The Goldstone Report

So, here it is. The United Nations' commissioned investigative report regarding the savage Israeli invasion of Gaza back in December 2008. Called the "Goldstone Report" it is a thorough look at what any reasonable person knew to be war crimes and/or crimes against humanity. Immediately the Israeli propaganda machine went to work denouncing the report as a scurrilous bit of biased drivel concocted by a hopelessly biased self-hating Jew. Apparently, the fourteen hundred dead Palestinians, half of which were non-combatant women and children, are mere figments of imagination conjured by Israeli-hating Arabs; their phosphorus-burned bodies just more anti-Semitic accusations by democracy-hating Arabs; the billions of dollars of destroyed infrastructure just more irrational babble from the freedom-hating Arabs. Israel's defense is clear: label all victims bloodthirsty Islamofascists and be done with it.

The much more important issue to Israel is Iran. As a result, Iran is the central character in much of the news today. Iran is reviled because they are nuclear renegades; liars and cheaters for building a civilian nuclear facility without first getting permission from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); holocaust deniers on a mission to "wipe Israel off the map" as has been repeated again and again; just plain crazy Arabs.

Americans, secure in their propagandized world view would nod in agreement. Did you catch it? Iranians as Arabs? Even though Iranians are Persian, they've been cast in the same mold as al Qaeda/Taliban extremists so often that they are now—if not officially then, for all intents and purposes –Islamofascists hell-bent on destroying the West. Poor little Israel is simply trying to warn the world of this impending peril.

With the Goldstone Report out, President Obama spoke at the UN. Read his words carefully (especially the parts w/bold italics added):

"Today, let me put forward four pillars that I believe are fundamental to the future that we want for our children: non-proliferation and disarmament; the promotion of peace and security; the preservation of our planet; and a global economy that advances opportunity for all people.

"First, we must stop the spread of nuclear weapons, and seek the goal of a world without them.

"This institution was founded at the dawn of the atomic age, in part because man's capacity to kill had to be contained. For decades, we averted disaster, even under the shadow of a superpower stand-off. But today, the threat of proliferation is growing in scope and complexity. If we fail to act, we will invite nuclear arms races in every region, and the prospect of wars and acts of terror on a scale that we can hardly imagine.

"A fragile consensus stands in the way of this frightening outcome, and that is the basic bargain that shapes the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. It says that all nations have the right to peaceful nuclear energy; that nations with nuclear weapons have a responsibility to move toward disarmament; and those without them have the responsibility to forsake them. The next 12 months could be pivotal in determining whether this compact will be strengthened or will slowly dissolve.

"America intends to keep our end of the bargain. We will pursue a new agreement with Russia to substantially reduce our strategic warheads and launchers. We will move forward with ratification of the Test Ban Treaty, and work with others to bring the treaty into force so that nuclear testing is permanently prohibited. We will complete a Nuclear Posture Review that opens the door to deeper cuts and reduces the role of nuclear weapons. And we will call upon countries to begin negotiations in January on a treaty to end the production of fissile material for weapons.

"I will also host a summit next April that reaffirms each nation's responsibility to secure nuclear material on its territory, and to help those who can't -- because we must never allow a single nuclear device to fall into the hands of a violent extremist. And we will work to strengthen the institutions and initiatives that combat nuclear smuggling and theft.

"All of this must support efforts to strengthen the NPT. Those nations that refuse to live up to their obligations must face consequences. Let me be clear, this is not about singling out individual nations -- it is about standing up for the rights of all nations that do live up to their responsibilities. Because a world in which IAEA inspections are avoided and the United Nation's demands are ignored will leave all people less safe, and all nations less secure.

"In their actions to date, the governments of North Korea and Iran threaten to take us down this dangerous slope. We respect their rights as members of the community of nations. I've said before and I will repeat, I am committed to diplomacy that opens a path to greater prosperity and more secure peace for both nations if they live up to their obligations.

"But if the governments of Iran and North Korea choose to ignore international standards; if they put the pursuit of nuclear weapons ahead of regional stability and the security and opportunity of their own people; if they are oblivious to the dangers of escalating nuclear arms races in both East Asia and the Middle East -- then they must be held accountable. The world must stand together to demonstrate that international law is not an empty promise, and that treaties will be enforced. We must insist that the future does not belong to fear.

"That brings me to the second pillar for our future: the pursuit of peace.

"The United Nations was born of the belief that the people of the world can live their lives, raise their families, and resolve their differences peacefully. And yet we know that in too many parts of the world, this ideal remains an abstraction -- a distant dream. We can either accept that outcome as inevitable, and tolerate constant and crippling conflict, or we can recognize that the yearning for peace is universal, and reassert our resolve to end conflicts around the world.

"That effort must begin with an unshakeable determination that the murder of innocent men, women and children will never be tolerated. On this, no one can be -- there can be no dispute. The violent extremists who promote conflict by distorting faith have discredited and isolated themselves. They offer nothing but hatred and destruction. In confronting them, America will forge lasting partnerships to target terrorists, share intelligence, and coordinate law enforcement and protect our people. We will permit no safe haven for al Qaeda to launch attacks from Afghanistan or any other nation. We will stand by our friends on the front lines, as we and many nations will do in pledging support for the Pakistani people tomorrow. And we will pursue positive engagement that builds bridges among faiths, and new partnerships for opportunity.

"Our efforts to promote peace, however, cannot be limited to defeating violent extremists. For the most powerful weapon in our arsenal is the hope of human beings -- the belief that the future belongs to those who would build and not destroy; the confidence that conflicts can end and a new day can begin.

"This Assembly's Charter commits each of us -- and I quote – 'to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women.' Among those rights is the freedom to speak your mind and worship as you please; the promise of equality of the races, and the opportunity for women and girls to pursue their own potential; the ability of citizens to have a say in how you are governed, and to have confidence in the administration of justice. For just as no nation should be forced to accept the tyranny of another nation, no individual should be forced to accept the tyranny of their own people." (Applause.)

In so many words Obama portrayed Iran and North Korea as rogue nations escalating the proliferation of nuclear weapons. After all, even as delegates attended the UN meeting, Iran tested military rockets; rockets that a compliant media unanimously maintained could deliver nukes to Israel and Europe. Only problem is that military experts agree, Iran is still far from having even a single nuclear warhead, those particular rockets in no way are warhead capable, are rather erratic, not to mention it's every sovereign nation's right to protect itself and testing rocketry is a routine worldwide practice. But, the further reality that this writer is alluding to is obvious. Let's look at the above highlighted phrases in the single context of Israel's nuclear warhead production as non-signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and non-member of the IAEA. Israel has, by best educated estimates, over 200 nuclear warheads ready to detonate. Israel has rockets already developed and tested to deliver those nuclear payloads which are certainly able to reach Iran and every Arab nation. Israel, during the first Iraq war (1990 Gulf War) had nuclear tipped missiles ready to launch (The Samson Option; Seymour M. Hersh; Random House, 1991; pg 318) before being "persuaded" by the US to stand down.

In summary, the fear mongering regarding North Korea and Iran is a projection, a possible future scenario. Israel on the other hand is and has been the single most violent extremist in the Middle East. Israel has thieved nuclear material (NUMEC), illegally secured heavy water for nuclear warhead production, has refused to live up to their obligations, avoided IAEA inspections, has repeatedly ignored UN demands/resolutions, has repeatedly ignored international standards, has put the pursuit of nuclear weapons ahead of regional stability and security and, as documented by the Goldstone Report, Israel has murdered innocent men, women and children.

So, what comes of it? The United States of America has pressured the Palestinians to bend to the will of Israelis (to accept the tyranny of another nation and the tyranny of their own people) even as the following was reported, "…The Washington Times quoted three unnamed sources as saying Obama had confirmed to Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, that he would maintain the 'don't ask, don't tell' policy…In an interview last week with Israel's Channel 2 media company, Netanyahu spoke of his confidence that Obama's recent remarks on a world free of nuclear weapons would not apply to Israel. 'It was utterly clear from the context of the speech that he was speaking about North Korea and Iran,' the Israeli leader said."

How pathetic. How sick. How Obama thinks he'll get anywhere with such disingenuousness, such hypocrisy, such unfair duality is really mysterious. That last word carefully chosen because to expound upon the real reasons would only lead to charges of anti-Semitism, of Jew-hating, of failing to accept Israel's right to exist; a line of argument used far, far too long by an illegitimate state hell-bent on genocide of the Palestinian people.

The world is watching, President Obama. You've talked the talk on a global stage. Now it's time to walk the walk.

The whole world is waiting, Mr. President, waiting for Israel to be finally brought kicking and screaming into the world of nations as an equal member. If that offends God's Chosen People, fuck 'em! Or they will be the death of us all!

Bits 'n' Pieces

So many things have been happening I thought I'd bring readers up to date as well as tie up some loose ends and also answer some questions/comments that have arisen in regards to some of what I've written in previous blogs.

First, this writer's been heavily involved in creating music for the past 18 months. I finally have some worthy music to share with the world and y'all can get a taste of Steven Lance's music by visiting my MySpace page. I was just featured on WVKR's [91.3 FM] "Secret Music" show hosted by Scott Raymond. Scott interviewed me and played my music for a whole hour this past Sunday (23 August 2009). My CDs will be available here after September 7, 2009; just type Steven Lance into the search box. The first CD that will be available is titled, "4 Never and Ever." By mid-September, I'll be releasing my second CD titled, "Green Hole." By November I hope to have two remastered CDs of older work available titled, "Outward Bound" and "No Boundaries." So, to say I've been busy is a gross understatement! I had to arrange for sales and credit card access, do the cover artwork, finalize song order for each CD, etc. etc. etc.

Thrown into the mix I had a construction gig and computer work to attend to. So, the last eight weeks have passed in a swirl. But some things did manage to stand out and maintain a grab-hold of my consciousness: Like the "grassroots" anti-health care reform crowd showing up at Town Halls across America all riled up and denouncing with red faces and spittle foaming from their mouths the socialist "ObamaHealthCareBill" (no such thing in existence). Especially that woman crying and carrying on, lamenting in sob-choked voice: "Where's my America?! I want my America back." She haunts like acid-sour puke stuck in the throat after a 48/7 weekend liquor binge.

And, to which America might she have been referring? Let this writer take at crack at that: The America that allowed troglodytic white people to lynch "niggers" without fear of prosecution? Where dumbfuck redneck hillbillies were/are held up as the epitome of what patriots are all about? Where drunk, stupid, loaded gun rack in the truck, never read a book and proud of it, flag-wrapped with hand o'er heart proclaiming, "My country right or wrong," serve as badges of honor? You mean, That America, Lady?

That these spectacles were orchestrated by demagogic insurance lobbyists hoping to whip up the "idiot mob" yet again to feverish proportions, there can be no mistake. Disagree? Do you actually believe these folks arrived at local Town Halls sputtering and chest-puffing and heaving and pushing and disrupting for the sake of disruption because of policy issues? The policy as detailed in some 1100 pages contained in the three bills floating around the halls of Congress? Guaranteed none had even read the documents in question. Those that claim to have read those bills are likely quoting "facts" from propaganda pamphlets put out by the Insurance lobbyists that spin the actual facts until they're dizzy then claim said facts are actually derived from those bills. Kinda like how a mosquito is derived from a 747 (yeah, as in scraped off the windshield). Not close. No cigar? Oh, no. The cigar was gotten anyway as now the "public option" seems destined to the dust bin of history. And, of course, that is what the motive was all along; not better, more affordable health care for the people and making sure that all Americans are insured. Any public option will be direct competition for insurance companies and people will flock to the cheaper alternative thereby decimating insurance profit margins. After all, grassroots sounds so democratic as opposed to the reality of, " well-heeled interest groups are helping to organize the town hall mobs. Key organizers include two Astroturf (fake grass-roots) organizations: FreedomWorks, run by the former House majority leader Dick Armey, and a new organization called Conservatives for Patients' Rights. The latter group, by the way, is run by Rick Scott, the former head of Columbia/HCA, a for-profit hospital chain. Mr. Scott was forced out of that job amid a fraud investigation; the company eventually pleaded guilty to charges of overbilling state and federal health plans, paying $1.7 billion — yes, that's "billion" — in fines. You can't make this stuff up."

I've attended hundreds of Town Hall meetings and never saw such antics until just last election when the party having lost power (for the first time in fifty years) went on a binge of lying, fabricating myth whole-cloth as regarded the zoning code the new administration was doing. Hundreds of people showed up spewing smoke from their ears. They disrupted and shouted down those in disagreement. One after another these irate residents spewed venom against the "these people" [their code words for the gay, radical, socialists that had won a majority the prior election; a.k.a., Democrats]. As these obviously ill-informed, mentally challenged individuals poured out their anger, nothing would appease them. They were positive the "zoning code" was going to limit how many children they would be allowed to have. I shit you not! Where did they get such profoundly skewed misinformation? Anonymous "newsletters" made available around town; the fact that the perpetrators wouldn't even put their names on them should have been enough warning that the contents were suspect. But, nooooooooo…speaker after speaker repeated the alleged atrocities contained in those anonymous shit-rags. And I'm talking about people that sit on major governmental boards; Zoning Board of Appeals and Planning Board members actually fanning the flames of discontent by spewing rhetoric fit for octagon cage fights denouncing what the code contained even though the code contained no such things!

Of course the DemParty leadership thought the charges leveled by the "idiot mob" were so preposterous and absurd that no sensible person(s) could actually believe them. Wrong. The election saw Dems lose by the biggest margin in the history of this town that was founded some 300 years ago!!! Smell the whiff of similarity? Obama team is behind the curve big-time. They let this get too out of hand. Even a number of Dems in the Senate (with 60, count 'em, 60 votes!!! Oops…Ted's dead. Make that 59,) have pulled back support for the "public option" because they're up for re-election and such a Town Hall turn-out has scared the be-jesus out of them; countless references to the Republican takeover in 1994 as response to Hillary's healthcare proposals. Imagine…those in the clear majority in both houses, having just won the Presidency, after decades of Republican outrages that have us enmeshed in two wars, brought us to the brink of financial collapse, indebted us to historical degree, grown government to unprecedented size, shredded the US Constitution vis-à-vis torture and civil rights, now become "fraidy cats" because of a bunch of nitwits spewing their ignorance and bad manners? The Republicans who are completely out of the power loop simply fold their arms across their chests, repeat "NO" for every proposal while serving up none of their own and now, organize ersatz "grassroots" movements, foment incivility by scaring dumb folk with lies, half-truths, innuendo, outright fabrications, and this stops progress? This same cowardice applied to charging Cheney and others for breaking the law as regards torturing prisoners and shredding the Constitution; let us look forward rather than the past?!?

WTF?!?!?

Where is Rahm Emanuel? You remember him, Chief of Staff? Renowned far and wide for being a real hard-ass, burn-and-slash type politician, completely unafraid to crack heads for policy advancement? Why hasn't President Obama sent this assassin to visit the wavering jelly-spined Dems and threaten them with ball-crushing clarity of political retribution should they not fall in line and fall in line fast, right NOW? Very simply, FUCK the REPUBLICAN obstructionists! In fact, team Obama should ramp up the ante with bills that ONLY allow for public option; a complete take-over by government, then ask how the Repubs like those choices and when they get the same arm-folded terrible-two-year old antic of "NO" pass one of those "socialist" bills into law! I think the Dems would be hugely surprised to see Americans actually applauding such action. It is completely surreal the way Republicans are controlling this process.

What is brewing is another backlash by "real Americans," you know, those that believe Sarah Palin is Einsteinishly intelligent. They'll flock to the polls and bring us back Republican rule in that the clear majority in both houses will be lost. Which should serve as a elemental lesson to be finally learned: Educate the People or democracy becomes a moronic miasma of mindlessness; ergo spokespersons Rush Limbaugh and Jonah Goldberg stirring the shit (which serves as intellectual debate for the Conservative Right)!

Okay, on to some explanation and clarification. First, it has come to my attention that people may be wondering (in regard to my True Hero blog below), if Fidel Castro was such a social democrat, why were Cuban presidential elections suspended? This writer thought the background info was clear enough as to suggest a logical substrate for such a move, namely, with crucial facilities being bombed, with the country being attacked by counter revolutionary forces aided and abetted by the US, with an entire governmental rework required, with people hungry and suffering, can anyone actually believe elections should have been the primary focus? Think of the enormous amount of work that had to be accomplished, essentially building a new nation. The first priority of the Castro government had to be stability in order to be successful in bringing a better life to el gente, the people. Okay, so why after all these years are there still no elections? Economic blockade by the biggest market in the world makes for continued hardship. Repeated assassination attempts by the CIA coupled with continuing (to this day) attempts to undermine the revolution being made by exiles based in Miami as well as a massive campaign of agitprop for counter revolution being delivered daily by radio and, of course, television, not to mention leaflets dropped from planes urging Cuban citizens to resist the revolution, forces Castro to continue the suspension of presidential elections. Until such time when the United States normalizes relations with the Cuban government, ending its demand for elections as precondition, Cuba must make stability of leadership priority numero uno. And, for those now shaking their heads in disbelief at the hypocrisy, consider this: Revolution is a proven in Cuba. Castro did it with the aid of el gente. If el gente were as bad off and desirous of regime change as the exiles and US Administration try to make us believe they are, Castro would be long gone!

Finally, I've been taken to task for repeatedly dropping the F-bomb in my blogs. Now, to demonstrate precisely the mental process involved: What did you just hear referenced in your mind? The word "Fuck" correct? Not, F-bomb. And if I'd used F*** the mind would likewise hear Fuck. Besides, fuck is an exquisitely agile word with many meanings beyond the act of sexual intercourse (which, by the way, as proved by context, is precisely the usage I never refer to in my blogs). My response to this call for less "colorful" language is, Fuck NO! If people object to a word (regardless of the word) to such an extent that they cast judgment on the piece—deciding not to read it –then those people are simply using the word usage as an excuse to not read and think about what they do not want to think about. It isn't the word, Fuck, at all but rather, the animosity to their Point Of View (POV) which rankles them especially because they cannot counter the arguments made. By their objection they can escape claiming moral superiority. Fuck 'em…They're the problem, not the solution.

So, dear readers, until next time. In the interim, please check out the music of Steven Lance…

Fuck you very much.

Red, White and P-U: Eau de Empire

What that stank odor be? Foul stench of Liberty, Freedom, Democracy, rotting from unprincipled use, abuse; dead at the hands of "patriots" (a.k.a. Conservatives sans conscience). Just living fictions, spouting same, "Of, by and for the People!" Be real. Be sane. "Those whom own the country shall reign," sayeth Founding Father John Jay and his class, governing peasants like the farm-yarders they are. Hee Haw. Oink Oink. Cock-A-Doodle-Doo. Work. Eat. Procreate. No life at all, having lived to grow the wealth of elites, before dying for sake of sick tortures in our name, high-handed hypocrisies slapping the faces of every human being on Earth with "Do as we tells ya, not as we does, what we pleases. And to hell with y' all…" attitude of Empire-bred arrogance.

Happy fuckin' Fourth of July! Three hundred years of world abuse, pillaging its treasures, anal-raping Mother Nature until she screams from her searing bowels, "NO MORE!"

As if eight years of Reagan wasn't enough, we got the two-terms of Cheney/Bush with a doctrine of anything goes. Speaking of which, at top of the list, the Bill of Rights. As if Terrorism/terrorists could ever be worse than the murderous motives of Dick Cheney who believes, a priori, since he's doing God's work whatever pops into his demented mind can only be the Word of the Lord to do what needs be done in His name (God's, not Dick's). Shocking testicles in God's name. Water boarding in God's name. Sexual perversions in God's name. Destroying hundreds of thousands of Iraqis in God's name. None of the foregoing creating any contradiction whatsoever in the Conservative mind.

So, when the newest U.S.-minted Satan [replete with false reports of his vow to exterminate Israel] Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wins re-election, Buttafuocco…it must be rigged. And, who should know better than we of the hanging chads and popular vote loser, huh?

Therefore, we are graced with one Conservative after another posturing for the cameras, drooling their idiocy, "[Obama's] been timid and passive…" "We could be more forceful…" "I would like to see the President be stronger…" All of that in context of the Iranian Presidential election and claims of voting fraud which brought out a hundred thousand into the streets — or times that by x amount, being unable to determine the multiplicative limitations of tweets to real time protestors — representing fifteen-one-hundredths of one percent of 65,875,224 Iranian citizens. Compared to America that would be the equivalent of approximately 450,000 people demanding change — DOH!! — "And by the time we got to Woodstock, we were half-a-million strong…" [CSNY] How many of you fuckin' Republicans were/are/will ever be ready to back up the 70s One World Generation with those changes we demanded? Like ending America's violent public means to profitable private ends philosophy? [*plink* the sound of pin dropping] Riiiiiiiiight…Your types fought and some still fight against such economic equality not to mention racial equality, employment equality, gender equality, drug use equality. Well, equality in general, actually, because y'all think you're special. One of God's angels. Which completes the circle jerk. Splatt…Or, was that Rush Limbaugh's intelligential offering? No? How about Jonah Goldberg? Ahhhhhh…

And, just what would Republicans have President Obama do, exactly? For it is soooooo easy to demand action without actually articulating what action should be taken [besides such rhetoric being the "moral" groundwork for Israel's inevitable, illegal pre-emptive strike on Iranian nuclear facilities]; such is the "game plan" from the idea-bereft Far Right Huddlers; those over there, in their caves, dragging wives around by the hair when not "walking the Appalachian Trail" (viz., fucking some Argentinean non-wife friend after having vociferously called for Bill Clinton's impeachment over the Lewinsky affair), or sniffing after "jail bait" interns, or "snooping for sausage" in public restrooms, that is.

You might think such truths exposed to Conservative Republicans would give them moment for pause, to contemplate the great contradictions inherent in their Weltanschauung thereby mending their grotesquely distorted view that all of Universe is centered on them.

Well, you'd be dead wrong, Bro. According to John W. Dean, [in "Conservatives Without Conscience"] Republicans like Cheney, Bush!!, Rove, Gingrich, Delay, Scooter Libby, Richard Perle, Elliot Abrams and the rest of those Right Wing Authoritarian roaches, display the following traits "…dominating, opposed to equality, desirous of personal power, amoral, intimidating, and bullying; some are hedonistic, most are vengeful, pitiless, exploitive, manipulative, dishonest, cheaters, prejudiced, mean-spirited, militant, nationalistic, and two-faced." Dean, citing social psychologist and researcher Bob Altemeyer of the University of Manitoba, goes on to characterize Authoritarian Conservatives as being incapable of seeing their own faults: "Right-wing authoritarians, as we have seen, are motivated by their fear of a dangerous world, whereas social dominators have an ever-present desire to dominate. The factor that makes right-wingers faster than most people to attack others, and that seems to keep them living in an 'attack mode,' is their remarkable self-righteousness. They are so sure they are not only right, but holy and pure, that they are bursting with indignation and a desire to smite down their enemies…"

The best and brightest Big Business — our God — has to offer, seeing as these same species of leeches swim seamlessly between private and public ponds leaving their slimy residue on both as they suck the lifeblood from each even as they preach the Good Word. Let me hasten to add here: When I'm talking about the elites I'm talking about the top fraction of one-percenters, those whom know nothing at all of want, disease, hopelessness. There are plenty of people making "good money" that are compassionate and actively involved in change, in actual on the ground work to help common folk, those still educating themselves to American brutal over-reach and so, work to get an Obama elected (just to serve as an example).

I'm talking about those with royal sense of entitlement, should they want they should have. After all, being royalty has its benefits. All is as wanted. If not. Make it so. For them. Because they want it. And they call us "The Me Generation." Once again, riiiiiiiiiiiiiight…

So, happy birthday, America. You with your smiling Black Socialist President smiting flies without conscience…You, no doubt, now laughing having caught the reference; Obama killing that fly during an interview and getting a tongue-in-cheek rebuke from P.E.T.A.? But, seriously, how many of you feel that Iranian leaders calling for brutality against their people, actually killing them because they had become unwanted nuisance [and, so…BUT OF COURSE…they must be exterminated] without so much as a hint of remorse were/are morally bankrupt? Killing humans as if insects. How many of you had that feeling? Certainly the impression as conveyed by the Conservative Republicans spewing their agitprop was of just such a calloused response by the Iranian leadership. Human life of no more significance than a fly. Which leads to a profound depth to P.E.T.A.'s central meaning, does it not, that of holding all creatures in reverence and against which we should do no harm.

But, we're Americans. We kill flies and mock P.E.T.A. and say "Fuck our contradictions!" for that is how we treat the rest of the world: "Kill 'em all and let God sort 'em out." Oh, I know, "Not me!" you indignantly cry. But, when was the last time you resisted the go along to get along zeitgeist so prevalent now? When did you last buck the system? Stand up to the "man?" Sacrifice? Agitate for progressive change? Or, when was the last time you went without a meal or two to feel the hunger untold millions suffer every day of their existence with the full, attendant understanding that many if not most of the hungry are made so by America's Capitalistocracy? Hmmm?

This writer didn't see anyone busting through barricades when Conservative Right-wing Authoritarians stole an election, maybe two, right here in 'merica during the last decade. This writer didn't see the Limbaughs and Grahams and Cheneys facing off against riot squads when students were clubbed in Chicago or shot at Kent State, nor when Black Panther leader Fred Hampton was murdered by FBI agents, nor when Nixon illegally bombed Cambodia, or during the Iran-Contra atrocity perpetrated by/…

Oh, that's right. Conservative Republicans weren't manning the barricades then or now on behalf of the People because they were/continue to be, the murderers and thieves, the charlatans and two-faced politicians, the dominators and their legion, authoritarian followers that did/will do the dirty work or did/will do nothing to stop it. Like good sheep.

Happy Bahhhh….day, America.

True Hero

America craves heroes. Super hero comic books have been popular for decades. TV shows are predicated upon heroes in order to provide Americans their weekly fix. Inevitably such heroes are comprised of "good, caring" people that cannot stand the abuse and unfairness so prevalent in their society so they strive to "save the day" like Mighty Mouse of old. They defy all odds by going up against an evil bully in a fight of "David and Goliath" proportions and come out the winner which translates as the Peoples' victory. So, when such a real flesh-and-blood person engages in heroic battle and comes out victorious, Americans should embrace him/her and hail them as a hero. Correct?

Nope.

You see, real heroes are a messy business. Real heroes walk among us. People we routinely put down as arrogant (mistaking confidence), or as complainers (never mind the US Constitutional guarantee of the right to petition the government for redress of grievances), or troublemakers (those unhip, discomforting agitators unwelcome in our universe). Most Americans, interfacing with truly ethical, empathic beings on a mission of altruism in the furtherance of Human evolution, are forced to change in order to accommodate such heroes. For, unlike the comic books, TV and movies, heroes in the real world aren't milk-bread fictions conjured by American propagandists. They're people that become the nub of our rub against them. They're different from us. They do more than bitch and moan. They actually do something about the problems faced. They come from all stripes, not just the white, Christian, middle-class men of our fictional dreams, men born of democracy and American Exceptionalism fighting un-American evil doers (most ironically) bent on criminal activities almost wholly premised upon theft of wealth from rich folk (THINK: Socialists. Or, worse. Communists. Or, even worse than the worst: Democrats!) No, these heroes of reality are fighters for the People. They want to do their part to advance the species one more forward step. They believe in Human Beings; as Creator and Savior even as these are but fictive fixatives, survival boosters for the down-hearted. But, that means walkin' the walk.

We need no comic book heroes. There actually is such a fighter for the People. Altruistic. Egalitarian. Visionary. A true, real life and still living hero. Living not 100 miles away. In a country that had been under American domination since 1898 when the United States of America essentially, unilaterally annexed Cuba for its own purposes: To exploit cheap labor in order to secure sugar at a criminally low price. US troops were hastened into Cuba in order to put down the natives' fight for Independence from Spain. In the aftermath, the Platt Amendment was passed by Congress which essentially, unilaterally decided what Cuba could and could not do. During the next six decades, the Cuban people were exploited and their lands taken by monied American elite interests; "By the 1920s, U.S. companies owned two-thirds of Cuba's farmland and most of its mines. The sugar industry was booming." These American owners of sugarcane plantations and sugar mills became the dominant force in Cuba. Once America's Prohibition took effect (1919 – 1933) "organized crime moved in, taking over the casinos, booze, drug running and prostitution." While IMF figures assert per capita Cuban income was quite high prior to the revolution they do not account for the distribution of income which was decidedly skewed to a few holding a lot and the many hardly any income at all. You see, the Cuban elites were— as are all elites, solely concerned with their own needs, desires, wealth and accumulated assets —totally unconcerned about the impoverished, exploited masses. Until, that is, those masses had the audacity to demand a stop to their exploitation.

In 1933, the United States assisted army sergeant Fulgencio Batista in a take-over of government via coup (displacing dictator Geraldo Muchado y Morales). Ruling by way of puppet Presidents at Batista's beck and call, the brutal sergeant maintained dictatorial power until winning the Presidency himself. He served his term and left office only to return in yet another coup in 1952.

Tired of governmental corruption, the brutality of the dictatorial Batista, the ruinous economic conditions, the continued exploitation of the Cuban people, on July 26, 1953 Fidel Castro initiated his revolution when he, his brother Raúl and about 90 rebel fighters attempted to take the Moncada army post (Cuba's second largest at the time). The attempt was a failure. Eight rebels were killed and 53 captured and executed. Fidel and the rest of his men managed to escape only to later surrender and be sentenced to 15 years. Pressed by the American government to show some leniency in the face of a building popular dissatisfaction, Fidel Castro and his brother Raúl were released from prison in a general amnesty for political prisoners. Not long thereafter, Fidel traveled to Mexico and met Ché Guevara.

On 2 December 1956 the Castro brothers and 82 men traveled from Mexico on a dilapidated yacht called The Granma and were soon set upon by Batista's army. Only the Castro brothers, Guevara, Camilo Cienfuegos and eight other rebels were able to escape to the Sierra Maestra mountains where they began to build the rebel forces that would eventually liberate Cuba from the brutal American sponsored Batista dictatorship. Over the next two years, Fidel Castro created a revolutionary movement that caught the imagination of 75 – 80 percent of the Cuban people. The small bands of guerillos began to build victories upon victories, not merely holding off an army of approximately 10,000 but beating the military regularly. And then came the battle of Santa Clara which sent Batista packing on January 1, 1959.

Such courage of their convictions. Such sacrifice. Such dangerous undertaking. All in the name of the People (el gente), of a better tomorrow where one and all are provided for so that the nation would be strengthened by its people's successes.

Even as Fidel Castro rode victorious into Havana [8 January 1959] on the wings of his wildly popular revolution the Eisenhower Administration started thinking of ways to destroy it. Working fist-in-gauntlet with the soon to be expropriated companies, the US Government began a massive propaganda campaign meant to portray Fidel Castro as Communist and thus a threat to American national security. On another front, CIA orchestrated propaganda made Fidel's supposed "betrayal" to the Revolution its leitmotif. Castro even responded to it by stating, "As prime minister I have been faithful to the revolution. Cuba is going through a profound and genuine revolution and that is the main reason for the misunderstanding which is due to many interests which will never be in agreement with a genuine and just social revolution." [Politics & Social Structure In Latin America; James Petras; Monthly Review Press, 1970; p 115]. Quoted two years prior in a New York Times article that portrayed him to be pro-democracy and strongly committed to liberty and social justice, Fidel Castro proclaimed, "Above all we are fighting for a democratic Cuba and an end to the dictatorship." When queried about his 26 July Movement's stances against colonialism and imperialism and how that would impact US-Cuba relations, Fidel said, "You can be sure we have no animosity towards the United States and the American people." Further, early in 1959 "in an address before the Venezuelan Congress, Castro criticized the Organization of American States (OAS) and called for the formation of a democratic bloc to function within it, to expel dictatorial governments. In April 1959, in a speech in New York's Central Park, Castro suggested a Marshall Plan for all of Latin America, 'in order to avoid the danger of communism'." [ibid; p113]

True to his promises to the people, Fidel Castro immediately set about putting an agrarian reform program into law, giving land to el gente, to 22,500 families. The land was expropriated from the large sugar plantations. By the end of 1959, 2.2 million acres worth approximately $300 million were confiscated to fulfill the agrarian reform program. Castro offered to repay the US companies full value for their holdings, but could only do so via 20 year bonds "bearing 4.5 percent interest with prices to be based on assessed value as reflected in tax rolls." [Latin America in the Era of the Cuban Revolution; Thomas C. Wright; Greenwood Publishing Group; p27] The US response came swiftly. "The State Department sent a note to the Cuban government reminding Cuba that 'this right [to expropriate] is coupled with the corresponding obligation for prompt, adequate, and effective compensation'." [Petras; p111] In other words, after years of subjugation and exploitation and theft of public funds by prior governmental officials amounting to several billion dollars, US companies could not/would not wait for payback and the US government took up their cause; mustn't harm the stockholders seems to be the American Government's response to every financial setback in the private sector regardless of fault or model of risk undertaken (this continues even and especially today).

As with all true revolutions, before the heat of victory turns into the warmth of accomplishment, counter-revolutionaries attempt to regain what they've lost. As these counter-revolutionaries attempted to usurp Fidel Castro's power/popularity, a half-million workers poured into the streets of Havana protesting the attempted power grab thereby securing the revolution and establishing Castro as the Caudillo, or supreme leader. The counter-revolutionaries joined the elite upper classes in leaving Cuba. It is estimated that in the first 15 years of the revolution, nearly 600,000 Cubans (mostly upper class and upper middle class) or perhaps one-tenth of the population, left the island; many immediately began to plan a military retaking of Cuba and were aided and abetted by the United States Government. "Castro created the Ministry for the Recovery of Stolen Property (Ministerio de Recuperación de Bienes Malversados) with sweeping powers to seize the assets of Batista and his collaborators, 'counter revolutionaries,' and, after 1960, of all exiles." [Wright; p28]

"U.S. policy-makers mounted a multiple offensive against the Cuban Revolution, violating Cuban sea and air space, cutting the sugar quota (July 6, 1960), holding Congressional hearings in which former Batista officials were given the national spotlight, etc." [ibid; p 114] President Eisenhower responded by stating America would not "permit" the establishment of a Communist regime in the Western Hemisphere; a reiteration of the Monroe Doctrine. In that effort, the US "moved to extend its embargo against the Cuban Revolution by pressuring client states throughout the hemisphere and the rest of the world. The U.S. Senate approved an amendment to the mutual security appropriations bill which would cut off foreign aid to any nation supplying military or economic assistance to Cuba." [ibid; 114] Cuban exiles based in the United States conducted repeated raids on Cuba's sugar fields. "By early 1960, almost 13 percent of Cuba's cane fields had been bombed." [ibid; p114]

"On January 3, 1961, the U.S. government broke relations with Cuba…Newly elected President John F. Kennedy (who during his election campaign had called for stepped-up U.S. assistance to the armed exile groups) reaffirmed the Monroe Doctrine and gave no indication of wanting to negotiate U.S.-Cuban differences…Cuba offered to negotiate its differences with the United States and accepted Argentina as a mediator. The Kennedy Administration refused mediation. In his State of the Union message Kennedy set forth in the blunt language of the true believers in private enterprise the intransigent hostility which was to characterize U.S. policy toward Cuba: 'Questions of economic and trade policy can always be negotiated. But Communist domination in the hemisphere can never be negotiated'." [ibid; p116-117]. CIA-financed forces stepped up their terroristic destruction by burning the Hershey sugar mill ($5 million damage) and El Encanto department store ($7 - $8 million damage) even as B-26 bombers out of Miami attacked Cuban air bases. And, then, the ill-fated Bay of Pigs invasion [April 17 - 19, 1961] in which 1,500 Cuban terrorist exiles were ferried to the island on two U. S. Navy destroyers. The terrorist invaders were promised the quid pro quo of having their assets returned to them for overthrowing Castro. Just like Rumsfeld telling Americans that Iraqis would welcome us with open arms, the U.S. CIA anticipated popular support. Funny how reality always slaps self-serving fictions in their faces! In beautiful irony, the terrorist exile army was defeated by the People's militias.

Of course, the lesson to be learned would have been: Cuba is an independent nation operating on behalf of its people and it is both, rabidly so. Not Communist. But a struggling Social democracy.

But, Cuba became a "bad example" by initiating other reforms like education and health care so that every Cuban would have a chance to succeed and, by doing so, help the Revolution succeed. As other Latin American nations became aware of the Cuban success story, they too wanted independence and social democracy. Thus, the Alliance For Progress initiated by the Kennedy Administration that promised all things good for the people but served up instead, 17 more dictatorships that conducted themselves in typical brutal fashion in order to deny Latin America its independence and its people social democracy. Not enough to cut a nascent nation completely out of the dominant global economic/financial paradigm, not enough to send terrorists against it, not enough to construct a totally fictitious scenario of Communistic threat just off our shores, not enough to attempt repeated assassination against Cuba's beloved Caudillo.

To consider that Cuba and its Revolution is still in existence, still attempting to bring a better way to its people, having been completely cut off (blockade) from normal trade with the world's largest economies, that the Cuban people enjoy a high rate of literacy and are entitled to free health care, that millions of el gente still believe in the Revolutionary ideals espoused by Fidel Castro, a true hero, is a testament to the purity of Castro's vision as stated March 13, 1968:

"But, of course, with its standard of living arising from a developed economy whose income is incomparably higher than that of any underdeveloped country, imperialism can offer material incentives of many types, and, in the face of this, what are we to do? What is the duty of the Revolution if not to strengthen its determination, to exalt all types of moral values among the people? Feelings of internationalist solidarity, justice, equality, love of country, love for the people, for the struggle; the satisfaction of having a giant task, a historic task, to carry out, and accomplishing it, facing up to it, overcoming obstacles. That is the kind of people we have to create…We will continue along our road; we will build our Revolution, and we will do so fundamentally through our own efforts. Great is the task that faces us! A people that is not willing to make the effort has no right even to utter the word 'independence,' no right even to utter the word 'sovereignty!' Let us struggle bravely, among other reasons, to minimize our dependence on everything from abroad. Let us fight as hard as possible, because we have known the bitterness of having to depend to a considerable extent on what we can get from abroad and have seen how this can be turned into a weapon, how at the very least, there is a temptation to use it against our country. Let us fight for the greatest independence possible, whatever the price! Of course, that offended the "principles" of the microfaction (exiles/the few); that was a crime: dignity was a crime, honor was a crime, the Revolution was a crime!"

Let us hope that President Obama will not continue to see the Cuban Revolution as a crime but, rather, a heroic undertaking worthy of praise! End the Cuban embargo now and normalize relations, Mr. President!

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.

Ashes to Ashes

Four small bags of ashes contained in two canisters, the remains of my father. Notice I did not write, total remains. The reason being, my Dad touched so many lives that every remembrance in the minds of those he impacted will keep him alive for a good long measure. I'm sure his name will be mentioned often and heads will bow come this fall, this football season (my dad's other three seasons being "round ball" "round ball" and "round ball" or basketball, baseball, golf). Moments of silence may ensue. The measure of a man is how well he is remembered. And he will most definitely be remembered well.

But, the stark reality of small bags of dust being thrust (per his request) about the 50 yard line, where he "lived" the life he loved, was at once surreal/lucid. Such a man reduced to this? But even as that thought occurred so did the inner-vision arise before my mind-eye almost able to see my father on the sidelines. For there was no place he'd rather be than in the thick of battle, employing all his wits and knowledge of the game he loved, calling offensive plays and defensive schemes (yeah, he did it all in those days) pacing up and down, chewing out the referees (Oh, woe unto the poor shtupp who blew a call) and always, always teaching life lessons to his "men" as the game progressed. And, believe me, having heard more than my fair share of emotional speeches, there was no better half-time motivator than my father. His team would roar out of the locker room nearly busting the doors off their hinges.

The above remarks refer to my lucid thoughts. As for the surreal? That any of the above means anything at all. Such rituals beget nothing, save for peace of mind if one believes hard enough. Of course, to us, to human beings, such loss is traumatic. We go through our grief period before numbing out to a new reality, one with a gaping hole in our heart; never again able to feel full. Or, rather full enough. Psychoanalysts might say of such a relationship that boundaries have been breached, torn asunder even, given such connectedness; maybe even going so far as to suggest such "love" isn't healthy to the individual.

Be that as it may, if you're lucky enough to have had or now be in a relationship with a person you love and respect, one who has experienced life's ups and downs alongside of you for a good number of years and you can still honestly say this person is your best friend, consider yourself blessed and forewarned: Love them now. Love them with all your heart. And, live your life together well. Because at the end of it, even a "long life" ends too soon. When you lose a loved one you lose something that cannot be replaced. Your life becomes changed; more empty. Fantasies of everything working out become less believable. In fact, you will need to work harder than ever to maintain the will to go on as so much of you has been irretrievably lost. Regardless of what "shrinks" might think, losing a father, mother, child, wife, leaves a void that will never heal over; a sinkhole of lost love that sucks the energy from your soul.

HINT: Not a bad rationale for creating G/god(s) to help alleviate the misery, to fill that hole in your heart with versions of an afterlife where there will be jubilant reunions and everything will be wonderful again.

HINT: Knock! Knock! No one home… Not gonna happen!

Or so go the endless existentialist thoughts. This writer is hardly the first to anguish over such considerations and won't be the last. Well, not until the last human breathes his/her last breath on this dying planet. Although, for each of us, the essence of who we are, breathes its final breath upon death. The body follows all too quickly (as this writer can attest to having worked his way through college as a grave digger). What is left behind is sorrow, loss, and that's if you're lucky. If you're unlucky, add in remorse, guilt, shame or the ol' woulda-coulda-shoulda trifecta.

So, if you love your mother and/or father, if they were a big part of your life, if what they have given you extends well beyond the obligatory material support of food on the table and a roof over your head, be thankful and give her or him a call and maybe say "thanks" for all they did and for the values instilled in you that make you who you are. We like to think "things" will stay the way they've "always" been. Not so. The tomorrow of change is right around the next corner. Go ahead, phone home.

But, whatever you do or don't do, remember we come into this world the way we exit: Alone. Regardless of how many people may be bedside for the death watch, once the curtain drops, the individual spirit leaves the body. And whether your custom requires the body to rot in the ground or cremation ashes to be sprinkled about, one fact is for certain: No one leaves here alive. A single lifetime isn't ever enough.

So, live and love well. This too-short life is the only one we have.

As for my father, today, and every day from here on, he is nowhere and everywhere.

When Dads Die

My dad died yesterday. Just slipped away. There are no words to convey the loss. He has been in my life for all of my life. Until now. So, how can I believe he's in a "better place" when his place is here with his family? How can I believe "God" has required he "come home" when his home is with his family? How can I believe his not being here is better than him being here?

I cannot.

My father taught by example. His integrity was sacrosanct. He was honest to a fault (e.g., My mom would often say he couldn't even schmooze to get ahead). He was hard working, often working three jobs. His love for his family was unconditional. He believed in human beings, that all human beings regardless of gender or race or creed are our brothers and sisters and should be treated with respect. Having been a teacher "back in the day" when teachers made so very little money, he rarely had anything more than change in his pocket. But, should one of his kids be with him, he'd spend every last cent on them. And, we had six kids in our family. That may seem like a huge family now. But for him, he came from a poor immigrant family with 15 children, some of whom were adopted, for when a local child had no one else to turn my father's parents would take them in and treat them as one of their own. He was the youngest. He was a great athlete, "hard-nosed," a golden gloves boxer, ran track, played baseball, but football was always his first love. His football prowess earned him a spot on the Syracuse University football team and he was a standout quarterback. He coached football for most of his life. He always maintained that football IS life. And, for those who've played the game, you understand perfectly what that means. What you learn about football is that no matter how good you are, you're going to get knocked down. Football is a violent sport; not merely contact but collision. Sometimes you get hit so hard you can't imagine getting up. But if you've learned well, you do get up. For football is family and you have a responsibility to your team mates, your school, yourself. I remember well the holidays when he would have team members that had difficult family circumstances over for Thanksgiving dinner or at Christmas time. Didn't matter if they were (per his favorite saying) "black or white or polka dot for that matter" they would come and join our family festivities. He would always make himself available to any of his football "kids" whenever they had a problem at school or at home and would do whatever he could to intervene and alleviate the problem. What came through loud and clear was that whether you were a first team starter or third team bench sitter, if when knocked down you got right back up and gave it all you had, he loved you for it and respected you for never giving up.

His dedication was total. I remember watching "game films" for hours every Sunday morning. Every play run 22 times in order to watch each and every position on both sides of the ball. He would instruct me as to technique (blocking, tackling, ball carrying, ball handling, receiver routes, etc) and discuss each player's responsibility for every play. He always stayed a student of the game; always learning, studying and attempting innovation for better results. He was very successful. He had a number of chances to actually move to the college ranks but due to the very poor salaries (even worse than a high school teacher!) and having a substantial family he never could pursue that dream; another sacrifice he willingly made for his family. I suppose some people thought he had underachieved by not coaching at the college level. But, having lived through the depression, having come from such a large, poor family he achieved quite a lot and all he ever really wanted: A loving family and home of his own. Besides, what other people thought of him never phased him one iota.

My dad was a compassionate human being. A hero, really, in that he set such a fine example not by simply talking the talk but by walking the walk. He would often say how he's lived his life in such a fashion that every night he puts his head on the pillow he falls asleep without any problem; meaning he was guilt-free for living true to his ideals. He always walked with head held high—not out of arrogance, but rather, confidence in his equality –even as he was always humble and courteous.

He made me who I am. Just as he made my sisters and brothers the people they are. And who are we? What kind of people? The kind that will step between a bully and victim, that will share what little we might have with someone less fortunate, that will work on behalf of people with needs rather than our wants, that will maintain our integrity in the face of adversity, that will live by truth and serve justice, that will speak our minds regardless of who approves and believe as we see fit rather than according to custom or scripture or any other box that people tend to imprison themselves in, and most important of all, we are people that get back up when knocked down ready to give it our all.

So many people today seem to have issues with their parents, with how they were treated or how their parents didn't this or did that or whatever, never once embracing the single reality of parents being people. Parents aren't gods. But, the lucky among us realize this fact. The luckier among us are those that had loving human beings for parents; had a dad like mine.

This loss is forever. Never to be replaced or repaired or forgotten. But, every day of my life has been and will remain a reaffirmation of the righteous life-lessons taught by my father. For I will live as he taught me to live, as a compassionate human being with unbowed head.

Thank you, dad.

All my love and respect.

Son Steven

Gnome: A Gremlin No More

This writer was most fortunate to get wind of a Bard College presentation, U.S. Foreign Policy In the Middle East, sponsored by Bard Students for A Just Peace In Israel-Palestine featuring Noam Chomsky. Anyone at all interested in radical analysis of American foreign policy has heard of Professor Chomsky, MIT linguistics expert and long time political activist. Before proceeding let me put forth the dictionary definition of radical: (rad' i–kəl) adj. 1 Of, proceeding from, or pertaining to the root or foundation; essential; fundamental; inherent; basic. [NOTICE: Radical does not mean "off the wall"] While the word has been overused in describing the "left" it has also been bastardized to mean "wooly headed" or worse, "dangerous" and therefore unworthy of further discussion. If one is "radical" in America, one is demonized to such an extent that no one listens to him/her. Look what happened during the last election regarding Bill Ayers, former Weatherman. The major media labeled him a radical and a terrorist (the flip side of the radical coin) without any contemplation of what he did in its proper context. Yet any acts allegedly committed by Ayers should always be discussed in context of the 60s and 70s for that was a very harrowing time during which all of the following took place: viz., a presidential assassination; a senator assassinated; a human rights leader assassinated; women were fighting for their right to be equal citizens; a draft was put in place forcing young American men into military service for the purpose of murdering 2 million Vietnamese based upon the false Gulf of Tonkin incident and a now thoroughly discredited "domino theory" (even then it was absurd); demonstrators engaging in their Constitutional right to petition the Government for redress of grievances were summarily beaten, gassed, arrested; Black Panthers were harassed and murdered by the FBI (Cointelpro operation) even as any American denouncing the policies in play were targeted for surveillance; the CIA was busy growing coups and torturing activists in Latin America (Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, etc) even as it was involved with attempted assassination of Fidel Castro in Cuba and egregiously intruding on personal lives here in America; the first "shots" of the Drug War were fired initiating an atrocious expenditure of both money and police resources resulting in inappropriately long prison sentences for marijuana users en masse even as violent crime steadily escalated due to lack of resources and police presence.

Turbulent times. Revolution was in the air. Entrenched elite interests were completely unprepared for such resistance to America's brutal expansion of Empire and, so pushed back hard and swift. In fact, Professor Chomsky mentioned how when he began in the early 1960s he needed police protection in order to speak.

Imagine that. Right here in America, in order to speak one's mind (don't forget the Constitutionally protected right of Free Speech that has existed since the early days of this nation's origin) a person needed protection from angry crowds in order to discuss issues the main stream media refused to cover. Actually, not only did the media refuse to do its job, so did many High School teachers. This writer was in advanced track classes and yet the only mention of Viet Nam was for a World History teacher to point it out on a map with only the briefest of mentions that there were Communists attempting to take control of that nation. That was it as far as discussion went. Then it was down to the Principal's office after being personally requested to visit in order to register for the Draft as was required by law. The following year, along with all other males between the ages of 18 and 25, we watched the "lottery" while hanging out in the college Student Union building; the atmosphere alternating between gigantic whooshes of relief from the "losers" and sobbing by the "winners" as birth date by birth date was drawn from a tumbler. Surreal. It was a moment in this writer's life when the criminality of America came across full throttle. Having attempted to make sense of the situation and having spent many hours researching it, clear was the fact that whatever the Viet Nam war was about, it was not about stanching the "red peril" from devouring Viet Nam. In fact, Ho Chi Minh, the leader of the Viet Cong, was a lover of the American Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. He actually used words from those documents to write his country's own. After a long struggle against French colonialism, the Vietnamese wanted their own country where they would be free to make their own decisions about what was best for them. That's it. The Vietnamese wanted freedom to choose what was best for their country and countrymen. For the Capitalistocracy of America, such desire served as a bad example, one which had to be exterminated, (Watch out Hugo Chavez!) as such effrontery just might catch on and other people of the world would want self-determination as well and if that happened, America would not be able to continue its rape and pillaging of the Third World in order to maintain a way of life to which the American people had become accustomed. Yet, it was absolutely clear that should this writer refuse to join the murder-fest via induction against his will, he would be determined a criminal and be locked up in a Federal prison.

America's Janus Justice; two-faced; elite interests served to detriment of an entire world with murder and thievery the methodologies of choice yet, protesting against such inhuman abuses warranted prison time.

Noam Chomsky spoke against America running roughshod over an entire world of people. His voice was loud in such a wilderness of conformity. And, yes, despite conventional wisdom that remembers this period as over-run with "crazies," the 60s and 70s were extremely conformative times. The "hippies" and "yippies" and "radicals" and "activists" and even "long-hairs" all combined were a distinct minority getting more than their fair share of abuse from the "straight" majority. People like to evoke the romanticism of Woodstock and Hippies wearing flowers in their hair to serve as a lens through which to view that period of history; you know, "give peace a chance…peace and love" and all the other button/bumper sticker sound bites of the times. But for those who DID question authority, protest, agitate for human rights for all peoples, march in defiance of the status quo, defy the draft, there was a huge amount of vile abuse from continual verbal harassment to actual physical assaults and, as stated, even imprisonment. America was still Doo Wop and beehive hairdos and God Bless our great nation right or wrong. Conform or pay the consequences. The 60s and 70s weren't the 60s and 70s we know today until decades later when much of what activists were fighting for actually came to fruition and were seen as mainstream values (well, except for the Republican Right who were and still are living in the 50s filled with their delusions of grandeur and superiority.)

Chomsky stood solo against all of that. He had and still maintains courage of huge magnitude. A role model of compassionate humanism to be cherished and ascribed to by anyone wishing to be considered a human being in its most majestic form.

Thus it is with saddened heart that this writer must now offer a couple other dictionary definitions: Gremlin (grem'lin) n. A mischievous, invisible imp said to ride airplanes and cause mechanical trouble. Substitute Ship of State and/or Elite Agenda for airplane and you see how Chomsky was viewed "back in the day." He was dangerous! A single man espousing humanistic viewpoints undeterred by the threat of losing his job, of physical harm, of putting his family in jeopardy, stood against a Government hell-bent on wrecking havoc all across the planet without regard to billions of people; one man threatened to reveal the hypocrisy and greed and malfeasance of our leaders and their capitalistocratic national agenda.

Today, Noam Chomsky, is no longer a gremlin. He is no longer dangerous. Noam has been rendered a gnome (nōm) n. 2 A little, old man. For, America is now surrendering to a capitalistocratic elite that knows no nation-state, no boundaries of human decency, no compassion towards a world of humans. This financial crisis created by elites serving elite interests, closes the book on America's great experiment in democracy—rule by the people –in favor of rule by the powerful few.

Revolution is just a song from "back in the day" or a new scent to be sold. The only thing in the air now, is pollution, shouted inanity, dismal prospects for the future of the human race. And to the happy-assed optimists among you: Keep smiling. Keep imagining it's all going to be alright. Keep believing that your representatives aren't out for themselves, that "business" exists to help, that the financial bailouts are really in the people's interests and not just another greedy gamblers' loss recovery program albeit the mother of all payoffs.

We Americans like to think of ourselves as born of revolutionaries, fighting for democracy, for the people, duly blessed by God and privileged by our humanity towards others. When, in reality, that America has never been, and now made obvious with the shock doctrine of disaster capitalism gaining eminence, that America and those Americans shall never be.

Not without a violent revolution by the people…

So, tell me: Are YOU ready to rumble? If not yet, when?

The Judean Candidate

Many were the warnings about Candidate Barack Hussein Obama, everything from him being the Anti-Christ to Marx Incarnate. This writer laughed out loud at the ludicrous paranoia of our lunatic fringe unfortunately on public display right there on Main Street, U.S. of A. Now I'm beginning to wonder if something wasn't amiss after all. Those that ponder such things understand that we heard what we wanted/needed to hear coming from the lips of "the one." Still 'midst the Reagan Revolution—an unending orgy of Liberty at the expense of Equality, followed by Bush the Lesser's orgy of Executive Power sodomizing Truth, Justice and the American Way –just over half the country were desperate for deliverance from Republicanism run amok.

By the time the election was held, we had anointed a savior in Barack Obama. He would heal the sick and right all wrongs. He would make wine out of water and the "bread" we need would appear, in abundance, out of thin vaporous air. He would bring America back into God's good graces; ironic seeing as George W. was/is an evangelical believer yet acted the devil while in office. (Or, was that Cheney's hand up his puppet ass?) No mere man could ever hope to assuage such expectation without immense disappointment.

But, this writer is not talking about what others expect of him, rather, what the candidate stated he would do and what he would be about.

Now, in just six weeks' time, gestation completed, Obama the butterfly emerges from the chrysalis. He moves to shore up the financial institutions that greedily gambled their wads away. We, the taxpayers, now need to pony up for that. He moves to provide "universal health care." We, all taxpayers, now need to pony up for that even as ultimately access to all treatments will be not be allowed for all and most likely not even for most. Obama reversed Bush Administration decrees on abstinence teaching but refused to reverse abortion non-funding even as he acceded to continued faith-based group funding. He moves to shore up our troops in Afghanistan by committing another 17,000 (bringing the total to around 60,000; the unsuccessful Soviets had 160,000 troops committed to Afghanistan). We, the taxpayers, now need to pony up for this misadventure even as the excuse of stopping al Qaeda and the Taliban rings hollow knowing as we do that all unilaterally described (Western definition) "terrorists" agree that Israel's abuses in Palestine is the root cause for "terrorist acts" and only by getting to the root will the problem be solved.

On The Daily Show (originally aired 3 March 2009) Obama video clips appeared side-by-side with clips of George W. Bush each stating what the mission objectives are/will be in Iraq; Bush, as regarded the Surge influx of troops; Obama, as regards the mission once combat troops are withdrawn. The words are identical except for two; Bush used support Iraqi troops while Obama said assist Iraqi troops. We, the taxpayers, will have to continue to pony up boucoup bucks for years to come and, as was prophesied prior to the war, probably forever more as the United States desires that reserve of oil (continuing the legacy of the Truman Doctrine of U.S. national security trumping any/all foreign sovereignty's right to their own resources) even as it provides a strategic military base in a volatile region.

So much for what constraints were put in place to strait-jacket any Administration coming into office. Well, any Administration that wasn't Republican. After all, lest America forget (and that is already happening), Republicanism shorn of moral restraints brought us to the financial fleecing we're experiencing. Republicanism has been predicated on a rapacious Machiavellian philosophy of unrestrained "free markets" making the few rich richer, a few more that weren't rich getting to become rich and everyone else, the vast majority, can continue to pay the price of that heralded (and might this writer add, fabled) "individualism" Republicans so cherish. What's "individualist" about being a Ditto Head? Speaking of the heavyweight "leader" of the Republican Party, Rush Limbaugh, is he not the epitome of non-restraint? of gross excess? of utter stupidity passing as profundity? Republicanism is a bad joke being played upon Americans; albeit the less intelligent Americans which, if truth be told, comprise half the nation (just think Larry the Cable Guy writ large). Such has been in charge of governance for most of the last 25 years. We're in a huge mess because of Republican (and Republicanized Democrat) rule. This mess leaves a pile of excrement behind that will keep Team Obama cleaning up through its first term at least. Soon enough it will be made clear that after wrestling with budgetary limits and deficit spending that cannot continue trending the way it has been for decades, Obama's Administration will be forced to scale down his promises to the American people to the point of being ineffective except for semantic hedging against truth; e.g. "I promised a tax break for 95 percent of working Americans and delivered." But, the fact that the break will be for an amount that won't float anyone's boat (about $50/month) the American middle class will sink ever deeper into the muck while the rare few— the Phoenix Class –rise anew from the ashes of their outrageous pillaging with fresh wings our money will pay for.

Pundits applaud Obama's team for having hit the ground running in a time of unprecedented crises, having already guided a Stimulus Package through passage in both houses, having gathered a forum for health care reform, education reform is upcoming and even with such pressing domestic needs, foreign affairs was put on high priority with Obama's naming of George Mitchell as special envoy to the Middle East to mediate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Mitchell has already met with the principals. Well, at least the ones America decides are the principals having chosen to ignore, Hamas, the democratically elected representatives of Gazan Palestinians. Which is what Israel demands. The same ploy being employed again, as it has been for over forty years, Israel decrying the lack of participants for peace talks as they murder, imprison and torture any Palestinian who is brave enough to stand for peace and justice and a homeland uninhabited by settlers (whose presence is in defiance of International Law against settling occupied territory; especially land occupied via pre-emptive war as was the 1967 Six Day War).

Indeed, Obama's Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, has stated his predilection for the "Shock Doctrine" methodology detailed in "The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism" by Naomi Klein used to devastate "the people" while enriching "the few." The Israeli citizen is quoted as saying, "You never want a serious crisis to go to waste...Things that we had postponed for too long, that were long-term, are now immediate and must be dealt with. This crisis provides the opportunity for us to do things that you could not do before." The article goes on to say, "Mr. Emanuel noted, correctly, that the U.S. largely squandered the opportunity the oil shocks of the 1970s presented [*] to make serious, long-term changes in its energy habits -- a failure that has returned to haunt the nation today." Further, Emanuel stated, "The lesson holds true in foreign policy as well. Only the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, and its shock to the Middle East status quo, made it possible for President Jimmy Carter to move in and negotiate the historic Camp David peace accords between Egypt and Israel."

We all agree we're in crisis mode. Now, let's consider the following points in that context:

• First, recall candidate Obama's complete silence regarding Israel's rampage in Gaza during which Israel destroyed much of the infrastructure and the residences for tens-of-thousands even as it murdered 1,400 and injured some 5,500 wounded purportedly to avenge 24 Israeli deaths in the prior 7 years of Qassam rocket fire from those whom are determined to defend their homeland.
  
• Next, recall all the points above regarding the vast sums of money to be collected from the American people (a transfer of wealth or redistribution of same) to bail out Capitalism on a world-wide scale and the Chief of Staff's Shock Doctrine statement.
  
• Now, amidst this greatest crisis since the "Great Depression" realize that President Obama visited the Caterpillar company; the makers of those same bulldozers that have been systematically demolishing Palestinian homes in the West Bank to make room for more settlements; the same piece of heavy equipment used to murder an innocent American, Rachel Corrie, eye-witness to Israeli attempted genocide of Gazans; a company the American "Left" has put high on its shit-list (now add into this mix the above mentioned stances on abstinence teaching, abortion non-funding and faith-based group funding).
  
• Even as Envoy Mitchell and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visit the area in hopes of restarting the peace process, Team Obama considers the Palestinian Authority— quickly losing any/all authority as representatives of Palestinians as it allows Israel's daily abuses against a viable homeland –the ONLY legitimate Palestinian representatives with whom they will speak; democratically elected Hamas excluded because Israel demanded they be considered "terrorists" and the United States accommodates that propaganda-torqued view.
  
• The double standard discussed in an earlier blog entry regarding the hypocrisy of Obama's stance on nuclear proliferation as such escalation applies to the budding Iranian civilian nuclear program though not to Israel's clandestine program with an estimated 200 nuclear warheads and missile launch capability already on line and ready to go.
  
• The agreement to send Israel the weapons necessary to maintain its illegal, brutal occupation of Palestine in exchange for $30 billion over the next 10 years.
  
• The Obama Administration's silence as to Israel's use of white phosphorus; its use in Gaza with such dense population, a war crime.
  
• The Obama Administration's silence as to the recent announcement by the Israeli government that 73,000 new illegal settler residences will be created in the West Bank as well as the silence over 1,500 homes recently bulldozed by Israeli troops claiming the homes were built without permits even as Palestinians cannot get permits to build homes on the very land they own; this confiscated land to be used for further Israeli settlement in Jerusalem's Arab quarter thereby making a two-state (or any Palestinian sovereignty) solution impossible.
  

More than a poke in the eye of the Left; it's a real gouging. A message, wouldn't you say? And this writer must wonder if it isn't Rahm Emanuel behind the effrontery to the very people that made an Obama presidency a reality.

Which leads to this question: Have you ever seen The Manchurian Candidate? It is a 1962 movie based upon the 1959 fiction novel by Richard Condon. It's a paranoid depiction of "brainwashing" by sinister Communists that hope to get control of the American government through assassination of the President by his trusted mind-rinsed VP after being subconsciously triggered into becoming a killing machine. In the present instance, it isn't his VP that Obama needs to worry about, it's Rahm Emanuel, the Judean Candidate. Brainwashed you say incredulously? Ask yourself, where else is such "mind-rinsing" used to churn out ranks of subsumed Brown Shirts for the Capitalistocracy of America but in prestigious universities like Harvard and Yale?

Obama and Emanuel are Harvard grads. Obama is basically carrying out a pro-Israeli agenda even as his Chief of Staff kicks the Left in its ass, gouges its eyes and mugs for the camera like Il Duce as if this was a WWF Smackdown. Obama the transformative man transforms into Obama the Bird of Prey warrior when it comes to denying Palestinians their due, or staying the course in Iraq, or plunging into the quagmire of Afghanistan, or chastising corporate leaders for taking tens of billions of dollars worth of bonuses (a finger-wagging doggie treat for the People) while delivering trillions of taxpayer dollars to those same monied few without absolute terms of repayment, or when defending our way of life (a way of life made possible only by Capitalism's rape and pillaging of the Third World that continues to this very moment).

The Obama above isn't the Obama for whom we voted. Not by our standards, but his very own conveyed as they were in his many speeches, his own words. President Obama now slavishly serves Corporatist and Israeli agendas. How to explain such an inexplicable turnaround if not for the Queen of Hearts (subconscious trigger) having been played by Chief of Staff and Israeli citizen, Rahm Emanuel?

[*] The "oil shock of the 1970s" was the Arab world's unified [OPEC] response to Israel's 1973 pre-emptive Yom Kippur War.

What Mama Said

There's much to be said for optimism in times like these; end times? So some believe. Others, well, other folk think "things" will be better sometime tomorrow or further on a-piece. Make that many, if not, most folks. Optimistic types. The keep smilin' for not cryin' crowd. You know the type (Happy-Assed Americanus): Donut-larded, fed-fat-cheeked fiends of fetish consumerism or, judging by the size of 'em, are we talkin' cannibalism? eatin' poor bastards whole? Special dunkin' sauce with every slab of meat? 'Twould explain America's obesity problem. But, that's a subject best left to those whom contemplate such non-newsworthy drivel.

Which nudges me in the direction of topic for the day: Survival.

Who hasn't heard of those people assembled in their make-shift fortresses, having taken to hoarding, stock-piling water, canned goods and jerky, waiting out the End Days? Those people think the troubled times we live in warrant creating warehouses of foodstuffs to survive the coming [Fill in the blank_______________). Some think God is gonna smite the unholy lot of us. (Well, the nonbelievers for sure. Followed by the "other" believers. You know, the kinds with those weirdly named gods and goddesses. Yeah, that kind, them, those whom believe there are more than one God. Heathens from the one perspective. Saints from another. Demons from a third and on and on.) Others believe the Rapture is imminent; the Anti-Christ walks among us. Still others believe this economic downturn is the Be-All-And-End-All, one from which we do not recover. Others decry the nihilistic youth and their violent solutions to any/all perceived slights and what that forebodes for the future of our nation; nay, the world. No doubt there are racists among us that believe the End is nigh by virtue of having a black man in the White House. And, lest we forget the ubiquitous Jones' whom everyone in America hates for their one-upmanship even as Americans asymptotically vie to be one better than; a never-ending mission of futility (hence 70 percent of the American economy).

The obvious problem (aside from the delusional righteousness such adherents—in the first instance –possess) is that with such stockpiling, once the end comes, the first wave of ejectamenta (those humans laid off, slipped through the shredded safety net, the economic outcasts, the hungry dispossessed) will know where food's available. You may have loaded up on ammo and guns to safeguard your stockpile but once a hungry hoard seeks nourishment—a primary survival force –nothing will stop the scavenging. That's why the true survivor mode will entail keeping hidden, eyeing the herd, especially the fringes and when the infirm, the too-slow-of-foot, the down-and-outer goes down they'll be quickly devoured. Yes, cannibalism as survival tool. Get used to it and you'll thrive. Human meat? You are what you eat? Hmmm, something to ponder.

If conditions get so bad as that, deciding to survive via cannibalism is surely an example of unbounded optimism, wouldn't you say? I mean, who would want to live in such a world? To actually eat your neighbors to survive is to say, for the eater at least, tomorrow will dawn.

Of course, many people around the world believe "things" are getting worse even as they continue to express optimism. No mystery, really. If one can convince him/herself that "things" will in fact be better tomorrow, then happy days are a-foot. No need to worry as "things" are going to be better tomorrow. At least they'll get out of bed and prod themselves once again to run the rat race; to stay safe midst the herd. The fear in the air flares nostrils, pumps adrenaline, erases logic and empathy. The herd runs from everything (after all, terrorism is everywhere) so it runs in frenzied circles until it can run no more. And that, my friends, is a meat-eater's dream (not to mention an extremely optimistic mindset/scenario to find oneself in IF fattening up is your raison d'être).

Even President Clinton chimed in with the advice that Obama should be more upbeat in order to rally the people to get behind America's push for solvency.

"The sun will come out tomorrow…tomorrow…Bet your bottom dollar…" from Annie.

So, that's how we arrive dead-on topic for this entry. My mother being in her 80s, living in South Carolina, and being of a certain generation completely and utterly devoid of adaptability to modern electronic gadgetry yet recently getting hooked up for email, prompted me to send my brave mom copies of this blog. When we talked 10 or so days later she mentioned how she was so happy to receive the blogs and wanted me to know that she read them right away, proceeded into her bedroom, climbed under the covers and just now climbed back out again. "Jesus H., Steven…I understand you need to write the truth but, Christ Almighty, it's so depressing."

What mama said.

Not enough of us concentrate on the hard numbers of this economic crisis, the lost jobs, the stock market tumble, the financial meltdown. Instead we fear everything in general. Rah-rah optimism isn't what's needed at all. We need to calibrate the bubble's bursting impacts. We need to arm ourselves with data of the most convincing nature. We need to flood the marketplace of ideas with this fact—that America is being divvied up among a few elite –in the hope of creating a sea-change of evolutionary growth in people eager to make this world a better place for our children and their children's children. In other words, enough of the optimism. Unbridled optimism is what America has fueled itself on certainly since Reagan; and who can forget "W" telling us the best thing to do after 9/11 was to go out and shop. Blind optimism led to a financial frenzy whose downside is utterly evident and upon us. Now is not the time for more optimism. It is time for the hard work to begin, to address reality, analyze and devise solutions that will serve humanity as opposed to shareholders. How else could such a phenomenon be described but as pure optimism at work? Born of unending hope that lives in each and every human being on this planet. Why slime of ancestral tracks leading from one puddle of mere survival to another thriving pool finally leads to the beneficiaries of such evolution, us, as we are today.

Hope delivered us from the slime in the beginning. But can hope alone deliver us from the slime once again? Who said Walt Disney's dead? Every princess will find her prince? Every evil witch shall find her match in a Miss Goodness N. Light? We all should whistle while we work? Fairy Bells and Tinker Dust? Goofy the Tao to Pluto's Zen?

The treacle drips from such optimism—dare we call it American Can-doism –like sweet thick amber syrup, warmed by momma's breast milk, the teat that satisfies, suckle and "it all" melts away.

But, does it? Or does it keep requiring you to cull up those depleted reserves of optimism each and every time it is further depleted by breakdown in trust between government and the people, between employers and employees, between neighbors, between husband and wife, parent and children, a believer and his/her G(g)od(s). Every time Disneyland wavers, ripples, blinking from strain of maintaining illusions so we do not witness the Beagle Boys' with their Captains of Industry personas (unadulterated thuggery to extort untold wealth), we reach for our drug of choice: Optimism (right there on the shelf next to the Fuhgeddabouddit pills).

Worth noting is the fact that, while optimism is great for getting something started, reality is what measures success or failure. Sorry, Mama, but the reality currently applicable is clear: The big cats are out of sight, watching the herd, licking their chops with every new straggler losing pace. As more and more drift from the herd and are devoured whole, the herd will become thinned, leaner, meaner, more afraid.

The cats will get fatter. And it will be "morning in America" once again. Reagan will regain Patron Saint status and Milton Friedman will live in granite monuments to his genius. History will tell us how great a President George W. Bush had been.

Gone will be the stories of deprivation and humiliation; replaced as they will be, with fairy tales of optimism. The end days. Not with a whimper but with an all-consuming lie based upon blind optimism. For when the herd runs blind, the fatcats drool in anticipation of a steady diet.

And, for them, at least, there is nothing to fear.