been thoroughly INVESTIGATED? (along with all the other misdeeds of Bush/Cheney)  There was the politicizing of the Justice Department (they’re still cracking down on the “little guys” and letting the “big fish” go), the plundering of our economy (TARP), and I could go on.  Obama BLOCKED investigations into all of the above – and more!

And, by doing so, Obama brought all this republican intransigence on himself.  They really do remind me of the sixth graders I teach.  They need clear – “black and white” – boundaries.  President Obama essentially INVITED the republicans to attack him relentlessly – to fill the VOID of what SHOULD have been a PROLONGED series of INVESTIGATIONS of Bush/Cheney which would have exposed the republicans for what they really are (I’m talking here of the inner circle of republicans which was behind the Iraq invasion and the right wing assault on the very fabric of our nation – the people who HATE what’s left of the New Deal)

In conclusion, however, LET ME BE CLEAR, the words of people like John McCain, Lindsey Graham, Rudy Giuliani, Rand Paul, among others I heard today, in a concerted effort to ATTACK a sitting president during a national foreign policy crisis is UN AMERICAN!  The American VOTERS need to put these people out of office.  They are so obsessed with making sure we never have another Black president that they could care less about the well being of this nation.  They’ve assaulted our workers (by refusing any kind of “jobs” legislation), our economically disadvantaged (by reducing our social safety net), our public employees (as they attempt to eliminate every union in the country), and NOW THIS!  When are the American people – republican, democratic, and independent – going to WAKE UP, and see these people for what they are?  I’ll say it again, listening to them today calling Putin a “leader” and attacking our president – made me SICK TO MY STOMACH!

I was driving around today and listening to Ed Schultz (liberal radio “talker”) ranting about how the workers in a Volkswagen Plant in Tennessee voted down an opportunity to join the United Auto Workers Union.  While I’m in total support for the workers’ right to join a union and while I “get” Schultz’ outrage at the influence the governor of Tennessee and their Senator Bob Corker played, along with local politicians who used extreme “scare tactics” to influence the vote, there was one main point Schultz made with which I would have to disagree.  Schultz was contending that the actions of Corker and the other republican (of course) politicians succeeding in blocking this attempt at worker’s organizing would be used as a “blueprint” in future situations and that this action (on their part) was unprecedented.  All I could think of as Schultz was saying all this was: “Don’t you remember Ronald Reagan?”  (This is probably the main reason he’s still considered “holy” by today’s republicans)

In 1981 Reagan, very publicly, BROKE the Public Air Traffic Controllers union (PATCO) and that, according to many (including this from an article on Alternet) has been the blueprint of the anti-union movement in America to this day.  If you don’t want to read the entire article, here’s a blurb: “the PATCO strike has become the pivotal event—both symbolically and substantively—in almost everyone’s understanding of the massive realignment of class power in the United States in the last few decades.”  Joseph McCartin’s book, “Collision Course: Ronald Reagan, The Air Traffic Controllers, and the Strike that Changed America,” makes my point: “No strike in American history unfolded more visibly before the eyes of the American people or impressed itself more quickly and more deeply into the public consciousness of its time than the PATCO strike. No strike proved more costly to break. And no strike since the advent of the New Deal damaged the U.S. labor movement more.”

Again, I’m not disagreeing with where Schultz’ heart is – I’m right there with him – it’s just that the work of people like Bob Corker and the other republicans in Tennessee is just a carryover of what Reagan set in motion more than three decades ago.  This was the turning point in the BATTLE to reverse the gains of workers and middle class Americans who had benefited from the progressive legislation of the New Deal since the days of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt.  Yes, there was a time in my lifetime when workers were valued more than stockholders – where there were clear dis-incentives to GREED among the “leaders” of America.  Reagan’s election is what set in motion the slow steady emergence of those who HATE the New Deal and what it stood for.

Lately, we’ve been hearing (or, at least, I’ve been hearing) an increased amount of dialogue centered on the disparity in wealth that has evolved in America to the point where you’re hearing references to the Marx/Engels theories on the inevitable self-destruction of capitalism.  Of course, any time anyone takes issue with republicans over the REALITY that America’s wealth is getting MORE and MORE concentrated at the top (the so-called 1%) and proposing solutions to the problem, we hear words like “socialist” or “communist” or some other irrational terms.  There are many in the republican party who, it seems, will not be happy until there is no social “SAFETY NET” left in America.  They want an end to every government program that benefits middle class Americans including Social Security and Medicare.  (Of course, they have no issue with the BILLIONS taxpayers put out on “corporate welfare” – including, for example, BILLIONS annually to the oil industry – as one example – not to mention [OK, I’m mentioning it] there’s a long list of multinational corporations which don’t pay a DIME in taxes while making HUGE profits)

So, since the day Reagan took office, workers have been losing ground with their wages and America’s middle class has been slowly voting in republicans (and corporate democrats) who’ve been chipping away at the gains made during the 1930’s through the 1960’s.  There was a lot of sacrifice made by LIBERALS over the years to gain things we take for granted today, things like: the 40 hour work week, overtime pay, child labor laws, Social Security, Medicare, environmental protections, food stamps, unemployment insurance, early childhood education, welfare, vacation pay, livable wages, workplace safety regulations, and I could go on and on.  From what I gathered, the issue in Tennessee that has Schultz so riled up wasn’t even being contested by the employer, Volkswagen.  In fact, from what I gathered, they were fine with this and were looking forward to a “council” with the workers and management that would be intended to make the plant more efficient – just like their union plants elsewhere around the world.  (In fact, the only other Volkswagen plant that isn’t a union shop besides in Tennessee is in China – it’s not hard to get the picture here)

The outrage at the interference by the politicians in Tennessee which violated the neutrality of the vote on whether the workers would join the United Auto Workers is warranted, but I just think it needs to be kept in the proper perspective.  The “blueprint” for undermining collective bargaining and labor unions was established in 1981.  When Reagan BUSTED the PATCO union, there was something approaching 35% of America’s workforce being represented by unions.  Today, the total is something like 10% and it’s the lowest total since the beginnings of the Great Depression.  Do you see a parallel here?  Honestly, there’s so much in America today that is similar to the days before the Great Depression that it’s – well (I’ve got children and grandchildren)……..depressing!  I’ve talked on this site at length about the sophistication of the republican propaganda scheme and the sad (to me) reality is that they’ve succeeded in turning the word “liberal” into something that’s rarely spoken in public these days.  To those of us who call ourselves “progressive,”  changing the perception of that word would be a good place to start.  I’ve read MANY books on American history that confirm (OVER and OVER again) that the gains which have benefited the “working class” in this nation (and other nations as well) have come from LIBERALS!  Trust me, it wasn’t “conservatives” putting their lives on the line in the 30’s to gain those “rights” we all seem to take for granted.

It’s true that “we the people” vote these politicians into office who are convincing us to give up these hard fought for rights.  How do they do it?  Well, like I’ve said, the “liberal media” in America is virtually owned by a group of conservative corporations and the journalism in the so-called “main stream” of America’s media is so focused on being “fair and balanced” (to steal the thunder of none other than GOP TV – er, Fox “news”) that you have to look for people like Jeremy Scahill  and Naomi Klein of the Nation, or Greg Palast (I believe who reports for BBC – he can’t survive in America because he reports what’s actually happening) in alternative places in order to have any chance of having “real” information.  And, while I’ve been ranting against republicans (and will continue, it appears, for the foreseeable future) I’m not that thrilled with the alternative – the democrats.  While I hate to “pile on” President Obama (the republicans have been unbelievable in their attacks – they don’t need my help) he’s not the “change I believe in.”

In fact, one place I totally agreed with Schultz was; WHERE were the DEMOCRATS while the republican politicians in Tennessee were BASHING the union and using classic SCARE TACTICS and FEAR MONGERING to make sure any union “revival” didn’t happen on their “watch?” I’ll tel you where I think they were;  I believe the democrats are almost as scared of the republican controlled “liberal media” as the republicans.  If you’ve been paying attention you know that republicans vote in a “UNIFIED” block based on instructions from whomever (people like the Koch brothers and their cronies) is funneling them the HUGE supply of dollars made available thanks to the Supreme Court and “Citizens United.”  If, as a republican, you vote against the “block” according to your conscience, the result is a well funded “tea party” primary opponent – and, an empty campaign “coffer” – not to mention the tongue lashing from the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly, and the rest of right wing punditry.  They have an audience of MILLIONS of “low information voters” and, as a republican, “you can’t win without them.”  Democrats, I’m afraid, fear the same message machine – albeit to a lessor extent.  If you’re really outspoken like a Dennis Kucinich or an Alan Grayson or a Jeff Merkley or Sherrod Brown or Elizabeth Warren – you can expect the same forces to funnel UNLIMITED funds into a ruthless attempt to smear you into political oblivion!

I read somewhere today where many “liberals” feel that President Obama is “weak.”  I fully understand why they believe that, and I will leave that one to “history” to determine – there’s plenty he’s disappointed me on – but, I think the WEAK moniker DEFINITELY fits MOST of the democrats in Congress.  There’s too many of them “feeding from the same trough” as the republicans.  The main reason, it appears to me, that republicans have been bludgeoning one union shop after another since the day in 1981 when Reagan took the FIRST step is because most union members evidently tended to vote democratic (and, unfortunately, democrats have allowed them (republicans) to get away with it).  So, instead of attempting to address the issues in a way to draw workers to their point of view, the republicans used the destroy and conquer method.  Worse than this, to me, is the apparent FACT that democrats have pretty much given up the fight to restore America’s workforce to a status where collective bargaining is a considered and accepted right.  I’ve said this before, and the assault on unions bears it out well, it’s MUCH EASIER to give up rights than to get them back!  Republicans want to “stamp out” EVERY union in America.  The  recent “vote” in Tennessee clearly demonstrates, reversing the “trend” will not be easy.

According to economist Joseph Stiglitz, “The decline in unionization since World War II in the United States has been associated with a pronounced rise in income and wealth inequality.”  America’s middle class needs to quit arguing over issues like abortion and gay rights and focus on restoring the protections gained by our fathers and grandfathers during the Great Depression that gave us our great middle class.  The union vote in Tennessee was defeated through the traditional fear mongering and scare tactics routinely used by republicans to “get their way.”  It’s time for leaders (somewhere in America) to stand up for workers and say “enough already” to this kind of bullying.

I managed to stomach “Meet the Press” with David Gregory for about 15 minutes today and it just reminded me about how “low” we’ve gone as a nation in the past 35 or so years.  Our “liberal media” seems to be nothing more than entertainment.   Gregory was moderating a “discussion” on “Obamacare” (The Affordable Care Act) with Rob Portman, a republican senator from Ohio who sounded as if he came right out of the republican “sound machine,” and Chuck Schumer, the democratic senator from New York (I really wanted to say “from Wall Street”) – a corporatist democrat.  As I watched the show (and, it was difficult to keep from turning it off) I kept thinking that the political debate in America has been pushed so far to the “right” since the election of Ronald Reagan that people like Schumer are considered “liberals.”  While I’m no fan of the Affordable Care Act – in reality, it’s the Heritage Foundation’s answer to the health care crisis in America – I struggle to listen to our present day politicians “debating” this issue.  Republicans apparently against helping America’s working poor gain health care and democrats defending “Obamacare” out of instinct.  (Neither talking about the “single payer” solution that makes so much sense)

Because “Obamacare” is the “best we could get” after President Obama’s initial election victory, it seems as if we should be trying to make it work.  Republicans are doing everything they can to undermine the Affordable Care Act – even though it’s their brainchild – because their NUMBER ONE GOAL is for President Obama to FAIL!  While they could be debating the program and trying to work out solutions that make it better and easier for people to access, they are doing just the opposite.  I believe more and more people (I’m talking about media pundits) are (finally) coming to the realization that the idea of a Black person in the “White House” is the motivation that drives EVERYTHING the republican party does. (I truly hope this issue – race – is honestly discussed as we approach the 2014 elections) If I need to clarify;  I believe they (republicans) are attempting to make sure this (a person of color in the “White House”) doesn’t happen again!  (and, I wish the “liberal media” would quit tiptoeing around this reality)  Honestly, they (republicans) remind me of my sixth grade students who continue to refuse to do anything in class and seemingly expect me, as their teacher, to eventually quit expecting anything from them.  Well, I can tell you that the solution to this republican intransigence, as I see it, is not to ignore them, but to vote as many of them out of office as possible.

It’s true that with the help of people like the Koch brothers (who’ve finally been exposed for what the really are) the republicans have a very sophisticated plan to regain power in Washington.  They’ve gerrymandered many congressional districts across America (during the 2010 census) to ensure they keep a block of extreme right wing members of Congress with “safe seats.”  However, when it comes to numbers, as the saying goes, “there’s more of us than there are of them.”  By that, I mean if progressives and progressive leaning independents (like me) go to the polls in numbers, the republicans could easily become an afterthought within a few election cycles.

Of course, they’ve had a long term plan in place for many years that has somewhat come to fruition.  They had the makings of their “permanent republican ‘majority'” in 2000 when the Supreme Court overturned the “will of the people” and, with the help of Jeb Bush being the governor of Florida, anointed George W Bush as president.  I’ve said many times on this site that Bush screwed up their plan with one blunder after another, but what he accomplished was to put John Roberts and Samuel Alito onto the Supreme Court which furthered the Koch led scheme immeasurably.  Many Americans have come to realize the devastation caused by “Citizens United” – The Supreme Court’s undoing of 100+ years of campaign finance regulation and enabling of the uber rich, people like Charles and David Koch – two brothers right out of the John Birch Society heritage, to have an unlimited influence on our present and future elections.  And, anyone who doesn’t understand that Citizens United opened the doors for foreign influence on our electoral process is either totally naive or stupid.  (unfortunately, many Americans STILL don’t have any idea what Citizens United is)

As I listened to Portman this morning, it was as if Charles or David Koch could have been the guest.  These two brothers have “invested” HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS of dollars in buying our congressional “leaders” (I’m sure Portman is one of the recipients of their largess) and the reality is that if one republican votes against their interests, they can expect to be “primaried.”  The Kochs are the funding behind the so-called “Tea Party” – which is nothing more than a bunch of right wing corporatists, with overt racist tendencies, funding what they orchestrate as a “populist” movement.  The Kochs are in the same mold as “The Family,” which I’ve written about on this site and the Dominionist Christians – all of who believe in rule by the elite – the wealthy and powerful.  These are the people, by and large, who gave us “Trickle down economics,” in the 1980’s (I’ve always called it “Trickle up economics”) and have been able to continually gain strength – despite the failure of their ideas – through a sophisticated propaganda scheme.

This propaganda scheme was taken right from the philosophy of Joseph Goebbels, the propaganda minister of the Third Reich, and has been extremely effective.  If you take the time to listen to a variety of republican pundits, you will see clear evidence that they are practicing what Goebbels called the “Big lie theory.”  That is, if you repeat a lie often enough people will begin to believe it’s true.  Periodically, I’ll put my own beliefs to the test and force myself to tune into several different sources of what Fox “news” calls “free and balanced” reporting.  What you hear is a variety of different “pundits” pushing the same lie with the same “code words.”  While democrats seemingly attempt to counteract this, they are terribly less efficient liars.

Anyone who believes, for example, that Fox “news” is anything but a propaganda arm of the right wing of the republican party is simply fooling themselves.  Fox has managed to ingrain their propaganda so deeply into people’s heads that it’s almost impossible to reason with any “devotee.”  Today, David Gregory had the audacity to challenge Senator Portman’s claims (falsely, by the way) that the Affordable Care Act will cause millions of lost jobs by asking, why then did he recently vote against extended unemployment benefits.  Gregory pointed out there were something in excess of 50,000 Ohioans who lost benefits when the extended benefits expired.  Portman paused, as if to say – “how could you throw that question in” – and then tried to avoid any kind of sensible answer as he attempted (and successfully) to swing the argument back to the health care law.

The issue of immigration reform came up and Portman, true to being a republican, spewed – carefully – the republican position that there can’t be reform while President Obama is in office because “he can’t be trusted to enforce the law.”  OK, that argument is absurd on its face (and I refer you to my previous post for more on that) but, the point is these people are like a bunch of sheep and they all say exactly the same thing – it’s like they’re pre-programmed before every public appearance – and, people like the Koch brothers and their network of wealthy donors are the shepherds.  (many call them the “puppet masters”)  Almost as absurd, was Schumer’s suggestion that republicans vote to pass the law and stipulate that it won’t become law until after Obama is out of office.  Just further evidence that there’s not much FIGHT in the so-called leaders of the democratic party.  I thought, with friends like that, who needs ………….. you know the rest.

The Kochs have reportedly already “invested” around $30 MILLION into the upcoming 2014 midterm (and, I use the term “investing” literally, because it’s a known fact they don’t “donate”) and they’re orchestrating the “investing” of many other MILLIONAIRES and BILLIONAIRES who believe that government shouldn’t exist (except for the military), they believe polluters should be governed by the “free market,” they don’t believe in taxes or any government regulation of business, and they will seemingly spend their entire fortune attempting to ensure we never have another person of color in the “White House.”  Can you imagine what they’re going to do in 2016 if Hillary Clinton runs for president?  If you haven’t noticed, they’ve already started their attempt to make sure that she never makes it back to the White House.  (or any other woman makes it there, either, for that matter)

What’s so hard for me to understand is that it’s still only 5 years since the Bush/Cheney regime hi-tailed it out of Washington DC with their “tails between their legs.”  With the help of this “liberal media” America’s voting public has a very short memory.  Of course, President Obama is not helping as he continues WAY TOO MANY of the Bush/Cheney policies for my liking (and, many other progressives) and, as I’ve stated here ad nauseum, he blocked the NEEDED investigations into Bush/Cheney misdeeds.  But, let’s, for the sake of brevity, just talk about health care.  I still clearly remember, in the 2008 primary season, Dennis Kucinich lobbying for a single payer health system, to the ridicule of his fellow democrats who considered that (totally practical) idea WAY TOO “liberal.”  Looking back, I think Kucinich seems like he was the “adult in the room.”

I’m re-reading “Chain of Command” by Seymour Hersch and I really don’t understand how any American could “long” for the days of the republicans who brought us endless war in Afghanistan and a “Viet Nam all over again” experience in Iraq.  Of course, the republicans who gave us this policy were the same ones who used deferments or connections to avoid the aforementioned Viet Nam fiasco – but, for some reason felt compelled to create a fiasco of their own.  Our “liberal media” has so much influence (and beholden) from the “military industrial complex” that I seriously doubt we’re anywhere near the point where anyone who might gain the “White House” would be able to have the courage to “call off” the “war machine.”  What would we do with the BILLIONS that would be saved by pulling the plug on that “vacuum” that is sucking the heart out of our taxpayers.  (I read a proposal the other day that Congress pass a law making college tuition FREE – to republicans, a truly educated society must be a scary thing)  We have so many other issues we could be focused on besides the military, but to listen to our politicians that would be total heresy – and, this goes for both of our major political parties.  Kucinich, with his message of universal health care and peace was the MAJOR target of the right wing in 2012 – and, they succeeded.  This year, my guess is that Alan Grayson of Florida, a true liberal, will have to fight MILLIONS of Koch money in order to hold his seat.  (if you’re reading this and have a job, think about sending him some money – I send it in $10 – $25 increments as I have it)

I could give you a long list of “progressive” issues I believe “we the people” should be focused on, but with a media led by the likes of Gregory, it appears the “road is long.”  I would challenge any “right winger” who might happen this way to look at the statistics regarding most of their fundamental complaints from a “prism” beginning with the election of Ronald Reagan.  Things like the deficit and the national debt – look at the statistics from 1980 until the present.  Look at the tax burden and how “we the people” have fared versus Reagan’s “friends.”  Look at the military and what’s happened since Reagan’s election (I know, you’re going to claim Reagan defeated the Soviet Union – that’s an argument for another day).  Look at education, regulations (especially with the financial sector), environmental issues, poverty, look at the middle class in general – compare it from then to now.

I’m not opposed to business, I’m not opposed to ingenuity and progress, I believe entrepreneurs should be rewarded for their success – it’s just the general accepted “mindset” that’s been allowed to permeate our society since 1980 that is so troubling to me.  Anytime you hear a “leader” reminding us of our history (from the “New Deal” through the 70’s) as a “we” society that created the greatest middle class the  world has “known” that “leader” is vilified by our “liberal media” with monikers such as “socialist.”  I believe the evidence is overwhelming that if “we the people” allow people like the Koch brothers and their “ilk” to succeed America will be on the way to second rate status.  Bush/Cheney did immeasurable damage to our “standing” in the world community and, it seems, the only ones who don’t understand what’s happening to our nation is US.  I know there’s a lot of people pushing back, but the truth is that without courageous leaders who will “just say no” to the corporatist interests America will continue to decline.  We definitely need innovative corporations, it’s just that we also need to return to the days when the workers are more important than the stockholders and the corporate executives are not rewarded for greed and self interest.  My point tonight is, with a “liberal media” featuring the likes of David Gregory, “don’t hold your breath.”

I was driving home yesterday and I heard a very strange “sound bite” from John Boehner.  In essence Boehner was saying that the House of Representatives would not likely be voting on immigration reform because they “didn’t trust President Obama to enforce the law.”  OK, if you’re a practically thinking person who has any idea of how our government works, the statement was absurd on its face.  However, once I’ve explained why it’s absurd, I have to include my own reasoning to support Mr. Boehner.

Of course, anyone who’s been paying a “lick” of attention to American politics for the past 5 years knows that if President Obama is for it, the republicans (in unison) are AGAINST it!  I still remember when Arlen Specter, the republican senator from Pennsylvania, voted for the watered down stimulus package in Obama’s first year and Specter was “run out” of the republican party.  (republicans were supposed to make sure our Black president FAILS)  So, we wouldn’t expect any republicans to vote for immigration reform (even though they’ve been pushing for it ostensibly for years) if it would give any credit to President Obama.  Remember, the republican agenda isn’t for America – it’s all about making President Obama a “one term president” – er (it’s too late for that) making him FAIL!  The interesting part of Boehner’s argument is that during the Bush/Cheney reign the immigration problem hit its “peak.”  Much to the chagrin of many of President Obama’s “base” our president is doing a much better (and more efficient) job of enforcing the existing immigration laws than any republican in my memory has done with the result being a HUGE increase in the number of illegal aliens deported.  Does that give you “pause” as you ponder Boehner’s logic? (seems there must be a different reason, doesn’t there?)

We could discuss jobs, unemployment insurance, health insurance, food stamps, help for the needy in general – but, the reality is that republicans will NOT support any legislation which might move America forward because someone might interpret that as a success for our president.  I recently finished Bill Press’s book “The Obama Hate Machine” which does a thorough accounting of how President Obama has endured more scurrilous attacks than any other president (in a country famous for scurrilous attacks on presidents).  Therefore, it comes as no surprise that, along with every other needed legislation facing our nation, expecting republicans to agree to any worthwhile immigration reform qualifies as MAJOR wishful thinking.

By now you might be asking yourself, “How, then, could David be claiming to support John Boehner’s contention?”  Well, Boehner said, “I don’t trust President Obama to enforce the law.”  Well, (aside from the absurdity of that – as hopefully the above supports) I have a very real issue with President Obama’s enforcement of the laws.  Once I finished Press’s book, I started reading (for the third time – I seem to be re-reading many books lately) Seymour Hersh’s great book, “Chain of Command.”  If you haven’t read this book (I believe you should) it follows the Bush administration from their onset (actually, with tidbits from before Bush was “elected”) through much of 2004 with a focus on the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Bush/Cheney administration left a trail of illegal behavior “a mile wide” that, for some unexplainable reason, President Obama chose to make sure NEVER will be investigated with NO accountability for serious CRIMES!  That is why I don’t trust President Obama to enforce the law – I’m sure you can see that my reasoning differs from Mr. Boehner – and, I’ll try to explain to the extent that you can see that my point has validity where I’ve tried to show you Boehner’s claim does not.

Take for example TORTURE! (Yah, let’s start right at the top)  TORTURE is a WAR CRIME.  It’s not only a crime by virtue of international law it’s a crime by our own laws and, in addition, it’s a violation of the Geneva Conventions which the United States was instrumental in getting established over the years.  George W Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and their “legal counsel’ went to great lengths to establish their “right” to bypass the Geneva protocols and ignore American and international law as they instituted their “enhanced interrogation” during the American invasions of both Afghanistan and Iraq.  Hersh is apparently one of the last of the “breed” of “investigative reporter” left in the United States, but he does a great job of laying out the reality that America’s troops (and “intelligence” officers) were routinely committing torture (by accepted standards) and, only the totally naive would fail to realize the authorization came from the Bush White House.

That George W Bush and Dick Cheney are guilty of WAR CRIMES is indisputable because BOTH admitted to authorizing WATERBOARDING on national TV.  (and, they both claimed, falsely, that it led to “actionable intelligence”)  Allowing this grievous violation of law to go unpunished is not only a blight on President Obama (and his legacy) but, it has been instrumental in America’s reduced moral standing in the world.  Here’s the point of view of Manfred Nowak, the “United Nations Rapporteur responsible for torture:”   on 20 January 2009, (Nowak) remarked on German television that, following the inauguration of Barack Obama as new President, George W. Bush has lost his head of state immunity and under international law the U.S. is now mandated to start criminal proceeding against all those involved in violations of the UN Convention Against Torture.  Law professor Dietmar Herz added to Novak’s comments by saying that under U.S. and international law former President Bush is criminally responsible for adopting torture as an interrogation tool.

“The evidence is sitting on the table,” Nowak stated. “There is no avoiding the fact that this was torture.” He pointed to the U.S. undertakings under the Convention Against Torture in which the country committed that it would criminally prosecute anyone who tortured, or extradite the person to a state that would prosecute him. “The government of the United States is required to take all necessary steps to bring George W. Bush and Donald Rumsfeld before a court,” Nowak said. (These statements are parts of THIS article)

Attorney Wolfgang Kaleck, who brought charges against Rumsfeld before German prosecutors stated that the Obama administration was “off to a good beginning” with its explicit renunciation of torture, but it has not shown how it will hold Bush, Rumsfeld, and others to account for their crimes, nor has it demonstrated its legally obligated duty to provide compensation to torture victims.  In fact, the only thing the Obama administration has demonstrated is that – as per Richard Nixon – “if the President does it, it MUST be legal!”  If you’ve been on this site much, you know that I’ve been lamenting that decision since the day Obama was inaugurated.  (Well, it took a few weeks before I realized that he was going to “look forward instead of back”)

Personally, I would never have voted for President Obama in 2008 had I any indication he was going to violate his oath of office and allow these egregious violations of our laws and international laws to go – not only unpunished – but, not even investigated!  And, look where it’s gotten our president.  Honestly, I don’t think Boehner would have a leg to stand on – in fact, I don’t think he would ever have been Speaker of the House had Obama done his duty.  You could feel a collective upheaval of “liberal” support for the president as he allowed Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld “off the hook.” (hence, the 2010 liberal abandonment of the polls – not saying it’s right, just saying…)

The “Change (most of us) could believe in” was holding those at the top accountable for their misbehavior.  The “pardoning’ of Bush/Cheney was followed by the continuation of the Wall Street Bailouts with nary a financial “wiz kid” prosecuted for gambling away the retirement accounts of countless Americans.  Obama’s refusal to “look back” was like pouring gas onto a fire as far as the right wing in America was concerned – and, the push-back on the president, as stated above, has no parallel in American history.

There’s also the lying our nation into a war, there’s an outing of a CIA agent, there’s the bludgeoning of one government agency after another, there’s the total politicizing of the Justice Department along with “loyalty oaths” (to the republican party) for new hires as Justice (That’s grossly illegal) and on and on.  So, I do agree with John Boehner about my lack of trust that President Obama will follow the law.  It’s just that he’s following the immigration laws to a tee!  I wonder if Boehner wants President Obama to “follow the law” regarding Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld and TORTURE?  I would suggest to the president that it’s not too late and maybe allowing the investigations of Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld would get Mr. Boehner’s attention!  (I’d love to hear him complain the Obama WAS following the law!)

I recently finished reading “A Cruel and Shocking Act” by Philip Shenon – a book about the “Secret History of the Kennedy Assassination.”  I don’t want to get into the details of the book other than to say that it appears to me most of the people who’ve “investigated” the Kennedy murder have, for whatever reason, glossed over many of the details.  Shenon, it seemed to me, didn’t seem too motivated to do anything more than show that the “Warren Commission” was not a complete investigation and give the evidence that our FBI and CIA lied to the Commission.  There wasn’t much probing.  As soon as I finished the book, I had to re-read “The Family of Secrets” by Russ Baker, who, in his research into the “Bush dynasty” provides MUCH MORE information as to what COULD HAVE happened leading up to Kennedy’s murder.

The reality is that the Warren Commission was FULL of Kennedy “haters” and it’s hard for me to understand why so many who’ve “investigated” this murder haven’t been able to put this all together.  Shenon did come to the conclusion that the CIA lied to the Commission, but maybe if he had read Baker’s book he’d have looked a bit further at all the evidence.  The main reason I feel a need to discuss this is because the WEB of “Eastern elite” and oil interests along with America’s “intelligence” community which MIGHT have “outed” Kennedy is a bit unsettling to me.  I’ve written on several occasions that I believe the evidence strongly suggests CIA involvement in Kennedy’s death (probably his brother as well) and, in addition, they were ostensibly behind the scheme to get rid of Richard Nixon – all with the compliance of J Edgar Hoover and the FBI.  We Americans don’t WANT to believe that the “inner workings” of our national government would be like the KGB of the Soviets we were all TAUGHT to hate as we grew up, but the reality is that our CIA has been involved in one Assassination after another around the globe since its inception in 1947 and what should make us think they wouldn’t ply their “trade” at home?  Especially against someone like JFK who they literally DESPISED.

The part that seems so incredible to me is that Baker – without doing anything more than leaving the reader to make inferences – “connects the dots” among the WEB of people around Dallas Texas who were part of the CIA and the oil industry (and, conveniently in Dallas at the time of the assassination).  He also gives a compelling argument as to why one person in the “web” after another stood to gain from the removal of Kennedy from the White House.  In November of 1963 it was assumed that Kennedy was going to win re-election in 1964 and there were MANY people who didn’t want that to happen.  Keep in mind that President Kennedy was pushing for the elimination of the oil depletion allowance – a government subsidy to the oil industry that was, at the time, a multi-MILLION dollar boon.  And, since its inception, the CIA has been intertwined with the oil industry as – first, the nation realized after WW II the importance of oil to our military “might,” and secondly, the multinational nature of the oil business allowed for the CIA to “plant” operatives around the world in disguise as “oil executives.”

Baker’s book is focused on George HW Bush in relation to the Kennedy murder and the evidence STRONGLY suggests that Bush was a member of the CIA almost from the day he graduated from Yale and their Skull and Bones secret society (and was involved to some extent in the relationship between a CIA operative I’ll mention shortly and Lee Harvey Oswald – prompting Bush to concoct a phony alibi for his whereabouts on the day Kennedy was killed).  In fact, a long list of CIA agents has come directly from that same group (“Skull and Bones”).  I really suggest that anyone interested in understanding the inner workings of America’s government read “A Family of Secrets” – it’s one of the more eye opening books I’ve read (I’m reading it for the third time – and, after reading Shenon’s book I’m getting even more out of it).

I can’t get into all the details due to time and space constraints, but George HW Bush was an associate of a guy named George de Mohrenshildt, who was – by all evidence – a covert CIA agent (just as Bush) and he was the guy who befriended Lee Harvey Oswald upon Oswald’s return to the U.S. from Russia (at the request of other CIA “people”) – where he defected for a couple of years.  The “inner circle” of people that Bush and de Mohrenshildt were associated with is like a “who’s who” of America’s right wing aristocratic “Eastern establishment” families connected to the “military industrial complex” and “intelligence.”  (Oh yes, and the oil industry) These people HATED Kennedy, and just as they did with Franklin Roosevelt, they felt JFK was a “traitor to his class.”  If you read the book, I think you’ll end up with the same inferences I’ve made about how “Poppy Bush,” along with a number of other famous Americans who are expert at “covering their tracks” when it comes to their misbehavior, were probably somehow involved in the conspiracy to murder Kennedy  – along with many issues besides this. (for example, they are experts at laundering money – which I believe has led to the present day financial “world” that has been enabled to the point they control so much MORE than those of us who they consider “peons” will ever understand – ie, Cayman Islands, Bermuda, Switzerland, etc.)

The part of all this that intrigues me the most is that many of these same people and their “offspring” are behind the right wing “cabal” I’ve been writing about for several years now that I believe is trying to undermine the very “fabric” of the American republic.  George W Bush was a great example of their “scheme.”  The guy’s been a proven FAILURE his entire life, yet he was thrust upon us as our president by the power of this invisible group of people who are happy to be “covertly” operating out of the public eye.  (If you were paying close attention during the 2012 election republican insiders, when commenting on a possible Romney/Ryan administration, were saying, “We just need someone to sign our bills”)  I still believe that the “right” thought they had their “permanent republican majority” with “W” in office – he had a republican congress – but, he had difficulty putting a complete sentence together and committed one buffoonish act after another that temporarily “upset their apple cart.”  Presently, we’re seeing to what extreme ends they will go in order to get that “cart” upright again.  (I even think they might try to do it with another Bush – Jeb in 2016)  I believe they think their unlimited “budget” causes them (the republican “right”) to believe they can get anyone elected – remember, George W Bush had a history of drug and alcohol abuse, womanizing, and failures at one venture after another – including allegedly being AWOL from the National Guard – only to have his “history” “wiped clean” by republican insiders loyal to his “Poppy.”

We’ve seen over the past 30+ years the emergence and re-emergence of people like Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, Douglas Feith, and others who keep showing up in positions of power and continue to cram the “military industrial complex” that Dwight Eisenhower warned us about “down our throats.”  With the demise of the Soviet Union these people needed a “reason” to continue America’s unbelievable expenditure on “defense” and 9/11 seems to have been the perfect “tonic.”  It wasn’t hard for me to understand, especially after all the books I’ve read, why GW Bush was pushing the militarism (and, the tax cuts, and the “defrocking” of the internal workings of our government, and the “corporate welfare,” and the…….. OK, I hope you get my point) but I continue to struggle to understand why democrats (and, of course, Barack Obama) seem to want to keep us on the same “path.”  The “no investigations” of, not only Bush/Cheney by President Obama but also Reagan/Bush by the Clinton administration into obvious criminal activity continues to befuddle me.

“A Family of Secrets” helps me to at least postulate why “The change we can believe in” seems to be “republican lite” at best.  When I think back to the days of Iran/Contra I clearly remember wondering why President Reagan was never asked to testify and was never implicated.  Additionally, I thought it was strange that then Vice President Bush also “got off ‘Scott free.'”  Upon reading Baker’s book (A Family of Secrets) it became increasingly clear to me that George HW Bush was right in the middle of the entire Iran/Contra scheme.  This was CIA/Eastern elite establishment/oil industry/John Birch Society/etc.,etc., behavior at its “finest.”  And, when you learn a bit about the “secret society” that is represented by the Yale “Skull and Bones” graduates – which includes a “who’s who” of right wing politics in America in the last 100 or so years, it’s not hard to imagine people feeling it’s their “duty” to LIE to Congress or any other investigative body.

America’s CIA has been “cloaked” in secrecy since its inception.  I believe their unlimited budget is TOTALLY secret – even to members of congress.  I’m convinced that even what little oversight exists in congress, there is an “unwritten” rule not to probe into their actual practices.  If “we the people” actually knew what our CIA had been doing “in our name” over the past 66+ years, I think most people (at least the fair minded people) would be disgusted and shocked.  I also believe their (the CIA’s) power is WAY beyond what any of us “normal” people can even imagine.  As mentioned above, I have often wondered why President Bill Clinton essentially “pardoned” George HW Bush of any involvement in Iran/Contra shortly after taking office.  In my mind, you have to be what I’ve termed a “low information voter” (I invite you back Lars Larsen) to believe that George HW Bush and Ronald Reagan were not involved in Iran/Contra.  In fact, it’s not hard to find compelling evidence about their “deal” with the Iranians to prevent the so-called “October Surprise” they thought might derail the Reagan election – that’s when, reportedly George HW Bush met with Iranian officials and paid them off to keep the hostages (if you don’t know what I’m talking about, Google the 1979 hostage crisis in Iran) until after the election.  Curiously to me, but evidently not to our “liberal media,” the hostages were released as Reagan was taking his first oath of office. So, why the “looking the other way?”

Think I’m nuts?  Well, check out who was implicated in the Iran/Contra “affair” and what happened to them.  I’ll help you out, it was a “who’s who” of Reagan appointees, and  once president George HW Bush was in office he pardoned them (some, he waited until he was leaving office – and, of course, many of the “culprits” keep “popping up” in government offices – several of them appointed by Bush II).  They say the “apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,” and just like his Dad, George W Bush pardoned “Scooter” Libby who “outed” Valerie Plame – a covert CIA agent – presumably to make sure Libby remained “loyal” to his bosses who the prosecutor implied were involved (he suggested further investigation was needed, and, of course, it never happened).  “And the beat goes on.”

I’ve always wondered a couple things when trying to understand why Clinton, a democrat, didn’t push for investigations of George HW Bush that would have uncovered much of the shenanigans of our CIA and clearly would have “pointed fingers” at both Bush and Reagan (maybe a repeat of why Lee Hamilton, the chairman of the House committee investigating Iran/Contra, chose not to proceed with the investigation during Reagan’s presidency while having evidence that implicated both “Poppy” Bush and Reagan – ostensibly to “protect” us from another “Watergate type” scandal).  Well, my first guess as to why this keeps happening is that the CIA might have a “heart to heart” with every new president (or anyone else “snooping” in their “turf” – you know, the kind of talk where they say “If you repeat any of this conversation I’ll deny it and………….”) explaining how America’s government “really” works.  Need more evidence?  It’s not hard to find, but click here for some eye popping details.  Do you think it’s possible the CIA reminds incoming presidents of what happened to JFK and Richard Nixon? (ALL the “Watergate burglars” were CIA operatives – Baker’s evidence suggests Nixon was expertly “set up”)

I’ll finish this rant with a topic, if you’ve been reading my posts for any length of time, you’ll be familiar with.  So, after all of the aforementioned, along comes President Barack Obama.  A constitutional lawyer (actually professor at the University of Chicago) and a progressive running on “The Change we can Believe In!”  What was one of his first acts in office?  He, essentially, pardoned George W Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and everyone else involved in the despicable lies that got us enmeshed in Iraq, the incompetence that left us stuck in Afghanistan, the conspiracy to undermine our government which left countless agencies in “ruins,” the “outing” of a covert CIA agent, the wiretapping of our own citizens WITHOUT warrants, and on and on – PLUS the TORTURE issue!  (guess who’s doing the torturing – read “The Shock Doctrine” by Naomi Klein and you’ll clearly see the path that leads right back to our CIA – there they are again!)  So, have you asked yourself, “Why would President Obama pardon all these CRIMES?”  Honestly, I’d like to ask President Obama that question to his face!

In speaking to several of my peers (I’m of the “retirement age”) many have come to the conclusion that the corruption in our nation’s capital is so pervasive that there’s nothing we can do but throw up our arms and attempt to go along with our lives.  To me, if that’s the reality, then the “puppeteers” behind this right wing cabal have succeeded.  I feel a sense of responsibility because it’s my generation who’ve taken so much from America and are now apparently unwilling to “give back.”  The “forces” represented in today’s political climate by the right wing “eastern elite billionaires,” the oil industry, the CIA and their surrogates have become the “backbone” of our present day republican party – but, were “fringe elements” of society until the election of Reagan.  They are all about “me” and disparaging to anyone who believes in “we.”  This “web” of right wing extremism started getting “spun” as FDR was implementing the “New Deal,” and has evolved to the stage where they can see “the light at the end of the tunnel.”  As so clearly pointed out in “A Family of Secrets” they are passing their greed and arrogance to the law from generation to generation.  I’m just hoping we will find the leaders necessary to stop these people “in their tracks” before it’s too late!

I’m going to get this thought started while it’s still fresh in my mind (I just returned from the Verizon store).  I’m sure there’s MANY other Americans out there who would agree with me that allowing the government, with the help of the telecommunication carriers, to “spy” on the normal everyday communication of MILLIONS of Americans is WRONG.  I believe it is unconstitutional.  However, this all started with the so-called Patriot Act of 2002 and has morphed into something that is completely out of control as of the beginning of 2014.  I stated back then, and I’ll reiterate, it’s so much easier to give away RIGHTS than to get them back.  I believe many Americans besides myself felt that by electing Barrack Obama in 2008 many of the egregious overreaches of the Bush/Cheney regime would be reversed – ESPECIALLY, the government eavesdropping on its citizens.  Apparently, the problem has progressively gotten worse, and the “transparent” promises of the Obama campaign have turned into one of the most secretive administrations yet.

In a society where there is true transparency one would think that “whistle-blowers” would be honored and even encouraged as a true “backstop” against government and/or corporate overreach.  Yet, during the Obama presidency we’ve seen Bradley Manning tortured for over one year (and subsequently receiving a stiff prison sentence) for leaking information to Wiki Leaks that simply stated the truth about America’s foreign policy.  (the first sign that “transparency” wasn’t such a priority)  Then came Edward Snowden who “leaked” the NSA spying information (and continues to do so) that caused many in Washington’s “Beltway” to label Snowden a “traitor.”  My response, at the time, was “are you kidding me?”  First of all, there were several (including me) who had been paying attention to this issue and knew the “spying” was going on (just not the extent of it) because it was easy to put “two plus two” together.

Then Senator Obama alarmed many of his supporters (including me) in 2008 when he supported the FISA bill passed in Congress that gave Verizon and ATT&T immunity from CLEARLY many FELONIES as they willingly gave the NSA access to what should have been private phone conversations and emails.  I actually protested with a letter to Obama’s campaign and got a response which PROMISED that Senator Obama would “fix” the FISA bill once he was elected president.  Of course, as time went by and I saw no indication any “fix” was going to happen, I realized that President Obama, once in office, was allowing the illegal spying to proceed.  As I recall, there was a court decision that supported the viewpoint of those of us who claim this action violated the 4th amendment to the constitution, but I don’t believe the subject would have garnered ANY public discussion without the efforts of Mr Snowden – who had to actually leave the country in 0rder to inform the rest of us what OUR government was “up to.”

I’ve been constantly amazed at all the Americans who “wrap” themselves in the American flag and proclaim constitution this and constitution that – for example, I can’t tell you how many people I know who believe the constitution gives them the “right” to own assault weapons and magazines that hold 50-100 bullets – yet support the Patriot Act.  (It’s like selective commitment to the constitution – as people imagine it)  NRA members are BLOCKING attempts at even requiring the registration of guns while jumping on the “traitor” bandwagon in relation to Snowden.  What has happened to common sense?   In my mind, at some point, Edward Snowden will become an honored public figure.  He continues to give us information as to how far beyond the imaginable our own government has gone in their attempt to convince us all they’re “making us safer” in the “war on terror.”  I believe it was Franklin Delano Roosevelt who proclaimed, “We have nothing to fear, but fear itself.”  And, the paranoia which has engulfed the United States since the infamous 9/11 attacks has essentially turned this nation upside down.  We have responded in the very way Osama bin Laden expected – and, it’s (this paranoid response) continuing to weaken the “fabric” of America from within.

Those in the “Military Industrial Complex” which we were so prudently warned about by none other than Dwight Eisenhower – the general who led us to victory in WW II – are, and will continue – profiting on the paranoia which has been spread amongst the American public by none other than our “leaders.”  Bush/Cheney were expert at this as they, on the one hand, ginned up our response to one terrorist attack by committing our nation to TWO unwinnable OCCUPATIONS of nations on the other side of the world and then, on the other hand, they supported and participated in the corporate profiteering from these two occupations which has pilfered TRILLIONS from the American economy almost directly into the hands of themselves and their supporters.  (there are numerous books you can read which will leave you with the same result they left with me – Bush/Cheney NEVER intended to prosecute bin Laden – he gave them the excuse to implement their “plan”)  Bush/Cheney not only preached fear on the American public as a way to set up their corporate warmonger friends for unbelievable profits, they used fear and terror tactics themselves in Iraq as they attempted to “privatize” the Iraq economy to further benefit their “cronies” (with estimates in the MILLIONS  of Iraqi’s victimized by their actions)

For example I’ve read several accounts of how Vice President Cheney gained over $100 MILLION from his association with Halliburton and their seemingly unending NO BID contracts from the defense department in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Halliburton, under Cheney (he was CEO from 1995 until he became Vice President in 2000) operated as if “above the law,” just as Cheney did as VP and before, including opening a Halliburton office in Tehran Iran (that’s right, the Iran Cheney wanted to “bomb”) while Cheney was CEO which was a violation of the “Trading with the Enemy Act” – although Halliburton claimed their “innocence” because it was actually a “shill” (my description) subsidiary with a “base” in the Cayman Islands. (yuk)  Additionally, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld reportedly profited just as handsomely based on his previous employment with entities such as Bechtel.  Douglas Feith supposedly, as did many other Bush/Cheney “cronies,” “retired wealthy” based on the “privatization” of the Iraq “war” and his (and others’) willingness to PROFIT from it.  When you see the long list of Bush related people (including his father and grandfather) involved in the corporate no-bid “merry-go-round” involved in Iraq and Afghanistan it makes your stomach curdle (well, if not yours, mine).  The Bush family has a history of war profiteering that goes back to the 1930’s when Prescott Bush was providing war related materials to Adolf Hitler as the Third Reich was preparing for their “Blitzkrieg” of Europe.

Getting back to my main point tonight, it’s the SECRECY that pervades Washington DC – both the government and the multinational corporate interests who are profiting from America’s militarism – that allows this abomination to continue.  “We the people” are already facing a sad reality that our “liberal media” has been consolidated into the “hands” of about 9 multinational corporations which are anything but “liberal.”  If we allow our government to intrude on our privacy by making our phone messages and emails available to the government (and, who knows who else?) we are heading for what can only be termed a “slippery slope.”  America became a world leader of the “free world” through the efforts of LIBERAL activists who gained momentum during the “New Deal” administration of Franklin Roosevelt.  The “right” in America has been FIGHTING the gains made by many of our grandparents and great grandparents (depending on your age) since Roosevelt’s first “radical” initiatives – mostly all aimed at building a vibrant MIDDLE CLASS of hard working “blue collar” workers.  We’re seeing today (2014) the same “class” of people who were called the “Robber Barons” trying to take us back to that time period.  Just check their (the “right’s”) message – they’ve been focused on making the word “liberal” an abomination to the point where even liberals don’t use the word anymore – that’s part of the propaganda “plan.”

And, for those of us who want to prevent the “right” (people like Charles and David Koch, Sheldon Adleson, Mitch McConnell, Paul Ryan, Dick Cheney, untold numbers of CEO’s and executives of the multinational corporations who are spending wildly to control our legislatures, and the list could go on and on) from succeeding in turning the clock in America back a hundred years or so (that’s what they accomplished with Citizens United) this NSA spying issue is MAJOR!  I’m constantly shocked at how far this right wing “cabal” has managed to “get” in the days since Ronald Reagan “flipped the switch” on America’s political scene.  I keep thinking “we the people” will “wise up,” but the sophistication of the “opposition” and the economic viability (they’ve got UNLIMITED funding) they possess constantly reminds me that unless “we the people” can somehow get the “masses” to “wake up” to what are the intentions of the “right” the possibilities are scary.

That’s why today, as I was walking out of the Verizon store, I couldn’t help but think that the “hammer” possessed by the opposition is getting heavier all the time.  I’m reading books as fast as I can, I’m talking to as many people as I can, I’m giving money (very small amounts – like $20 at a time) to the few people in politics I believe “get it,” (people like Bernie Sanders, Alan Grayson, Elizabeth Warren, Jeff Merkley, and various web based organizations) and, yet, here I am giving money to Verizon (have been for years) and getting sucked into their “2 year contracts” so that I can have one of their “smart” phones.  I’m beginning to think they’re really “stupid” phones – because I’m giving them money (and, by the way, their service borders on arrogance – yet, their store was jammed with people – you have to WAIT a significant amount of time in order to give them your money!) while I KNOW that they are passing on the “data” that is generated by my “smart” phone to some HUGE data base that can be accessed by who knows who based on who knows what! I continued to wonder;  Are we Americans financing the destruction of our own republic through unknowing reliance on companies like Verizon who are helping to dismantle our constitution?  All progressives need to decide in 2014; “how important is our constitution?” and, if we decide (and, I hope we do) that it’s important, then, “What do we need to do in order to protect our right to privacy and the 4th amendment?”

I’ll end this by saying that, unfortunately, this is an issue where I don’t feel any sense of confidence that progressives can rely on democrats to “come to the rescue.”  Obviously, President Obama has performed dismally in standing up for the 4th amendment.  We need another FDR to emerge in the next couple of years – someone who will “take on” the corporate interests who are leading the assault on these basic privileges we’ve evidently taken for granted to the point where we may loose them.  FDR, in response to attacks from the corporate “right,” famously said, “They hate me, and I welcome their hate.”  My hope was that President Obama would have the same fighting spirit – but, that hasn’t been the case.  Somehow, this issue and issues like “Citizens United” need to be resolved at the ballot box – and it will be up to progressives to put these issues into the public domain so that if Americans choose to abandon their traditional values it won’t be unknowingly.

One of my favorite reads is “The Hightower Lowdown” a newsletter written by Jim Hightower and full of REAL progressive MAIN STREET common sense.  I just finished the latest version and Mr. Hightower makes a compelling case (much better than I have done) for what is being termed a “Financial Transactions Tax” (FTT). This would be a miniscule (0.5%) “sales tax” on shares traded on Wall Street.  I was originally introduced to this idea by Peter DeFazio who suggested a more modest tax (honestly, I hope Wall Street lives to regret “panning” DeFazio’s proposal) of (I think) 0.25% back when the TARP bailouts were still fresh in everyone’s mind.  According to Hightower a FTT would net the American economy somewhere in the range of $350 – 400 BILLION each year – and, it would come essentially from the speculators who are using high powered computers to trade large amounts of stocks sometimes by the seconds (and, of course, the same people who are responsible for the TRILLIONS of taxpayer money spent to “bail out” Wall Street).  That is, they buy a huge volume of some stock and almost instantaneously resell it with a razor thin margin that nets them HUGE profits based on the quantity of the transaction.

The reality of all these “speculative” transactions is that they produce NOTHING of benefit to our economy.  And, as Hightower so expertly explains, while they are paying NO tax on their transactions, the rest of us are paying up to 8 to 10 percent on the things we purchase.  These “bankers” have become about as popular (or maybe even less popular) than the politicians they’ve purchased in Washington DC.  They are the ones who’ve been manipulating the political scene since the arrival in Washington of Ronald Reagan to the point where they’ve eliminated any discussion of “increased taxes” from the political arena.  They’re busy trying to “reduce the size of government to where it can be flushed down the bathtub drain” while, at the same time PILFERING BILLIONS if not TRILLIONS of dollars from MAIN STREET in America.  I don’t know about you, but I see something terribly wrong with this picture.

Just stop and think for a moment: why would they want to “shrink government to the size where it could be flushed down a bathtub drain?”  To me, the answer is easy.  Government is the ONLY  chance those of us on MAIN STREET have of keeping these people in “check.”  In reality, they want NO regulation of their business practices – even though they’re GAMBLING with, by some estimates I’ve seen, over 50% of America’s wealth.  To me, that’s ridiculous on its face, and after enduring the last “crash” it seems to me that it’s “high time” to “reel” these people in.  And the FTT seems as if it’s the logical first step on how to do it.  Kind of an easy way to ask these people to repay the money they’ve been pilfering from our economy for the past 30 years.

And, please, don’t give me the response that this would hurt everyone.  Even in the days when I was trading a small number of shares of stock (more than most people I know) a 0.5% tax would have been inconsequential.  The issue arises for the day (or minute) traders who are seriously GAMBLING in the market (which would include the large Wall Street firms like Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, etc. – the “too big to fail” monstrosities created via the deregulation boom started by Reagan) with money gleaned from Main Street.  It’s still hard to believe, in my mind, how “we the people” have allowed ourselves to buy into the so-called “trickle down” theory of economics.  How many “bubbles” need to burst, or how many downturns do we need to experience in order to “get it?”  Or, do we actually need another Great Depression to figure out that the Wall Street bankers (I liken them to the “Robber Barons” of the early 20th century) are incapable of social responsibility without a little “help?” (regulations)

There is a concept known as GREED.  It is a very real and powerful entity.  It was the cause of the great crash of 1929 and it will rear its ugly head again if we let it.  You might not be my age, but back in the 1950’s – with a republican president (Dwight Eisenhower) the top tax rate for people in the “1%” was something in the range of 90%.  It would be the same today as saying after your first MILLION in income, your tax rate will be 90%.  Now, I’m not even advocating going back to that (although, the republicans seem to want to turn the clock back in every way except tax rates  – do you find that curious at all?) rate of taxes, but I do believe there should be a disincentive for GREED and hoarding of cash.

During the days of Tom Delay in the House of Representatives, the “green light” was issued for the formation of all the tax “havens” in places like the Cayman Islands.  Corporations were almost encouraged to move their manufacturing facilities to overseas locations where they could find cheap labor and working conditions minus regulations.  They’re trying to reverse engineer the same situation (they want no taxes and no regulations for business) here in America.  Many people call it the “race to the bottom,” and I still know a large number of my own acquaintances who don’t even understand what is happening.  The stories about the greed and arrogance of the people on Wall Street are endless, yet “we the people” continue to vote in politicians who enable the “Robber Barons.”

Of course, we all know that virtually EVERY republican in Congress has taken a “no new taxes” pledge and they know they will be “primaried” if there’s even a hint they would vote for such a thing.  So, the question becomes, how do we get this Financial Transaction Tax past the roadblock that would be republicans in Congress?  Well, if you’ve been around here much you would know my answer;  vote out EVERY republican possible during the 2014 election and replace them with democrats (or republicans) who are committed to legislation that would make the FTT a reality.  And, that’s just a start – in my view.

The next step is to INCREASE taxes on the incomes in the upper realms of earners in America.  The stated purpose of the higher taxes on the higher earnings back in my youth was to encourage those with the high earnings to invest that money in areas that worked for the “common good.” (that was the basis for all the tax deductions which still exist today) In those days America was more of a “we” nation – I’ve stated many times that Ronald Reagan pushed us in the direction we find ourselves today – which is more of a “me” nation.  For example, corporations were encouraged to re-invest profits into their businesses to make them more efficient and also to invest in the backbone of their businesses – their workers.  Today, it seems the goal for CEO’s is to figure out how to gain higher levels of compensation and, clearly (or at least it seems to me), stockholders are more important than workers.  Through the rollback in “taxes on the rich” which was set in motion by Reagan, our corporations have become more focused on short term gain than the long term interest and health of their companies.

I don’t buy the argument that the possibility of huge incomes is the “motivator” of innovation.  Innovation was happening at a tremendous rate prior to Reagan’s assault on the American “fabric” created by the New Deal of FDR and carried on through the administrations of Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson.  In reality, it was until Reagan hit the scene that America had a “bottom up” economy.  Yes, there were “bumps in the road,” but America’s work force was on a steady growth pattern until Reagan hit the scene and started cutting taxes for the wealthy (and, increasing them on the rest of us) and leading the anti-union crusade – which has existed until this day.  There was an old saying back in the day when I was part of a basketball team: “You’re no better than the last man on your bench.”  While I realize that is idealistic when related to society, it’s clear to me that the health of a nation begins at the bottom.  Government should be focused on helping those at the bottom – because that helps ALL of the rest of us.  When those at the bottom have jobs they have money – and, when they have money they spend it – which (obviously) fuels the economy.  Mitt Romney stashing a QUARTER BILLION (based on estimates I’ve read) in the Cayman Islands to avoid taxes is NOT stimulating the economy with that money – he’s hoarding it.

I could go on and on here (like, double the cut-off of payroll taxes for Social Security, create a “Medicare for all” health care “net” – repeal “Citizens United”) but I’ll leave this as a vote for what I read in Jim Hightower’s “Lowdown.”  Support congressional members who will help to enact a Financial Transaction Tax on every stock transaction on Wall Street.  A Financial Transaction Tax is a great way for Wall Street to begin repaying America’s taxpayers for the money they’ve pilfered from our economy.  As I write this, institutions like Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley (and others) are still getting ZERO percent money from the Federal Reserve Bank and using it to make HUGE profits at the expense of the very taxpayers who are supplying it.  The Wall Street bankers believe in austerity for everyone but themselves.  The FTT is a great way to send them a CLEAR message from Main Street.  Enough Already!!!