Equal and Opposite

The physics-based Newtonian Third Law of Motion states: "For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction." For our intent and purpose, the action in question started during the waning months of the George W. Bush Administration; that constant reiteration by the American "Left" that only twenty-some percent of Americans identified themselves as Republican. The equal and opposite reaction has finally rebounded via recent Gallop Poll data that is sure to be used again and again during the run-up to 2010 elections. The numbers are bleak. 40 percent of Americans describe their political views as conservative, 36 percent as moderate and only 20 percent as liberal. Stated another way, 76 percent of Americans occupy the middle of the road to right shoulder (viz., in the fuckin' ditch) of same when it comes to political views. When one considers that only 24.4 percent of Americans earn a college Bachelor's degree or higher advanced degree, one should begin to see a disturbing correlation: "Tea Party" performances and GOP-issued defamations and fabrications regarding every issue of concern in America are premised upon the fundamental reality of a serious intelligence gap among our citizenry.

Remember when the Kennedy Administration first conjured the "missile gap" which prodded American taxpayers along a $6 Trillion trajectory to fund nuclear overkill capability, a bloated military industrial complex, a hawkish anti-Communism that has devastated Cuba, Central America, South America, Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe and Africa, not to mention rendering any mention, let alone discussion, of Capitalism's less desirable consequences passé at best or traitorous at worst (e.g. Adam Smith's "invisible hand" stroking the cock of commerce to produce lugubrious payoff of benefit to all parties-- as in when da Massa o' da Manor is happy, so his slaves. Of course, such post-WWII use of unfounded fear-based claims were for the sole purpose of propagandizing Americans to believe, without question, that Capitalism/Democracy is God's tool and must be rescued from the horror of Totalitarian Communism.

What a crock o' shit!

So, how are American politicians now dealing with such a dangerous gap? By exploiting it, of course! The difference between Republicans and Democrats is this: Democrats know the People are intellectually challenged and seek to educate them with facts. Republicans know the People are fuckin' stupid as a brick and use that fact to further their personal grab of power and profits via fear-mongering. Not that Dems are saints. They are not. However, THEY are the ones we hear talking about helping the People while Republicans are scaring the People into believing preposterous stories that, should they become true (which they won't), would hurt the People and most likely destroy America. Democrats are steeped in tradition of supporting unions and workers rights while Republicans are steeped in corporate extortion of labor. Democrats have a history of promoting Constitutional rights to all Americans while Republicans have worked to bring Constitutional rights to corporations to the detriment of Americans. Democrats have a history of spreading the wealth while Republicans seek to concentrate wealth and then use such absurdities as "Trickle Down Theory" to pabulumize the populace (as in GooGoo, GaaGaa…Eat IT! It's good for you.)

I apologize to regular readers for harping on America's Stupid Factor in my blogs. But, Jesus H. Christ…Unless we continually hector the public with the fact that Americans are stupid and either oblivious to, or completely and unequivocally uncaring of, the fact that they are woefully uninformed, we are doomed to total collapse of America – as an awe-inspiring experimental concept and real-world haven for the truly oppressed –as stupidity threatens to win out over intelligence especially when we're talking about ultimate evolution of the Human species. I should clarify, one does not require a higher academic degree to be considered "smart." But, having gone through the process of higher education, hopefully (if educators have done even a minimally good job of educating), one will have learned, first, to think is a good thing, and to think well, is even better; being "smart" more about how to go about thinking in a logical manner than whatever may be thought. Too much of the American debate is now premised upon fear, loathing, ill-repressed racism, paranoia, xenophobic stereotyping, demagoguery and fabricated "facts." Even so-called leaders do not attempt to approach each issue with a good thought process, as evidenced by House and Senate Republicans who steadfastly issue forth outrageous claims based upon mis- and/or dis-information conjured to inject a sense of righteousness into their positions. Of course, the case could be (and regularly is) made that such a lack of logic and honesty does, in fact, represent the American People.

However, Republicans must be held accountable for their treachery. Opinion is being formed largely based upon nightmarish scenarios concocted by a self-serving, Conservative elite. Such inappropriate fear-mongering is having dire impacts on opinions here and abroad. Witness just a few:

• After governments of the world finally accede to the reality of man-made global warming confirmation, the Gallop Poll shows Americans' belief that global warming is "exaggerated" in the news rose from 35% in March 2008 to 41% in March 2009.
  
• At the APEC (Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation) summit held in Indonesia this past weekend, it's reported that, "The agreement on Sunday codifies what negotiators had already accepted as all but inevitable: that representatives of the 192 nations in the talks would not resolve the outstanding issues (Global Warming Limits) in time. The gulf between rich and poor countries, and even among the wealthiest nations, was just too wide."
  
• Perceptions that there is too much government regulation of business and industry" jumped from 38% in September 2008 to 45% in September 2009 this in the context of the stupendous financial meltdown caused by lack of oversight from which the world is still reeling.
• The percentage of Americans saying they would like to see labor unions have less influence in the country rose from 32% in August 2008 to a record-high 42% in August 2009 again, in the context of off-shoring of jobs by the millions and the massive givebacks on benefits, hours, and job security by American labor.
• The desire for government to "promote traditional values" as opposed to "not favor any particular set of values" rose from 48% in 2008 to 53% in 2009 with Republicans agreeing at a 67 percent rate, Independents at 54 percent and Democrats at 42 percent.
  

We must mention the fact that a Republican Administration unilaterally decided (via the PNAC) that pre-emptive wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were necessary. As a result, even when Democratic Administrations want out of such lunacy, there isn't any easy way to do so. Now the Republicans get their wars fought even when they're not in power. Funny how that works, huh? Frame the "debate" in such a way as to disallow any change to the frame. In this case, any attempt to end the wars begets charges that Dems are gutless and don't understand geo-politics so they "cut-and-run" or Repubs charge the Dems with "not supporting our troops" or "cowardice" on and on. And, why is this the operative dynamic? Because the American voters are too ignorant to understand how they are being used and abused by unconscionable Republicans.

A rather graphic display of cowardly, non-thinking posturing by the US Congress (Republicans and Democrats alike) is evidenced by House Resolution 867 condemning the Goldstone Report as being "irredeemably biased and unworthy of further consideration or legitimacy," passed by a vote of 344 to 36 with 22 abstentions; this, after the Obama Administration stated that the Goldstone Report was seriously flawed. World-renowned jurist Goldstone actually wrote the Obama Administration inquiring as to what flaws they were specifically referring only to get no response. The Goldstone Report conducted at the behest of the United Nations documented Israeli atrocities, human rights violations and war crimes during last December's Gaza invasion. The report also documents Hamas violations. I guess we can at least take comfort in that the US Congress is finally on record that charges of Hamas' acts of terror are merely the result of irredeemable bias.

Of course, the worst displays of all the above is the Health Care "debate" as engaged by Republicans. So many claims made by Republicans are taken from a single email by some ass-wipe with a grudge against Democrats. Story is that a North Carolina state representative sent out the fallacy-laden email points as a fund raising tool only to have it go viral in the blogosphere, appearing on thousands and thousands of blogs. Soon thereafter, Republican Congressmen and Senators began routinely interjecting the plethora of false accusations into their propaganda. Republicans have charged that the 40 percent reductions in Medicare payments to heart and cancer specialists as contained in HR 3200 (passed House health bill) would decimate the profession and likely lead to many more American deaths. The actual figure is a 10 percent reduction over four years! The non-ending cry for "Tort Reform" championed by House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio and Utah Senator Orrin Hatch, each claiming that such reform would result in a $100 billion savings, has been proved to be bullshit by the Congressional Budget Office as being only one-tenth of that figure. And then we have the cynically named, Conservatives for Patients' Rights, a group thoroughly operating at the behest of the Insurance Industry and likely personal investments to the distinct disadvantage of the American public. CPR routinely fudges the data in order to obscure the reality of America's troubled Health Care system thereby working for a few industries' interests while working against millions of American citizens.

America does not operate in leadership position based on the moral high-ground. We operate in lowest-common denominator position based on fear and stupidity of a poorly educated populace. To add to this mix, the overbearing emphasis on "self-esteem" in our schools produces a population that is stupid as stones but think they're geniuses. Should anyone dispute that claim, name-calling ensues in such loud saturation that any kind of intellectual pursuit of truth is drowned out or bludgeoned into silence. With the ever present "looking out for #1" syndrome fully developed, Americans will believe anything as long as the tellers of tall tales keep insisting they are looking out for #1; facts be damned.

We radicals/progressives need to drag the current strain of Republicanism into the bathroom, drown it in the tub, drive a stake through its heartless heart, shoot it with a silver bullet and burn the fuckin' corpse to ashes. To allow this virulence to live is to allow it to spread throughout humankind which will surely spell disaster. Stop with the niceties of discourse. Call these motherfuckers what they are in blatant terms. Stop selling out for bipartisanship. Start taking these liars and self-serving fuckers to task. And perhaps the best place to start is at home. Confront your parents, grandparents, relatives, neighbors. Stop placating them with the "let's agree to disagree" wimp-out. In their face! Don't relent. Make them absolutely aware that their beliefs are bullshit, based on garbage, worthy of no respect whatsoever. Fuck that right to one's opinion crap as a end point. There can be no end points. Continue to challenge such ludicrous opinion where ever you find it and do not relent.

The entire world and all its peoples depend on it!

Melting Steele

Just over 100 days into the Obama Administration and America's right-wing Republican/Conservative legion is being fed a massive dose of propaganda. The line goes like this: "Americans have learned what the Democrats' promise of 'change' really means -- an assault on capitalism, free enterprise and fiscal responsibility," not to mention "individual liberties sacrificed at the altar of collectivism." That great heaving hulk of ignorance and arrogance that passes as "the silent majority" is being fed huge portions of historical revisionism and washing it down with a heady brew of distilled delusion.

Stupid America, at about 50 percent of the population– most affiliated with Republicans/Conservatives reeking of religiosity –are being told to vote Republican next election because the $787 billion stimulus package contained "pork" and allowed bonuses for AIG officers via loophole. That the stimulus package was made necessary due to nearly thirty years of Republican fiscal mismanagement, of unchecked greed and avarice of the financial class, of Republicans getting all they wanted and more since Reagan, matters not at all. Nor does the fact that the so-called "pork" accounts for less than a percent of total. Nor does the fact that the faulty "loophole" was made possible by the malfeasance of the Bush Administration by way of one of the greatest transference of wealth mechanisms (from the many to the few) ever devised viz., TARP.

Nope. Obama and his ilk are at fault. Ilk? Yes… that other half of the country receptive of "Obama Democrats' dangerous liberal agenda" hell-bent on "fleecing (Americans') freedom and values." According to the propagandists, the Democrats are responsible for the huge debt, the budget deficit and a "destructive tax, spend and borrow agenda." [All above quotations from Michael Steele, RNC chairman, in a letter requesting contributions to help win back both houses come next election cycle.]

The fact that "supply side" economics (lowering income tax and capital gains tax rates for the wealthy as well as reducing regulation even as federal deficit spending increases thereby spurring supply side investment) has been a Republican/Conservative mainstay for thirty years seems irrelevant. The fact that both size of government and spending has increased exponentially under Republican Administrations apparently is irrelevant. The fact that debt has soared under Republican rule isn't relevant.

As one Republican/Conservative pundit opines, "I would love it if the GOP dedicated itself to cutting government by two-thirds, leaving only a minimal social safety net, a big honking military and a few other bells and whistles for promoting the general welfare. My ideal ticket in 2008 would have been Cheney-Gramm. That's right, Dick Cheney and Phil Gramm: two old white guys who would crush our enemies and liberate our economy while shouting, 'You kids get off my lawn!' at the filthy hippies who would inevitably accumulate outside the White House like so much bathroom fungus."

That was Jonah Goldberg, a member of the Conservative Ignorami that passes itself off as the right-wing's intellectual brain trust. Just 100 days into Obama's Administration and the above is what you get from those who have been in power and fucking up royally for three decades.

The putative, reigning king of the Republican party, Rush Limbaugh, claims what is needed isn't the current GOP "listening tour" (The National Council for A New America) but rather a teaching tour where Americans will be taught to recite the above distortions and outright lies as profound truths. Can't happen? Think again, dear hearts, for it happened in the small town I live in; GOP fabrications of such ludicrous proportion that the Dems refused to believe anyone could believe such outrageous claims so did nothing to counter the distortions and were promptly voted out in a sweep of historical proportions; that, after nearly two decades of building the case of GOP atrocities against town residents that ultimately resulted in a Democrat majority for the first time in fifty years. The moral of the story? Don't underestimate the GOP's willingness to lie and the stupidity of the "average" American.

No, this writer didn't forget that Clinton, a Dem, presided for two terms. But, as written in this space prior, Clinton did more to undermine middleclass Americans than any Republican would've been able to accomplish; well, any Republican other than Ronald Reagan, that colossus of mental acuity that prompted his supporters to chant, "Let Reagan be Reagan" until the addle pated headcheese spoke off the cuff and it became glaringly clear that his faculties (never honed anywhere near sharp) were atrociously atrophied from lack of use. Hence, why he is Sarah Palin's patron saint; she soooooooooo gets him! As does the "working class," Joe-the-Plumber's crowd, their greatest complaints centering on paying too much taxes (transfer of wealth) for bloated government that hinders job development; jobs they so desperately need. Hmm…One of Reagan's first acts was to fire all air traffic controllers for striking thereby crushing a union to serve as warning to all other union members (Reaganism: Fuck the working class). One of Reagan's other acts was to pledge and carry through on Federal tax reductions which directly led to the increased need for localities to substantially raise school taxes (Reaganism: Thieve from the poor give to the rich). Granted, the Gipper did make Americans feel good about themselves. Well, at least those scrubbed clean, crew-cutted, flag-waving patriots felt better after enduring a decade-and-a-half of having their self-centered shortcomings and provincial views (anti-feminist, anti-black, anti-gay, anti-third world) taken to task by "filthy hippies" who had taken to heart all the bullshit the American public was spewing and, upon attempting to implement those grand sentiments via application in the real world, found the "Greatest Generation" were frauds; their parents liars for talking the talk but then wanting to break the legs of those whom would walk the walk. Don't forget one of the biggest marketing coups in American history was the transformation of the 70s one-world generation to the "me" generation; that generation, fixated as it was on global considerations as a restraint against American adventurism abroad, classified as narcissistic miscreants unworthy of all but scorn from the "silent majority."

Another point well worth noting: Nothing in American politics is actually about Republican v Democrat ideals. It's about the few aiding the fewer at the expense of the many; Capitalism the coin of the realm. Both sides of the aisle are to blame for the failed conditions of education, housing, employment, taxation, health care, etc etc as applied to the "average" American. Yet, "average" Americans continue to rally behind their favorite ideological façade as if either side truly were working on the average Americans' behalf.

Doltism is alive and well here in the United States of America, for sure. Warning: Don't ever, ever underestimate the power of stupid people to band together and thwart the best intelligence a species has to offer.

It's happening right now.

Bridges To Nowhere

President Obama campaigned on the premise of change, building on the Clinton theme of building bridges to cross the gap between ideologies of the Democratic and Republican parties, to bring America and Americans together. In his first attempt at bridge building— the President had homophobe Rick Warren give the Inaugural convocation, he appointed Republicans to his cabinet and team of advisors, he held conferences with Republican leaders in order to consider their views on the economic stimulus package, he compromised early and on significant issues, he arranged a cordial get-together after the vote in hopes of extending what he thought was the beginning of bipartisan governance —Obama has built a bridge to nowhere as House Republicans voted unanimously against the economic stimulus package that everyone says is needed. The complaint from the Repubs is that it contains too much "pork" and not enough stimulus; that the cost is just too great to contemplate; not enough tax breaks for the business/wealth sector.

Pork? The Republican controlled Congress under President George W. Bush grilled more pig meat than there was BBQ sauce to cover it. Cost? The Republican Congress under President Bush spent a trillion dollar surplus and left the country its largest debt ever. Tax breaks? The Republican Congress under Bush gave more tax breaks to the wealthy than any prior Administration.

Welcome to Washington, Mr. President. You're a Superman fan. You should understand exactly where you are now: Bizarro World, where everything is upside down and turned around; where the People's representatives actually stand up in front of cameras that record their every utterance for posterity and unabashedly use creative rhetoric/semantics (lies) that would put a blush on the face of a Liar King; where those whose responsibility was to protect the People's democratic franchise decided to abrogate that trust and failed to regulate the greed-based deviousness that caused a massive, worldwide economic meltdown; where the People's representatives again and again sought to give more of the People's hard-earned money to those very few in the highest rarified income brackets without a single contract as to what that give-away would secure for the People.

Now, these same Republicans stand up and whine that the fix is worse than the "criminality" they aided and abetted. Of course, due to the monied status of those top echelon criminals and the fact that government cannot look into the books of private corporations, no one will ever be charged. An entire world will suffer because of an extremely few trough feeders yet the pigs won't be brought to slaughter. [Author's Note: I apologize to that "other white meat" porcine demographic for besmirching their name.]

What mainline media won't ever admit is this: Republicans are a joke! They have zero grasp of what needs to be done. Their understanding of issues is pathetically shallow; just ask any Repub to explain their stance on ANY issue and you'll hear clichés without any substance whatsoever. Go ahead, try it. Ask a question beyond the clichéd responses and you'll get sputtering repetition of the same clichés. Press for facts and you'll probably be called a "Liberal" and dismissed. Too harsh? Sarah Palin…'nuff said, right! Without clichés, what did she bring to the table? What grasp of issues did she/does she have? Don't forget, she's being hailed as one of the Repub's "best and brightest" which I don't doubt is true. Let's face it, Republicans are all about rationalizing their greed and their underhanded methods of gaining same. They wear the Stars and Bars on their sleeves, flaunt their patriotism and religion even as they do the devil's work of thieving, maiming and cheating. Then they have the audacity to lie about their acts of brutality to such an extent as to sanctify them, to make their lack of compassion for their victims a mark of altruism and lest we forget that Republican mantra of "more for me" at every turn via myriad tax deductions, payment in lieu of tax schemes and equipment depreciation write-offs, etc. etc. etc.!

I think it's about time that liberals begin to call a hog a hog, to call a liar a liar, to call a bankrupt ideology a bankrupt ideology and let it disintegrate into the dustbin of history where it belongs. From Intelligent Design to Entrepreneurial Risk Taking to Businessmen Know Best to God Blessing America, we have a long, long series of baseless mythology serving as rationalization for self-absorbed behaviors that are engaged in to further feather one's own nests at the expense of billions of human beings. Of course, none of this would be possible with an intelligent citizenry. Unfortunately, Americans by and large are as ignorant as the Republicans, hence the nearly 50 – 50 split in the vote with half the electorate pledging its allegiance to the Republican party as opposed to America and Americans. How else can one explain the success of dimwits like Hannity and Limbaugh, Coulter and Ingraham?

We saw President Obama sitting with VP Biden and Treasury Secretary Geithner chastising Wall Street/High Finance demanding these sectors act with more responsibility and accountability and transparency. Nice photo op. However, with a Democratic controlled Congress and a Democratic President, why waste time talking, pleading, wringing the hands? Simply pass legislation that will regulate the greed and harness the unbridled selfishness of that monied class. How about telling the Few that it's now time for the many to rise on that sea-swell of wealth having risen higher and higher with every succeeding President since Reagan with his "voodoo economics" and "trickle down" absurdity? Why not say enough?!

Because America is a nation with schizophrenic substrate: A Representative Democracy merged with Capitalism.

Those Few holding most assets and making the most money call the shots. Of course, in a democracy the People are supposed to be doing that. But, whenever government attempts to do well by the People, the Few put the kibosh on it; call it PORK. When government attempts to put the People first, the Few put the kibosh on it; call it TOO COSTLY. When government attempts to control the "private sector" the Few put a kibosh on it; call it Socialism and demand more TAX BREAKS.

With the above paragraph in mind, recall all those many times when the Few wanted more feed in the trough. They promised jobs would be the result. Yet once finished with their gluttonous frenzy the jobs never materialized. Full employment is defined as anything less than 5 percent unemployed. Anyone who has taken the time to investigate the employment issue will have discovered that the actual number of unemployed and underemployed is double to triple that percentage; these poor unfortunates are the waste inherent in a capitalist system. Full employment would bite into profit margins. Employment with benefits cut into the profit margin. Giving people a decent living wage cuts into the profit margin. As Capitalism has developed from reasonable rate of return on one's investment to annular what-the-market-will-bear increase in profits, more and more people are expected to work for less and less; less wages; less benefits.

As more and more people become jobless, less and less taxes are exacted thereby weakening government. As this business/financial crisis progresses, government's need to help becomes more dire even as the funding for helping becomes less due to revenues being curtailed. So, who controls the United States? Government is unwilling to flex its muscles for fear of alienating the monied class, those pulling the strings. The conventional caution is that trying to do too much for the People and the monied elites will object by pulling back their money and letting the shit hit the fan. But, isn't that what's happening now? Even as government has, since Reagan, "grabbed its ankles" for the capitalists again and again, even as these capitalists have made obscene amounts of profit, even as more and more money and well-being has been thieved from the People, we've arrived at this crisis.

The unspoken fallacy of American democracy is that capitalists operate in their own interests not America's interest. Government exists to benefit the monied class, to provide an educated workforce, infrastructure to advance capitalist agendas (increasing capital), using police powers to protect the Few's assets from the horde and military power to secure whatever raw materials are needed to further the capitalist's prime directive: Mo' money! America is first and foremost about capitalism, not democracy.

The bridge we need built is one extending from the People to democratic governance where Congress and Senate and President work to better serve the ideals inherent in the United States Constitution and the Declaration of Independence (the words' meaning); not to serve elite interests at every turn (Founding Fathers' original intent). If Republicanism continues to be synonymous with Capitalism, then we do not need bipartisanship. Let Democrats take the reins of their majority and drive this nation towards true democracy guided by the light of long-held American principles of equality and fairness, seeking to better the nation, its people and the world.