The last U.S. Combat Brigade has left Iraq and…well, it’s been a little anti-climatic. I think of the thousands of people who stopped traffic on Lake Shore Drive and Michigan Avenue here in Chicago to protest the war in Iraq and I wonder where all those people are now? You’d think they’d be…I dunno? Excited? Happy? Triumphant?
But no. Those people have mostly moved on to other causes I suppose. Or, maybe they wised up a bit when their hero the Super O told them what the previous administration did: That you just can’t pick up and leave—that the consequences to that would be worse than the consequences to our staying there.
Americans are a bit spoiled in that we’ve never had war brought to our shores aside from 9/11 and a few isolated incidents during WWII. War is a video game to us, or a movie. That’s our reference point. So, ending a war seems like a simple enough thing to do. Choose a few face saving words of bravery, save that last little child, board the waiting chopper and take off looking back at the war torn land you’re leaving as the credits roll. Done. Right?
Not so.
Back when people were lining the major streets of our cities and the mother of a soldier who was killed in Iraq was camping out just outside the Bush ranch in Texas all people could talk about was how this was a war for oil. And make no mistake, there were people in our president’s ear who had personal financial gain on their minds when they applauded his choice to take war to Iraq, but it was never a war for oil. It was a war for revenge.
The question is who had the revenge right of way? From the point of view of most Americans, we did. They flew planes into the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon! Of course, they saw it differently. They felt like revenge was their right because 20 years earlier we used them to fight a war against the Russians—a war they won for us and then once it was over, we left them to rot in the war torn wasteland where they won. Sons grew up without fathers. Life was hard. Sure, they could have blamed the enemy—the Russians, but that’s the enemy! The bad guys! They are supposed to be evil!
So, it was their “friends” who they chose to blame. That would be us. And our evil is fact. We used them and left them to suffer the consequences. That didn’t give them the right to do what they did. Attacking civilians is wrong and cowardly, but even that distinction is open to interpretation. During the war in Afghanistan against the Russians, bombs were left that resembled toys so that children would pick them up and be killed. During that war, there was no such thing as a civilian.
In fact, Afghanistan was so thoroughly destroyed that 20 years later when the fatherless sons of that war struck out for vengeance, their country wasn’t recovered enough to fight back against. We needed a figurehead. We needed someone we could fight. Iraq was in up to their necks—but behind the scenes, like the CIA in the war between Afghanistan and Russia. We chose them as our target. They were a public relations target more than anything. Sadaam was someone we could bring down. Oedipus could be satisfied when Georgie Jr. proved to his mommy that he was a bigger man that daddy. There was an actual country there that we could liberate—and they did need liberating.
It was a win-win proposition. The American people, too ignorant of their own history, just wanted some blood. We wanted to believe in WMD’s and all the rest. Of course, the problem was that after Shocked and Awed the hell out of them, beat their army, took their evil leader prisoner and later executed him that our original enemy entered the vacuum to fill the space that the Iraqi government had previously occupied.
We found ourselves fighting the very people we trained to defeat the Russians, on their turf, the very same turf that the USSR couldn’t defeat them on—only it was worse. At least the USSR could leave bombs for kids to set off and target people—military or civilian—indiscriminately. We had to fight our war on television. We had to win hearts and minds. It was a no-win situation.
The political pressure that ensued led to our electing a president who promised to get our troops out of Iraq. It’s taken him a year and a half to do it. And here’s the rub: We’ve left a power vacuum once again. The fledgling Iraqi government is too corrupt and too weak and too divided to stand. It will fail. Power will fall into the hands of the most ruthless and evil. Fear will be their weapon. No American President will do anything about it, because the American people want no part of Iraq and to do so would be political suicide.
And so the fatherless sons of this war will rise up and strike out at our own children. Here’s hoping that before they act, before they take to the streets to protest, that they understand their history and they know the truth of what has transpired.
Showing posts with label President Barack Obama. Show all posts
Showing posts with label President Barack Obama. Show all posts
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Monday, March 22, 2010
Health Care: Facts Are Fiction
It’s days like today when we really get to see the full power of the marketing arm of both the Democrat and Republican parties in action. The blogosphere is ablaze with commentary about the passing of Health Care reform and every has the “facts.” No one seems to notice that the facts often contradict each other—or they don’t care. One thing is for sure though, we’ve all been educated to argue our side of the issue.
We are a nation inundated with “talking points.” Go ahead, try to have a reasonable debate with someone about health care today. You won’t get past the opening statements without the person you’re debating rattling off some impressive sounding poll numbers, facts, figures and canned statements that the pundits repeat ad nausea on their respectively biased news stations.
I’ve read blogs that report only 30% of Americans approved of this bill passing. I’ve read some that report that 70% were in favor of it. How can two polls, honestly run, come up with such varied results? The simple answer, of course, is that they can’t. Not if they are run honestly and with integrity.
Throw the poll numbers out. And if you want to win your argument about health care today, simply make people explain the many canned statements they offer you. Even the most passionate people on each side of this issue rarely know the true facts—they know the facts they want to know from the people they want to know them from and that is their idea of truth.
It would be amusing if it weren’t so sad that the people on each side of this issue weren’t such hypocrites. The way this bill was passed is under scrutiny. Those who supported the bill support the method. Those who didn’t—don’t. And when the shoe is on the other feet years from now it’s the conservatives who want to pass something and the liberals who don’t want it done the position on parliamentary procedure will be reversed. Both sides will be hypocrites.
My favorite line ever muttered in a movie was spoken by Sir Alec Guinness in the movie Return of the Jedi in which his character says the most profound thing many of us will ever hear: “…you’ll find that a great many of the truths we cling to depend greatly upon our own point of view.”
Our own point of view? What shapes us? How do we look at the issue? Who do we listen to talk about it? Have we always had health insurance? Have we gone without? Do we have a pre-existing condition? Do we know someone who lost their home and savings trying to pay for care for their child who suffered from a disease that couldn’t have been helped? Are we wealthy? Are we poor? Do we listen to the marketing team from Fox or the marketing team from MSNBC?
What do our parents think? What do our kids think? What do our friends think? What does our spouse think? What does our favorite celebrity say? What was our favorite athlete’s opinion? Who’s book did we read? Who scared us the most?
The fact is that we form our opinions first and then we go out and search for facts to make us right. And the facts are out there. You can twist any number, any statement, any fact you want to prove what you want to believe. This isn’t a debate of the facts. Every blog/article/”news” program you see today is going to list all of their facts and they will paint a picture that makes it seem like your side, your opinion, your perspective, your point of view is right or wrong. You’ll judge those words based, not on the validity of the facts but the way they fit with your own perspective.
The facts that prove you right are right. The facts that prove you wrong were twisted, gathered by biased organizations, improperly collected, given out of context. The problem isn’t that a health care bill passed or didn’t pass, people. It’s that we all know what’s right without having any real information. The problem is that we made up our minds before we even heard the facts. The problem is that we pick and choose sides and argue the talking points of that side like robots.
The problem is that we’re programmed to do so. Where do we turn to get real information from these days? Who is telling the clear unbiased truth? Who is uncorrupted? Who doesn’t have sponsors to answer to; advertising money to obtain? Who doesn’t have a motive? Who isn’t greedy? Argue all you want to today, light up the blogosphere with your facts and opinions. Flame on indignantly at those too foolish to see the facts you were fed and digested so willingly.
You’re silly people to think you understand the issue. You only understand the parts of it they want you to understand. Your opinions aren’t your own. You picked a side and borrowed their proof. You spout it out like you know what it means. You’re a fool. We’re all fools. Liberty died the day news became a way to make a profit. That’s a fact.
We are a nation inundated with “talking points.” Go ahead, try to have a reasonable debate with someone about health care today. You won’t get past the opening statements without the person you’re debating rattling off some impressive sounding poll numbers, facts, figures and canned statements that the pundits repeat ad nausea on their respectively biased news stations.
I’ve read blogs that report only 30% of Americans approved of this bill passing. I’ve read some that report that 70% were in favor of it. How can two polls, honestly run, come up with such varied results? The simple answer, of course, is that they can’t. Not if they are run honestly and with integrity.
Throw the poll numbers out. And if you want to win your argument about health care today, simply make people explain the many canned statements they offer you. Even the most passionate people on each side of this issue rarely know the true facts—they know the facts they want to know from the people they want to know them from and that is their idea of truth.
It would be amusing if it weren’t so sad that the people on each side of this issue weren’t such hypocrites. The way this bill was passed is under scrutiny. Those who supported the bill support the method. Those who didn’t—don’t. And when the shoe is on the other feet years from now it’s the conservatives who want to pass something and the liberals who don’t want it done the position on parliamentary procedure will be reversed. Both sides will be hypocrites.
My favorite line ever muttered in a movie was spoken by Sir Alec Guinness in the movie Return of the Jedi in which his character says the most profound thing many of us will ever hear: “…you’ll find that a great many of the truths we cling to depend greatly upon our own point of view.”
Our own point of view? What shapes us? How do we look at the issue? Who do we listen to talk about it? Have we always had health insurance? Have we gone without? Do we have a pre-existing condition? Do we know someone who lost their home and savings trying to pay for care for their child who suffered from a disease that couldn’t have been helped? Are we wealthy? Are we poor? Do we listen to the marketing team from Fox or the marketing team from MSNBC?
What do our parents think? What do our kids think? What do our friends think? What does our spouse think? What does our favorite celebrity say? What was our favorite athlete’s opinion? Who’s book did we read? Who scared us the most?
The fact is that we form our opinions first and then we go out and search for facts to make us right. And the facts are out there. You can twist any number, any statement, any fact you want to prove what you want to believe. This isn’t a debate of the facts. Every blog/article/”news” program you see today is going to list all of their facts and they will paint a picture that makes it seem like your side, your opinion, your perspective, your point of view is right or wrong. You’ll judge those words based, not on the validity of the facts but the way they fit with your own perspective.
The facts that prove you right are right. The facts that prove you wrong were twisted, gathered by biased organizations, improperly collected, given out of context. The problem isn’t that a health care bill passed or didn’t pass, people. It’s that we all know what’s right without having any real information. The problem is that we made up our minds before we even heard the facts. The problem is that we pick and choose sides and argue the talking points of that side like robots.
The problem is that we’re programmed to do so. Where do we turn to get real information from these days? Who is telling the clear unbiased truth? Who is uncorrupted? Who doesn’t have sponsors to answer to; advertising money to obtain? Who doesn’t have a motive? Who isn’t greedy? Argue all you want to today, light up the blogosphere with your facts and opinions. Flame on indignantly at those too foolish to see the facts you were fed and digested so willingly.
You’re silly people to think you understand the issue. You only understand the parts of it they want you to understand. Your opinions aren’t your own. You picked a side and borrowed their proof. You spout it out like you know what it means. You’re a fool. We’re all fools. Liberty died the day news became a way to make a profit. That’s a fact.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Losing My Religion
You’ll have to excuse me for seeing myself as one of the last reasonable people on Earth but I’m afraid that’s exactly what I am. I’ve come to hate discussing politics because it’s rare I can find someone with an opinion of their own, and not some piece of idiocy they repeat from a diatribe by Olberman on MSN or Beck on FOX.
It’s simply stunning to me how the marketing arms of the two parties have invaded the consciousness of the masses. When you talk politics, the buzzwords, catchphrases and talking points are spouted out like a prayer of the Almighty Church of My Side. Not only have Church and State mingled, mixed, spawned, the opposing sides have become religions unto themselves.
Pundits are preachers and prophets, they get the message to the masses and their word is gospel. Hallelujah! Go in peace to love and serve the party with which you affiliate! Each side is the benevolent, just and righteous deity to its people and the other side every bit a devil from the pits of hell.
Where is the middle ground? How can so few not be polarized by the us or them mentality of these competing congregations? I made a comment today that was a negative comment about our President, Mr. Obama and it draws the ire of the flock from Our Lady of the Left even though the comment itself wasn’t inflammatory. And immediately, I felt the dirty hands of the parishioners from the Fellowship of the Right pulling and patting and petting me, trying to draw me in, to make me one of theirs.
My comment though, was fair and balanced. It was a criticism of Obama that did not undermine him, or demean him. It was simply an opinion. It was followed up by another that was in support of him. The Fellowship of the Right recoiled from me. The people from Our Lady of the Left kept their distance too. They didn’t know what to make of me. I was of both and of neither. Warily, they backed away from me. I must be crazy.
It may seem a silly little thing, but more and more, we are organizing ourselves into two separate groups. We are blue and red, left and right, one or the other. Each side has a strict with us or against us philosophy. Those of us who are in the middle are enemies to both. Does no one recognize the danger of our behavior? In a world where we readily admit there is more gray than black or white—our opinions on governing ourselves are all black, or all white with nothing in between.
The prophets speak nightly of fire and brimstone, of the end times, of how the other side is evil and is trying to manipulate and destroy. They speak of Revelations. They tell you what to think and to fear anything the other side says—they only seek to tempt you with the apple they offer.
They are preparing for a holy war. Each wants to destroy the other. Each is secure in the knowledge that they alone know best, that their way alone will save us. Let us pray: Obama is the devil and he seeks to infect us with the plague of socialism. Let us pray: I am the hope and the truth and the change.
I feel so alone. My only company is common sense, compromise and those who don’t care one way or the other. I look to each side and see the holy warriors firmly entrenched and when they finally do battle, I’ll be the first to go.
The end is neigh. Armageddon is upon us. Pray to your pundit that your side will prevail. I was of the Church of America, but my god died a long time ago. Blessed be the righteous, for they shall inherit the earth.
It’s simply stunning to me how the marketing arms of the two parties have invaded the consciousness of the masses. When you talk politics, the buzzwords, catchphrases and talking points are spouted out like a prayer of the Almighty Church of My Side. Not only have Church and State mingled, mixed, spawned, the opposing sides have become religions unto themselves.
Pundits are preachers and prophets, they get the message to the masses and their word is gospel. Hallelujah! Go in peace to love and serve the party with which you affiliate! Each side is the benevolent, just and righteous deity to its people and the other side every bit a devil from the pits of hell.
Where is the middle ground? How can so few not be polarized by the us or them mentality of these competing congregations? I made a comment today that was a negative comment about our President, Mr. Obama and it draws the ire of the flock from Our Lady of the Left even though the comment itself wasn’t inflammatory. And immediately, I felt the dirty hands of the parishioners from the Fellowship of the Right pulling and patting and petting me, trying to draw me in, to make me one of theirs.
My comment though, was fair and balanced. It was a criticism of Obama that did not undermine him, or demean him. It was simply an opinion. It was followed up by another that was in support of him. The Fellowship of the Right recoiled from me. The people from Our Lady of the Left kept their distance too. They didn’t know what to make of me. I was of both and of neither. Warily, they backed away from me. I must be crazy.
It may seem a silly little thing, but more and more, we are organizing ourselves into two separate groups. We are blue and red, left and right, one or the other. Each side has a strict with us or against us philosophy. Those of us who are in the middle are enemies to both. Does no one recognize the danger of our behavior? In a world where we readily admit there is more gray than black or white—our opinions on governing ourselves are all black, or all white with nothing in between.
The prophets speak nightly of fire and brimstone, of the end times, of how the other side is evil and is trying to manipulate and destroy. They speak of Revelations. They tell you what to think and to fear anything the other side says—they only seek to tempt you with the apple they offer.
They are preparing for a holy war. Each wants to destroy the other. Each is secure in the knowledge that they alone know best, that their way alone will save us. Let us pray: Obama is the devil and he seeks to infect us with the plague of socialism. Let us pray: I am the hope and the truth and the change.
I feel so alone. My only company is common sense, compromise and those who don’t care one way or the other. I look to each side and see the holy warriors firmly entrenched and when they finally do battle, I’ll be the first to go.
The end is neigh. Armageddon is upon us. Pray to your pundit that your side will prevail. I was of the Church of America, but my god died a long time ago. Blessed be the righteous, for they shall inherit the earth.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Bow? Wow. Wow!
I have mixed feelings on the subject of President Obama bowing to Japanese Emperor Akihito because while I understand his move as a symbolic one of the U.S. being less egotistical and prideful than we’ve gained a reputation for in recent years and willing to meet others without affectations of superiority, I also can’t help but think of the many World War II veterans, who we just celebrated on Wednesday and what they might think about the action?
First things first, I think it’s important to point out that both Bill Clinton and Richard Nixon bowed to Japanese Emperors. It’s not an unprecedented action from either side of the political spectrum. And President Obama certainly set a precedent when he bowed to Saudi Arabia’s King. Had he not done so in this instance it could have looked very suspicious.
Regardless of the intent or the precedent of other president’s from each party having done it, I still have some issues with our President bowing to anyone. When two people bow to one and other, they show mutual respect. When one person bows to another, they show deference. While an arrogant, smug United States is bad for the world, it’s not as bad as a meek one could be. The message our President should be sending to one and all is that we are willing and ready to meet as equals. Bowing to an individual does not communicate that at all. It is a sign of weakness.
A man as eloquent as President Obama should be able to communicate his desire to meet and speak as equals without the grand symbolic gestures. He should also listen to the people and realize that they are not in favor of him bowing and scarping. Our last administration never admitted a wrong or made an apology—the Change I Believed In promised it would when called for, but so far it has not.
I keep coming back to the veterans of WWII, specifically those who fought in the Pacific. I’ve seen many wonderful documentaries about Japanese and American veterans meeting on bits of land where they fought each other and killed each other’s friends and comrades. They have found peace. They embrace. The forgive one and other. They share a deep and impenetrable bond and it’s an amazing testament to humanity.
Individually, it’s a wonderful thing and something to be celebrated, but in the grander scheme of things can you imagine a day, some sixty-something years in the future when a President of the United States bows to a leader of al-Qaeda? No matter what passes between now and that hypothetical day to establish friendship, don’t you think it would be an insult to those who lost their lives on September 11th, 2001?
Each side has come a long way since Pearl Harbor, and Japan has paid a great price for their actions of December 7th, 1941. I don’t mean to suggest that we shouldn’t be allies, or friends; that we shouldn’t be respectful of each other and the traditions we each hold dear, but a man who has called Hawaii home should never forget what happened there. No matter how mended the fence, or how strongly new ties have been formed, the leader of our nation should be respectful enough of those who died at Pearl Harbor to never bow to office that ordered their deaths.
There are better ways to make friends, Mr. President, than by being symbolically humble. For the sake of those entombed in the harbor, you should apologize and find a better way.
First things first, I think it’s important to point out that both Bill Clinton and Richard Nixon bowed to Japanese Emperors. It’s not an unprecedented action from either side of the political spectrum. And President Obama certainly set a precedent when he bowed to Saudi Arabia’s King. Had he not done so in this instance it could have looked very suspicious.
Regardless of the intent or the precedent of other president’s from each party having done it, I still have some issues with our President bowing to anyone. When two people bow to one and other, they show mutual respect. When one person bows to another, they show deference. While an arrogant, smug United States is bad for the world, it’s not as bad as a meek one could be. The message our President should be sending to one and all is that we are willing and ready to meet as equals. Bowing to an individual does not communicate that at all. It is a sign of weakness.
A man as eloquent as President Obama should be able to communicate his desire to meet and speak as equals without the grand symbolic gestures. He should also listen to the people and realize that they are not in favor of him bowing and scarping. Our last administration never admitted a wrong or made an apology—the Change I Believed In promised it would when called for, but so far it has not.
I keep coming back to the veterans of WWII, specifically those who fought in the Pacific. I’ve seen many wonderful documentaries about Japanese and American veterans meeting on bits of land where they fought each other and killed each other’s friends and comrades. They have found peace. They embrace. The forgive one and other. They share a deep and impenetrable bond and it’s an amazing testament to humanity.
Individually, it’s a wonderful thing and something to be celebrated, but in the grander scheme of things can you imagine a day, some sixty-something years in the future when a President of the United States bows to a leader of al-Qaeda? No matter what passes between now and that hypothetical day to establish friendship, don’t you think it would be an insult to those who lost their lives on September 11th, 2001?
Each side has come a long way since Pearl Harbor, and Japan has paid a great price for their actions of December 7th, 1941. I don’t mean to suggest that we shouldn’t be allies, or friends; that we shouldn’t be respectful of each other and the traditions we each hold dear, but a man who has called Hawaii home should never forget what happened there. No matter how mended the fence, or how strongly new ties have been formed, the leader of our nation should be respectful enough of those who died at Pearl Harbor to never bow to office that ordered their deaths.
There are better ways to make friends, Mr. President, than by being symbolically humble. For the sake of those entombed in the harbor, you should apologize and find a better way.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Invade Canada! Steal Healthcare!
The problem is that President Obama isn’t doing things the American Way. We the people need to wake him up and properly explain the job to him so he can start correcting his egregious mistakes. Some solutions are so simple that intelligent, Harvard-educated men like him just don’t see them. If he’d gone to Yale and spent some time in the Air National Guard, he’d be much better equipped to deal with this silly little heath care problem that faces our country.
When we didn’t have oil, did we sit on our asses and try to conjure it up by talking? NO! As the old saying goes, crap in one hand and wish in the other, then see which hand gets filled first. Well our President is wishing and wishing and wishing and he needs to start crapping or we’re going to elect Sarah Palin to do our pooping in 2012.
The answer is simple. We don’t have health care available to all of our citizens. Canada does. Solution: Invade Canada and steal their healthcare.
What are they going to do about it? The only resistance we’ll face is a few burly guys with hockey sticks yelling, “eh!” And not only that, but Canadians are far too polite resist us—and for crying out loud, a good portion of the country is French, we haven’t even invaded yet and they’re probably considering surrendering!
Granted, after we steal Canada’s health care, that will leave them with none. And that’s sad, but they’re Canadians, the only time they’ll notice is when they loose a tooth or two playing hockey but honestly, Canadians are like West Virginians in that missing a few teeth just means an elevated status within their borders!
Plus, it solves the whole Iraq problem too! Everyone wants our military out right now! No one cares about how that region will survive after we go. With all the alternative energy possibilities being explored, we really don’t need their oil anymore—so to hell with them! Our military has better things to do! Invade Canada!
Shock and Awe can be replaced with Eh and Aboot! We’ll invade, control the country within 24 hours, take all their health care and it’ll be over! Our exit strategy will be to shake the hands of the defeated Canadians and listen to all their well-wishes and no-hard-feelings speeches.
Granted, most Canadians complain about their healthcare system as well, but I have to think that if we take theirs and add it to ours, that has to be better right? Maybe they’ll be able to make some more, maybe they won’t. As a token of good will and neighborly friendship, we can even give them Detroit, including the Red Wings. It’s not like we use Detroit anymore anyway. They get another Original Six hockey team and we lose all those unemployed auto workers who helped cause this healthcare crisis in the first place! Two birds. One stone! Bam!
It’s time to start making this new president of ours accountable. It’s time to teach him the American Way. We aren’t the beacon on the hill because we wait around and hope things will get better! We take what makes us better from those who are weaker than us and then expect them to be grateful to us for it! And our friend’s to the north are the perfect victims for our current needs.
Sorry Canada. You’re going down. But hey! Detroit!
When we didn’t have oil, did we sit on our asses and try to conjure it up by talking? NO! As the old saying goes, crap in one hand and wish in the other, then see which hand gets filled first. Well our President is wishing and wishing and wishing and he needs to start crapping or we’re going to elect Sarah Palin to do our pooping in 2012.
The answer is simple. We don’t have health care available to all of our citizens. Canada does. Solution: Invade Canada and steal their healthcare.
What are they going to do about it? The only resistance we’ll face is a few burly guys with hockey sticks yelling, “eh!” And not only that, but Canadians are far too polite resist us—and for crying out loud, a good portion of the country is French, we haven’t even invaded yet and they’re probably considering surrendering!
Granted, after we steal Canada’s health care, that will leave them with none. And that’s sad, but they’re Canadians, the only time they’ll notice is when they loose a tooth or two playing hockey but honestly, Canadians are like West Virginians in that missing a few teeth just means an elevated status within their borders!
Plus, it solves the whole Iraq problem too! Everyone wants our military out right now! No one cares about how that region will survive after we go. With all the alternative energy possibilities being explored, we really don’t need their oil anymore—so to hell with them! Our military has better things to do! Invade Canada!
Shock and Awe can be replaced with Eh and Aboot! We’ll invade, control the country within 24 hours, take all their health care and it’ll be over! Our exit strategy will be to shake the hands of the defeated Canadians and listen to all their well-wishes and no-hard-feelings speeches.
Granted, most Canadians complain about their healthcare system as well, but I have to think that if we take theirs and add it to ours, that has to be better right? Maybe they’ll be able to make some more, maybe they won’t. As a token of good will and neighborly friendship, we can even give them Detroit, including the Red Wings. It’s not like we use Detroit anymore anyway. They get another Original Six hockey team and we lose all those unemployed auto workers who helped cause this healthcare crisis in the first place! Two birds. One stone! Bam!
It’s time to start making this new president of ours accountable. It’s time to teach him the American Way. We aren’t the beacon on the hill because we wait around and hope things will get better! We take what makes us better from those who are weaker than us and then expect them to be grateful to us for it! And our friend’s to the north are the perfect victims for our current needs.
Sorry Canada. You’re going down. But hey! Detroit!
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
The Socialist Threat
The cloud of Socialism hangs over the United States of America. Make no mistake about it my friends! Of course, I’ve always been a fan of clouds. Sometimes you can just stare at them up in the sky and matrix them into all kinds of fun shapes, a puppy, a crocodile, Jessica Alba.
The Republican Party, which has been in complete disarray since losing the election last November, has now proposed that the Democrat Party rename themselves the Democrat Socialist Party. I for one, think it’s a beautiful thing! Of course, I don’t think the Democrats will do it, or that the idiotic tactics being employed by the Republicans are going to do them any good, but I’m overjoyed that the threat of Socialism is running rampant throughout the U.S.!!!
Now don’t tell anyone, but I’m not really supporting Socialism in the U.S. Although personal heroes like Kurt Vonnegut and Jesus Christ were outspoken Socialists, I don’t really think socialism is the answer to our countries problems. But the threat of socialism is a beautiful thing, don’t you think?
Our country is made up of a tiny percentage of rich people, who have more money than they could ever use and they sit on it. Then there are the rest of us who bust our humps, get paid salaries that allow us to get by and little more and it gets you to thinking, how did all of this happen?
Back in the day, we had actual industry here in the United States. Industry, for those of you too young to have ever witnessed it, can be simplified to “making stuff.” Yes. We used to make stuff here. We used to ship it to other places just like China and Japan and Indonesia ship stuff that they’ve made here now.
When we used to make stuff, the same type of thing was happening. The people who ran the companies made all the money and they allowed their employees to live paycheck to paycheck, barely surviving. They did this because they were greedy little bastards, but if we’re honest with ourselves, deep down, we all are and would have done the same thing.
To continue the history lesson though, the workers eventually got a little pissed off and just like that, the Unions were born. The Unions fought to get fair wages, reasonable workday lengths, over time pay and all kinds of things that made the workers happier. The rich still got rich, but not quite as rich as they were before. Then the Unions started to get run by nefarious types and before long, they were as corrupt and greedy as the captains of industry.
The workers were greedy too though. They didn’t want their kids to grow up to be coal miners and farmers and machine operators and laborers of any kind. They wanted their kids to have jobs in offices, with desks and phones and collared shirts, so they sacrificed and saved and sent their kids off to college.
About this same time, captains of industry were upset about the way things had turned out with the weakening of their profit margins. Paying workers an honest day’s pay for an honest day’s work really wasn’t a popular idea, but the Unions, being run by nefarious sorts, were unbreakable, so other plans had to be made.
It turns out the plan was to stop making stuff here in the U.S. You won’t believe this, but you can pay a 12 year old Chinese girl less than a dollar a day to do a job that a Union worker in the U.S. would make $20.00 an hour to do! Of course this probably seems a little unfair to the U.S. worker doesn’t it? Surely our elected representatives would have something to say about that, right?
Unfortunately, no—they did not. You see, it takes money to get elected to political office and it’s much easier to work for a lot of money from a captain of industry, than it is to work hard for a bunch of people who can only give you a little bit each. Thus, the captains of industry purchased the United States of America and set the puppets they put into office about to do their bidding, instead of the bidding of the constituency they were supposed to be “representing.”
Sadly, we the people, didn’t much notice. We didn’t want to work in factories and fields and mines anyway. We wanted to work in offices, with water coolers and staplers and photocopy machines. As the Unions really didn’t protect the office dwellers, since the office dwellers were the ones who they were protecting laborers from, the office dwellers became an exploitable commodity. Of course it wasn’t like the old days—the office dwellers still got a few vacation days here and there and insurance and such, but most of them were put on something called a salary, which essentially meant they were paid for 40 hours worth of work a week, and given 60-80 hours of work to do each week.
And predictably, there weren’t enough real office jobs for all of the people who were too good to work in fields and factories and mines so enterprising new captains of industry created fake jobs for them. A fake job is any job that isn’t essential. If you don’t make it, mine it, transport it, etc, you have a fake job. Some companies, who can’t afford to hire people from our country to make their products, can afford to pay millions of dollars for 30 seconds of advertising time for a commercial during events like the Super Bowl—how’s that for fake?
That brings us to the present time. The economy is in bad shape. Many of us are finding out just how expendable we really are; we’re finding out that our jobs are fake, or that they can be pared down and done by fewer people. The captains of industry don’t much care, because they still have so much money that they won’t ever possibly spend it in their lifetime, and neither will their children’s children. Unions are dead. There is no industry here anymore to support them. The office dwellers can’t spend money because they aren’t making money and so those who have sit tight and wait, while those who do not, begin to suffer. And that is precisely why the threat of socialism is such a beautiful thing right now! We should all embrace it! Say it with me now: Workers of the world, unite!
The current political intent is to scare you with Socialism. The former Soviet Union was a socialist country you know! Communists in fact! They want you to be afraid of it, they want you to mistrust it. They want you to be worried about it happening to you, they equate it with a loss of freedom, but that’s not really the case. Socialism isn’t a bad thing necessarily, not if it’s Democratic Socialism. You see, there is a big difference between Communism and a Democratic Socialist government.
Socialism, at its core, is the belief that Capitalism unfairly conglomerates power and money, to those who have the capital and money. In other words, it believes that the rich getting richer is an unfair way of doing business. Socialism is more of an equal opportunity kind of government. It stands in opposition to the imbalance of Capitalism. And, of course, it’s a horrible idea for the United States. We were founded on the principles of Capitalism and have thrived under them. It would be foolish to just do away with them.
But the powerful and rich have gotten too powerful and too rich and they control too much of the money and too much of us. In November, for the first time in a very long time, we the people decided that we had just about enough of the puppets of the those captains of industry running things, so we elected a guy they hadn’t gotten their hooks into yet. And he has messes to fix.
Some of the methods and ideologies of the fixes he’s putting into place smack of socialist ideals. Universal health care means everyone gets it! Not just those who can afford it! And those who make more, have to pay more so that those of us who make less, don’t go broke paying for it. So, unless you’re rich, that should sound like a great plan!
The thing is that the economy works best when there is a lot of money flowing through it. It doesn’t do that when it’s all bunched up at the top. It doesn’t trickle down as they’d have you believe. Greed is too powerful an instinct to us. We gather to us all we can and more. Me first. So, our President is putting money into the bottom and letting it flow up. Not all of it, mind you, just enough of it to make those who have it pretty nervous.
Which brings us all the way back to the pretty cloud of socialism that’s hanging over our country. Embrace it my friends! Don’t embrace the idea of socialism—it works brilliantly in some places, but it would never work here. Embrace the threat of it! It’s been a long time since those at the top of the food chain have feared those of us at the bottom. And fear is a powerful motivator. They don’t like that we’ve elected a President without consulting them. The Republican Party is in disarray because we did. We became so disgruntled with their representation that we turned our backs on them and now they are all busy running around and howling at the moon. The more liberal Democrat Party is in power now, trying to fix the economic problems with liberal theories and ideas—some of them that even smack of socialism. And they fear it.
It would be an end to all they know. It would be an end to their power. It would be an end to looking down with disdain at the rest of us. It would be a mistake. As much as we don’t want to admit it, we need them. But they don’t know that we still know that. They are afraid of the step we’ve taken away from them, and they live in fear of further steps, like the step to socialism.
People of power will not go down without a fight. The fear will make them change their ideas and thoughts and they will look to appease us—because there are so many more of us than there are of them. And when used, there is power in numbers—when we vote, like we did this past November. In order to avoid the calamity that would be actual socialism in the U.S., they will make efforts to make wealth and power more accessible to us. They will share, so as not to lose. We shouldn’t want equal pay for everyone, but we should want what is fair. We should want to be able to keep our jobs in favor of executives getting multi-million dollar bonuses. That’s ridiculous. That’s the kind of compromise we can force.
Such is the power of the threat of Socialism. It is a weapon. It is fear. It is motivation. What our President is doing now isn’t socialism, but it’s close. That closeness, combined with the lack of any real message or direction from the Republican party has caused them to try to make us—we the people—afraid of socialism. Be not afraid my friends. They have unwittingly provided us with the weapon we can use to close the gaps that exist in our country today. Let’s make them think that we’re actually crazy enough to use it!
The Republican Party, which has been in complete disarray since losing the election last November, has now proposed that the Democrat Party rename themselves the Democrat Socialist Party. I for one, think it’s a beautiful thing! Of course, I don’t think the Democrats will do it, or that the idiotic tactics being employed by the Republicans are going to do them any good, but I’m overjoyed that the threat of Socialism is running rampant throughout the U.S.!!!
Now don’t tell anyone, but I’m not really supporting Socialism in the U.S. Although personal heroes like Kurt Vonnegut and Jesus Christ were outspoken Socialists, I don’t really think socialism is the answer to our countries problems. But the threat of socialism is a beautiful thing, don’t you think?
Our country is made up of a tiny percentage of rich people, who have more money than they could ever use and they sit on it. Then there are the rest of us who bust our humps, get paid salaries that allow us to get by and little more and it gets you to thinking, how did all of this happen?
Back in the day, we had actual industry here in the United States. Industry, for those of you too young to have ever witnessed it, can be simplified to “making stuff.” Yes. We used to make stuff here. We used to ship it to other places just like China and Japan and Indonesia ship stuff that they’ve made here now.
When we used to make stuff, the same type of thing was happening. The people who ran the companies made all the money and they allowed their employees to live paycheck to paycheck, barely surviving. They did this because they were greedy little bastards, but if we’re honest with ourselves, deep down, we all are and would have done the same thing.
To continue the history lesson though, the workers eventually got a little pissed off and just like that, the Unions were born. The Unions fought to get fair wages, reasonable workday lengths, over time pay and all kinds of things that made the workers happier. The rich still got rich, but not quite as rich as they were before. Then the Unions started to get run by nefarious types and before long, they were as corrupt and greedy as the captains of industry.
The workers were greedy too though. They didn’t want their kids to grow up to be coal miners and farmers and machine operators and laborers of any kind. They wanted their kids to have jobs in offices, with desks and phones and collared shirts, so they sacrificed and saved and sent their kids off to college.
About this same time, captains of industry were upset about the way things had turned out with the weakening of their profit margins. Paying workers an honest day’s pay for an honest day’s work really wasn’t a popular idea, but the Unions, being run by nefarious sorts, were unbreakable, so other plans had to be made.
It turns out the plan was to stop making stuff here in the U.S. You won’t believe this, but you can pay a 12 year old Chinese girl less than a dollar a day to do a job that a Union worker in the U.S. would make $20.00 an hour to do! Of course this probably seems a little unfair to the U.S. worker doesn’t it? Surely our elected representatives would have something to say about that, right?
Unfortunately, no—they did not. You see, it takes money to get elected to political office and it’s much easier to work for a lot of money from a captain of industry, than it is to work hard for a bunch of people who can only give you a little bit each. Thus, the captains of industry purchased the United States of America and set the puppets they put into office about to do their bidding, instead of the bidding of the constituency they were supposed to be “representing.”
Sadly, we the people, didn’t much notice. We didn’t want to work in factories and fields and mines anyway. We wanted to work in offices, with water coolers and staplers and photocopy machines. As the Unions really didn’t protect the office dwellers, since the office dwellers were the ones who they were protecting laborers from, the office dwellers became an exploitable commodity. Of course it wasn’t like the old days—the office dwellers still got a few vacation days here and there and insurance and such, but most of them were put on something called a salary, which essentially meant they were paid for 40 hours worth of work a week, and given 60-80 hours of work to do each week.
And predictably, there weren’t enough real office jobs for all of the people who were too good to work in fields and factories and mines so enterprising new captains of industry created fake jobs for them. A fake job is any job that isn’t essential. If you don’t make it, mine it, transport it, etc, you have a fake job. Some companies, who can’t afford to hire people from our country to make their products, can afford to pay millions of dollars for 30 seconds of advertising time for a commercial during events like the Super Bowl—how’s that for fake?
That brings us to the present time. The economy is in bad shape. Many of us are finding out just how expendable we really are; we’re finding out that our jobs are fake, or that they can be pared down and done by fewer people. The captains of industry don’t much care, because they still have so much money that they won’t ever possibly spend it in their lifetime, and neither will their children’s children. Unions are dead. There is no industry here anymore to support them. The office dwellers can’t spend money because they aren’t making money and so those who have sit tight and wait, while those who do not, begin to suffer. And that is precisely why the threat of socialism is such a beautiful thing right now! We should all embrace it! Say it with me now: Workers of the world, unite!
The current political intent is to scare you with Socialism. The former Soviet Union was a socialist country you know! Communists in fact! They want you to be afraid of it, they want you to mistrust it. They want you to be worried about it happening to you, they equate it with a loss of freedom, but that’s not really the case. Socialism isn’t a bad thing necessarily, not if it’s Democratic Socialism. You see, there is a big difference between Communism and a Democratic Socialist government.
Socialism, at its core, is the belief that Capitalism unfairly conglomerates power and money, to those who have the capital and money. In other words, it believes that the rich getting richer is an unfair way of doing business. Socialism is more of an equal opportunity kind of government. It stands in opposition to the imbalance of Capitalism. And, of course, it’s a horrible idea for the United States. We were founded on the principles of Capitalism and have thrived under them. It would be foolish to just do away with them.
But the powerful and rich have gotten too powerful and too rich and they control too much of the money and too much of us. In November, for the first time in a very long time, we the people decided that we had just about enough of the puppets of the those captains of industry running things, so we elected a guy they hadn’t gotten their hooks into yet. And he has messes to fix.
Some of the methods and ideologies of the fixes he’s putting into place smack of socialist ideals. Universal health care means everyone gets it! Not just those who can afford it! And those who make more, have to pay more so that those of us who make less, don’t go broke paying for it. So, unless you’re rich, that should sound like a great plan!
The thing is that the economy works best when there is a lot of money flowing through it. It doesn’t do that when it’s all bunched up at the top. It doesn’t trickle down as they’d have you believe. Greed is too powerful an instinct to us. We gather to us all we can and more. Me first. So, our President is putting money into the bottom and letting it flow up. Not all of it, mind you, just enough of it to make those who have it pretty nervous.
Which brings us all the way back to the pretty cloud of socialism that’s hanging over our country. Embrace it my friends! Don’t embrace the idea of socialism—it works brilliantly in some places, but it would never work here. Embrace the threat of it! It’s been a long time since those at the top of the food chain have feared those of us at the bottom. And fear is a powerful motivator. They don’t like that we’ve elected a President without consulting them. The Republican Party is in disarray because we did. We became so disgruntled with their representation that we turned our backs on them and now they are all busy running around and howling at the moon. The more liberal Democrat Party is in power now, trying to fix the economic problems with liberal theories and ideas—some of them that even smack of socialism. And they fear it.
It would be an end to all they know. It would be an end to their power. It would be an end to looking down with disdain at the rest of us. It would be a mistake. As much as we don’t want to admit it, we need them. But they don’t know that we still know that. They are afraid of the step we’ve taken away from them, and they live in fear of further steps, like the step to socialism.
People of power will not go down without a fight. The fear will make them change their ideas and thoughts and they will look to appease us—because there are so many more of us than there are of them. And when used, there is power in numbers—when we vote, like we did this past November. In order to avoid the calamity that would be actual socialism in the U.S., they will make efforts to make wealth and power more accessible to us. They will share, so as not to lose. We shouldn’t want equal pay for everyone, but we should want what is fair. We should want to be able to keep our jobs in favor of executives getting multi-million dollar bonuses. That’s ridiculous. That’s the kind of compromise we can force.
Such is the power of the threat of Socialism. It is a weapon. It is fear. It is motivation. What our President is doing now isn’t socialism, but it’s close. That closeness, combined with the lack of any real message or direction from the Republican party has caused them to try to make us—we the people—afraid of socialism. Be not afraid my friends. They have unwittingly provided us with the weapon we can use to close the gaps that exist in our country today. Let’s make them think that we’re actually crazy enough to use it!
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Grand Old Party Poopers
After watching the new President, Barack Obama, give his address to the nation tonight, I was set to go to bed without comment. Then there was the Republican Response and…
Well, I’m sorry, but I just can’t help myself. Oh, how the mighty have fallen and that chaos that is now the Republican Party has become a sad, sad mess. I realize all too well the irony of someone from Illinois criticizing the governor of anyone else’s state, but wow Louisanna! Your governor talks like someone who just finished his Hooked on Phonics course study!
And the Republican Response he gave was less of a response than it certainly was some camera time for an up and comer in the New Grand Old Party. It seems that in the huddle that must have occurred after President Obama was elected, the consensus must have been this: WE NEED SOME BROWN PEOPLE! DO WE HAVE ANY BROWN PEOPLE? SURELY WE HAVE TO HAVE A BROWN GUY OUT THERE SOMEWHERE!!!!
Sure enough, they found a brown guy to be the Republican Chairman and now they have a brown guy giving the Republican Response after President Obama’s speech today. This particular brown guy is Governor Robert Jindal and he’s the Hindu-reformed-to-Catholicism kind of brown. The result of the “do we have a brown guy” huddle produced some sad results indeed. Nothing against former Hindus, but I just don’t see a huge voting swing based on the Hindu vote in 2012. Still, the Repubs needed to show some diversity and some youth. They decided they needed to trot out a pony who wasn’t a pasty white guy. They had bupkiss in Congress, and had to settle for Jindal.
And what a sad choice it was too! Governor Jindal stepped up to the podium and told us about how Obama’s big government approach was a disaster waiting to happen and even had the nerve to compare it to the idiotic government response to Hurricane Katrina. (I believe the kids at this point do something called *facepalm*)
It takes balls to stand up in front of America and liken the then Republican-controlled government’s poor response to Katrina, to the now Democrat-controlled government’s plan to bail out the economy that the Repubs helped drive into the ground. I was left with my mouth hanging open. Governor Jindal, it must take a forklift to help you carry those cojones around sir!
I am not a believer in big government myself, but after eight years of Republican power in the executive branch, paired with 6 of those years during which there was Republican power in the legislative branch and the colossal failure that resulted, I’m ready to give another idea a chance. I’m willing to step back and admit that less, less, less, less, less government is not the key to fixing the economy as it stands today. Governor Jindal, on one hand apologized for that Republican clusterfuck, and in the very next breath, told you to trust the Republicans in Congress (most of whom are leftovers from the Bush years). I believe at this point, the kids are doing what they would call *headdesk*
Perhaps the greatest insult is that Governor Jindal’s state of Louisiana was offered $3.8 billion dollars of the recovery plan money. Governor Jindal accepted $3.7 billion of it. For those of you who are slow at math, like me, that’s just $1 million he’s turning down. He’s standing up in front of the country and telling everyone how bad Obama’s plan is and then taking almost all of the money his state is being offered? That smacks of hypocrisy to me.
Is this truly the great brown hope of the new, exciting, cutting edge, hip and cool Republican Party? If it is, I’m sad to say that Obama could let trained monkeys run the country for the rest of his term and still win re-election in 2012. I say this not because I want to see President Obama out, but because our government is at it’s best when both parties are full of intelligent and capable leaders.
The Grand Old Party is trying to change it’s image. They see that the Democrats got a young, charismatic, brown guy elected and have started trotting out their own. It strikes me that they prioritize the young, charismatic and brown above the capable and intelligent. Sadly, Governor Jindal was the best they could do. He came off like a buffoon. Trust me. I’m from Illinois. I know what a buffoon governor looks and sounds like.
Well, I’m sorry, but I just can’t help myself. Oh, how the mighty have fallen and that chaos that is now the Republican Party has become a sad, sad mess. I realize all too well the irony of someone from Illinois criticizing the governor of anyone else’s state, but wow Louisanna! Your governor talks like someone who just finished his Hooked on Phonics course study!
And the Republican Response he gave was less of a response than it certainly was some camera time for an up and comer in the New Grand Old Party. It seems that in the huddle that must have occurred after President Obama was elected, the consensus must have been this: WE NEED SOME BROWN PEOPLE! DO WE HAVE ANY BROWN PEOPLE? SURELY WE HAVE TO HAVE A BROWN GUY OUT THERE SOMEWHERE!!!!
Sure enough, they found a brown guy to be the Republican Chairman and now they have a brown guy giving the Republican Response after President Obama’s speech today. This particular brown guy is Governor Robert Jindal and he’s the Hindu-reformed-to-Catholicism kind of brown. The result of the “do we have a brown guy” huddle produced some sad results indeed. Nothing against former Hindus, but I just don’t see a huge voting swing based on the Hindu vote in 2012. Still, the Repubs needed to show some diversity and some youth. They decided they needed to trot out a pony who wasn’t a pasty white guy. They had bupkiss in Congress, and had to settle for Jindal.
And what a sad choice it was too! Governor Jindal stepped up to the podium and told us about how Obama’s big government approach was a disaster waiting to happen and even had the nerve to compare it to the idiotic government response to Hurricane Katrina. (I believe the kids at this point do something called *facepalm*)
It takes balls to stand up in front of America and liken the then Republican-controlled government’s poor response to Katrina, to the now Democrat-controlled government’s plan to bail out the economy that the Repubs helped drive into the ground. I was left with my mouth hanging open. Governor Jindal, it must take a forklift to help you carry those cojones around sir!
I am not a believer in big government myself, but after eight years of Republican power in the executive branch, paired with 6 of those years during which there was Republican power in the legislative branch and the colossal failure that resulted, I’m ready to give another idea a chance. I’m willing to step back and admit that less, less, less, less, less government is not the key to fixing the economy as it stands today. Governor Jindal, on one hand apologized for that Republican clusterfuck, and in the very next breath, told you to trust the Republicans in Congress (most of whom are leftovers from the Bush years). I believe at this point, the kids are doing what they would call *headdesk*
Perhaps the greatest insult is that Governor Jindal’s state of Louisiana was offered $3.8 billion dollars of the recovery plan money. Governor Jindal accepted $3.7 billion of it. For those of you who are slow at math, like me, that’s just $1 million he’s turning down. He’s standing up in front of the country and telling everyone how bad Obama’s plan is and then taking almost all of the money his state is being offered? That smacks of hypocrisy to me.
Is this truly the great brown hope of the new, exciting, cutting edge, hip and cool Republican Party? If it is, I’m sad to say that Obama could let trained monkeys run the country for the rest of his term and still win re-election in 2012. I say this not because I want to see President Obama out, but because our government is at it’s best when both parties are full of intelligent and capable leaders.
The Grand Old Party is trying to change it’s image. They see that the Democrats got a young, charismatic, brown guy elected and have started trotting out their own. It strikes me that they prioritize the young, charismatic and brown above the capable and intelligent. Sadly, Governor Jindal was the best they could do. He came off like a buffoon. Trust me. I’m from Illinois. I know what a buffoon governor looks and sounds like.
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