R 'n' R

Rock 'n' Roll? No, that garbage gets kicked to the curb some other day. Talkin' about, Rest 'n' Relaxation. 'Tis the season, after all, isn't it?

Here in the United States' Northeast we've been mired 'midst the "dog days" of summer since the final week of June. Disgustingly hot, humid days and sleepless, clammy-skinned nights. Work and/or familial frustrations easily kindled into explosive outbursts. Traffic always at a stand-still while finger-waves of extreme pavement heat ripple like sheets of distortion in the air. Ozone buildup makes it difficult to breathe deeply. Time drags at the job, flies by at home. Weekends seem like only the briefest respite and nowhere near two full days long. Americans (those with jobs, that is) are having to work longer and produce more than ever for diminishing real-time wages. Personal indebtedness is soaring. Job security is a thing of the past. Retirement now seems to coincide with death. The financial crisis is still claiming victims among the innocent while the "criminals" deposit more and more money into their bulging accounts. Congressional Republicans continue to play the "No-ist" role of handcuffing any/all meaningful legislation while perpetrating the lie that such intransigence is in the Peoples' interest, meant to keep the Federal debt from escalating. We watch calamitous oil spills fouling our waters, our lands for over a hundred days and then, once the problem well has been capped, we hear that 200 million gallons of the toxic stuff plus millions more of applied dispersants are almost all gone with the remaining quarter of it not to be a bother. We hear of new techniques (hydraulic fracturing developed by Halliburton) for natural gas extraction that can foul entire aquifers; drinking water for millions; state watchdog agencies saying it's no problem await industry marching orders as to what regulatory regime will be put into place. [Insert laugh here_____.] We read of more of our food being contaminated with shit (literally) and other undesirable additives. Killer heat waves. Gas prices rise. Oil prices begin to climb in time for winter. And, that's just on the hemispherical home front.

Abroad, America continues to occupy Iraq and Afghanistan; in the first instance, because a cabal of delusional Cold Warriors (Cheney, Rumsfeld, Perle, Abrams, Wolfowitz – PNAC mainstays) executed a particularly odious assault vis-à-vis American Exceptionalism in the guise of "keeping America safe from terrorists;" and, in the second instance, well, there seems to be only one reason even though the same pronouncements about "fighting them over there so we don't have to fight them here" are uttered. Israel is poised to launch an attack on Iran, which, if that happens, expect oil/fuel to escalate in price by at least 50 percent upon first Israeli bombing sorties, and more if Iran mounts a serious response. Palestinians are still being tortured, murdered, humiliated daily by Israelis; some of these Palestinians, residents of Israel proper for generations, thousands of years longer than any Israelis. Both of the foregoing events aided and abetted by the American government, with the continuing "approval" of a majority of Americans; such callousness the driving force behind extremist Jihadists. The American government still turns a blind eye to the continuing evidence of widespread long-term impacts of Agent Orange exposure in Vietnam, refusing to send that government money to deal with that tragic legacy. Rain forests are being clear-cut at alarming rate. Entire species being exterminated daily. Huge, devastating storms and deadly floods wreaking havoc.

But, the above thoughts—if ever existing at all in the minds of Americans —are now lost to thoughts about getting some Rest 'n' Relaxation. After all, this is the time to get away, to take a vacation, to linger a week or two on an ocean beach or mountain lake shore, slugging back Margaritas and/or Lime Coronas, maybe do some swimming, fishing, seeing the sights, buying fetish consumerist products of non-utilitarian nature before heading out to local eateries to partake in sumptuous meals. In general, the idea is to become immersed in mindless ennui to achieve body/mind revitalization.

Wait a minute. "Mindless ennui?" Isn't that a typical American's day-to-day state of mind? Or, rather, their state of perpetual mindlessness? You know, vacant of knowledge yet full of opinions. Filled with dreams of becoming rich, or being a "star," yet having no talent and no idea of how those conditions may be attained. So sure that a Socialist plot is afoot that evidence is not required. Not to worry. Americans are special; held in highest esteem, by ourselves at least. And, that is all that matters. We are, all of us, destined to be exceptional. After all, we are Americans.

Please excuse this writer. [Off to vomit.] [Now cleaning and freshening up.] Thanks, that's better.

The good news is that multi-billionaires are pledging to "give back" half their fortunes. In America, 400 of just such wealthy are being asked to pledge $600 Billion via donation to charity of choice. Which means they're worth over $1.2 Trillion; or, to put it in perspective, worth more than the combined GDPs of Mexico and the Caribbean (22 nations); or equal to that of Brazil; or all of South East Asia; or that of all of Africa (52 nations); or just a few hundred Billion less than the entire Middle East consisting of the GDPs for Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Bahrain, Israel, Jordon, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Syria, United Arab emirates, West Bank and Yemen United, COMBINED (notice these include the "oil rich" Arab states). GDP defined as the value of all products and services created/performed in a nation during one year; this includes all income earned.

Who among you would like to wager that such an act of "kindness" among the wealthiest of wealthy will go a long way towards helping Americans to be dissuaded from any inspection of Capitalism as worthwhile worldwide economic system. God forefend we should question a system that has produced such wealth for so few at the expense of so many. That would be "class war" talk and totally indicative of a Socialist or Communist talking-point that it would then have to be immediately swept clean from the discussion table with the table itself disinfected. Although, with mid-term elections upon us, you'll be hearing the Republicans chanting this "class war" charge very soon and often as they direct their verbal attacks at the "Socialist" Obama Administration, in particular and Democrats, in general. You see, the only time "class war" can be brought up for discussion is when Republican representatives of the moneyed class do so in order to rage against the envious have-nots; against those whom deserve their poverty and hopelessness and complete lack of opportunity; admonishing the system-rejects for not pulling themselves up by their bootstraps (if only these poor people HAD boots upon which to tug). The above mentioned "give back" by the way, will certainly qualify for tax deductions on the billions earned this year thereby helping to replenish the coffers.

The intention of this writer is not to disparage Americans' work ethic nor put forth the proposition that a "break" from drudgery isn't required to recharge the batteries. But, in the context of the dismal lives so many human beings are experiencing primarily because of the Capitalist few-and-many paradigm, will any Americans be concerned enough to educate themselves to what's really transpiring around them? Perhaps pondering how much of the developed world allows for more than a full month PAID vacation/holiday time while Americans are lucky to get an unpaid week or two. Or, maybe reading in-depth analysis of financial news in order to suss out how the Wall Street pigs still feed at the trough of wealth-producing American labor? Will they be educating themselves to lifestyle changes that MUST be embraced if humanity is to survive? Will they be educating themselves to the realities of everyday life as opposed to fiction and celebrity scandals? Will they be educating themselves to the complexities of international issues like Palestinian sovereignty in an attempt to actually know what they're talking about when supporting, say, a criminal Israel?

The answer is, "No." Given this time, Americans will feed their faces, spend their money on nothing of import and lay about in a comatose state of smug satisfaction. While Americans so often excuse themselves from getting involved because of the time constraints they face (e.g., work, commuting, familial obligations), will they now, during their down-time vacations, educate themselves in order to contribute to our democracy via intelligent analysis of issues of import based upon facts and not just their "gut" feelings? Again, the answer is surely, "No!"

So, as Americans laid upon pristine ocean beach sands, in another sandy location, the Negev desert, 45 homes were razed by American made bulldozers. The Bedouin town of al-Araqib was leveled, destroyed by 1500 Israeli border guards, riot squad personnel, armed police and busloads of High Schoolers getting additional credit for removing the furniture and personal belongings of the villagers while mocking and taunting those hapless victims of Israeli policy of spreading misery to Arabs; in this instance on the pretext of making way for a national Jewish forest preserve. That these lands have been tended and lived upon for thousands of years, that these same people are actual citizens of Israel, means nothing. They are Arabs. And, therefore, in the eyes of Israelis they are less than animals and deserving of nothing but brutality. Yet, a major talking point on America's resort beaches, in the restaurants, on radio talk shows, television news, was the anger at the decision to allow a Muslim mosque to be built two blocks from Ground Zero.

As vacationers imbibe spirits and engage other like-minded folk in conversation, how many will actually know what they're talking about? My guess is precious few. How many will still maintain that the current financial meltdown was caused by sub-prime mortgages? How many will still blame Muslim terrorist acts on Islam? How many will side with Republicans on absolutely no addition to the Federal Debt, thereby agreeing that $34 billion for extended Unemployment Benefits shouldn't be spent, that $26 billion for keeping police, fire fighters, sanitation workers, teachers on the job shouldn't be spent; that the Health Care Bill passed into law should be repealed; that all "ear-marks" should be eliminated; that Financial Reform shouldn't have been passed; that an environmental reform bill including cap-and-trade provisions shouldn't be even brought up for discussion; that the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest 2 percent should be extended since not doing so would hinder economic recovery; that American should agree with the near-unanimous Congressional resolution to support Israel vis-à-vis its actions against the Gaza Flotilla; that "special interests" such as unionism should go the way of the Dodo bird? That government is the problem not the solution?

All the above are current Republican talking points. They are all wrong, misconstructions of reality. Charlatan-esque in that Republicans agitate on behalf of the top couple of percent while convincing the American people that such actions are in the interests of common folk. Outrageous. Republicans actually lie in the faces of their constituencies and those people buy it lock, stock and barrel. Why? Because the "masses" aren't sophisticated (read: educated) enough to know better. Most believe that their Republican representatives wouldn't lie to them. Oh, the President would (because he's black and/or Socialist). But, not the likes of Boehner, McConnell, Kyl, nor pundits Gingrich, Palin, Beck, O'Reilly.

However, the FACTS are these:

• The current financial crisis is totally the responsibility of irresponsible financial instruments (credit default swaps) that were, in many ,if not most, cases piggy-backed on subprime mortgages. It wasn't the subprime mortgage holders that were at fault. It wasn't Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae. It was Wall Street and the Bush Administration's insistence that the financial industry would be self-regulating; it was the Clinton Administration's repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act; it was Clinton's successful push for the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000 that essentially made it illegal to regulate the very financial products that caused the financial crisis.
• The Muslim extremists perpetrating the 9/11 atrocity did so because of Israel's continued illegal occupation of Palestine; because of America's support of Israeli brutality and illegality, because of Israel's invasion of Lebanon in 1982; because of American collusion in propping up brutal regimes in order to secure cheap oil.
• Republicans have repeatedly voted against allowing the extension of unemployment benefits and against allowing monies to aid state/city workers so they can stay on the job and provide public service; the claim of not doing so due to the fact of adding to the debt is a lie as both these expenditures would be paid for by closing loopholes that allowed huge corporations to off-shore jobs and have the government pay them for doing so and by raising taxes on the top 2 percent.
• "Earmarks" or "pork" is money that comes back to the People, for neighborhoods. It costs $55 Billion. The Republicans assail this expenditure while chanting in unison that the $672 Billion dollar Bush tax cut for the top 2 percent is no problem; that it will stimulate the economy. However, every Republican Administration since Reagan has increased the national debt. Clinton raised taxes on the top two percent and the best economic period of growth in history ensued; creating 22 million jobs; reducing the debt until a half Trillion dollar surplus was projected. These facts fly in the face of Republican rhetoric.
• The Congressional resolution in support of Israel in defiance of international law gave a perfect picture of how Israel gets away with atrocity after atrocity; taking a boat by force in international waters, murdering nine people aboard, tampering with evidence (confiscated video) in order to create a video of edited information (creating a fiction of victimization of Israeli troops); refusing to allow independent investigation; all with approval of the American government.
• Unionism is the American workers' only hope of gaining a living wage and safe working conditions; the rightwing-nuts continuing to bash unions to improve corporate America's bottom-line; apparently a ratio of 364 to one as to CEO earnings compared to average worker isn't enough.
  

So, every time you hear someone talking, why not question them about their views? Why not ask them to substantiate even one fact upon which their "gut feelings" are premised? Just because one's stance on some issue seems right in one's heart/gut, doesn't make it so. Core beliefs and knowledge seem so strong only because they are familiar, unchanging, repeated from parent to child again and again. Such familiarity, however doesn't make them correct. So, next time you hear someone spewing their opinion, jump in. I know, that uncomfortable feeling in the pit of your stomach is the stress of confrontation. Instead of letting that put you off, consider that discomfort compared with the daily brutality of Palestinians (3 million human beings) or the victims of American savage capitalism on billions of humans, and then question those that spew lies, or misinformation, or prejudice. Because, people, if you do not, as we're seeing with the TeaParty folk, such opinions catch on like wildfire and spread becoming a majority opinion that those in power use to further the status quo. To allow this to continue without challenge, makes one accessory to murder and mayhem; guilty, in a word.

Silence is complicity. Speak up. Challenge the status quo. Challenge the mindless spewers of ignorance or there will be no innocents come the next terrorist attack here in America.

Maybe R 'n' R should be less about Rest 'n' Relaxation and more about RESPONSIBILITIES that go hand-in-hand with Rights.

Any Which Way

Senator John McCain (R-Az), amidst a tough re-election campaign, states he has never put himself across as being a maverick even as his autobiography, "Worth the Fighting For" carries this subtitle, "The Education of An American Maverick, And the Heroes Who Inspired Him." Senator Blanche Lincoln (D) from Arkansas, amidst a tough re-election campaign, puts out two commercials, one stating she stood against Obama's Health Care reform bill by voting "no" even as she states in her other commercial that she supported the bill by voting "yes" (when she voted to procedurally allow the bill to move forward so that she could ultimately vote against it). President Obama (D)-- a professor of Constitutional law and professing to be all about the rule of law, even as he points his finger in accusation against religious fanatics (meaning, Islamists though not Israelis) aiding and abetting violence in pursuit of their aims --issues a fatwa (extrajudicial death sentence) on American-born Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki (for allegedly having egged on the "Christmas Day Bomber"). And then there's Senator Tom Coburn (R-Okla) a proponent of George W. Bush's unfunded tax cuts (that transferred hundreds of billions of dollars from the working middle class to the top one percent) objecting to a $9 Billion emergency spending bill to extend unemployment benefits to more than 200,000 Americans even as he stated, " The easiest thing in the world is to pass this bill unpaid for, but consider the millions of Americans whose financial futures would be damaged, versus the relatively small amount of people who will be affected by this delay. Now you tell me which vote takes the most courage." [This writer's emphasis]

And, of course, we have the hysteria of Obama Socialism being fanned by the usual suspect demagogues (Beck – Coulter – Goldberg – Hannitty – Ingraham – O'Reilly) to such raging proportion that the ignorami have taken to brick-throwin' and death threatenin' and packin' weapons so enflamed have they become. Secession from the United States of America has gained traction in such dimly lit circles; where shadows are everything, being cast as they are by a reality which is only a reflection of the terror felt by those less than fortunate feudalists mobbing on behalf of a system that exploits them; serfs to the Republican lords of "free market" ideology.

Dumbfucks, in a word.

So here we are in the year 2010 with the American political scene one of profound polarity, with hypocrisy at unprecedented levels and with the American people fervently yelping anti-Communism rhetoric reminiscent of the worst McCarthy era jihadists. According to this less than scintillating sector of American citizenry, Team Obama are—at the same instant, mind you –socialist/communist/progressive/fascists whose only goal is to impose their tyranny of the left, to grow government, to feed big brother, to…Wha' da?! Hey?! Government has grown bloated under thirty years of Republican governance even as it has been largely privatized (ergo decisions made by what's good for shareholders rather than what the People require). Big Brother-- what with warrantless wire-tapping, email intercept programs, the tossing of habeas corpus, the indiscriminate use of "enemy combatant" to lock away anyone for any reason or no reason at all --has been never as well nourished as during the last thirty years of Republican governance. And yet, across America, Tea Partiers are apoplectic over a "tyranny of the left" so ominous and all-powerful that the "No-ists" (a.k.a. Republicans) can thwart every Democratic move by merely threatening to filibuster and/or by using any/all delaying tactics/procedures no matter how thin the validity in order to obstruct progress. But, this escapes the "moral majority."

Really, really dumb, dumbfucks.

This is a summation of Karl Marx's central premise re Communism: "The state of society in which there is no private property, no socially significant division of labour or exclusive ownership of tools and means of production, and no use of money as a substitute for the social control of production, and in which production is directly for use. This stage will be achieved as a result of the internal collapse of capitalism when the proletariat comes to expropriate the expropriators and places into social ownership the means of production, distribution, and exchange. Marx envisages capitalist habits and the use of money not being abolished overnight after such a revolution. Politically, the revolution will be accompanied by a temporary repressive dictatorship of the proletariat, which will then be the vast majority of mankind, preventing the old ruling class and its agents from regaining power. Economically, the first stage of communism, often called socialism by Marx's followers, will be based on the continuation of a money economy and of democratized labour discipline according to the principle, 'From each according to his capacity, to each according to his contribution.' When such socialized production has caused the springs of wealth to flow more freely, when labour has become highly educated and versatile, and when the vestiges of bourgeois habits and self-seeking have been eliminated, money will cease to play a significant role and the principle of society will become, 'From each according to his capacity, to each according to his need'." [The Portable Karl Marx, edited by Eugene Kamenka; Penguin, 1983; pg 564-565]

To review the three pillars of Marxian Communism: The People (workers/proletariats) own the means of production. The People (workers/proletariats) own the nation/real property assets. The People (workers/proletariats) rule of, by and for the People, not for profit.

With America going absolutely bonkers having been fed large portions of hate and divisiveness, with fears fanned so hot that irrationality stokes the conversation, the anti-Communist outpouring has been blistering; lots of heat with absolutely no light being generated. The self-serving leading the deaf, dumb and blind. For, think about it. The means of production has been lost, shifted overseas; now China out manufactures America. Millions of jobs have likewise been off-shored; the legion of non-working now the highest since the Great Depression. American production workers are becoming an endangered species. Trillions of dollars of value/wealth has been lost by the People (middle class) as the housing bubble burst, as tax breaks for the top percentage of earners siphoned trillions more from the People (middle class) and even more money transferred as real wages for the People (proletariat/workers) has fallen over the past three decades. As for money ruling, have Americans forgotten the S and L crisis of the 80s and the $313 billion (in today's dollars) bail out; that it came on George Bush, Sr.'s watch; that it involved son Neil Bush; that crisis theft serving as bookend to W's deregulatory debacle that currently plays out? Does the current financial crisis ring a bell? Trillions of taxpayer dollars given over to gamblers who went hog wild and went belly up— these hogs, the major American banks, those same institutions that successfully lobbied for a cut-throat bankruptcy law that would force middle-class Americans defaulting on credit card debt to pay up even if it meant losing their homes and all their possessions; the argument used most, moral hazard. Yet, even as the moral hazard argument was used on American citizen debtors and the rest of the world during the Asian financial crisis of 1997, there wasn't much talk of moral hazard when it came to bailing out America's financial elites. According to Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel winning economist, "During the East Asian crisis, just a decade ago, American and the IMF demanded that the affected countries reduce their government's deficits by cutting back expenditures – even if, as in Thailand, this resulted in a resurgence of the AIDS epidemic, or even if, as in Indonesia, this meant curtailing food subsidies for the starving…America and the IMF forced countries to raise interest rates, in some cases (such as Indonesia) to more than 50 percent. They lectured Indonesia about being tough on its banks and demanded that the government not bail them out. What a terrible precedent this would set, they said, and what a terrible intervention into the smooth-running mechanisms of the free market. The contrast between the handling of the East Asian crisis and the American crisis is stark and has not gone unnoticed. To pull America out of the hole, the country engaged in massive increases in spending and massive deficits, even as interest rates were brought down to zero. Banks were bailed out left and right. Some of the same officials in Washington who dealt with the East Asian crisis are managing the response to the American implosion." [p222] The ol' Do as I say, not as I do routine. Don't these multi-trillion dollar bail outs and double standards suggest who is, and will forever be, calling the tune here in America? Could it truly be possible Americans have forgotten the above mentioned realities? Yes, they have. Thus the new strategy for simply making reality whatever you want it to be for the nonce, not to be hindered by pesky real reality, history, actuality. Lying and then lying about lying has become the operative strategy in America. Any which way. What difference does it make? Real? True? Fiction? Lie? All the same to the lame of mind Tea Partiers and Republicans and even some Democrats, too. It works. Americans are not equipped to deal with facts. In fact, most don't know how to distinguish a fact from a fiction; a condition that is exacerbated via amnesia of anything beyond ME in the MOMENT.

Just look at the People (workers/proletariats) manning the barricades spewing venomous, misspelled epithets and threatening the "Progressives" with violence (in words and deeds) because this Democrat Administration is supposedly forcing Communism down America's collective throat. Never mind that at no time since its inception has Marxian Communism been less likely to flourish in America. Yet, "Leaders" like House Minority Leader, John Boehner* (R-OH ) screams "HELL NO!" refusing to go anywhere near that Marxian "dystopia" called Communism. And that's not because it'll undermine American morality; that's already been accomplished by Republican leadership over three decades. Why Boehner squeals like a pig against Communism is because Communism is all about operating on behalf of the masses, not amassing on behalf of the few at the expense of the masses. He, along with his Republican cohorts, have pledged to refuse to go along with ANY legislation proposed by the majority party Democrats in an effort to strait-jacket the legislative process hoping the American dumbizens will only remember come November that gov'mint ain't workin', so it must be the Democrats' fault 'cause they's the majority. As long as the Republicans can continue their terrible-two tantrumatrics and fuck up the workings of democracy, the better chances they have for getting rewarded with the reins of a legislative majority this coming election.

Ironic? No, tragic. A clarion call to all Americans to smarten up or face the consequences of their stupidity.

* Let's finally call the Congressman out on the pronunciation of his name, shall we: Doe rhymes with dough as does foe, hoe, Joe, Moe, Poe, roe, toe and woe. Therefore, Boehner rhymes with boner. The guy even plays games with his own name, for cryin' out loud! A real stiff prick, that one.