My disappointment with my government has been pretty much bipartisan with a strong leaning toward the republicna party.  The democrats just don’t seem to “get” the gravity of the situation and the money from the lobbyists is apparently too much for many of them to rely on their moral “compass” in choosing sides in this “fight.”  And, when I say “fight” I really want to say “war” because I’ve been pointing out for several years now that I see an internal “war” for the “heart and soul” of this great nation that is going to be in it’s critical stages in the next couple of years (as Dick Cheney would say, “in it’s final throes”).  It is almost unbelievable to me that we’ve evolved to this place because I always thought the American people were too sophisticated to allow this nation to be taken over by authoritarian corporatists.

However, as I look back at the first decade of the 21st century I feel an overwhelming sense of alarm.  Just the fact that this impending “permanent republican majority” is even a possibility, demonstrates what a stranglehold those pushing for a corporatocracy have gained over a broad spectrum of America’s governance – and, by that I’m including the “fourth estate” – the media – in my area of concern. (Yes, that’s the so-called “liberal media”)  As I’ve shared on this site many times, I’m constantly reading books about what our government is REALLY up to – viewpoints I seldom get by watching TV “news,” which I seldom do anymore.  I feel compelled to speak out to anyone who will listen about the imminent danger to what’s left of the “New Deal” and the “Great Society,” two periods in America’s history which demonstrated the will of the American public to take care of our own – especially the less fortunate.  That will has been under attack, overtly, since the election of Ronald Reagan (I’ve learned the scheming started almost the day FDR signed the first legislation of the New Deal into law) and the attack was on steroids during the administration of George W Bush and, astonishingly, has increased during the first two years of the Obama administration.

Tonight, I wish to share some of my thoughts as to why it’s so unbelievable to me that this CABAL of right wing fanatics continues to manage to even have the possibility of success.  When I think back to the election of George W Bush I still remember that I did a minimal amount of research during that election and found NOTHING to give even the slightest hint that GW Bush was qualified to be the President of the United States.  Now, to this day I believe he became president only through the manipulation of the ballots in Florida by his brother and his brother’s associates (Jeb was governor of Florida and the overwhelming evidence was that Al Gore won the Florida election and Gore should have been president) and through the rough house tactics of Tom Delay’s “goons” and the republican “cronies” on the Supreme Court.  That being said, there has been a continuing saga of lying and incompetence from the republicans since the day GW took office that is somehow still being overlooked by our “left wing” media.  Additionally, we now have the “tea party” which is taking the lying and incompetence up a notch, still without the least bit of “fact checking” that I can find as I observe our “fourth estate” from afar.

I used to trust our “news” media to be somewhat independent of the political parties and the politicians.  However, the more I read about what our government has been “up to” over the past 30+ years it is becoming very evident that large parts of the media have become enmeshed in the “CABAL.”  Even though the Iraq fiasco and the Afghanistan occupation have been on the back pages of the news media for several years now (except for the occasional item – like the killing of Osama bin Laden) I continue to think about them a lot.  The invasion of Iraq was gut wrenching for me – I predicted before it happened that we were exposing ourselves to another Viet Nam, and the “war” in Afghanistan became intolerable to me once I realized that Bush/Cheney had abandoned the search for bin Laden.  George W Bush had world wide support in going into Afghanistan and capturing or killing bin Laden and his lieutenants who were complicit in the 9/11 attack on America.  Using the 9/11 attacks as a reason to invade Iraq was crimial as far as I was concerned then and I believe that today (which is why I will probably always be upset with President Obama for not allowing the NEEDED investigations of the Bush/Cheney lawlessness).

When you look back to the decisions the Bush/Cheney administration made (not just in Iraq and Afghanistan) and you look at who was supporting them and what their supporters were saying, it makes it even more astonishing what is happening today – and might happen in 2012.  These people were WRONG about EVERYTHING!  Not only was the Bush administration WRONG about virtually EVERYTHING they did, but their supporters were dominant on the “news” at the time, and they’re still dominant today from what I can tell.  I was at Barnes and Noble book stores recently and noticed the large number of “conservatives” with books out who were attacking President Obama as everything from a fascist to socialist to a non-American.  These are the very same people who were DEAD WRONG in virtually everything they predicted prior to the ill advised invasion of Iraq.  They were either complicit with the Bush administration or they were the perfect “stooges” and simply repeated the “talking points” as ordered by someone (I can only guess who).  The point I’m trying to make is why are these people even granted any credibility AT ALL today after helping the Bush administration lie us into a military adventure that has cost America’s treasury Trillions, over five thousand lives of our precious troops, tens of thousands of debilitating injuries to our troops, hundreds of thousands of Iraqi deaths, and MILLIONS of Iraqi’s lives upended by the chaos created by our invasion of their country and destruction of Iraq’s infrastructure.

Worse than this, the invasion of Iraq destablized the entire region, it empowered al Qaeda instead of weakening it, and it turned Iran into a much stronger force in the region by removing Saddam Hussein who was the counterforce to Iran prior to his demise.  In the end, I’m convinced that Iraq and Iran will be semi-unified as the Shia majority in Iraq becomes much more closely allied with Iran.  Additionally, instead of the US being the force of reason in the region, the “Bush doctrine” – which was touted by virtually ALL the “pundits” who were given a voice on our airwaves – turned country after country into “enemies” of America and we are now the pariah.  George W Bush and the “pundits” who supported him were prone to quote Hitler in referring to countries like Iran, the so-called axis of evil.  But, who was NOT on the airwaves pointing out to the American people which country was doing all the invading?  Which country was incarcerating thousands of “enemy combatants” without charges and was torturing them shamelessly?  And, these pundits were with Bush/Cheney all the way, as if they were cheerleaders instead of journalists.  I got sick of it and began turning it off, but I can still remember people like Bill Kristol – what an arrogant ass, and WRONG about virtually EVERYTHING I ever heard come out of his mouth.  I hate to even mention the likes of Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck – and, like the others, they continue to be WRONG about virtually everything they predict.  They have been like wind up dolls that have been programmed!

Another one I can remember is Charles Krauthammer – I believe he’s still got a job with the Washington Post.  The guy was also wrong about EVERYTHING!  Yes, these guys aren’t sometimes wrong, it’s ALL THE TIME!  Yet, for some reason he still has credibility.  Does that imply we have a “liberal media?”  I won’t go into great detail about Fox “news” because if you’re reading this you either know what they’re about or you’re sucked in by their pack of lies – but, suffice it to say, based on what I learned about America’s government when I originally went to school in the 60’s Fox “news” should have lost their license to broadcast “news” long ago.  That’s without even getting into the FACT that they are owned by a right wing Australian, their number one shareholder besides that Australian is a Saudi Prince who helped fund bin Laden, and the president of Fox”news” is a republican operative.  It’s hard for me to believe that the American public would continue to “fall” for this!  Pundit after pundit on Fox spews predictions that are WRONG yet they continue to put them on the air.  Evidently getting it “right” isn’t part of the requirement there – EVER!

Here’s another one.  I don’t remember exactly what he said, but I do remember watching Jonah Goldberg (I believe that’s his name) act as a mouthpiece for the invasion of Iraq.  The reason I point him out is because I recently saw books by him blasting Obama at Barnes and Noble and I wondered why would ANYONE spend good money to buy a book from someone who’s prognostications were so wrong.  It’s like these people can make ridiculous statements in front of millions with NO blowback when they are totally WRONG and the consequences of the actions are so devastating for our country.  I keep wondering, how long will “we the people” keep putting up with these puppets of the right wing takeover of America?  I could say the same things about Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly (supposedly the highest rated show on cable), and on and on.  The people you DON’T see on TV as “pundits” are the ones who got it right!

I still remember the guy who was the “weapons inspector” in Iraq pointing out – before the invasion – that there were no WMD’s.  Why is it I can’t remember his name?  Well, it’s because he was ostracized as something along the lines of being a traitor for telling the TRUTH.  And, where’s Phil Donahue or Dan Rather.  They were thrown off the air for questioning anything about the war or, in Rather’s case, Bush’s incompetence and irresponsibility when he was supposed to be in the Air National Guard – but was AWOL and subsequently bailed out by Dad (George HW Bush had to bail his son out of inumerable messes along the way).  Then there was Valerie Plame’s husband, Joe Wilson, who was thoroughly BLASTED for telling the truth about the Bush/Cheney/Rice/Powell LIE about “the smoking gun in the form of a mushroom cloud.”  Wilson proved the claim that Saddam Hussein had purchased 500 tons of “yellow cake uranium” from Niger was patently false.  Bush/Cheney responded by not only publicly DESTROYING Wilson’s career, but also his wife’s – who, ironically, was in charge of the CIA’s division that was investigating Iraq’s WMD’s. 

This is why I’m so concerned about what’s going to happen in the next two years.  Virtually EVERYONE who was right about Iraq are long since lost and forgotten – as far as our “liberal media” is concerned (shoudn’t they be who we’re listening to?) – while all those who were TOTALLY wrong are still the so-called experts or pundits who get their faces and voices on the airwaves.  Even since the election of Barack Obama Keith Olberman was silenced – presumably because he was critical of BOTH sides of this preposterous Washington sideshow.  I find something TERRIBLY wrong with that!  Not only were all the above mentioned people  who were wrong on Iraq and Afghanistan proven to have NO IDEA what they were talking about, but – if you remember the last two or three years of the Bush/Cheney disaster – they were spouting almost the same venom regarding Iran.  Many of them, Kristol included, were scheming for Bush to authorize an invasion of Iran prior to his leaving office.  And, I can guarantee you that if the republicans get into power again, that will be one of the first places they go.  In fact, it’s well known that after 9/11 Iran wanted to help (and did help) the US in the original quest to capture and kill bin Laden.  They attempted to normalize relations with the US, a move that would have precluded them building a nuclear weapon, but the Bush administration not only refused to listen to them, but belittled their attempt at diplomacy.  The Bush people and all these pundits that were their mouthpieces ostensibly are in favor of permanent war!

So, the American public is fast approaching a point where they’re going to have to decide FOR GOOD if they’re going to keep listening to these right wing WHACKOS!  People like Rush Limbaugh, Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, Sarah Palin, John Boehner, Mitch McConnell, the “tea partiers” (including the unbelievably WHACKO Rand Paul), Scott Walker, John Kasich, Michele Bachmann, Mitt Romney, and I could go on and on.  Their next plan is to OFFICIALLY bankrupt the United States of America.  They will threaten to refuse to raise the debt ceiling right up until the last second and we’ll get another chance to watch President Obama decide when he’s going to say he’s had enough of their crap.  They’ll be going after Medicare and Medicaid, and covertly Social Security along with every other aspect of the aforementioned New Deal’s and Great Society’s middle class benefits they can undermine.  It’s getting to the point where President Obama will have to decide if he’s going to be the president who oversaw the undoing of those great programs.  The republicans lied about Iraq, they lied about getting bin Laden, and they’ll lie about who’s to blame for shutting down the government.  The question is, when are the democrats and our democratic president going to “call their bluff” and trust the American people to hold these thugs accountable at the ballot box.  If and when President Obama decides to lead the FIGHT against this republican CABAL, he’ll find a pent up group of PROGRESSIVES who will enthusiastically fall in line to support him!

In my last post I questioned how the republicans would “find fault” in President Obama’s leadership in the killing of Osama bin Laden.  Now, you have to keep in mind that I long ago stopped watching television “news” and I get my information by reading some “news” articles on the internet and listening to “talk radio” as I drive around in my car.  I used to watch Keith Olberman on MSNBC, but when they fired him I decided that I needed to “cleanse” my mind from the brainwashing we Americans receive on a regular basis from watching our “news” broadcasts.  The more I read, the more I realize how we’ve been brainwashed for far longer than I had imagined.  Anyway, getting back to President Obama’s announcement last week that bin Laden had been killed, well you had to know that the republicans would be unable to simply say “way to go” we finally brought this KILLER to justice.  But, NO (in caps, because they have long ago been branded as the “party of NO”) what I’ve heard are republicans trying to SPIN this to where the credit would go to George W Bush, of all places!  Really, all I can say is, “YOU’VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!”

Just as I’ve been pointing out for the past two plus years that evidently republicans can’t remember who CRASHED the economy, now they can’t remember who SCREWED up the occupation of Afghanistan and allowed bin Laden to escape.  In fact, in one book I read which was written by a Pakistani reporter, it was the Americans who flew the Pakistani ISI (intelligence service – similar to our CIA) out of Afghanistan and bin Laden, his “lieutenants,” and the Taliban leadership were flown out at the same time.  Now, I’ve only read that from this one source (although he seemed credible at the time), but several sources have written that bin Laden was trapped at Tora Bora shortly after the American invasion by CIA operatives and the Northern Alliance, a group of Afghan fighters, but Tommy Franks refused to bring in American troops to “finish the deal.”  The only rational reality one can gain from all the reading I did on the subject is that George W Bush didn’t want to capture or kill bin Laden because that would have RUINED his plan to INVADE IRAQ!  Bush, along with his “advisors,” who were almost all part of the “Project for a New American Century,” had been planning and scheming on an invasion of Iraq since long before Bush was appointed president by the Supreme Court.  9/11 gave them the perfect “reason” – all they had to do was keep bin Laden alive and connect Saddam Hussein to al Qaeda and their dream would come true.

These republicans are so used to blatant lying that they can’t stop, no matter what.  They can’t give Obama credit for ANYTHING and they are doing EVERYTHING they can to undermine his administration.  To me, that is as UNPATRIOTIC as it gets – especially for the same people who are responsible for the “Patriot Act.”  What’s even more amazing to me is how ANYONE who’s a thinking American citizen can continue to fall for their BS.  George W Bush essentially abandoned the “war” in Afghanistan, left the Afghan government to fend for themselves, and shifted virtually all of America’s “resources” into Iraq once they’d managed to get bin Laden out of Afghanistan and into Pakistan.  Do you remember Bush telling the American people we couldn’t go into Pakistan because we couldn’t invade a soveriegn nation?  What a sick joke!  I remember thinking at the time, if that statement isn’t BLASTED by the media (is wasn’t ) then anyone who doubts that the right wing has taken over the media in America needs to have their head examined.  I also remember thinking, “Are you kidding me?”  Wasn’t Iraq a sovereign nation?  And, for that matter, “What was Afghanistan?”  We put Hamid Karzai into power in Afghanistan and then proceeded to renege on EVERY promise made to him as far as helping him to rebuild his country.  It was no wonder to me that Karzai and his brother were funding their government off of opium sales when country after country in the American “coalition” failed to provide the promised aid.  In fact, Bush/Cheney supported the War Lords who created the obstacle to a viable central government in Afghanistan.  At EVERY turn, Bush/Cheney screwed up the invasion of Afghanistan – so how ANYONE could suggest that Bush receive credit for taking Osama bin Laden out is PREPOSTEROUS!

But, as I’ve implied many times on this site, PREPOSTEROUS is “par for the course” for today’s American republican party.  They are doing everything they can to turn our government over to their CORPORATE “brothers” and they could care less about the average American working “stiff.”  I don’t know how many Americans are still being suckered into watching Fox “news” and listening to people like Rush Limbaugh, but you’d think that after a few years of a devastated economy (that the republicans devastated) and them trying to make it even worse, even the non-thinkers would figure out that these people are EVIL!  Just a little refresher beyond Bush and company actually flying bin Laden out of Afghanistan that should make your eyes water everytime you hear someone claiming Bush should get any of the credit for finding him.  Do you remember Bush’s famous quote shortly after he was re-elected?  “I don’t know where he is, I don’t spend that much time worrying about it.”  Bush shared with the world that he wasn’t even still looking for bin Laden.  On top of that he closed down the CIA task force (the “bin Laden task force”) which had been after bin Laden since the days of Bill Clinton.  No one will be able to convince me that Bush/Cheney didn’t know where bin Laden was – I mean, Obama and company  found him next to a Pakistani military installation for God’s sake!

Keep in mind that it was Bush/Cheney who removed the sanctions from Pakistan that they got during the Clinton years because of their connections with terrorists.  Yes, Pakistan has ACTUALLY been HARBORING terrorists and supporting TERRORISTS since long before 9/11.  There can be no dispute that the ISI was funding both the Taliban and al Qaeda.  I believe the Pakistani ISI knew where bin Laden was at all times, and it seems probable to me that the Pakistani’s had some kind of “wink wink” agreement with the Bush administration regarding bin Laden, who was living in a large plush compound that HAD to have drawn someone’s attention.  It was constructed about the time Bush disbanded the bin Laden task force.  Have you ever heard of circumstantial evidence?  I’ve long since accepted that President Obama, for whatever reason, is NEVER going to allow the investigations of the Bush administration which could bring some sense of closure to all the misdeeds they inflicted on America – but, it’s hard to believe that bin Laden could build this big compound right in the middle of a populated area in Pakistan and we had no idea it was happening.  There are too many coincidences here for me.

Additionally, Dick Cheney had turned Pakistan into a great customer for all his corporate “military industrial complex” buddies who were collecting the largest share of the $10 BILLION the US sent as “aid” to Pakistan in return for “allowing” us to invade Afghanistan through their country.  Pervez Musharraf was an overt supporter of the Taliban and al Qaeda – bin Laden was helping to train terrorists in Pakistan’s effort to destablize the disputed (with India) territory of Kazmir.  The Pakistani’s were taking “aid” they received from Bush/Cheney and funneling it to bin Laden and the Taliban and it was ultimately coming back to kill our own troops.  None of the decisions Bush/Cheney made had anything to do with capturing or killing bin Laden, let alone prosecuting a focused “war” in Afghanistan.  EVERYTHING they did was aimed at furthering the PROFITS of the companies that were cutting off a FAT HOG in both occupations (Iraq and Afghanistan).  In fact, Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld had been CEO’s of companies which made BILLIONS in these two occupations increasing their own holdings in the HUNDREDS of millions.  I hope you can see the absurdity of any claim that ANYONE in the Bush administration (with the exception of Robert Gates who was held over into the Obama administration) had ANYTHING to do with the end of the Osama bin Laden saga.

Today’s republicans clearly will NEVER give Obama credit for anything.  But their response to the demise of Osama bin Laden shows clearly how absurd their greed and obsession with power has become.  Just as they have shown an UNBELIEVABLE willingness to DESTROY the American economy in their FUTILE attempt to make certain that President Obama FAILS, and – of course – in the process take MILLIONS of hard working Americans down the tube to achieve their goal, their response to bin Laden’s death shows that their willingness to UNDERMINE our government in order to regain power has no bounds!  Think about this, shouldn’t they be celebrating the death of the man they used to promote FEAR for those dreadful eight years of the Bush administration?  Aren’t they always crowing about how their main concern is “keeping America safe?”  Are they trying to say that the only way killing bin Laden would enhance America’s safey would have been had a republican done it?  Well, I’ve been thinking about that and I believe there’s no way a republican would have done this, and I’ll explain why.

Bush, Cheney, and the rest of his “crew” never showed the first sign that they were willing to do ANYTHING that required courage.  It’s been well documented that GW Bush was ushered into the Air National Guard in Texas during the Viet Nam War by his Daddy to avoid being exposed to conflict.  He was so busy getting drunk and chasing women that he didn’t even fulfill his obligation for the Guard and had to be bailed out of that mess by Daddy also.  (Just like all the other messes George HW Bush bailed him out of – I had researched this prior to the 2000 election and couldn’t believe someone who’d failed as much as GW could possibly become president….. but, I digress)  Dick Cheney, on the other hand, was the master at deferrals.  He was such a tough guy during Viet Nam that he got FIVE deferrals and managed to circumvent serving his country through the entire fiasco.  Certainly proved that he was a natural at “playing the system.”  Here’s where I’m going with this.  Just think about what Obama did for a couple minutes (if you haven’t already).  This took some real courage.  Bush and friends do most of their gambling on Wall Street, Obama put his entire presidency on the line when he authorized the venture into Pakistan.  Can you imagine what a field day the republicans and people like Rush Limbaugh would have had with Obama had this mission failed?  President Obama would already be considered a “lame duck” had something gone wrong on the mission.  This was well planned, and it was courageous – on the part of the Navy Seals and the others who pulled it off and on the part of the President who authorized it.

The other day I forced myself to tune into Rush Limbaugh.  I’ll tell you, if you’re listening to and believing that guy, you should have your head examined.  I believe when historians take an honest look back at these past 30 years Limbaugh will be at the head of the pack of the money grubbing TRAITORS – who used America’s airwaves to BRAINWASH millions of unsuspecting “ditto heads.”  Right after I heard him start on one of his rants, he was essentially accusing Obama of “dredging up bin Laden” and was saying that we would “have to be listening to him brag” about killing bin Laden until the next election.  This is from one of the leaders of the pack who used 9/11 – think of how many times you heard him and those associated with Bush – using 9/11 to instill FEAR in the American public and somehow convince people republicans were the ONLY ones who could keep us safe.  That argument was always so absurd to me because the TRUTH is that 9/11 happened almost ONE YEAR after Bush/Cheney assumed office.  I always wondered how people like Limbaugh could TWIST that FACT into the message that they were the ONLY ones who could prevent us from being attacked by terrorists – when the reality is they were the ones who allowed it to happen. 

ALL the evidence suggests that 9/11 NEVER should have happened and it happened on the “Bush/Cheney watch” because they weren’t “watching.”  The terrorists who pulled it off were in this country the entire year learning how to fly, Bush/Cheney were repeatedly warned that an attack was immenent, and the insider squabbling among Bush appointees heading different agencies (CIA, NSA, FBI, Defense dept., etc.) was what allowed the terrorist plot to succeed.  It’s almost as if they were complicit!  Bush/Cheney demonstrated incompetency both before and after the 9/11 attacks, yet they – along with their “water carriers” like Limbaugh, Hannity, O’Reilly, etc. – apparently are continuing to think they are the ones who can keep us safe.  Honestly, after listening to Limbaugh the other day, it sounded to me as if he was JEALOUS of the FACT it was Obama, our BLACK president, who managed to find and kill bin Laden and it made him sick to his stomach that he was going to have to listen to that FACT for the forseeable future.  Just think, what’s going to happen in the upcoming debates when republicans claim they are “strong on national defense.”  I’m sure Limbaugh is internalizing that he’s going to have to take the LYING to a whole new level – and, he may be pushing the point where the American people finally WAKE UP, which will be the end of him.  I’m certain there will be a day when the likes of Limbaugh, Beck, Hannity, and the other propagandists will be voted into the American “Hall of Shame.”

I have not been all that pleased with many of the decisions of President Obama, and I’ve said so here.  However, I’ve never wavered in saying that I want him to SUCCEED.  And, I don’t see any way a rational person couldn’t be pleased with his courageous actions in getting bin Laden.  To me, the republicans should be embracing him.  He is pragmatic to a fault, in my view, and he’s definitely attempting to restore this nation to what it was prior to the Bush/Cheney vendetta on our economy (that’s where some of my disappointment comes from – I was expecting “the change we can believe in).  Wall Street should be extremely happy, even if they have to pony up more cash for the American treasury, because Obama has been very business friendly.  The only logical explanation for much of the angst from America’s “right wing” would be that Obama is Black.  What that angst – coming in my view from the “center” of the republican party – has done is open the flood gates for the whacko’s on the fringe right – like the “tea partiers” to grab a “foothold” which is exposing their sickest plans for our nation’s government and bringing them right out into the open.  Instead of embracing Obama’s centrist approach to fixing the MESS left behind by Bush/Cheney (and, make no mistake, it’s one of the most outrageous “messes” ever passed from one president to another) the republicans oppose ANYTHING Obama is for (apparently, including killing Osama bin Laden).  And, they’re (republicans) taking their attack beyond Obama.

We’ve seen the attacks on public workers and their unions, we’re seeing the attacks on the “social safety net” which is one of the great aspects of America that has set her apart from much of the rest of the world (until the “Reagan revolution”), we’re seeing the attacks on our education system, the attacks on public support of the arts, attacks on public support for health care for children, women, and the elderly, and essentially the ruthless nature of the greedy “bigwigs” who are supplying the money for republican “leaders” like Scott Walker, John Kasich, John Boehner, Mitch McConnell, and the others.  The republicans don’t believe in fixing the roads, bridges, schools, parks, and other assets that were developed during the years following World War II and they ultimately see Social Security as an “entitlement” – even though I’ve been paying into it as if it’s an insurance plan since near it’s inception – and they want to get their greedy hands on all that money (even though they’ve already borrowed it and don’t want to have to pay it back).  They continue to claim that “tax cuts” for the “rich” will solve our economic problems and that the budget deficit is bad when a democrat is in the White House but when a republican is in the White House they say, “Reagan proved deficits don’t matter.”

You read something like this and you have to think there’s no way an educated public that has a HUGE middle class (or, what was once a huge middle class – if the republicans have their way we’ll have a huge “lower” class) would EVER fall for such ridiculous Bull $@#*.  The problem is despite how greedy, thoughtless, meanspirited, and ruthless the republicans are, they know how to use all these traits to propagandize the American public.  In addition they are smart about strategically putting people into offices where they can have a profound affect on the electoral process.  Both of George W Bush’s “wins” were questionable at best.  Repblicans control the voting machines, they’re passing voter restriction laws as I’m typing this designed to discourage poor voters from voting, they’ve got a stranglehold on the courts, their compatriots control a LARGE majority of the media outlets in America, and Bush nominated Supreme Court justices who decided the “Citizens United” case in a way that has enabled multinational corporations to infuse UNLIMITED amounts of money into our elections for the forseeable future. 

They are planning to have TOTAL control of EVERY branch of government once the 2012 elections are complete.  As absurd as their rhetoric and their actions are, the republican party is a threat to the foundation of America!  They believe the “end justifies the means” and, in this instance, the “end” is their “permanent republican majority.”  This is a conspiracy that’s been ongoing for my lifetime (I only started to figure it out a few years ago) and, until “Citizens United”, I never thought they could pull it off.  But the possibility is all too real and if America’s middle class – and I’m talking about democrats, republicans, independents, progressives, conservatives, you name it – until we all come together and put these people OUT, this nation as we envision it is in grave danger.  What we’re facing is a government that is controlled by a partnership between corrupt politicians and large corporate interests.  Yes, if you know your political science, that is the definition of a fascist state.  I remember when I was a high school student hearing, I think it was John Kennedy, warning that the only way America would ever be vulnerable to a collapse would be from an “enemy within.”  Well, if those of us who don’t want to leave that kind of America for our children and grandchildren, we need to get our butts off the couch and put up a fight.  I’m in my 60’s and we are the ones who need to lead this fight back to the ideals of the New Deal.  We enjoyed a lifetime of the benefits our parents and grandparents fought so valiantly for, we can’t sit idly by as “robber barrons” re-emerge and drain our tax base of TRILLIONS while convincing our people that we can’t afford to be a benevolent society!  The Wall Street bankers, the Oil executives, the Corporate CEO’s, and hedge fund managers are laughing all the way to the bank as America’s voters continue to elect their republican “yes men!”

I spend a lot of time wondering, these days, how any American citizen who is paying any attention at all to what is “happening” in our society – whether they consider themselves liberal, conservative, independent, or whatever – could possibly support the “modern day” version of the republican party.  Well, the obvious caveat; unless they are wealthy and have no appreciation for the sacrifices of all the “blue collar” Americans who have come before us and helped to build what should be the greatest nation on earth.  I’m in my mid sixties and participated in what I call the “whole gammit” of the Viet Nam fiasco (America seems to have evolved into a very good producer of fiascos).  I joined the Marines in 1967 thinking I would do my part to help prevent the spread of communism via the “fall” of South Vietnam.  I was discharged due to a bum knee and it took about a year or two before I realized what a sham the Vietnam “war” was which pushed me into the crowds of protestors who gained notoriety during the 1968 presidential campaign.

Once the Vietnam “war” ended I, like many of my compatriats, settled into working and raising a family – slowly I got pulled into the middle class, I learned to appreciate the American workers and being an American, and I gradually began to allow myself to “trust” the leaders in Washington as Watergate happened and Jimmy Carter won the White House.  To this day, if you listen to, or read the media accounts, Carter was a bad and weak president.  I think what I appreciated the most about him was his sense of integrity and personal fortitude that I don’t think I’ve observed in another prominent national politician before or since ( I really want to believe Barack Obama has the same personal characteristics).  I always felt that Carter had more courage to do “the right thing” than any of the other alternatives.  I continue to believe that had Carter’s “CAFE” standards not been reversed by Ronald Reagan, and had we continued in the alternative energy direction I remember him leading us, we would be a much stronger and independent nation today.  Carter’s demise is a prime example of what happens to American politicians who “buck” the oil industry “platform.”

When Ronald Reagan was elected president I was shocked and discouraged to the point where I spent the next 20 years concentrating on just “getting by.”  It was during this time that my children were raised, my business (farm) failed, I went back to school and finally achieved my dream of becoming a school teacher.  Contrary to much of today’s public speculation about what a “cushy” job teaching is, it took me several years to get to the point where I felt competent in the classroom – although, to this day (and I’m now close to retirement), I always feel there is much more to learn.  Teaching is a FULL TIME commitment – during the school year I don’t spend much time “socializing” because if I’m not in the classroom teaching or preparing to teach, my mind is usually on what I can do to help my students achieve at a higher level.  I work in a high poverty school – I won’t get into all my frustrations about all the teacher bashing that’s in vogue with “conservative” politicians right now – and once the end of June rolls around, I will need the two months “vacation” (which will include more professional development classes) to unwind and prepare for the next “go around.”

As a teacher I am always talking to my sixth graders about how the ultimate purpose of their education is to help them become productive and responsible citizens in our community and nation.  I have always felt that for my words to them to have the merit which might influence them in a positive way it is important that I “practice what I’m preaching.”  So I’ve always at least “paid attention.”  Shortly after George W Bush became president and I listened to Dick Cheney say, “Ronald Reagan proved ‘deficits don’t matter’,” as he rammed through Congress the “Bush Tax Cuts” which turned the surplus he and Bush inherited into massive national debt I decided my complacency needed to end.  I didn’t say much as I watched Reagan first orchestrate the “supply side” hoax which began what has now been a 30+ year bonanza for America’s (now multinational) corporations as they have squeezed our nation’s wealth upward as if one were emptying a toothpaste tube.  I started reading and researching what MY government was up to, exactly what I hope my students will do once they achieve adulthood.

I had calmed a bit during the years of Bill Clinton because, despite ALL the issues I had with Clinton (too many to list in this post) I was pleased that he managed the economy into the situation where there was a sufficient surplus to RETIRE the national debt in something like TEN years!  Of course, the words Cheney spoke that I mentioned above, RUINED all of that.  Presently, and curiously, our national debate is almost completely focused on the national debt and it’s the republicans who are complaining the loudest.  Where were they when Cheney said those despicable words?  It was a republican congress which voted in the “Bush Tax Cuts,” and it was republicans who strong armed President Obama, last December, into extending them.  (I’ll save my outrage – which I’ve shared on previous posts – as to how Obama could do this for another day)  Not only did those tax cuts cause our national debt to skyrocket, but – along with the corporatist agenda that was initiated under Reagan and put on steroids with Bush/Cheney – the privatising, the deregulation, the lack of enforcing existing regulations, and the encouragement of a “get rich quick” philosophy in America, especially on Wall Street, led to the collapse of the financial “sector” in 2008.  This collapse, and the resulting “Great Recession” created an escalating problem with getting the deficit situation under control.  Since that time (2008) the republicans have continued to rip off the American taxpayers, they somehow managed to lie their way back to a majority in the House of Representatives (I’ve got many posts in the archives explaining how I think the democrats have responded VERY poorly to their challenge which allowed this to happen), and their plan is to take over this government that they HATE and create their “permanent republican majority.”  (this will be a total partnership with the republican leadership and the large corporate entities who will have control of the money, the congress, the courts, and the media – it’s a brilliant plan and if “we the people” don’t stop it prior to 2012 – they may actually succeed in fulfilling Karl Rove’s dream)

I apologize for all the background for my thoughts of this evening, but I believe it’s critical to look at what’s going on with more than an eye to the present.  This “takeover” has been in the works for MANY years.  I believe the “plan” was put together well before Reagan was elected.  He was simply the first politician who was able to win the White House and was willing to sell out to the monied interests who are behind this movement.  We all know – well, those who’ve been watching what’s going on around the country with all the “tea party” republican governors – who the Koch brothers are now, but, up until the you know what hit the fan in Wisconsin, I don’t think many in America had any idea who they were.  They’ve been active for close to fifty years – their father was a founding member of the John Birch Society – that should tell you all you need to know.  Actually, I was talking to a young teacher the other day and she didn’t know what the JBS was, so in case you’re in that “boat” – you should “google” it – but suffice it to say, the JBS is racist, anti-union, right wing authoritarian, and full of money to spend in order to help create this “permanent republican majority.”

And, while I don’t give the democrats and Obama a “pass” for what’s “happening,” I simply believe it’s important for EVERY American who might vote to understand the culpibility of the “modern” republican party in this DEFICIT and the resulting disintegration of the American economy.  I believe it’s not too late to “turn things around,” but it’s certainly NOT going to happen if we all simply “trust” the democrats to stop this onslaught on our system.  I believe my main point tonight is to somehow focus my written words in a way that corresponds to my thoughts about the endless argument between republicans and democrats over who’s FAULT this economic disaster is.  And, to pare it down a bit, who’s FAULT is the HUGE deficit everyone’s arguing about?  Simply put, I believe the deficit AND the resulting “Great Recession” are BOTH totally the FAULT of the modern day republicans!  And, furthermore, I caution anyone who’s reading this that they are not finished yet.  To them, things are looking “peachy.”  I’ll try to explain.

Do you remember Grover Norquist?  His famous quote regarding the republican “plan” I’m trying to “lay out” tonight; “Our goal is to shrink government to the size where we can drown it in a bathtub.”  The republicans have been “after” Roosevelt’s “New Deal” since the very days it was implemented.  Of course, the New Deal happened during the thirties, the very time when the labor union movement was fighting for and GAINING many of the benefits “we the people” now are taking for granted – to the point where the republicans think they can finally “stick a fork” in them.  The New Deal led to Johnson’s “Great Society” (Medicare and Medicaid) and Johnson was followed by Richard Nixon, who by today’s republican standards was a FLAMING liberal. 

Hence, today’s republicans attempting to do away with the environmental protection agency that came into existence under Nixon’s “watch.”  Republicans have been slowly succeeding at “shrinking” the government, as per Norquist’s wishes, since Reagan took the oath of office.  The catch word since Bush/Cheney had their say has been “privatization.”  What that means is continually providing the “fat cat” sponsors of the republican party with “no bid” contracts designed to help them get “filthy rich.”  I mean, if you read up a bit on the Iraq occupation, you will find that both Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld (along with many other of their “cronies”) profited handsomely off of this ill advised misadventure that the U.S. has still failed to extract itself from (we’re talking about hundreds of MILLIONS of dollars here for both Cheney and Rumsfeld).  What is happening now in America is EXACTLY what Grover Norquist wants – the federal government is broke, taxes on the RICH are at an all time low – and they (republicans) are attempting to lower them FURTHER!

Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin (a devotee of Ayn Rand – an extreme right wing “kook”) is the new “face” of the republican party and he recently proposed a budget (for 2012) which was approved by the House and their repubican majority and made the republican “plan” for Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security even more clear.  Instead of taking the simple steps they would need to put each of those programs on solid “footing” for the forseeable future, they are proposing to further undermine them.  As Norquist said, “shrink them until the republicans can drown them in a bathtub.”  And, make no mistake, the republicans will do just that if they prevail in the 2012 election.  So, if you’re reading this and are an American citizen, it doesn’t matter if it’s your parents or you, if you’re a middle class American the republicans want to pull the “safety net” that was put in place by our parents and grandparents right out from under you.  Trust me, once they’re done with Medicare and Medicaid, Social Security is next.

It was republicans who took us into the “Great Depression,” they took us into the “Great Recession,” and it’s republicans who are willing to take us back to another depression to get what they want.  I believe they think they are much better prepared to survive the next great depression.  Think about all the money they’ve absconded with from our federal tax base as it is.  Not only did they get TRILLIONS in bailout funds after 2008, but almost ALL the multinational corporations who’ve been “cutting off a fat hog” since we invaded Iraq are republican donors and they’re sitting on TRILLIONS in cash as I’m typing this.  Is it hard to figure out why further deterioration of the economy is good for them?  If you’re reading this and you think I’m nuts, you probably watch Fox “news” and listen to the likes of Rush Limbaugh and the rest of the right wing “water carriers” who would sacrifice the welfare of this nation for MONEY.  

Read some books about the Iraq invasion, about the “Project for a New Century” and the so-called “neo-cons.”  Read the FACTS about the economic results of the last 30+ years since the days of Reagan and the introduction of the “trickle down” economic philosophy.  I’ve always said if republicans are saying look right, you should look left.  Well, in that vein, their philosophy – when you look at the ACTUAL statistics since 1980 should be called “trickle up.”  That’s where the wealth of this great nation has gone – upward, except during the Clinton years – since Reagan took office.  If you’re a worker, if you’re a Christian and voting republican, WAKE UP!  The republicans are screwing you!  Today’s republicans have taught me to appreciate Richard Nixon!

Since the election of Barack Obama the repubican party has been more anti-government since anytime I can remember in my lifetime.  They have blocked EVERY attempt at implementing programs which would help the MILLIONS of distressed workers in this country who’ve been out of work – MILLIONS of them for over two years.  At a time when this country should have been pulling together to turn around the disaster caused by Bush/Cheney the republicans simply kicked up the level of opposition.  And, their corporate cronies showed a willingness to supply UNLIMITED funds in the republican brainwashing of the American public through their control of the so-called ‘liberal media.”  The state of Wisconsin has shown us the worst and best of the American political scene.  We’ve seen Scott Walker do the bidding of the Koch’s and other right wing groups such as the John Birch Society (which is based in Wisconsin) and we’ve seen Paul Ryan of Wisconsin propose a national budget that undermines two of the most fundamental programs representing what’s good about America, Medicare and Medicaid.  However, Wisconsin has also brought us an outraged public that consists of liberals and conservatives alike who are pulling together to stop this outrageous powergrab the republican party has schemed for the last 40 or 50 years which is now possibly in – as Dick Cheney would say – “it’s last throes.”  Since President Obama took office, there hasn’t been ONE THING that is the result of democratic initiative that the republican party hasn’t attacked.

As I wrote in my last post, the House minority whip (at the time) Eric Cantor even violated the Logan Act, a Felony, (without recourse) when he urged the Prime Minister of Israel to feel comfortable in challenging the Obama administration – because the republicans would “have his back.”  I have been very disappointed in President Obama’s lack of willingness to FIGHT back against this republican onslaught.  I honestly believed there was nothing he could do that would receive any kind of postitive comment from ANY of them.  Well, as I was writing this post, it was announced that Osama bin Laden has been KILLED!  Obama promised to “finish the job” of getting bin Laden and he has done that.  I will be writing soon about how President Bush let bin Laden escape from Tora Bora so that he could “justify” invading Iraq back in 2002.  Well, NINE YEARS later President Obama has finished the job that should have been finished then.  Honestly, I wonder how the republicans will find fault in President Obama succeeding in getting bin Laden?  This is further reason to support my point of this evening’s post.  If you’re a working class American, shame on you if you vote for ANY of these republicans!

The other day I was driving around listening to the Randi Rhodes talk show on the radio, she being to Barack Obama what the right wing “talkers” were to George W Bush – that is, no matter what he does, “fall in line.”  On her show she was playing tape of Obama giving a speech in San Francisco last week poking fun at “liberals” who Rhodes called “whiners.”  I didn’t hear Obama use that term, although he may have, I only heard a small portion of his speech, but the words of Obama’s former chief of staff Rahm Emanuel calling “liberals” “f___ing retards” is as vivid in my mind as if he said it yesterday and Obama’s words reminded me of that comment.  And, I never doubted that Emanuel was just putting what Obama couldn’t say on the “public record.”  President Obama was sarcastically criticizing those on the left who were unhappy with his signature legislative “achievements” – the health care legislation, and the bills to “regulate” Wall Street. (of course, he continues to solicit money from those very same “liberals”)

Honestly, I just have to shake my head when I hear this stuff coming from our “progressive” president and his most ardent supporters.  I’m just guessing now, but those of us who REALLY were counting on the “change we can believe in” are simply idealists in the minds of the president and his closest allies.  I don’t question that Obama and his “contingent” are much smarter than I am, and I believe Rhodes is doing what she feels is best for the country – she always said, prior to Obama’s nomination that once the democrats made their choice the “rest of us” were obligated to “fall in line.”  Well, I was an ardent supporter of Obama, although I started noticing what I called the “red flags” well before he was elected, but I’m simply not “cut out” to “fall in line.”  I had minimal expectations and, to be honest, when I hear Obama sarcastically putting people like me “down” it makes me less inclined to care whether he gets reelected or not.

I say that knowing that I’m still likely to vote for him again, if for no other reason than I can’t imagine more republican nominations to the Supreme Court anytime soon.  John Roberts and Samuel Alito are going to be “thorns” in the side of those of us who are opposed to a corporatocracy for many years to come.  Listening to Obama for those few minutes the other day, I came away feeling that he still doesn’t “get” the urgency of what’s happening to this great nation.  He continues to surround himself with the “Wall Street crowd,” he seems as determined as ever to be some kind of “level head” in the face of all the partisan “bickering” – which would be a good thing if he wasn’t continually caving in to the republicans on virtually EVERY issue of significance.  I heard him just over a week ago, claim that Medicare and Medicaid (and by inference Social Security) wouldn’t be dismantled while he’s president.  The problem is that I just don’t believe him.  He keeps getting maneuvered into “corners” by the repubicans, and I don’t see anything that causes me to believe that’s going to change.  Remember, there was “no way” the “Bush Tax Cuts” would be extended.

President Obama has made some of the worst decisions I can remember in my lifetime since he took office.  I won’t dwell on the worst one, you can read all about it in the archives to this site, but when Obama pardoned Bush/Cheney he opened the “floodgates” to the partisan bullying we’ve seen from the republicans since that time.  He essentially said to them, if I (Obama) won’t stand up against TORTURE, lying the U.S. into war, illegal wiretapping of U.S. citizens, lying to congress, refusing subpoenas from congress, and what was tantamount to treason – outing a CIA agent, you (republicans) can essentially get away with ANYTHING!  And, just to prove that point, the (at the time) minority whip in the House, Eric Cantor, violated the Logan Act – CLEARLY – by making promises that the “republicans would have the Israeli’s backs” if they chose to “disagree” with the Obama administration.  That is a FELONY!  Was there even ANY investigation?  As John Boehner so aptly described democrats – HELL NO there wasn’t!

I had just about come to the conclusion that I needed to quit my criticism of Obama until I heard him sarcastically “put down” all us idealists who actually believed he was going to attempt to CHANGE the atmosphere in Washington.  It reminded me of many of the reasons I’m disenchanted with him – including the one mentioned above.  It made me think, how many more “compromises” with republicans will myself and the rest of America be “saddled” with?  I mean, just agreeing to extend the afroementioned “Bush Tax Cuts” has made the suddenly important deficit (I don’t know if you remember, but Dick Cheney proclaimed “Reagan proved deficits don’t matter” as he and the republicans were creating the foundation for all this deficit spending back in the early days of the Bush II administration) $400 BILLION more difficult to deal with – EACH YEAR!  And, this is far from the only place Obama is “siding” with the despicable republicans who “we the people” elected him to DEFEAT.

Some of this is my speculation, some of it is the result of all the reading I’ve done lately, but here’s a list of areas that I believe those (including me) WHINING liberals see as failures of Obama’s administration which he continues to defend:  Let’s start with the stimulus which was his initial “big accomplishment.”  Even I was able to understand that the stimulus was too small and that it was directed in the wrong direction – what was needed then, and, unfortunately is still needed was JOBS, JOBS, JOBS!  Yes, the stimulus saved many jobs, but it didn’t create anywhere near the amount of jobs the economy needed to move things back toward “full employment.”  I don’t even know what full employment would be, but I do know it’s WAY less than the 9% or so unemployment is at now which only represents a portion of those out of work – people who want to work and can’t find work.  Instead of FIGHTING for additional stimulus, Obama caved – I’m assuming he just figured the republicans would “filibuster” any program in the Senate – this seems to be the democratic “mantra” of late – if they’re not sure they can get legislation “through” they don’t even deal with it. (do you remember when “impeachment was ‘off the table’?”) 

The “compromise” over the tax cuts simply fueled the republicans into thinking they could not only get them made “permanent,” but they could get even LOWER taxes for their rich benefactors.  I guess my mind came up with this “frustration” now because of how recent it is – but, also as the “Ryan budget” was recently passed in the house, we were given ANOTHER glimpse from where these right wing fanatics are coming from and that made me feel even more insecure as to whether the democrats have the right man at the “top” to defend what’s left of the “New Deal” values I grew up believing in.  Ryan’s budget is clearly to me, setting up the future confrontation over making Bush’s tax cuts permanent by proposing even LOWER tax rates for those at the “top” of America’s earners.  By the time the next confrontation comes around, Obama will be bragging that he got the tax cuts made permanent as opposed to the lower rates Ryan was pushing for – making the tax cuts “permanent” will be declared a victory!

 I could have mentioned Iraq when it comes to disenchantment – nobody seems to be mentioning Iraq anymore, despite the FACT the U.S. is still spending BILLIONS there and there are STILL over 50,000 U.S. troops stationed there (non-combat troops, ha ha, wink wink).  I guess, if there are fewer casualities we can place however many soldiers we want anywhere in the world we want to put them – we ALWAYS can afford that!  And, I’m not convinced those troops are coming “home” from Iraq in July.  If you read Thomas Ricks’ book “The Gamble” you’ll see that generals like David Patreaus and others are pushing for American troops in Iraq for a “generation.” (20 years or so – do you remember John McCain comparing Iraq to Korea?)  We can’t afford domestic social programs in America, but we can damn well afford them in places like Iraq.  When people say to me there’s no difference between republicans and democrats – I want to argue with them – because there is a difference – but, crap like this makes them sound prophetic.

Obama has proved to be a poor match for America’s generals and the “military industrial complex” as we’ve witnessed him being “bullied” by the very people he’s supposed to be commander in chief of – all the while trying to look “strong.”  When the negotiations over the troop increase in Afganistan was happening, Obama should have FIRED all the generals involved – including Patreaus.  Now they’ve got us MIRED  in two disastrous occupations for the foreseeable future.  Hence, we recently had Vice President Biden being quoted (this was a month or two ago) saying our troops will still be in Afganistan in 2014!  And, America’s “liberal media” really noticed that, didn’t they?  Hardly a whimper. 

What about all the illegal wiretapping done by the Bush administration?  Do you honestly think it has ended?  If it had, I believe the Obama administration would have said something.  Do you think they’re being quiet on that “front” to make the “terrorists” think “big brother” is still “listening?”  Does President Obama really believe we need to be “data mining” the email and phone conversations of regular Americans to keep us “safe?”  Has he bought into the “fear card” used to prefection by the previous administration?  Does “extraordinary rendition” ring a bell with you?  That’s where America’s military turn over the so-called “enemy combatants” to other countries so that they can do the torturing for us.  That program is alive and well under Obama’s guidance.  Guantanamo is still open and will remain so, the “black hole” at the Bagram Air Base is still open and “doing business,” as is much more of the hated Bush activity that we voted Obama in to change.  President Obama is even defending some of the worst of Bush’s abuses in court – including the illegal wiretapping.

I’m a school teacher and I’m also close to retirement age, so the vilifying of teachers and teacher unions will have a minimal effect on me, but what it’s doing to America’s public school system could end up being tragic.  I knew from day one that George W Bush’s “No Child Left Behind” legislation was ultimately aimed at destroying public education.  Not only did it create an IMPOSSIBLE goal – remember, NO goal is reasonable if it’s unattainable – but, it FORCED virtually EVERY state in the Union to implement the so-called “high stakes testing” that is turning schools into testing factories.  It also has made Bush’s younger brother Neil rich as he’s managed to “cash in” on the testing craze created by his brother the former president.  I bring this up, because I don’t see much difference in Obama’s “Race to the Top.”  It still appears to me that President Obama is way to friendly with the “corporatists” – including the ones who would “kill” public education as it exists today in favor of charter schools which are non-union and are not saddled with the “unfunded mandates” that are making public education so frustratingly difficult.  I haven’t seen ANYONE who’s a national leader talking about backing off on all the federal requirements that are forcing schools to spend inordinate amounts of money in places that have minimal impact on the LARGE majority of students.  I’m actually not opposed to many of those programs, what I’m opposed to is passing legislation and then not paying for the outcome of the legislation – and then “blasting” the schools and the teachers (who work so hard for children) as being the problem.  And, I can tell you, it’s not just the schools and the teachers who expected more from Obama, it’s – in my view – a large percentage of the general public.

If you haven’t been following what’s going on in Wisconsin, you should be.  There is a great example of the pent up frustration spilling over from “we the people.”  I fully believe many of those walking in the protests in Wisconsin – where Scott Walker, the “tea party” governor – puppet of the Koch brothers – stripped teachers (and other public workers) of collective bargaining rights – after they had agreed to double digit cuts to their compensation to help solve the fiscal “crisis” in Wisconsin – many of the protestors are republicans and independents.  You don’t have to be a democrat to appreciate how hard teachers are working for the children in America.  President Obama had another “GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY” to show “progressives” whose side he’s on by joining in the protests in Wisconsin on the side of the everyday public workers.  Yet, he AGAIN, chose the “safe” side by staying completely out of it.  Instead of trying to mobilize a national response to the right wing ATTACK on working people and their rights to organize and collectively bargain – Obama chose to speak LOUDLY with his SILENCE.  I’ll leave that one at that, other than to say this was not surprising to me.

Recently it was reported that GE had profits of $14.2 BILLION last year and paid ZERO corporate taxes.  To make matters worse, GE received $3.2 BILLION in tax credits which amounted to the American taxpayers GIVING BILLIONS to one of America’s largest corporations in the midst of a budget crisis fueled by the huge deficits.  I didn’t hear a single word of meaningful outrage (that is, more than a publicity stunt – outrage that could ultimately amount to something happening to counteract America’s corporations from ripping off America’s taxpayers) coming from ANY member of congress or the administration – plus, it was then reported that the CEO of GE, Jeffrey Immelt, is one of President Obama’s leading economic advisors, the head of his advisory board on “jobs and competitiveness.”  Seriously, I hope Immelt does a great job helping Obama figure out how to best get people back to work, and I would agree that there should be a long term approach to this problem as well as dealing with the “here and now.”  I just think associating with people who represent the problem, continually, is making it more and more difficult for us liberals (“f___ing retards”) to support the president.  Why would you choose the CEO of a company making HUGE profits while exporting hundreds of thousands of jobs to other countries and specializing in collecting CORPORATE WELFARE, to chair an advisory board on job creation?  It might work out, I hope it does – but it LOOKS BAD!

“Citizens United” was not Obama’s or the democrat’s fault, but they had two years to do something about it before the elections of 2010 – and, they acted as if it was nothing special.  Well, we’ve already seen the effect it’s having on money being funneled into elections with no accountability as to where it’s coming from, we’re seeing large corporations now attempting to “brainwash” their employees on how to vote (it should be no surprise to anyone that Koch Industries is in the forefront of that campaign – setting the new standard of intimidating workers in their workforce into voting republican), and the lobbying “industry” is STILL growing at an alarming rate.  It appears to me that the long term democrats in congress and this president have taken the “if you can’t beat them, join them” approach to the problem of lobbying and corporate money in congress.  If Obama and what’s left of his democratic congress don’t SOON “get” what’s happening, 2012 will look more like 1912 when it comes to America as a corporate behemoth – and 1929 can’t be too far behind!

I continue to believe that Obama and the democrats still don’t understand why “we the people” are so upset with them.  They had close to a supermajority in Congress for the first two years President Obama was in office – they didn’t change the “atmosphere” in Washington when they had the opportunity.  The democrats failed to act responsibly in the senate – allowing the arcane filibuster rule to allow republicans to control the debate and continuing with the “backroom dealing” that so many people are tired of.  Democrats didn’t lose the house in 2010 because they went too far, they lost the house because of the discontent at how they FAILED to use the MANDATE of the voters of 2008 to begin to reverse the abuses of the Bush/Cheney administration. 

I have no doubt that “we the people” will prevail in the long run – as I stated a few posts ago, “there’s more of us than there are of them.”  I’m just TOTALLY puzzled at how the democrats are seemingly incapable of fighting this corporate re-takover of America (yes, this is reminiscent of the early part of the 20th century).  It gained a “foothold” with the election of Reagan in 1980, and the corporatists have been “inching” along – dismantling the New Deal – piece by piece since.  They now, I’m sure, are feeling that their TOTAL success is “right around the corner.”  They can see “the light at the end of the tunnel” (And, for anyone not paying attention, “total success” to these corporatists includes the privatization of Social Security and Medicare and the elimination of Medicaid, the minimum wage, the 40 hour work week, and I could go on) 

In response to President Obama’s sarcastic putdown of the “liberals” who actually EXPECT him to be putting up an “FDR” type fight for the rights of the working class and poor in this nation, I have two questions.  First, I wonder: Have President Obama and the democrats heard the saying, “Those who ignore history are destined to repeat it?”  and, second – are “we the people” going to band together and actually put the control of this great nation back into the hands of leaders who believe in the principals of the New Deal?  I’ll finish by saying that I write these posts spontaneously, I could have pulled out some of the books I’ve read and brought up other issues of discontent with our president.  And, I “get” that I’m not going to agree with everything he does or every decision he makes.  Contrary to the republicans, I WANT the president to succeed!  (for the record, I wanted Bush to succeed as well) The most troubling aspect of ALL of this to me is not only the discontent, but Obama and his surrogates attacking the people who supported him while cozying up to the “ENEMY.”  To me, that’s the most disconcerting part of this “corporate assault on America’s workers” scenario which is unfolding right before our eyes.

As I watch the conflict which is imploding the United States of America internally play itself out, superficially it appears to be a conflict between republicans and democrats.  I’ve been watching the evolution of this for years, closely since especially in 2006 “we the people” voted for democrats in order to end the “war” in Iraq.  Of course, that “war” is still alive and well and who knows when it’s going to come to an end.  Then we voted in 2008 to reverse the abuses of the Bush administration and what we got was a continuation of the worst ones.  In the process of all this I’ve come to realize what the true conflict is and it’s the corporate interests of America vs. the aforementioned “we the people.”  Now, if you’ve been reading any of my many posts on the subject this would come as no surprise.  It’s just that the more I read about “what’s going on” the more I realize how many Americans DON’T understand the source of the actual conflict.

Over the past few days I’ve been thinking about why is it that I feel this is so important – that I keep writing about it.  And, the “it” is the corporate takeover of the American system of government.  Of course, the end result if “we the people” don’t “wake up” – and soon – will be what myself, and I’m sure almost every other American who has grown up in this great nation, thought (and thinks, for many) impossible, and that is the evolution of America into a fascist state.  Honestly, it feels to me as if we have one leg in the “pants,” so to speak already.  I think the reason this has become so profound an issue to me of late is because I’ve struggled over the past few years in my feelings of disgust for the republicans which go along with my feelings of disappointment with the democrats.  I mean, realistically, those are your options if you want to participate in the American political process – at least nationally. 

The republicans certainly make no secrets about where they’re coming from – it started back when I was in my 30’s with the “Reagan revolution” and it has hit it’s extreme level of absurdity with the recently passed republican budget, the so-called “Ryan budget,” by the “tea party” manipulated House of Representatives.  As I’ve been saying for years, they (republicans) have their sights set on destroying Medicare and Medicaid (at the moment) with the ultimate target being Social Security.  They won’t rest until they’ve reversed EVERY benefit the middle class received from Roosevelt’s “New Deal.”  The corporate elite don’t want “middle class” workers, they wan’t workers who are grovelling for every cent they can get and they want a workforce that exceeds the demands for available work – they want to push wages down to the point where we can be competitive with the OTHER second tier countries – and, even then, I don’t expect them to bring jobs back to America unless there’s a “bottom line” reason for them to do so.  Plus, they want a stranglehold on the government they “hate” so that true competition will never derail their ambitions.  Yes, you could sum all this up as MONUMENTAL greed!

For years now, and VERY apparent since 2006, the democrats have shown that they are “owned” by the corporate interests as well as the republicans.  This “battle” never should have gotten to the point it has – which, I might add appears at a critical stage to me, had the democrats been the “counter” force to the corporate ONSLAUGHT wrought upon us by the republican party since the days of Reagan.  And, they’ve (republicans) managed to brainwash the American public into believing their ABSURD argument about how “cutting taxes” for the rich and for corporations “creates jobs” and how “cutting spending” (in social programs, of course) will “balance the budget.”  Ryan’s proposed budget continues to do just that, CUT TAXES (even more than the “Bush tax cuts” – I tried to tell President Obama this is what would happen if he agreed to extend those tax cuts – you can NEVER “give” these republicans enough) for the wealthiest corporations and individuals, and attack the “safety net” for the average American that so many of our forefathers fought so hard to get in the first place – PLUS – as per usual with republican budgets – ADD TRILLIONS to the national debt.  Believe me, it will be much easier to lose these benefits they’re going after than is was to get them or than it will be to get them back if the republicans succeed.  It is for this reason that I believe my MAJOR disappointment is with the democrats – because, even though I’ve always been an independent, I’ve always figured that there was NO WAY they (democrats) would ever allow what is happening today in America to actually HAPPEN!  They (democrats) were supposed to be the “backstop.”

I’ve been trying to tell Barack Obama for over two years now that the republicans will keep PUSHING until he PUSHES back HARDER! :o)  I realize President Obama will NEVER know what I’m proposing – but, I’m going to keep speaking out in the hopes that someone is influenced and encouraged to speak out and so on – until the “wave” of unrest that has started in Wisconsin becomes a national phenomenom.  I also realize that “we the people” can’t wait for Obama to figure out what’s going on (I’m giving the president the benefit of the doubt and assuming he really is a “progressive” and doesn’t want to be the democratic president who was in office when the final nail was driven into the “coffin” of the New Deal) – one by one, those of us who are members of the working class in America need to encourage each other to participate in the process of “taking this country back.”  Doesn’t that sound like the “tea party?”  Well, if they weren’t funded by the corporate interests who are the “enemy” of “we the people” I could see a lot of room for discussion with many members of that “movement.” (Not the ones who are motivated by racism)

For example, I don’t believe dealing with the budget deficit and the national debt is a partisan issue.  And, saving Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security for the “long haul” wouldn’t be so difficult a problem that well meaning people couldn’t sit down and discuss the issues and “fix” them without the BILLIONS in lobbyists cramming the corporate “way” down everyone’s throats.  I mean, simply raise the limit on Social Security taxes to even $130,000 solves that problem.  And, I might add, raising taxes is not ALWAYS a bad idea.  Barack Obama would have done himself and every other working class person a favor had he done what I expected him to do and cancelled the “Bush Tax cuts” the day he was inaugurated.  There have been several opportunities to raise revenue that would have mitigated the present nightmare that almost every state in the union is dealing with as I type.  And, the result would be more people working and there wouldn’t be a big “fight” looming over “raising the debt ceiling.”

I’m not for a minute suggesting that there aren’t significant ways to cut the spending of our federal government.  But, is anyone else out there amazed that our leaders continue EVERY discussion of “cutting spending” with this phrase, “Everything but the defense budget is on the table.”  You’ve got to be kidding me!  That’s where MOST of the WASTE occurs and our leaders continue to look the other way as the lobbyists keep funneling unlimited amounts of CASH into their campaign coffers so that they continue this militaristically absurd philosophy.  And, it’s going to get FAR WORSE now that the republicans have managed to get John Roberts and Sam Alito on the Supreme Court to make decisions like “Citizens United.”  That’s the WORST Supreme Court decision in my lifetime and I believe it may ultimately be regarded as the worst decision in the history of the court.  I’ll never forget Samuel Alito shaking his head as President Obama was pointing out that the decision would allow FOREIGN MONEY to FLOW into our election process.  Seriously, is Alito that DUMB to actually think there won’t be foreign money involved in all the non-traceable TV adds we’re going to be BOMBARDED with in the elctions to come?  GE, which now has $14 BILLION (plus the $3.2 BILLION in tax credits) to spend in upcoming elections in order to continue policies which allow large corporate interests to make BILLIONS and pay NO TAXES – gained over half of their income “overseas.”  Is Alito trying to tell us that multinational corporations aren’t “foreign?” 

Do you remember Rupert Murdoch – who owns NewsCorp (Fox “news,” Wall Street Journal, NY Post, etc.) – paying over $1 MILLION to the republican party in 2010?  Well, he’s an Australian and the second most prominent shareholder in his company is a Saudi Prince who helped fund Osama bin Laden pre 9/11 (and probably since).  Do you really want Aussies and Saudi’s influencing our elections?  If we really knew how many of America’s corporations had been bought up by foreign interests it would, I’m sure, make those of us who are “Mad as Hell” about this even MADDER!  Karl Rove alone was entrusted with something approaching half a BILLION dollars for the MID TERM election through “secret” corporate “donations.”  I’ve heard estimates that Barack Obama is planning on raising over ONE BILLION dollars for the 2012 campaign.  Where do you think all this money is coming from?  And, is it any wonder that the legislation that does make it out of congress is continually slanted toward the corporate interests and away from “we the people.”  I didn’t think it would take long for BOTH parties to be sucked in by “Citizens United” and it didn’t – I believe that politicians who want to succeed in 2012 will believe they HAVE to take the corporate money to have a chance.  That is, unless …………

Unless, “we the people” rise up and DEMAND “the change we can all believe in!”  Sound familiar?  Isn’t that what we thought we were voting for in 2008?  I’m hoping that Wisconsin will be ALWAYS remembered as the place where the “push back” started.  I believe that if somehow we can overcome the propaganda campaign that’s been levied on the American public for the past 30+ years we can get more and more people every day to realize that the problem is the takeover of our government by the corporate interests.  I urge anyone reading this to send what you can to “Wisdems” to help with the recalls in Wisconsin.  We ALL need to keep the momentum going – until Scott Walker himself is recalled after the first of next year (he can’t be recalled until he’s been in office at least one year – so after January 6th, all “bets” are off :o)  Call me idealistic, but I believe “conservatives” and “liberals” could sit down and figure out the best way to solve the problems of today if we could somehow get rid of the lobbyists and the corporate “shills” (like Walker) in addition to overcomomg our “need” to have enough of EVERY weapon ever designed to kill EVERYONE in the world several times over.

The democrats of Wisconsin have shown the rest of us that there are still people out there who are willing to stand up for what’s in the best interests of our fundamental middle class values – the values that permeated America for most of my lifetime.  Even under George W Bush I didn’t imagine how far the republicans were willing to push “things.”  However, Scott Walker and the other right wing governors who are taking their dismantling agenda from state to state have demonstrated that the “gloves” are truly off.  While I’m angry at the democratic leadership in Washington DC (mainly in the Senate) and in President Obama’s “caving” into republicans and the military on issue after issue, I’ve been re-energized by those Wisconsinites.  And, I believe it’s not just Wisconsin democrats who are opposed to Scott Walker and his hijacking plan for their state – I believe when “push comes to shove” there will be plenty of republicans lined up against him as well.  I’m pretty old, but not so old that I can’t remember a day when republicans and democrats could come to agreement on important legislation.  Unfortunately, today’s republican party has shown itself to be nothing more than a “middleman” to a HUGE corporate RAID on America’s treasury!

I have been clear from day one of this site that I will not be a cheerleader for any politician based on what “party” they belong to.  I’ve repeatedly pointed out that I eagerly voted for and supported President Obama during the 2008 campaign – despite a few concerns that “popped up” during the process. (like his vote for the FISA bill and his seemingly enthusiastic support for the TARP bailout plan of the Bush/Paulson administration)  I mean, even with my disappointment with Obama, can you imagine John McCain and Sarah Palin tackling the issues of today?  And, what if McCain had a heart attack or something debilitating?  Sarah Palin as President of the United States.  I’m just pointing this out because I feel it’s my obligation to participate in any discussion regarding the issues (of course, I “get” that my participation in this discussion moves it NOWHERE, it only makes me feel better) and, I’m not encouraging anyone else who’s unhappy with Obama to vote third party, don’t vote, or worse yet – vote republican, I’m just sharing my disappointment that the status quo is continuing to rule the day in Washington DC.  I think Obama has succumbed to that “evil” force (DC’s “status quo”) to the point where we have to accept he won’t be able to get out from under the weight of some of his more curious decisions while still in office.  Just the same, the alternative is repulsive and Americans need to realize the stakes in the upcoming 2012 election.

Before I delve into that topic, a quick history lesson.  When Franklin Delano Roosevelt took office he immediately went on the attack against the corporate powers who were willing to sacrifice the well-being of the average American for their own greedy economic self interest.  (and, the reality proved that Roosevelt’s “New Deal” was better for “them” in the long run anyway)  Even with the “radical” approach Roosevelt took to the “Great Depression” it took years to pull America out of its funk with the help of World War II which really was the “glue” which pulled people together.  In the end, after the war, America’s middle class grew to be the envy of the rest of the world and the “target” of the right wing “CABAL” which was formed from the privileged elite that had driven America into depression in the first place.  It’s the same thing we’re facing today, a group of wealthy individuals who rule major corporations which are “too big to fail” and who have a sense of GREED beyond the average person’s comprehension which allows them to think that if there’s more out “there” for them to “get” then they should have the “right” to get it.  They are smart, they are powerful, and they will stop at nothing to get what they want.  Additionally, they feel no sense of obligation to the “commons” that they so willingly use with an astonishing unwillingness to pay for.  Roosevelt knew these people would fight him and “hate” him, and he “welcomed their hate.”  That’s where I believe President Obama has “missed the boat.”

Just the other day the congress and President Obama reached an agreement on a budget for the rest of 2011.  Just the fact they were going through this process at this time is a testament to the timid nature of today’s democrats.  During the previous two years they had a strong majority in both houses of congress, yet we ended up with watered down bills that were the “crowning” achievements of Obama’s first two years in office to go along with no budget for 2011, the continuation of the “Bush tax cuts,” and not only the two wars Bush left Obama with, but now we’re getting sucked into a third.  Obviously, President Obama and today’s democrats haven’t paid much attention to the history books – OR – they are so afraid of the corporately controlled media that they have become unable to act on traditionaly democratic principles – OR – they’ve been bought off by the large corporations and their lobbyists as well. (unfortunately, I believe the latter is the most likely reason for the situation we find ourselves in as a country)

I haven’t seen the details of the recently agreed to budget proposal, but some of the “hidden requirements” the republicans were throwing in which had nothing to do with the budget, were repulsive.  One of them included the end of the free lunch program in the public schools.  Now, as a teacher who reads a lot of books about contemporary issues, I’ve been aware of the republican party’s attempts to undermine public education for years.  That was the main purpose of “No Child Left Behind.”  It was absurd on its face, yet I could see the schools weren’t set up to defend themselves in the political realm.  The only entities able to defend public schools are the teacher’s unions – which, if you’ve been paying attention, are directly in the “crosshairs” of republican destructionists.  If they (republicans) can destroy the teacher’s unions, the public schools will be like “sitting ducks.” So, I’ve watched for several years as this scenario has been unfolding, but when I heard that republicans were targeting the free lunch program, their heartlessness and ruthlessness became even more vivid to me.  In my school, almost 80% of the students rely on the “free lunch” program for most of their food.  They get breakfast and lunch every day – sometimes, I’m not sure of how much else they get (at least some of them).  Why would the leaders of the richest nation on earth go after the poorest of the children?  Even I thought this was beyond their parameters.

The republicans also want to eliminate health care for poor pregnant women (prenatal care), Head Start – which benefits countless poor children, Medicaid – which supplies health care for poor children, the S-Chip program – also designed to provide health care to children, yet they want to make sure NO ONE gets an abortion and the pentagon gets EVERY cent it can.  Now, please don’t misunderstand me here, I’m not a believer in abortion – I’ll save my personal opinion on that because as a male I’ll never be in the positions to have to make that choice – and, I would hope that the procedure would be rarely relied upon, but the idea that we want EVERYONE to have their babies, but we won’t support the health care of the babies born into poor families is beyond my comprehension.  This seems to be the mantra of today’s republican party – go after the most vulnerable – and, during my lifetime I’ve always counted on democrats to make sure the republicans can’t succeed at this quizzical goal.  What I’m concerned about the most these days is that I no longer feel I can depend on the democrats to put up a firewall against these republican attacks on “the least of these” as Jesus put it.

They (republicans) have succeeded in moving the “bar” of the debate in Washington so far to the right that any “compromise” accomplished by Obama and the democrats always seems to me as a “cave in.”  Take for example the “Bush Tax cuts” that, when Obama was elected I thought he would repeal immediately.  Instead, what we ended up with is their extension for another two years, and I can almost guarantee you beyond that.  President Obama has had opportunity after opportunity to say “ENOUGH” already to these right wing corporatists, but he continues to seemingly feel that any agreement he can squeeze out is better than nothing.  What continues to happen is that the republicans continue moving the above mentioned “bar” so far in their direction to the point that, as a former conservative (1975), I’ve now become “liberal.”  This latest budget proposal didn’t even consider the FACT that what this economy needs is MORE people working and how MORE government spending aimed at green energy and infrastructure would be the fastest way to employ millions of desperately unemployed workers.  Instead, what we ended up with is democrats “agreeing” to “only” something around $40 BILLION in “cuts” from social programs which will make hardly a dent in the budget deficit while leaving the MASSIVE military budget as sancrosanct – AGAIN!  This is what has been happening my entire adult life.  The military industrial complex that President Eisenhower warned against is eating this nation alive, economically, from the inside out.  And, their power is now such that no one in Washington DC (save for maybe Bernie Sanders and Dennis Kucinich) dares to “mess” with them.

Here’s the problem as I see it.  President Obama, a good man who I don’t think for a minute doesn’t mean well, right from the start of his administration (I’ve been pointing this out since day one) has signalled to the republicans that they can “tromp” all over him.  The day he blocked ALL the investigations of Bush/Cheney – stating he didn’t want the distraction – he told the republicans they could get away with anything they wanted – there would be no push back.  Honestly, I’ll never understand the thinking behind that decision, but – as I stated at the time – it was a deal breaker for me.  I have totally lost my enthusiasm for President Obama.  His words have become empty rhetoric for me.  It’s like someone totally focused on looking “presidential” without taking any risks.  And, the results of this are going to continue to get worse – unless, miraculously, there is such a groundswell of populist support for “progressives” that somehow the republicans are turned back out of power in 2012.  I’ve written before of the importance of a democrat being in office in 2012 if for no other reason than the upcoming supreme court nominations.  But, if the democrats lose the senate, I’m not sure what kind of nominations Obama would make should he be reelected.

The democrats will probably not run someone against Obama because that would increase the chances of a republican in the White House in 2012 – and, think of who that might be.  Sarah Palin?  Mike Huckabee?  Mitt Romney?  Haley Barbour?  Newt Gingrich?  Donald Trump?  Tim Pawlenty?  Scott Walker?  Are you kidding me?  Can you imagine ANY of these people running the government of the United States?  Well, I couldn’t imaging the “tea party” gaining a stranglehold of congress after the election of 2008 either.  But, the democrats took a situation – the mess left behind by Bush/Cheney – and turned it into a “gold mine” for the extreme “right” of the republican party by patronizing to the “middle.”  I predicted from the earliest days of Obama’s administration, beginning with the pardoning of Bush/Cheney, that “progressives” would be turned away from the polls – and, that’s exactly what happened in 2010.  Now, with the full force of “Citizens United” behind them, the republicans are planning on retaking the senate and the White House in 2012 and implementing the “permanent republican majority” imagined by Karl Rove during the heyday of the GW Bush administration.

If the working class of this nation doesn’t rise up and fight for its rights – and I mean during the next two years – the outlook for America’s economy and “we the people” will be bleak.  There seem to be no end of people like the Scott Walker’s, the Rush Limbaugh’s, the John Boehner’s, the Mitch McConnell’s, the Bill O’Reilly’s, etc., etc., who will do anything for money.  And, there’s no shortage of money coming from the corporate elite who are secretly planning to turn the United States into a corporate run entity.  They have control of the media, they have control of the House, they have control of the courts, they still have a strong influence in the Justice Department (remember, under Bush/Cheney the Justice department was turned into a republican “tool”), they have the funding that will come thanks to “Citizens United,” and they only need to take three seats in the senate to have control of both chambers – UNLESS, the American workers band together and vote AGAINST this republican CABAL!

For those of us who are deeply disappointed in President Obama, we need to vote against the republican opponent – the FACT that Obama is not a “change” agent as he portrayed himself aside, he’s a major improvement over ANY candidate the republicans can put up!  To me, the question seems to be how hard will I have to hold my nose to vote for him.  I can guarantee you that this year’s budget debate was only a prelude of things to come.  The republicans have their “sights” set squarely on Medicare and Medicaid and the NEXT major target, once they’ve undermined those two programs – and “privatised” them (like they try to “privatise” everything) is SOCIAL SECURITY.  They were repealed during the Bush administration, but that doesn’t stop them at all (can you imagine the blow to progressives if, after turning back Bush’s attempt to undermine Social Security, the republicans succeed while a democrat’s in office?).  And, if they can find a slimy way to accomplish their goal, they will be fine with that.  Republicans have shown what they’re about since the 2010 elections in places like Wisconsin, Ohio, Idaho, Michigan, Indiana, and other states where they are trying to undermine the last bastion of progressive unity able to put up any kind of fight against their newfound financial strength from the “Citizens United” decision of the Roberts court – collective bargaining.  Destroy the unions, privatise everything (including public utilities and schools), and essentially eliminate the ability of any organized group to combat them in the future – thus the “permanent republican majority” I mentioned above (and, have written about many times in the past).  Today, I have to admit, Hillary Clinton was correct when she pointed out in the campaign that Barack Obama was not “up to” the challenge he’d be facing from the republicans.  The two things I’m hopeful of:  first, President Obama would realize that this is a WAR for the heart and soul of America and – like it or not – he’s the leader of the progressive side of the “battle” – and, he’d start drawing some “lines in the sand” with the republicans (I hope it’s not too late already) and, secondly that the groundswell of populist “BLOWBACK” that started in Wisconsin would continue to grow and that the workers of America would stop allowing the Fox “news” people and the republicans to divide them in a way that allows the wealthy elite to complete their takeover of this great nation.  I have to admit that those who are on the “other” side are relentless, they will stop at nothing to get to their goal, and they have a well thought out plan that they’ve been scheming on for years.  However, the thing I can rest on is there are more of us (middle class workers) than there are of them – once people see past their lies!

Final thought:  I’m reading a book on the history of the CIA and I believe more Americans should be discovering about our “secret” history that is hidden from mass view by a complacent or complicit media.  I just recently completed a book on the history of the Bush family – and it’s connections to the CIA – and, all I can say is the more I read, the more concerned I am as to the direction of this great nation.  It seems as if the easy thing to do is “look the other way” and pretend “all is well.”  If the books I’m reading (and there’s a lot of them) are anywhere close to accurate – well, all I can say is that ALL IS NOT well!

I believe that for many years now many Americans, myself included, have been taking for granted all the middle class benefits that our parents, grandparents, and great grandparents fought for and achieved following the “Great Depression.”  I still remember the stories I heard when I was a child (in the 50’s) about how my grandfather opened up a vacant lot he owned to his neighbors in Mount Gilead Ohio so they could grow a “community garden,” therefore producing much needed food for people who were “scraping by” every day of their lives.  Both my grandfather and grandmother were school teachers who graduated from Slippery Rock College (I know it exists because the University of Washington used to announce scores of their football games during halftime of the Husky games during football season) but who didn’t teach because the pay for teaching was so low at the time.  My grandfather took a job as a policeman and he was one of the fortunate few who had a job.  However, in those days, instead of beating up on those who were working, their community banded together and tried to lift up those who weren’t fortunate enough to be working.  Oh, for the good ole days.

However, as I continue my quest to read as many books as I can regarding the history of this great nation and the workings of our government (which is – or should be – “we the people”) it becomes painfully clear that the “forces” that created the terrible climate in America that was the “Great Depression” still exist today.  And, they’re REARING their UGLY head with a vengence.  These forces are mostly “invisible,” but we get glimpses of who and what they are as situations such as the UNION BASHING that has evolved to the public sector stage in places like Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan, Idaho, and – if these “invisible forces” have their way – every other place in America, gain more public notoriety and, with that, public scrutiny.  For example, the Koch brothers were not even close to “household names” prior to the revelation of their financing the ruthless Scott Walker into the governorship of Wisconsin – despite the MILLIONS of dollars they’ve put into the right wing political movement in America over the past 40 – 50 years.  As I stated in my previous post, I honestly believe the Koch’s will someday go down in American history (unless they succeed in rewriting American history to their liking) in the same category as Benedict Arnold.  These people are out for themselves and they have NO INTEREST in what is the common good in this nation.

A quick “Google” search for the Koch’s gives us all we need to know.  Let’s start by saying that Fred Koch, the “Koch brothers” father founded the John Birch Society.  If you don’t know what that is, well….. look it up.  It gives a clear picture as to why they are so ADAMANT that President Obama FAIL.  The brothers David and Charles funded the CATO institute and the Heritage foundation, two “think tanks” right in the middle of the right wing PROPAGANA scheme the republicans have been drowning the airwaves with since the days of Ronald Reagan (and, yes, given a tremendous boost the day Bill Clinton signed the Telecommunications Act of 1996 into law).  In 2004 they funded “Americans for Prosperity” – which should be Americans for the Koch’s prosperity, but I digress – which funneled over $40 MILLION into the just completed MID TERM elections to lead the way in bamboozling the American public that if the Koch’s pay lower taxes, and if America is purged of unions and workers making a living wage, then our economy will be revitalized.  One of the “pledges” the politicians they BUY OFF  make is to oppose the regulation of greenhouse gasses.  Well, Koch Industries creates a lot of “greenhouse gasses,” so I guess this should surprise NO one.  What SURPRISES me, is the general lack of knowledge by “we the people” – the ones who SHOULD be making the decisions in our republic – about people like the Koch’s and their willingness to destroy the foundation of America for their  GREEDY self-interest. 

It is estimated that the Koch’s generate $100 BILLION per year in revenue from Koch Industries.  This is why I’ve been RAILING against the “Citizens United” Supreme Court decision of a couple years ago which has given people like the Kochs unlimited access to the manipulation of our political process – we’re seeing the results as I type – with the authoritarian POWER GRAB in Wisconsin being at the forefront of the ASSAULT on workers.  I don’t see many comments on my “blog” because it’s just my own journal thrown into cyberspace as I try to help myself cope with and understand the unraveling of this great nation that I love – right before my eyes.  However, at one point Lars Larson dropped by and gave my site a “right wing” perspective with a couple comments.  If you don’t know, Lars is one of the “right wing talkers” who willingly participate in this great Goebbels like propaganda scheme the republicans have been cramming down our throats since Rush Limbaugh hit the scene in the early eighties.  I always say, these are the people who will do ANYTHING for money – even destroy the “fabric” of this nation.  One of the points of contention Lars had with me was my reference to “low information voters.”  Of course, he implied that I must be putting myself in some kind of elitist category.  Well, the more I read, the more I realize that creating “low information voters” is a MAJOR part of their plan.  (who is “their?” you ask – I’m referencing that “invisible” right wing CABAL that is orchestrating the corporate takeover of America’s government BEHIND THE SCENES)

Not only did Lars Larson tell me that I must be considering myself an elitist because I’ve chosen to find out what him and the people funding him are up to, now I’m being accused of being part of the “privileged elite” by republicans because I’m a school teacher.  I read the other day, I believe it was in the New York Times, where school teachers were referred to as “glorified babysitters.”  While I believe this movement to destroy the middle class in America is vile, I have to admit the people behind it are good at what they’re doing.  And, now I’m talking about people like the Kochs – the Lars Larsons of this world are just the paid schills.  (granted, the shills like Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, and maybe others are very highly paid shills)  Think about it; the Koch’s have $100 BILLION annually in revenue – it doesn’t make much of a dent in that to find the “price” of these shills and the politicians they are in concert with (I honestly shudder when I think of politicians making a pledge to oppose regulation of ANYTHING before taking office, let alone a subject as important to the future of this nation as greenhouse gasses – any politician who’ll make that pledge, well – what pledge would they not make for the right price?  You’re right, this is depressing)  The reality here, when the politicians have been so corrupted that they’re representing TEACHERS as being the problem of our economic demise, we are in a BAD WAY!  And, despite Lars Larson’s opposing view, I continue to say that the only way the Koch’s, Larson himself, and the politicians like Scott Walker can “pull this off” is to be preaching to “low information voters.”  People who do what I used to do and that is NOT fact check their dishonest words.

What logic is there in the argument that people who are BILLIONAIRES need tax breaks, we can send our military into unlimited war zones around the world, Corporations should pay NO TAXES, and teachers and other public sector workers are the reason for our budget deficits.  What kind of person would believe that argument on its face?  Well, the first thought that comes to my mind would be the person who watches Fox “news” and doesn’t vet the information they’re allowing into their heads.  In the past few weeks I’ve been doing a personal “experiment.”  I’ve asked a number of adults – mostly adults with college level educations – two questions: the first; What is “Citizens United?” and the second; “Who is Roger Ailes?”  Maybe you can guess the results, but just in case, let me give them to you.  NOT ONE person I talked to knew the answer to either question.  So, if they don’t know, for example, that the “president” of Fox “news” is a Republican operative who’s been involved in more than his share of “dirty tricks” over the years, I guess it’s more understandable that they are being “hoodwinked” by Ailes and his cohorts at Fox.  Maybe some of these people wouldn’t be bothered by having a known PARTISAN political operative leading a “news” outlet – but, just the same, none of them had to worry about that point because they don’t know who he is.  And, despite most of them expressing dismay at how our political system has been corrupted by politicians being “bought off,” none of them understood the gravity of what the “Citizens United” decision means to future elections.  Therefore, if my experiment is anywhere close to a national reality, it looks to me as if the political corruption is going to get a lot worse before it gets better.  (and, the “low information voter” claim is a real problem in America right now)

In fact, managing to change the system is at the “fox guarding the henhouse” stage, it appears to me.  Our sitting president chose not to “rock the boat” upon assuming office, and every day he fails to take up the charge to implement “the change we can all believe in” the more difficult the situation gets.  The reality as I see it does not look good.  Yes President Obama has implemented a few pieces of legislation that fall into the “better than it was” category (or, at least on the surface that is what it appears) – but, on closer examination our replacement of President Bush gives me, at least, pause.  Let’s just look at a few issues that I expected Obama to “turn around.”  We can start with Guantanimo (GITMO).  I remember on his first day in office announcing that GITMO would be closed within ONE YEAR.  That was over two years ago and it’s still going “STRONG.”  (today, it was announced that the trials of Shiek Mohammed and the others which were scheduled for New York would instead proceed as the “military tribunals” originally scheduled by the Bush/Cheney administration) OK, let’s give him that one – there’s some problems he must not have anticipated (including, many people feeling that the use of TORTURE would possibly cause so much evidence to be thrown out in a “fair trial” that the accused terrorists would be declared “innocent”).  Well then, what about Iraq?  He did say he would have ALL the troops home withing 16 months, didn’t he (of course, after a few months in office we heard Obama making the distinction between “combat troops” and presumably “non-combat troops” as the justification for keeping half of the “pre-surge” numbers there)?  Well, it’s been 27 months and there’s still over 50,000 troops in Iraq and probably approaching 100,000 “contractors.”  We’re (the country that can’t afford to help our long term unemployed) dumping 2+ BILLION dollars per WEEK into this quagmire.  And, honestly, I don’t have my hopes up that the troops (and contractors) will be home by July (the latest “promise”).  What Obama said in the campaign, regarding Afghanistan, was that he was going to “finish the job” of “getting bin Laden.”  What we’ve ended up with is “surge” #2 and a fool’s attempt at nation building in the “graveyard of empires,” the nickname Afghanistan has earned over thousands of years.  The last I heard, Vice President Biden was “assuring” someone that we would be getting out of Afghanistan in 2014!  Are you kidding me? (and, unfortunately, I don’t believe even that)

This “right wing CABAL” which I believe is taking over the United States’ government – covertly – will be perfectly happy with a PERPETUAL war in Afghanistan, Iraq, or anywhere else they can justify spending TRILLIONS on our military industrial complex.  Obviously, President Obama is not up to taking on this established force.  Considering the evidence (again, I’m reading a lot of books, the latest being “Family of Secrets” about the Bush clan) that the CIA was involved in the outing of JFK, the undermining of Richard Nixon’s presidency, the defeat of Jimmy Carter, and the assasination of several foreign leaders who weren’t acceptable to our corporate “CABAL” that is fiercely commited to the military and to oil – it wouldn’t be too far fetched to me to believe that President Obama decided not to take that battle on – DESPITE the reality that SOMEONE has to take it on to save this nation as it existed in the eyes of the founding fathers!  I’m still wondering; has anyone asked Barack Obama if he’s cancelled the warrantless wiretapping of the Bush administration?  He promised to “fix” the FISA bill which he curiously voted FOR when he was running for president – as I’ve said several times on this site, that was the first “red flag” I had on Obama – but, as of this writing, I’ve heard nothing to tell me that anything was done to correct the overreach allowed by that bill.  I would remind anyone reading this blog – it’s much easier to give up rights than to get them back once they’ve been given away.  The idea that it’s OK for our government to be “data mining” our emails and phone conversations without warrants is an abominable idea to me.  I really don’t understand why there hasn’t been more of an outcry.

But, there’s more.  If you were as unhappy as I was that President Obama and his Attorney General Eric Holder chose to “look the other way” from the crimes of the Bush/Cheney administration (Obama called it “looking forward and not back”) there is mounting evidence suggesting that the reason for this was that Obama himself was comfortable with Cheney’s idea of the “imperial” presidency and didn’t want to give up the POWER.  EVERYONE knows that both Cheney and Bush authorized TORTURE, along with Donald Rumsfeld and with the blessing of their legal staff who chose to make ludicrous legal claims designed to justify what was clearly unacceptable behavior in the eyes of our laws and the “eyes” of the rest of the world.  Here’s another sad reality, the extraordinary rendition program of the Bush/Cheney reign of terror continues under Obama.  What happens here is that the CIA and the American military leave it for our “allies” to do the torturing of the suspected “enemy combatants.”  And, the actual torturing continues right on our own soil, as the Marines continue to hold Bradley Manning under inhumane circumstances in Quantico Virginia.  He virtually hasn’t seen the light of day for almost a year and reports now are that he’s stripped naked for seven hours a day (what would normally be sleeping time – but, when you’re in a 6 x 12 cell for 23 hours per day – when is “sleeping time?”)  President Obama is clearly aware of Manning’s treatment, that he’s been denied his habeas corpus rights, and, apparently, the US government with Obama’s blessing is going to let him “rot” in this cell until he’s broken down mentally – as they did to Jose Padilla who was accused of aiding terrorists during the peak of the Bush/Cheney fear mongering post 9/11.  I can picture the conversation I’ll be having with my grandchildren when they’re old enough for an adult discussion where I’ll be explaining to them that “we USED to be a nation of laws and not men!”

There is not a question in my mind as to how intelligent President Obama is and I can only guess as to what the CIA and the military “advised” him as he took office regarding what “might” happen if he “bucked” the status quo.  I also believe he is WAY more intertwined with the corporate elite and Wall Street than I had anticipated.  Of all the things he “caved” on I really thought he’d NEVER cave on the “Bush taxcuts,” so, obviously, I miscalculated my allegiance profoundly.  The lobbyists continue to flourish in Washington DC, the military industrial complex continues to grow while programs like Head Start, SChip, and Medicaid are cut (supposedly – and disengenously – to “balance the budget”).  The democrats and our president continue to “compromise” with their compromises leading to the republicans getting most of what they want while giving up very little.  That is, it’s like the democrats are in retreat.  Except in places like Wisconsin!

Today is the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. giving his life while standing in solidarity with the garbage workers in Memphis, Tennessee.  People are gathered all around the nation to show solidarity for the workers of this nation and the movement which took hold in Wisconsin when governor Scott Walker deviously repealed the bargaining rights of public sector workers in his state – the state, ironically, where the first public worker unions were formed over 50 years ago!  This movement is what I would have pictured President Obama leading when I voted for him – but, alas, he apparently wants nothing to do with it.  It’s just another way he’s showed us he’s more of a politician than a national leader of a reform movement.  America has slid dangerously close to the conditions which fostered the “Great Depression” and apparently, our leaders need another disaster like that to happen before they realize that (as I once heard Obama say) “change comes from the bottom up.”  Well, maybe if enough everyday Americans show solidarity toward labor and laborers, our democratic leaders will “jump on the bandwagon.”  Regardless, my renewed hope is that the true middle class of America will rise up and reestablish our government as one that is focused on the general welfare of its people (not its corporations).  I’m hopeful that the worker will again become more important than the shareholder, that corporations would again pay their fare share of the tax burden needed to keep this nation strong and vibrant, and that GREED would no longer be rewarded by America’s political leaders.  It’s time to break up the too big to fail corporations, it’s time to hold those who’ve moved their operations overseas to save on taxes to account for “taking” more than they “give,” and it’s time to reverse this terrible trend toward the United States of America being a militaristic conglomerate!  The only way this will happen will be if the protests in Wisconsin continue to grow all acrooss America and “we the people” take action at the ballot box to cleanse EVERY member of congress who’s sold out to the large corporate enterprizes – republican and democrat – from office.  We need congressional leaders who are committed to reversing, repealling, whatever it takes – overturning the “Citizens United” Supreme Court decision and we need to make sure we elect Presidents who will NEVER nominate justices such as John Roberts and Samuel Alito who are shills for big business (I hope you’re as uncomfortable as I am with foreign money determining who wins our elections).

Finally, we need to be working harder at creating an electorate of well informed voters – instead of “low information voters.”  That means spending more money on education and not less.  That means teaching students to think for themselves, how to find and “vet” information so that they can make informed decisions (that don’t have to agree with mine), and that means – in my view – it’s time to stop this insane test, test, test of America’s students – even in 6th grade (which I teach – 11-12 year old kids mind you) – and broaden the subjects they are exposed to.  In my school district students no longer have courses such as wood shop, metal shop, home economics, etc. because it’s so “important” that they pass the state mandated tests.  I “get” that students who are planning on going to college need to be able to pass tests, and they need to be in college prep classes – especially in high school – but, the idea that every student is going to college remains absurd to me (I always tell my students – and, this is the truth – the smartest guy I know is the man who fixes my car).  If we’re teaching students to think for themselves, how to find information and check it for its validity, and how to work hard every day I believe the rest takes care of itself – for each individual student.  If we want to have required testing let’s make it real.  How about high school students (who have to pass tests in my state to graduate) needing to pass tests related to civics and the constitution.  Require our students, at a minimum, to pass the same test immigrants need to pass to gain citizenship in America.  That would make more sense to me and might lead to less “low information voters.”  Unfortunately, at this point in time, I believe both of America’s political parties would fear a nation of well informed voters!  I’ll end this by saying that unless “we the people” stop taking all the benefits our forefathers fought to gain – for granted – we will certainly lose them.  There is a concerted effort in the U.S. which is reaching its “full steam ahead” stage, aiming to usurp the basic rights of “we the people” if middle class Americans aren’t willing to do what’s necessary to stop it.

I’ve said, or implied, this before; that if a sixth grade teacher could “get” what’s happening in America, then you would expect our leaders to be able to do so as well.  Well, wouldn’t you?  Wouldn’t that be a reasonable assumption?  If you agree (not that I’m trying to “toot” my own horn :o) go back and read some of my posts in the archives from the previous few years and I think you’ll see that some of the decisions currently being made by America’s leadership are becoming more and more curious.  We (Americans) are in a TERRIBLE “funk” and it almost seems to me that we’re operating as a “rudderless ship” when it comes to Washington DC.  Of course, if you do go back into my archives, you’ll see that I am somewhat “bipartisan” in my criticism of our leaders although the bulk of my rath is aimed at republicans.  Often times I’ve wavered as to who I’m more disappointed in – the republicans for their obvious HATE of America’s “workers,” or democrats for their mostly LESS THAN tepid response to the WAR on the middle class coming from the “right.”

Of course, I could (and probably will – I write these posts off the top of my head) list irony after irony about the “workings” of the American political system.  And, I could list hypocrisy upon hypocrisy regarding those “in charge” as I prepare myself for what looks like, at this point, to be a PAINFUL 2012 election campaign which is going to be dominated by some really WHACKO candidates who will have unlimited (Citizens United) corporate funding as the “right” attempts to unseat President Obama (remember, they have not been secretive about their NUMBER ONE goal, which is for President Obama to FAIL).  As I watch the scenario play out, it becomes clearer and clearer that without some kind of major rebellion by the working class of America, things are going to get a LOT worse before they get better.  I truly hope those of us who are disenchanted with BOTH sides have the resolve to take on this BATTLE, but I’m very skeptical that it can be WON without organized central leadership “from the top.”  (which is why I’m feeling such disappointment with President Obama)

I’m sure on a scale that would measure AT LEAST as significant as the Limbaugh’s, Hannity’s, Boehner’s, McConnell’s, Palin’s, Beck’s, Larson’s, and the other right wing authoritarian corporate shills who have access to America’s airwaves and legislative bodies and want our president to FAIL, I want him to SUCCEED.  Now, please don’t get me totally wrong, I wanted President Bush to succeed.  The way I see it, we are all Americans, and when the president succeeds, the country succeeds.  It’s just that I don’t want President Obama to succeed because he finally found favor with the corporatists who he’s seemingly trying to placate.  Yes, I listen to people like Randi Rhodes who try to justify EVERY action President Obama takes – to me, the same kind of blind loyalty which resulted in the out of control Bush administration – just, from a different “angle,” and today I even heard Ed Schultz, another of the so-called “liberal talkers,” justifying Obama’s authorization for the BOMBING of Lybia.  When I start feeling depression settling in, I think back to some of my earlier posts and wonder what is it that all these people can’t see?  They’re the ones who will have to “rally the troops” – and, President Obama has shown us on several occasions that he will not take the lead in this WAR for America’s heart and soul until he’s FORCED to do so.

The truth is, I believe, Obama actually believes that he can’t win in 2012 if he DIRECTLY takes on the right wing CABAL that is attempting to abscond with our democratic republic through a process which our founders attempted to render impossible.  Our government was initially designed with a system of “checks and balances” which were brilliantly designed to virtually guarantee there would be nothing resembling Karl Rove’s “permanent republican majority.”  Well, they (republicans) are dangerously close to achieving their dream.  I could go back and list all the prominent republicans who’ve been scheming on this plan for the past 50+ years (often I’ve said it started with Reagan, but I now believe it simply hit the accelerator under Reagan) but, if you check out my archives you’ll see MANY posts which have correctly predicted exactly what’s on the verge of happening.

The irony, or hypocrisy, or whatever you want to call it of the republican effort is mind boggling to me.  I was driving around today and looking at bumper stickers on cars.  One thing was very clear as I looked at many cars of people who were just ordinary “working folk” such as myself, the republicans have done a masterful job of dividing the very people they’re looking to SQUASH – the middle class workers of this nation.  Lot’s of anti-Obama stickers that were preposterous in what they implied.  These bumper stickers on the cars of people whom you’d think would really hope Obama succeeds – their well-being depending on it.  Yes, I find it very ironic to see everyday working folk supporting this corporatist CABAL on the “right.”  It really shows you the power of an organized propaganda campaign when you’re dealing with (yes Lars) low information voters. 

You have corporate “water carriers” such as the governor of Wisconsin, Scott Walker, claiming that the only way to balance the budget of “his” state is to cut the benefits – and jobs – of state workers (watch the privitization in Wisconsin if Walker get’s away with his scheme) while giving MORE huge tax breaks to corporations who are already at the head of the line when it comes to welfare.  Everyone knows (or should know) about the HUGE amounts of money the government funnels to the oil industry (people like the now infamous Koch brothers – who, I believe will someday be regarded similarly to Benedict Arnold in American history) but, just today it was announced that General Electric earned a WHOPPING $14+ BILLION last year while paying NO TAXES – yes, that’s correct – ZERO TAXES – but hold on to your hat, it get’s better, they received over $3 BILLION in government CORPORATE WELFARE!  And, we can’t afford to negotiate with our workers, or provide unemployment benefits to the long term unemployed. (this is obscene!)

America’s corporations earned $1.7 + TRILLION in the last quarter ALONE!  And, they will continue to use that money to creatively make MORE MONEY on Wall Street, while they thumb their collective noses at the “lazy” long term umemployed MIDDLE CLASS workers who will have to work for minimum wage or less if they ever want to get back into America’s work force.  I mentioned the word hypocrisy – well, let’s look at the behavior of the potential republican leaders.  I’ll start with Newt Gingrich who’s one of the few announced candidates for the republican nomination for president – and, a definite possibility.  I guess old Newt figures if McCain could pull it off, why can’t he?  Honestly, I kind of hope he does.  Now, I’m not a fan of Bill Clinton – especially, Clinton’s lying about his affair with an intern while in office (even though I pretty much believe our politicians private lives should be their own – Clinton did go over the line) – but, who was leading the impeachment charge but Newt Gingrich himself.  A man who probably outcheated Clinton – but, who was certainly “throwing stones from a glass house” while working for Clinton’s impeachment.  Gingrich was CHEATING on his second wife (the one he was cheating on his first wife with) with a staffer at the same time he was impeaching Clinton for doing the same thing (this was a repeat performance for Gingrich).  Gingrich is evidently now claiming that since he “converted” to Catholicism we should “forgive and forget.”  And, come to think of it, wasn’t the leader of the “tea party” – Dick Armey – having his own sexual harrrassment issues as well while claiming the “moral highground” during the Clinton impeachment?  This crap goes on and on with these people.

The Fox “news” syndrome will someday be looked upon as a SIEGE on this nation from what was supposed to be the “fourth estate.”  Newspapers are drying up all across America and (thanks to the Telecommunications Act of 1996) America’s media is being “gobbled up” by a few corporations who are all “on the same page” when it comes to the support of a corporate takeover of our government (which is in possibly the “final throes”).  Our “liberal media” isn’t liberal at all, but organizations such as Fox will continue to BASH America’s viewing public with that “line” because they have all bought into the Goebbell’s “big lie” theory of propaganda (again, several previous posts with details).  I run into educated adult after educated adult who know NOTHING of what’s happening to this country.  They don’t know what Citizens United is, they don’t know that Fox “news” is run by a republican “operative” (Roger Ailes), they don’t know that our CIA has been abusing people and countries for MANY DECADES, they don’t understand the level of CORRUPTION in Washington DC, and they don’t understand that seemingly leaders of both political parties enable the illegal behavior of the other because, evidently, they’re ALL doing it!

Right now we’re watching state after state in America attacking public sector workers as people who need to be vilified.  School teachers for God’s sake!  Are you kidding me?!  Yes, I’m a school teacher, but I’ve been many things in my lifetime.  I started teaching school very late in my working lifetime, but I’m watching the effect of this “TEACHER BASHING” on a group of young BRILLIANT teachers who’ve mostly been teaching for less than 10 years, and I feel very bad for them.  I’ll give you one example (which I hope will demonstate, despite the accusation to the contrary by Michigan’s governor, that these teacher’s are not part of the “privileged elite”); A young lady I know who is a MARVELOUS science and math teacher, has been teaching less than 10 years, is still paying lot’s of MONEY to get her graduate degree, is paying back something like what was originally (when she started teaching) $30 – 50,000 in school loans – so she could get through school and TEACH, and makes around $40,000 – I’m worried she will find the outside induced STRESS to be too much and will pursue more lucrative employment elsewhere.  I work in a high poverty school where the students really need teachers like this and it makes me angry that people who have no idea what they’re talking about – they have their own private political agenda’s – are attacking outstanding individuals (albeit through stereotyping – but, their attacks are effective) and turning them away from this honorable profession.  Believe me, TEACHERS are not the problem in America and the people who are vilifying them are ignorant!

So, what are we to do?  And, here I’m talking about those in America who feel as I do that the very fabric of this nation is being destroyed by a group of GREEDY corporate executives who feel as if the rest of us can’t exist without them.  As long as I live I won’t forget all the Wall Street bankers taking HUGE bailout BONUSES and claiming the bonuses were designed to keep them on the job as if what they do is so important that it would be a bigger disaster for America for them to suffer financially for all the ruin their misbehavior put on others around the world.  What a BAD joke!  These people make money by gambling with other people’s money.  Honestly, what are they producing that we can’t do without?  The problem is that they make so MUCH money that they can afford to spend a lot of it to convince the unsuspecting public that they really are that important.  And, here’s the rub – these corporate exec’s have put the fear of God in our national legislatures to the point that one thing “bipartisan” in Washington DC is a government afraid to take on the corporations.  They (national politicians and corporate executives) are now at a place where they are “working together” – which is the recipe for fascism! (Don’t believe me? The CEO of the above mentioned General Electric – one of America’s largest corporations and a leader in offshoring profits and receiving CORPORATE WELFARE – is one of the leading economic advisors to President Obama – and those of us fighting this corporatocracy were planning on Obama leading the “charge” against this very kind of partnership)

“We the people” are going to have to defend the rights that our parents, grandparents, and great grandparents fought so valiantly to obtain witout this president as the leader.  The forces who opposed the New Deal at its inception have “trudged” along all these years and have never given up their hope to “turn back the clock.”  Since the days of Reagan, the shareholder has become far more important than the worker.  Despite their claims of being the party of “family values,” the republican agenda has slowly led to the demise of the traditional American family.  This eating away of the benefits of the New Deal has finally gotten to the point where if we don’t put a stop to it, we’re going to have to relive another “Great Depression.”  We were close in 2008 and people like me felt that President Obama was going to lead the way for a “New New Deal.”  Instead, what many of us think we got was a republican “lite” administration.  An attempt to make things look better from the “left,” but with a clear agenda to protect the corporate interests who caused the 2008 meltdown in the first place, with all their excesses.

I finally realized why President Obama didn’t allow investigations of the Bush administration – he had no intention of reversing the power grab that took place during GW Bush’s two terms in the White House and which was orchestrated by Dick Cheney.  The evidence of this continues to mount – and gives us a clearer picture of how severe the problem really is.  Take the bombing of Libya, for example.  Whether or not you agree or disagree with the notion that the United States needed to intervene in another middle eastern country – our president did so without even consulting Congress.  I’m guessing he thought this would please the “right” who have continually claimed he’s a weak “commander in chief,” but the way I see it, President Obama very likely committed an impeachable offense by authorizing America’s military to attack another soveriegn nation without the consent of congress.  I’m almost thinking his thought process is like that of my sixth graders (if they (republicans) can do it, then I must be able to do it).  The fact that I voted for Obama makes all this much more discouraging to me.

I’ll end this rant by encouraging anyone who reads this post to get involved in an American “protest.”  I’m in my mid 60’s and I recently participated in a protest designed to show solidarity to those in Wisconsin fighting for workers’ rights to collectively bargain.  It felt great!  I’ve given as much as I can to the recall effort in Wisconsin, and will continue to look to give more for “grassroots” efforts designed to fight the corporatists.  I encourage anyone who’s a “working class” American to participate.  As stated above President Obama is “tight” with the corporate welfare recipients, and – I might add – he’s carrying on the tradition of allowing torture as a means to an end in America. (don’t believe me, Google Bradley Manning, and I hope you’re as disgusted as I am with our president’s unwillingness to reign in our military industrial complex) 

I wrote before how it’s hard for me to believe that Obama and his Attorney General Eric Holder could “look the other way” at all the republican lying, cheating, and lawbreaking during the Bush years and then aggressively try to prosecute Julian Assange of “Wiki Leaks” for publishing the TRUTH about America’s diplomatic “mission” in this world.  If those of us on the “left” want a leader who’s a true social progressive, we’re going to have to look for someone besides Barack Obama!  Bob Herbert of the “New York Times” put it best when he ended a recent column (you can read it by clicking here) with, “New ideas and new leadership have seldom been more urgently needed.”  I couldn’t agree with him more! 

I was watching TV the other day as the “March Madness” of the NCAA basketball tourney was getting under way and an announcer for ESPN was interviewing President Obama who was making his picks for the tournament.  In the process the interviewer apologized because of the president’s busy schedule and President Obama made an impassioned, and very appropriate, plea for those interested in supporting the earthquake victims in Japan to log into a web address (I believe it was USAID.gov) to find charities which are helping with the recovery effort.  I laud the president for that, I appreciate many of the things that he’s doing which indicate where his heart is at, but I continue to be frustrated by his seeming lack of will to confront the very REAL issues that threaten the very fabric of this nation.  I’m still trying to understand whether he just doesn’t “get it,” whether he simply believes that in the end “good” will prevail, or whether he’s part of the corporate mentality which is attempting to override over 70 years of the New Deal.

Why am I struggling with this?  Why do I even care?  Well, then Senator Obama got me excited about the prospects of turning around what was so obvious to so many of us – the abuses of the republicans over the past 30+ years which were magnified to what SHOULD have been unmistakeable levels under George W Bush and Dick Cheney – and started the PUSHBACK toward the New Deal type government which originally empowered so many ordinary Americans AND turned this nation into the envy of the rest of the world.  When I started writing this blog I was convinced that the downward spiral started under the tutelage of Ronald Reagan and began in 1980.  The more I read (mainly history books), the more I realize that this RIGHT WING agenda has been simmering since Franklin Roosevelt originally put it in its place in the 1930’s.  There has been a right wing CABAL conspiring to overturn EVERY advancement for working people that was made under Roosevelt’s New Deal since Roosevelt put the first reform in place.  Roosevelt himself was part of the privileged class which has spawned this conspiracy – as was JFK – and he was (as was JFK) considered a traitor by the wealthy elite who have been chipping away at the Roosevelt advancements ever since.

One thing that should be clear to anyone who’s researching this is that this “cabal” will do anything to get what they want.  They’ve proven over and over that they believe in the saying, “The end justifies the means.”  One of their main weapons is pathological LYING!  As I’ve pointed out on this site several times there is a secretive group behind the push for a “permanent republican ‘majority'” that is to a large extent connected to a group called “The Family” (They call themselves “The Fellowship”) who ostensibly profess a belief in Jesus, although they compare Jesus with World leaders such as Lenin, Mussolini, Hitler, and even bin Laden – authoritarian personalities who have significantly “changed the world.”  Believe me, they’re not talking about the Jesus I know who said, “What you do for the least of these, you do for me.”  This “cabal” has discovered that there’s a large group of Americans who will blindly follow just about anyone who professes to be a “Christian.”  (although, I profess to be a Christian, and I’m sure they wouldn’t follow me)  And, they clearly missed the scripture which condemns giving “false testimony.”

The original founder of “The Family,” Abraham Vereide, who was motivated by his hate of Roosevelt and the emerging union movement in America, was followed by a man named Doug Coe as their leader and both of these men professed, according to Jeff Sharlett in his book “The Family” (he infiltrated the group as an intern), an admiration of the authoritarian nature of the Nazi’s in Germany.  In fact, after World War II, they even recruited a few of the remnants of the Third Reich who managed to avoid prosecution for war crimes into their group.  “The Family” has included murderous dictators like Suharto of Indonesia who ordered the murder of up to half a MILLION of his citizens and the imprisonment of another MILLION and a half after he took over the country.  Evidently, “The Family” was impressed by the level of his authoritarianism and even invited him to prayer breakfasts in Washington DC.  (I’ve often wondered what they prayed with him about)  These people took to the “big lie” theory of Josheph Goebbels (head of propaganda for Hitler) like a duck takes to water – and, they’ve been practicing it for as long as I can remember.  You’ve probably seen the so-called “talking heads” of the republican party on TV repeating the SAME LIE over and over again, drilling it into the heads of the people who think they must be telling the truth because they say they believe in Jesus.  Makes me better understand why Jesus himself cautioned believers from being influenced by “false prophets.”

And, these republicans and the people behind them (The Family, the Koch brothers, the US Chamber of Congress, the big oil money, Wall Street, etc.) are really GOOD at LYING, and they are succeeding in their “task” of undoing the New Deal.  They even managed to pass some of the most strategic legislation during the one democratic presidency between Reagan and Obama.  Yes, it was during the Clinton years that the so-called “free trade” agreements were passed, the Telecommunications Act – which allowed the consolidation of America’s media into a “conservative” nightmare – was passed, and maybe worst of all the Glass Steagall act was repealed.  All three of those setbacks were MAJOR to the undoing of Roosevelt’s great accomplishments.  Now we have “tea party” governors all over the country along with their republican legislatures passing bills which are clearly aimed at undermining what are left of the unions that people such as Vereide, Coe, the Koch’s, and the rest of the right wing “cabal” I’m writing about hate.  This invisible group of republican supporters have managed to appoint Supreme Court Justices who somehow decided corporations have “free speech rights as if they were individuals” and can therefore spend unlimited amounts of cash in elections, and putting all these “advances” together you get Karl Rove’s “permanent republican majority.”  I guarantee you the next target they have their sights squarely set on is the Social Security Trust fund.  They hate the minimum wage, they hate the 40 hour work week, they hate maternity leave, and I could go on – I’m sure you get my point.  (the Koch’s are reportedly worth close to 50 BILLION dollars, so we know what they love – and that’s MONEY – I’m convinced they can’t get enough of it)

So, at this point of my rant, you are probably wondering how does President Obama fit into all of this (he does go to “The Family’s ‘National Prayer Breakfast'”) and, I’m wondering the same thing.  As I’ve said on MANY occasions on this site, I’m very discouraged by President Obama’s willingness to push for the status quo.  He has shown little resolve to put up a fight against these forces – in fact, in many instances he’s simply continuing the Bush/Cheney policies that so many of us HATED.  That begins to get me to my point of the evening.  The people of Wisconsin have energized me just as Obama did in 2008.  My hope is that they continue their fight against the power grab of Scott Walker, their “tea party” governor, who I’m sure believes that the outrage will die down against him by the time they can legally start a RECALL campaign.  My hope is that by the time he CAN be RECALLED, several of the republican state senators who went along with his scheme will have already been recalled and he will just be the next Wisconsin politician in the line of true democracy at work.  Here’s the MAJOR problem I’m having with what’s happening in Wisconsin.  Where is the President?

I wrote a post about this a while back and I continue to struggle to understand why President Obama wouldn’t have been front and center in Wisconsin standing firm with the workers of the state fighting to keep their collective bargaining rights.  Wisconsinites also gave their governor unbelievable powers in deciding to whom and for what to sell Wisconsin’s public utilities.  To me, that could be where the real long term damage from Walker’s abusive power grab will lie (the union busting can be reversed, but once the Kochs take over the municipal utilities and gain title, it might be too late to reverse that).  But, what is wrong with our president that he can’t make a stand that is clearly pro union and pro worker?  This does not bode well for the future of this great nation and the democratic party.  “We the people” are under assault – from within – and our president, who should be leading the charge to turn back this assault, seems more inclined to want to make some kind of deal with the opposition.  Any deal – as long as there’s a deal.  That’s how the health care bill got convoluted, that’s how the Wall Street regulation overhaul got whittled down, that’s how the original “stimulus” package got cut to the point that it was far less effective than what was needed, that’s how the “Bush tax cuts” UNBELIEVABLY got extended, that’s how the 16 month exit from Iraq got forgotten, and I could go on and on.  I originally thought “if Obama can’t make a stand on the tax cuts we’re in BIG trouble” – well, we are in big trouble – I just didn’t know how big.  The FACT that the president couldn’t bring himself to show solidarity with a BUNCH of everyday working class people who were braving below freezing temperatures to express their outrage at a BLATANT anti-union republican power grab is BEYOND my ability to understand.

Yes, President Obama is much better than anything I can imagine coming from the “right” as far as the White House is concerned – but, it looks to me that the focus of what he’s doing is getting re-elected.  I think there’s a good chance he will – only because the alternative is so bad.  But, where is America going to be in ten years if we don’t start drawing some lines with our expectations of our government?  We have a government that is so CORRUPT that it appears to be incorrigible.  I honestly thought Obama would be up to the task of “fixing” that.  Do you remember his promises about purging “lobbyists” from his administration?  How far did that one go?  What about the transparency?  What about holding the abusers of power accountable?  I believe one of the reasons President Obama failed to act as he should have regarding the investigations of the Bush administration was to protect the CIA from all the TORTURING it was doing during the Iraq FIASCO and years gone by – who knows how many “secrets” would be unveiled with an election?  Also, it appears Obama has no stomach for turning back some of the abuses – hence we’re attacking Lybia on “his watch.”  Based on books I’ve read since Obama’s inauguration, I’m beginning to wonder “what’s up” with this?  Is there some kind of “secret rules” in our capital that says you leave “them” (meaning CIA, and others with unseen MAJOR power) alone or they will “get you?”

I have always been convinced that republicans, along with the CIA, were involved in a conspiracy to murder John F Kennedy – I teach my students to make inferences – and the evidence I’ve read is overwhelming for this inference.  In the book I’m now reading, “Family of Secrets” about the Bush family, the case was persuasively made that President Nixon was a victim of a CIA setup himself when he was president.  The CIA and the large oil barons were unhappy with Nixon’s “liberal” accomplishments and the threat he posed to their sacred “oil depletion allowance” which was making many of them (including the Koch’s I’m sure) FILTHY RICH.  I’ve posed the question many times on this site as to why one democratic president after another virtually refused to investigate fully republican misdeeds.  Even the Warren commission, for heaven’s sake, had Allen Dulles as one of the “main men” after he had been FIRED as CIA chief following the Bay of Pigs fiasco by JFK himself.  Our government has example after example of the “tail wagging the dog” and our media does a good job in making sure that “we the people” have to uncover this on our own.  I hardly know a single adult who is trying to figure out what our government is “up to.”  Most people I know simply believe that the US government is still the “beacon of the free world.”  That’s certainly what I hope for, but the more I read about what has gone on in the last 60 years (basically, since the inception of the CIA in the early 50’s) the more disgusted I get. 

While the actions of the people of Wisconsin are inspiring, I continue to believe that it will take a NATIONAL leader to stem the tide of this assault on America’s middle class and her character.  As I pondered President Obama’s willingness to get the United States bogged down in yet another Mid East quagmire – with the “no-fly” zone in Libya – I just had to take a deep breath and say another prayer for my children and grandchildren.  I’m partly responsible for this because I voted for the man.  I read the book “Washington Rules” (I highly recommend it) and the premise of that book is so true.  The “military industrial complex” does rule this nation.  Dwight D Eisenhower warned us about what has come to pass.  When will we listen?

All I can surmise is President Obama is trying to make it clear that he’s a “real” commander in chief as he ostensibly violates our constitution by sending American military force against another soveriegn nation by choice.  At least President Bush buffaloed Congress into rubber stamping his venture into Iraq.  I’ll end tonight by asking, will all the unions be gone before we expect more from our leaders?  Are we so arrogant to think that we should be resolving the problems of EVERY nation around the world?  (or is it just the nations where we get our oil?)  Are our leaders trying to tell us that we can’t afford our public servants, but we can afford to throw a couple BILLION dollars worth of bombs toward Libya to protect their protestors?  Honestly, it appears to me that President Obama is more invested in the Libyan and Egyptian protestors than the ones in Wisconsin?  What’s up with that?

I’ve been writing for years that the real war going on in America is for the heart and soul of this nation.  The question is becoming stark; are “we the people” willing to stand up and fight for the rights our parents and grandparents (in some instances great grandparents) sacrificed to provide for us?  Have those of us in the middle class become so complacent with the great benefits that have gone with being “an American” that we’re willing to allow those benefits to go away?  Have we become a society that can’t see past the propaganda of the Fox “news” people, the corporate “raiders” such as the Koch brothers, and the others who are hell bent on transferring the wealth of America into the hands of a smaller and smaller conglomerate?  They are on the precipice of Karl Rove’s “permanent republican majority” and all I can say is that I sincerely hope the incredible POWER GRAB by the newly elected “tea party” governors of Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and so many other states awakens the working middle class of America to what is really going on.

I guarantee you that you won’t be able to trust the “liberal media” to clue you in on what’s “really” happening out there.  I still remember all the publicity for the “tea party” convention which had something like 600 people attending, while crowds in excess of 100,000 in Madison Wisconsin seem to go almost unnoticed – as if it’s no “big deal” to those who are at the helm.  Well, all I can say is that I sincerely hope those people have a surprise in store.  Yes, I’m a school teacher and no, I’m not personally offended when the governor of Indiana calls me part of the “privileged elite,” (in fact, when I thought about it a bit, I wished he was right :o) and, yes, if it takes attacks on school teachers to wake people up to what’s happening in America – I say; “Bring em on!”

To President Obama;  What you’re witnessing from the democratic senators in Wisconsin is what so many Americans were hoping to see from you.  Yet, as every day passes, what we see tells us that this fight against the takeover of America by the monied interests of Wall Street will have to be won without you!  I knew something was up when you chose Timothy Geithner and Larry Summers to head your economic team and Rahm Emanuel to be your chief of staff.  The day you pardoned George W Bush and Dick Cheney, along with all the other lawbreakers they had in their administration, I knew we progressives were in BIG TROUBLE.  “Democrats” have been pardoning republicans for as long as I can remember.  When Bill Clinton took office we didn’t see any kind of willingness to finish the investigation of the Iran/Contra fiasco which almost certainly should have implicated George HW Bush (and, by the way, I’m in the middle of a book right now which is giving a compelling case that HW was right in the middle of the JFK assasination, along with a bunch of other republican leaning CIA types – very interesting to say the least – believe me, there’s SO MUCH we the people don’t know that’s going on in our names) and then we put up with countless pointless investigations of Bill and Hillary Clinton – for EIGHT years! 

George W then comes along, illegally wiretaps Americans (without question), authorizes TORTURE (without question) – along with his VP, plunders the economy, lies America into one war and recklessly gets us bogged down in another without finishing the job we went there for, totally politicizes the Justice Department, encourages regulators to cozy up to those they were regulating (leading to major disastors), and refuses to allow his surrogates to answer subpoenas to congress – and you, President Obama, said we’re going to “look forward” and ignore MAJOR FELONIES!  You, who said Waterboarding is torture, looked the other way as BOTH George W Bush and Dick Cheney ADMITTED to authorizing TORTURE on national TV virtually guaranteed the resurgence of the despicable republican party – showed them democrats don’t have the courage of their convictions.  (Remember Mr. President, you promised us during the campaign that NO ONE is above the law in America!)

Honestly, I don’t think President Obama will ever acknowledge the consequences of his decision to re-enable the republicans after they had virtually RUINED this country by LETTING THEM OFF THE HOOK.  I still listen to Randi Rhodes to this day complain about all the republican lawbreaking and then turn right around and blindly defend the president.  You have to give her credit – that she follows her own advice of when she said prior to Obama’s election that once a candidate is nominated, good democrats should simply “fall in line.”  Therefore, I’m not a good democrat – because I’m fairly disgusted with the underlying positions of President Obama.  Yes, he’s better than any republican by a longshot, I believe that fundamentally he’s a good, well meaning man, but the bottom line to me is that he’s trying to defend the “status quo” and, as long as that is our leadership mentality, America will continue on this dreadful path toward second rate status. 

Large corporate interests have been slowly eating away at the New Deal agenda since the days when it was enacted.  If you’re not understanding what I’m talking about, there are a bunch of privileged families in America (you guessed it, I’m really not part of the privileged elite – despite what the “tea party” is trying to convince America) like the Bush family, the Koch’s, the Rockefellors, the Mallon’s, and yes the Kennedy’s and the Roosevelt’s too – along with many others.  They continue to control the majority of wealth in this nation and some of them seem to have an insatiable appetite for money.  Honestly, from my perspective I have to wonder how much is enough for people like them.  For example, do the Koch’s really want more?  They already control BILLIONS upon BILLIONS of dollars, a multitude of corporations, and a sizeable chunk of the media – not to mention American politicians who are beholden to them.  I use them as an example because they’ve been “outed” recently due to their unscrupulous behavior in Wisconsin which has become public knowledge.  I’ve been hearing about them for years because of their influence with the so-called right wing “think tanks” which have been so instrumental in the republican’s Geobbel’s like propaganda scheme of the past 30+ years.

I have no doubt that the Koch’s are right in the middle of the “Family” – the group influencing right wing politicians around the world with a philosophy which outwardly proclaims to be based on Jesus, but in actuality is based on the philosophy of the fascist rulers of the World War II era – like Hitler and Mussolini.  What I’m not sure of is how interconnected these people are with the CIA and also how far over the line the CIA has gone since it was formed in the 50’s.  In the book I’m presently reading titled “Family of Secrets,” by Russ Baker, there is a compelling case made that the CIA has been involved in much more than the illicit activities that are common knowlege regarding the coups and assasinations they’ve orchestrated around the world (if you need some background, read Naomi Klein’s “Shock Doctrine”).  Not only does he imply the CIA was involved in the assasination of JFK (with daddy Bush – that is HW Bush possibly complicit) but the evidence strongly suggests that Richard Nixon was set up by the CIA in the Watergate affair.  I’m not sure what to believe, but what is certain is that democratic presidents have shown a lack of will to investigate political crimes since I can remember, and after reading the first half of Baker’s book, it all makes more sense to me.  (the possible backlash from the CIA to presidential “meddling” probably looks pretty daunting from the Oval Office)

The circle of people involved with the CIA seem to have been (this is in the 60’s and 70’s – and, probably up to now) Castro haters, the military industrial complex, and Texas oil interests.  When the true history of the fall of the American empire is written, I believe the oil lobby – the oil MONEY – and the “war machine” will be front and center in the reason for the fall.  Not only have these industries purchased our congress to the point that it can’t function in a way that would make sense in a world which is environmentally self destructing, but we continue to throw money at these industries as if there’s no tomorrow – in fact, it appears to me that our oil and war  interests will continue to push their agenda right up to the point when America has bankrupted itself into second class status.  When you look closely at the agenda being championed by the so-called conservatives in congress today (and weakly fought by the democrats) you see them AFRAID to cut money from BIG OIL and they wouldn’t think of touching money authorized for the DEFENSE department.  Have you ever wondered what enemy is out there requiring us to spend almost a TRILLION dollars this year to defend against?

The truth is we are stuck in a vicious circle of stupidity that is generated by fearmongering and results in more spending for defense – which creates more enemies in the world who see us as the new Soviet Union – which creates even more spending for defense – which creates …….  Well, I think you get my point.  The disappointment for me is that George W Bush and Dick Cheney were so blatantly abusive to our constitution that if we couldn’t draw the line with them, well, when will we draw the line?  From what I can tell our elected representatives in congress aren’t going to draw the line.  They spend all their time trying to get re-elected.  I think what is possible, as I watch (and donate to) what is happening in Wisconsin is that it’s up to “we the people” – and, one way or the other, it’s the ground swell from the BOTTOM that is going to bring change.  The “tea party” has gotten the jump on a progressive populist movement, but I’m counting on the progressives making their point in the next election through shear numbers.  The reality is that MOST Americans are part of the working class.  So, we MUST stop fighting amongst ourselves and band together to push these corporatists out of the government and back to their corporations (which MUST be re-regulated).  The problem in America isn’t workers rights or unions, the problem is GREED coming from the wealthy.  America will be healthy again when “we the people” are caring for each other instead of turning against each other.  (instead of complaining that public workers make too much, we should all be fighting for those who make too little)  Those on the right need to understand that Fox “news” is a propaganda arm of the republican party which is carrying the “water” for the corporate interests trying to abscond with our government.  I can’t think of one good reason why any working American would call themselves a republican.  (unfortunately, the only recommendation I have for the democrats is that they aren’t republicans! ughh)