PACKAGING BULLSHI

When I was informed by Nora O’Donnell of MSNBC news this afternoon that there were nearly a thousand requests for Sarah Palin to speak for 6 figured salaries a speech I was reminded of something my father told me decades ago. He said that Americans would buy shit in a pretty package wrapped with a bow.

After listening to her speeches during the 2008 presidential campaign right through her resignation speech as Governor of Alaska I must say that in the last 50 years no presidential candidate or vice-presidential running mate has consistently sounded so utterly stupid, so ignorant of the world in which we live than Sarah Palin.

Seems like the old man was right Americans indeed will indeed buy shit or in Sarah Palin case – bullshit as long as it packaged right. Doesn’t say much for the future of the Republic when stupid people like Sarah Palin are paid 6 figure salaries to ramble and rant about that which they know so little

WHO WILL SHUT UP DICK CHENEY?

Once again America’s most infamous war criminal, Dick Cheney shot his mouth off stating that President Obama’s investigation into CIA practices against terrorism suspects “calls into doubt the Obama administration’s ability to handle national security” begs the question: When will Dick Cheney shut up?

With all the advance intelligence warnings of an attack by al Qaeda this five time draft dodging war criminal couldn’t protect the United States on 9/11 but he now questions President Obama’s creditentials on national security.

Perhaps Pogo was right when the cartoon character said “We have met the enemy and the enemy is us” because unless and until Dick Cheney is prosecuted for war crimes and justice served by his incarceration for violating international law and the Constitution of the United States politics as usual will continue much to our detriment as a nation of laws.

The pundits pretend outrage but when Dennis Kucinich offered up articles of impeachment against Cheney in 2007 he was ignored. Even the patron saint of journalists and worshipped by those he left behind at MSNBC, Tim Russert, ridiculed Kucinich during a Democratic debate by asking him if he believed in UFOs instead of asking him “If elected, would he investigate and prosecute those in the Bush Administration for committing war crimes?”

We’ve known for far too long that the previous administration subverted the rule of law and no one was held accountable. The current investigation appears headed in the same direction wherein a few bad apples at the bottom of the barrel might be charged with crimes but the authors of those crimes will be free to spread the lie that terrorism works thus reducing the Republic to the role of a rogue state where our “terrorism” is acceptable while the “terrorism” of other nations is not.

It is time for the Obama Administration to change the “politics as usual” that he claimed during the primaries and the 2008 election by recognizing that if we truly are a nation of laws any investigation include the people at the top, especially war criminals like Dick Cheney are prosecuted to the fullest for their role in the crimes against humanity that occured under the Cheney Administration.

It is time for the press to remind the public especially the ignorant among us that we are a nation of laws and it is time for President Obama to get a backbone and understand that we cannot move forward unless and until we address our recent past so that we will not repeat a history that will ultimately destroy the Republic.

It is time for America to realize that “the enemy is us” and our war criminals should spend the rest of their lives behind bars with their fellow terrorists without the press providing a platform for their message of fear and ignorance. While Michelle Obama may finally be proud to be an American given our current state of failure to admit we committed war crimes and our continued failure to hold anyone accountable for those crimes I must remain disappointed, ashamed and embarrassed. Only the Obama Adminstration can shut up Dick Cheney by charging him as an American terrorist and proving to the rest of the civilized world that we are indeed a nation of laws.

DROPPING THE PUBLIC OPTION

The newest/latest rumor is that President Obama is now backing away from the public option in his health care reform. Ironic that the Democrats shudder and scramble to satiate the rants of the lunatic fringe of the Republican Party but turn their backs on the progressive wing of the Democratic Party. Perhaps it is time for progressive Democrats to consider informing President Obama they won’t be voting for any health care reform without the inclusion of the public option just so Obama can claim he initiated health care reform by sticking his finger in the dike because that’s a sure sign that any legislation for the sake of legislation will fail. While they’re at it progessives might consider forming their own political party. Indeed it is high time the people who believe in change are in fact represented by legislative action and not just campaign rhetoric. If it is true that President Obama is willing to concede the public option then that’s not the change he promised that’s merely more of the same. If Obama wants to drop the public option progressives should drop their support for President Obama.

“REAL”HEALTH CARE REFORM – A SUGGESTION

As of this writing it appears that the perpetual Party of Appeasement i.e. the Democratic Party has been sufficiently influenced by the tyranny of the mob and is willing to compromise with the Party of No Ideas on health care reform or anything else for that matter. In fact any historian would be hard pressed to find any serious proposals in the Republican Party platform that reflects any consideration for the common good during the last 70 years.

Indeed out current health care system is a mess no matter how often the Right repeats the lie that we have the best system in the world – it still doesn’t make it true. Better to have no health care reform than something watered down to appease the fear mongers because health care will continue to be a growing problem which will never be resolved as long as those who propose reform don’t have the resolve to enact the strongest possible legislation with or without the consent of the fear mongering rabid right.

“Real” health care reform requires accepting at least the following suggestions:

1 – THE PUBLIC OPTION – Let’s face it the present health care system seems to do nothing more and nothing less than profit the health industry corporations and their investors with plenty left over to line the pockets of fear mongering politicians to make sure it stays that way. More Americans are losing their jobs and their health care along with it. The cost of health insurance is increasing the cost of employers that can keep health insurance for their employees who will have their contributions raised as will their employees resulting in less take home pay to participate in a consumerist society. Most small businesses cannot even offer health insurance to their employees. Medicaid is available to those who qualify and with more people being added to the Medicaid rolls from the unemployment line the taxes of their communities are increased to pay for the Medicaid. If you don’t have any health insurance a catastrophic illness leaves you but the one recourse of filing for bankruptcy and the cost of that is passed on to other consumers whose income to purchase goods that Madison Ave convinces them they need is further reduced. The current state of health care for those who can afford it has to change before it implodes and a Public Option seems like a rational approach while the opposition offers nothing but the noise of the mob parroting the empty rhetoric of those politicians who create a climate fear further dividing the country between those who prefer the bliss of ignorance and those who can handle the truth.

2 – PUBLIC FUNDING FOR ABORTIONS – Those influenced by their imaginary friend no doubt will have serious moral issues real or imagined with having their tax dollars pay for murdering those yet to be brought into this world. Personally I think it has more to do with treating women as second class citizens who don’t have the same right to choose as does a man. Of course those same people have had absolutely no problem with their tax dollars being spent on waging war in Iraq not once but twice, financing another group of religious crazies led by Osama Bin Laden to wage war against Russia in Afghanistan, provide financial support for countries to wage war against drugs with death squads to maintain the existing political power etc. Enough said. To ease their minds they shouldn’t have to pay the amount of taxes it would take for safe abortions but their taxes will have to be increased to pay for all the services necessary to care for the results of unwanted pregnancies starting with the delivery room and ending with the funeral. It’s only fair. Besides they should have no objection to paying for “life” after it’s born. When all those unwanted pregnancies come to life it’s just another drag on the economy not to mention an increase in a population that places an additional demand on the already dwindling resources of the environment as well as exacerbating existing tensions in our social, political and economic systems.

3 – END OF LIFE CONSULTATIONS – This includes euthanasia. Nothing to be afraid of here after all – all things conditioned are impermanent – ashes to ashes and dust to dust kind of stuff. I suspect there are many people who would prefer death to the pain and suffering of a terminal illness or the miserable existence in a nursing home knowing that all one has worked for is taken away by the state in order to pay for a temporary room that will be the last residence before the grave. Make it optional because right now the government is already deciding the most important issue of an individual’s choice to determine whose life is it any way and that moronic mob the Republicans pander to is obviously too stupid to figure that out. I mean it was a Republican government that became exercised over trying to tell Mr. Schiavo he didn’t have the right to pull the plug on his wife who was comatose for over a decade. Under the current health care system government already decides and so does the health care industry for those who have insurance. They make more money the longer one lives – quality of life isn’t even considered in the equation. Time for that to change for those who want it and like public funding of abortions those who prefer the option of euthanasia will have their taxes assessed accordingly as will those who want to hang on to their suffering. I mean really we have all that concern for the quality of life and compassion for a household pet to end its suffering but for our fellow humans – no such compassion. How absurd.

SOME QUESTIONS:

1 – Who would care for all the newly insured? Couldn’t the government pay for the education of doctors, nurses and care givers and in return those doctors, nurses and care givers would provide the health care to the newly insured for the same number of years that the government paid for their education?

2 – How would we pay for such reform? For starters we could end the war on drugs. That would save 30 to 40 billion dollars a year and if we have more qualified doctors, nurses and care givers as suggested above seems like that would increase the competition that would theoretically decrease the cost of health care. Finally public funding of abortions and end of life discussions would decrease the existing cost of health care.

Oh well – the Republicans haven’t offered any solutions but it’s in their nature to protect the status quo which favors them and the Democrats haven’t had the courage of their convictions for the last 70 years to crush the opposition beneath the wheel of progress. When it comes to health reform in the 21st Century the devil is indeed in the details much like it has been for the past 70 years. Another opportunity lost to catch up with the rest of the civilized world that cares for the health of its citizens without reducing it to the profit motive.

TRASH TALING CHUCK GRASSLEY

The other day President Obama claimed that some of his Republican friends were “diligently working to see if they can come up with a plan that could get both Republican and Democratic support”. Among those so-called Republican friends was Sen. Charles Grassley the ranking Republican on the Finance Committee.

A day later this so-called friend was fear mongering in Iowa claiming people had every right to fear because the House bill contained counseling for end-of-life. Senator Charles Grassley can now be referred to as “Chuck the Mendacious” for it is an outright lie that the Obama Administration is planning a government program that determines when the plug gets pulled and Chuck knows it – hell he has access to all the proposals.

You can also call him “Chuck the Idiot” for this pathetic character from the mid-west suggests we ought to “have counseling 20 years before you’re going to die.” How utterly stupid for a sitting Senator to make such a remark given the reality that tomorrow is guaranteed to no one but then it’s characteristic of Republicans who prefer to be detached from reality. Ignorance is bliss for this tribe.

Chuck Grassley doesn’t really deserve the title “Senator” but while “Chuck the Mendacious” or “Chuck the Idiot” is more appropriate at bottom Chuck Grassley is nothing more and nothing less than a high priced huckster for the health insurance industry that paid him over two million dollars to make sure their profit making scheme and his are never reformed.

Other notable comments from this clown are that “Government is not a competitor, it’s a predator”. If he really believes that line which gets applause from the know nothings in the Iowa audience why is he even in government? Indeed someone should ask this rabid Republican why governments are instituted among then refer him to Jefferson’s Declaration. The reality seems to be that government is a predator only when people like Chuck the Hired Huckster for the health insurance industry are in government instead of behind bars for profiting by spreading fear and instability in this once great Republic.

Chuck doesn’t want public funds for abortion included in any health care bill either. A rationale approach would be for the IRS to add the following question to the tax form: Do you favor or oppose public funding of abortion. Those who favor it will have their taxes altered to include the cost of publicly funded abortions and those who oppose will have their taxes altered to pay the cost for 18 years of each unwanted pregnancy. It would be a win-win for everyone. Even watching sleaze balls like Chuck slither through a response would be worth the proposal.

So much for one of Obama’s “Republican friends”. Given the stark contrast between the mediocre intelligence of the last president and the superior intellect of the current president one wonders how the former was able to get some bipartisan support for reducing taxes on the wealthy and waging a war against humanity while the later can’t figure out that historically Republicans have never reformed anything that benefited the public interest.

Perhaps it’s time for Barak Hussein Obama to know the difference between being a community organizer who brings diverse groups together to produce a result for the common good and being the President of the United States and as such is responsible for insuring that the common good is attained with or without the support of those groups diametrically opposed to the common good and now is the time for Barak Hussein Obama to remember which one he is. The future of this nation depends on it.

Time for President Obama to propose one health care reform legislation that will be in the best interests of the common good, inform the Democratic members of Congress that this is the legislation they will introduce and as Democrats this is the legislation they will support. He should then inform those who oppose it should not count on being financially supported by the Democratic National Committee. Have the Senate come to an agreement, take a vote and give the people real health care reform and fuck the Republicans and their mob.

Once the public experiences the results of a real health care reform that made them feel better off than they do today they’ll realize that they had nothing to fear after all except fear itself and theoretically the politicians that pandered to their fears and perpetuated their ignorance would disappear into the dustbins of history when their mob becomes better off by actions taken in the present moment starting with replacing the current health profit system by a health “care” system and not a watered down health care system because that won’t silence the mob or the political ideology of extremists and their representative that put profit before people like Chuck Grassley.

SPEAKING TRUTH TO STUPID – THE HEALTH CARE DEBATE

The so-called debate over health care is no debate at all because one side offers solutions the other side offers the stupidity of their ranks i.e. 18 percent of Americans believe the sun revolves around the earth, 25 percent don’t even know what country we fought against for our independence, 34 percent still believe Saddam Hussein was involved with 9/11 and over 50 percent still believe in Noah’s arc. I mean we are one stupid country and the stupid among us seem to get the coverage an unwitting press eagerly provides further reducing the chances that health care will ever be reformed.

In America when you lose your job in most instances you also lose your health insurance that is for you and your family, even if you keep your job the cost of health care is increasing which means your salary will be decrease to make up for the increase in the cost of health insurance. Indeed small businesses will not be able to offer health insurance or will have to reduce staff just to pay the health insurance of those who fortunate enough to remain on the payroll.

In addition, the taxes of the community will be raised to pay for the Medicaid of people no longer employed which means a further decrease to take home pay and in the event of a catastrophic illness the probability increases that you’ll be filing for bankruptcy which also trickles down to the rest of us.

Maybe these noisy lemmings should stop their disruptive opposition to change and check out what’s going on in America today. Indeed it’s quite obvious this is the same tactic the Republican Party used in 2000 to shout down a free and fair election. The connection to the current display of mob mentality is obvious as is the connection to the same appeal of fear mongering manipulation of the masses. Organized ignorance.

The shameless Party of No, today’s “Know Nothings” claims there is a true resentment in America today for which they are not responsible for manufacturing. People are angry. People are pissed without any influence from a party that will use any means necessary to foment dissent and maintain a status quo which favors them. These pathetic unpatriotic cowards would like us to forget the hate speech they inspired during their political campaign. “Kill him”. “Hang him” Remember that? One thing you won’t remember is any of the so-called leaders of this Party of Greed telling the mob they are out of order.

First it was the Tea Baggers – angered by being over taxed – too stupid to suspect that anyone should take their claim serious for these were the same simpletons who didn’t say boo when George Bush decreased the taxes of the wealthy – including those being made wealthy as a result of our current health care system. These were Mencken’s “boobus Americanus” in the flesh silent when the Bush Administration claimed the Iraq War would pay for itself. If you looked in the crowds and at the signs this observer was struck by the preponderance of over weight white people holding slogans of bigotry and hatred.

Obviously a lot of people can be that stupid. In America today they seem attracted to southern states with a history of ignorance that permitted slavery. Perhaps this is our second Civil War and this time we should either let the south secede on its own or legislatively terminate its relationship with the rest of the union. Let them have their imaginary friend, their bibles, their footballs, and their 4 hours of watching left turns while the rest of the America moves forward into the 21st Century.

Then it was “the birthers”. I mean you couldn’t make this shit up and no one is even saying “what’s he/she smokin’” because the press lacks the courage to speak truth to stupid while claiming to do so would be “making the news” rather than “reporting the news” but if the press can print something so egregious as “Obama’s death panel” they have a journalistic responsibility to “report” the fact that no such panel exists in reality.

Now it’s health care. Even though memos have been leaked describing the tactics of disruption that are being employed as they were in Florida 2000 and backers are exposed as convicted felons for actions committed while they were in the employ of the health care industry the Republicans deny their influence including the reference to this being Obama’s Waterloo. At the end of the day Republicans do not and never did care about the common good of the public.

In today’s America they have a sufficient number of under and uneducated people who feel strongly attached to the comfortable lie and threatened by the uncomfortable truth. The Republicans preach to a audience that cannot accept the reality of a black man as their president. That’s the difference between those who dislike Bush and those who dislike Obama the later was disliked primarily because of the color of his skin while the high crimes and misdemeanors of the former justified the disdain by any freedom loving man or woman.

The goon squads attend “town meetings” for the sole purpose of disrupting that meeting not to exchange ideas. Indeed they have no ideas and as such are the perfect candidates for a mob that can be easily manipulated. Look at the mob. It’s the same over weight white people that made up the “Tea bagger” mob now their signs are swastikas’ another sign of how ignorant these people truly are.

In fact Nazi Germany was a fascist state not a socialist or communist one and our system especially since 1968 under Republican rule more approximated a fascist than a socialist state. No way in hell were we a democracy since 68. Not when the winning presidential candidate made a deal with north Vietnam not to engage in peace talks with the south sending thousands more to their death just so Nixon could get elected and the sham of a free and fair election in 2000 exposed as myth our claim to democracy.

Millions of people have lost their jobs thanks in large part to the Bush economy. In fact millions of Americans lost their jobs during the Bush years. Most of them are no longer insured. Their SSA retirement will be decrease by years of under or unemployment. When they get sick as most of us will in this lifetime at best they’ll qualify for Medicaid which will increase the taxes and decrease the wages of those still working including the stupid among us who don’t even know they’re not only getting screwed – they’re screwing themselves. oh – another option is bankruptcy. In fact the largest number of bankruptcies is attributable to an unaffordable health care crisis. And who do you suppose picks up the tab when chapter 11 or 13 trickles down?

The party ideology of the right ruled this country for 20 of the last 28 years but did not offer one piece of health care reform legislation to reform what they now concede is an enormous social, political an economic problem. They just don’t like the Democratic Party proposals and offer only the failed policies of the past by repeating the lie that we have the best health care system in the world to an under and uneducated public who parrot the words without a thought..

During the 8 years they were out of power these country club Republicans used whatever means necessary to insure that health care reform would be defeated in order to maintain the status quo of their profitable relationship with the health care industry such as it was and such as organized ignorance wants it to remain. Mixed in with the fear mongering was the evident loathing these obscurants had for an intelligent woman with power they could not control.

Twenty eight years later since the pitch man against Medicare, Ronald Reagan, claimed it was “socialized medicine” ushered in the dark ages of Empire, We have an opportunity to change the course of this nation from one which claims a generosity by its citizens that exceeds that of all other nations in it’s rhetoric but in the reality ours is a society that says “Fuck you. I got mine, get your own” to one where we place a priority on the health and well being of our people.

Recently I submitted the following letter to the editor of my local newspaper, The Times Union of Albany NY. That they printed it without the first two paragraphs exposed their complicity of what can best be described as the tyranny of ignorance and not a debate between differing ideas.

The newest/latest in this country’s attempt to take a step toward universal health care and catch up with the rest of the world that places a premium on the health of its citizens is being challenged by those who represent the interests that place profits before people

Today town hall debates are disrupted by roving mobs manipulated by fear and ignorance and financed with a million dollars a day provided by those who would lose the most if our health care system were reformed i.e. the health insurance industry, big pharma et al.

Bill Walters’ recent letter to the editor is a reflection of how fear and ignorance can motivate one to act against their own interest when he concludes with an appeal to the reader to not let Congress destroy “the best health care system in the world.

In reality the health care system which Mr. Walters claims to be the best ranks 29th in infant mortality, 27th in longevity and 37th overall according to the World Health Organization statistics.

If our health care system isn’t changed who will Bill’s crowd blame for the consequences of their participation in the perpetuation of the big lie that we’re number one while the truth is that we have the most expensive health care system in the world yet the least efficient health care system.

It is time to place a priority on a health care system that cares for the sick without regard to profiting at someone else’s misfortune. It is time to publicly shame those politicians on both sides of the aisle that are in the pockets of the health care lobbyists and demand they put the country first and not their financial portfolios.

It is time to remember that our politicians had no problem financing a fabricated war in Iraq but when it comes to providing health care especially for those willing to make the supreme sacrifice for this country they shamefully claim we cannot afford it. Indeed it is the truth that we are not number one which shall set us free from a system based on greed and create one based on caring for those who have the misfortune of suffering.

A TEACHABLE MOMENT

On July 16, Prof Henry Louis Gates Jr. was returning from a trip to Europe and upon arriving at home found the front door jammed. Given that it was reported that his home was previously burgled when he was out of town one can only imagine the anger of “not this again” shouting in his mind as he tried to enter his home.

At the same time Lucia Whalen, a neighbor who obviously doesn’t have a clue about who her neighbors are calls the police and reports “two black men are trying to break in the front door” begging the question – wouldn’t a burglar try to maintain a low profile during the break in?

But this just isn’t Anytown USA – this is Boston MA. Those who have no grasp of history but do have a grasp on a microphone claim that MA is the most liberal state in the country. The myth no doubt attributable MA being the only state that voted against Richard Nixon in 72. The reality is that MA voted “against” Richard Nixon because he favored busing black students into white neighborhoods.

Indeed racism has a formidable history in MA. It was nearly 20 years ago in this same city when those who are “to protect and defend” us became vigilantes in blue and violated the constitutional rights of hundreds of black men breaking into their home or frisking them on the street to find out who killed a pregnant white woman when her husband, Charles Stuart told police she was killed by a black man in an area of Boston where the couple had no discernable reason to be passing through. A few weeks after the police reign of terror the husband committed suicide because it was he who killed his wife blaming a black man seemed plausible at the time and the police readily agreed.

When the police arrived Prof Gates was already in the house. Now put yourself in his shoes, if in fact you were previously robbed, you return tired from a long trip overseas and your front door is jammed your first thought is you were robbed again and when you do get in the house the police arrive and act as if you broke into someone’s house. The boiling point is reached. In the back of your mind your anger has to be exacerbated by the irony that the police never did catch the guy who robbed you before and now they’re in your house asking you to prove you belong there. Seems reasonable to me that you would demand the arresting officer’s name and badge number.

Enter Officer Friendly, James Crowley a man the press now tells us has been teaching a class to fellow police officers about racial profiling as if that removes any taint that perhaps his actions that night might have been influenced by any racial bias just in case the public is considering that possibility of racial profiling based on previous experience.

The events that followed are basically these: Prof Gates proved to Officer Crowley that he did in fact live there and in the process proceeded to berate the officer and accuse him of being “a rogue cop” whose actions were based solely on the fact that Prof Gates was a black and the implication being that this would not happen if he were white. Tired and annoyed by the tirade Officer Crowley arrested Prof Gates and claimed he was “following the book” which he neglected to mention also includes convincing someone to go outside their home which would make an arrest much easier to conduct.

On July 22 during a press conference conducted by President Obama addressing the issue of a new national health plan Lynn Sweet of the Chicago Sun Times asked President Obama about his thoughts of the previous weeks events involving Prof Gates and Officer Crowley and his response that the “police acted stupidly” generated the media’s feeding frenzy and gave American racists across the country reason to come out of the closet and spew their bile.

Lost in all of this is why isn’t anyone asking Lynn Sweet why should we ask that question given the topic of the press conference instead of a more germane and appropriate question something like “This is a two part question Mr. President: given that the United States ranks 37th in the world in health care how do you respond to those politicians who claim we have the best health care in the world and how do you respond to those who say we cannot afford your plan to provide health coverage to those less fortunate while they had no problem financing an unjust, immoral and illegal war in Iraq? Frankly no one should call on Ms. Sweet again as it is obvious she brings nothing but distraction to the table.

Today President Obama tried to diffuse the uproar generated by his comment that “the police acted stupidly” he admitted that his choice of words was inappropriate and that the issue of racial profiling was still a reality that exists for far too many people of color and the Gates/Crowley confrontation provided the opportunity for a teachable moment where we could turn down the volume of our own voices and just listen to each other.

A teachable moment happens when it occurs to me that while Prof Gates is indeed black yet being educated at Yale and teaching at Cornell, Duke and now Harvard hardly qualifies him to identify with those brothers and sisters who are just as black but who experience the in your face and violent degree of racial profiling they are subjected to on a daily basis.

Coast to coast housing projects, slums, gangs, violence and prison are the norm for a good number of people of color – an Ivy League education is not. The former can be a life sentence while the latter is but a few hours of incarceration – claiming the incident occurred purely because of his skin pigmentation is a weak attempt to cover up Prof Gates disdain that the elite among us have for the less educated among us. Perhaps this well educated man who just really found out what it’s like to be black in a white world would be better served by remembering that racism perpetuates itself when the slave begins to imitate the master.

I really don’t think Officer Crowley is a racist but then again there is the undeniable dynamic involved when someone in uniform has a potential opportunity to put someone of color in his/her place . If anything, I think what really triggered Crowley’s reaction was his response to what he perceived Prof Gates demand of “do you know who I am” as a classist remark and excluded the possibility that Prof Gates was implying he belonged in the house. The fact is the police should know something about the people they are serving and protecting. Given Officer Crowley’s history it’s hard to imagine that “uppity Negro” influenced his reaction but he was going to show him that it didn’t matter who Prof Gates was because he was the one with the power to arrest or not arrest.

Seems like a teachable moment is also when I think Officer Crowley should promote changing the book to insure that once a police officer determines that someone rightfully belongs in his/her home and no crime is being committed therein then the officer should realize he or she does not legally have a right or a duty to be there and should promptly leave the scene of a burglary occurring the mind of a neighbor who rightfully should be charged with making a false report regardless of any level of taunting by the home owner.

Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of the Gates/Crowley affair is when police across the country deeply resent the implication that race was a factor in the arrest and demand that President Obama apologize for basically being black because the history of race relations between those charged with “protecting and serving” the public is rich with the abuse of power and more often than not getting away with murder as when 4 white police officers killed an innocent black man named Amadou Diallo and were cleared of all charges by an all white jury in Albany NY.

The Diallo murder is but one of a numberless number of crimes committed by armed men in uniform that police unions across the country have yet to apologize for. That and not President Obama’s comment is what is truly insulting. What remains truly disturbing is that civil libertarians have not expressed outrage against another example of the police state that infests this country.

Indeed our society is so conditioned by the over abundance of prime time police operas on television that we accept without question that the role of the police is an honorable profession while the reality is they are protecting and serving the interests of a status quo which owes its very existence to a racism in which Officer Friendly willing participates in and unwittingly perpetuates. That is the teachable moment for anyone willing to listen to the uncomfortable truth rather than the uncomfortable lie that as a nation we have overcome our historical racism. While the President offers to discuss those differences over a beer personally it seems such conversations would have a better chance of success if they were smoking a peace pipe filled with wisdom weed rather than letting the alcohol talk.

IRANIAN BLOWBACK

For the past week nothing seems more important than mainstream media’s coverage of the historical events that are occurring in Iran today and neglecting the similarities that recently occurred here at home with or without intent where past is indeed prologue.

In essence House Resolution 560 which passed 405 to 1, Ron Paul being the only representative of sound mind and detached from the blood lust of the rest of his colleagues basically said that Congress supports anyone who “embraces the values of freedom, human rights, civil liberties, and rule of law”, they also affirmed their belief of “individual rights” and “democratic and fair elections” and sanctimoniously condemned the violence against demonstrators of suppression of the press.

The problem with this self absorbed war mongering nation is that we dangerously believe that we are number one in areas of “world leadership” in the face of a recorded history that we choose to ignore at our own peril. A nation can only achieve the lofty position of “world leadership” by example and our recent actions put us in no position to pass judgment on the affairs of any other nation that merely differs from us by varying degrees.

Why aren’t we more ashamed of our politicians for supporting citizens in another country who embrace the values of “…civil liberties and rule of law” but don’t have the courage to support American citizens when they are arrested like the 1800 plus in August of 04 for exercising their civil liberties when they peaceably assembled on the streets of New York City to exercise the freedom of speech when war criminals were in town for their convention that our pathetic politicians now condemn Iran’s government for suppressing speech.

Ironically President Obama was a Senator then and I don’t remember him standing with those 1800 plus who sought to exercise their rights to assembly and free speech that he now claims are “universal rights” which must be respected. Not much respect for those “universal rights” here at home just a few years ago.

As for the “rule of law” to date no one has been held accountable for or even charged with committing the war crime of torture other than “a few bad apples”. Reeking with good old fashion American hypocrisy and a near absolute denial of reality is our affirmation of the importance of “democratic and fair elections” which didn’t occur here in the belly of the world leader in 2000 or 2004.

The “leader of the free world” does not hold fraudulent elections where the will of the people is over ruled by 5 white people in black robes then point an accusatory finger at one Iranian in a black turban conducting his own fraudulent election today in Teheran.

In 2000 the Republican Party wasn’t demanding that every vote should count neither did the Democratic Party but the former did succeed at stopping the vote while the latter failed to challenge our own fraudulent election by praising the greatness of a system where the transition of power is peaceful much like that which occurred when Richard Nixon resigned but once again lacking the courage of our convictions to challenge the fraud.

The most notable difference between the fraudulent elections here in 2000 and 2004 and the one today in Iran is that here people demonstrated on the streets, some were taken off the streets by police and held for 2 or more days. Their efforts were typically downplayed or ignored by mainstream media while in Iran the people demonstrating in the streets are being beaten, jailed and/or killed for their beliefs and the press is silenced by the government rather than being given the script to secure the consent of the governed.

Yet with the unabashed arrogance of power we sit in judgment of how not just any other nation governs itself but an Iran that is experiencing a challenge to the ruling power structure of a theocratic state somewhat like the challenge here in 2008 to an oligarchy corrupted by power and greed.

How Iran resolves this crisis has serious implications for the future of the world community. How we respond should be influenced by a historical understanding of the facts and not the chest beating bravado of bloviators like Senator Lindsey Graham who claimed “the president of the United States is supposed to lead the free world, not follow it” and charged that President Obama’s response was too timid.

He is as out of touch as Sen. John McCain who claimed that France and Germany were more forceful in the condemnation of the Iranian government response to dissent and thought America should lead. Neither one gets it – France and Germany opposed our preemptive invasion of Iraq that was nothing more and nothing less than a crime against peace which resulted in war crimes being committed by the occupation forces – we have no reason or right to demand the world should follow us because a real world leader leads by example and not by the empty rhetoric of a nation whose actions reek of hypocrisy.

When Sens Graham and McCain et al had the opportunity to challenge a fraudulent election here in 2000 they failed to support a challenge to the legality of the election brought by the Black Caucus in the House of Representative – John McCain and Lindsey Graham were silent by putting party ideology before the common good of the country yet now they speak out against a fraudulent election on the other side of the Atlantic.

Unfortunately our media feels compelled to present and give equal time to the views of those who are responsible for our decent from the throne of “world leader” and fails to challenge the ignorance of their ideology.

When Saxby Chambliss was reminded about U.S. involvement in overthrowing a democratically elected leader of Iran Chambliss dismissed it by claiming it was 60 years ago and most Iranians have forgotten about that. Chris Matthews “Hardball” was more like slow pitch softball he didn’t challenge the obvious stupidity of Sen. Chambliss. In retrospect it may have been Sen. Sessions from Alabama but then again southern political ideology is the result of inbreeding and as such it really isn’t necessary to identify which idiot said what mindless bile.

What Chambliss ignores is that the U.S. backed Shah used the Revolutionary Guard of his day which were called the Savak to jail, torture and murder anyone in the opposition that threatened the Shah’s power. Iranians did not forget that the U.S. backed that death and destruction as evidenced by the resulting theocratic state claiming today that the opposition is supported by the U.S. among others.

At the end of the day if some grand poobah like the Ayatollah Khamenei who claims to have a direct connection to an imaginary friend named Allah and uses that spiritual connection to preach death to the U.S. or anyone else for that matter then it is up to the Iranians and the Iranians only to decide if that is the religion they believe will best serve their interests as a people in a 21st Century that can no longer afford the madness of men influenced by a dessert religion that preaches death and destruction.

President Obama’s powerful yet well thought out admonition to Iran that the whole world is watching is worth remembering that the whole world is also watching us as well. When Iranians are willing to die rather than live in fear and hate if we really want to be the leader of the free world we should lead by example based on reason and not the empty rhetoric or our own lunatic fringe whose saber rattling is only giving that turbaned lunatic Khamenei an excuse to substantiate his claim that the opposition was manufactured by the Great Satan to be crushed by the power of a theocratic state created by U.S. involvement in the last democratic election in Iran over 50 years ago.

DICK CHENEY – AMERICA’S WAR CRIMINAL

For eight years a five time draft dodger with a self absorbed ego that compelled him to select himself to be the Vice-President in the Bush Administration and infect it with his self serving vision of America in the 21st Century to secure access to and profits from Iraq’s oil and to protect that ambition by a military that depends on a private sector business from which he also profits quite handsomely.

In essence Dick Cheney stands to profit in a state of war and he risks nothing to “perpetual war” on drugs, terrorism, radical Islam, which is really no different that radical Christianity or radical Judaism it just depends what side your own – you’re either with us or against us and since God is on our side “the others” must be evil – he sacrifices the lives of others for no other reason than personal profit disguised as patriotism.

If he was truly such a great American, if he had any honor at all he would transfer 64 of his 65 million dollars net worth to the Veterans Administration to pay for all those in uniform and their families who suffered from the folly of war that he never personally experienced in uniform.

Dick Cheney – the ultimate American Coward – the un-American Dick Cheney pretending to be the voice of America warning that the enemy he is responsible for creating will strike again and blaming the Obama Administration for not committing the same crimes that resulted in a climate of retaliation.

Eight years later it is becoming more difficult to deny that Dick Cheney’s vision of America included preemptive war based on the deceit and deception of the American people, an absolute disregard for the freedoms contained in the Constitution he swore to protect and uphold replacing it with his definition of reality which included torturing “other people” to confess to that which would support his casus belli, his lie that led to loss of life and unimaginable suffering just to turn a profit.

That the man has recently crawled out from under the rock in some undisclosed location to pander his failed policy to a media complicit in giving credence again to someone who would clearly meet the definition of “war criminal” – a media in a ratings frenzy following his every pronouncement about “enhanced interrogation techniques” without daring to expose it as nothing more than Orwellian for torture.

Lyndon Johnson used the lie of Gulf of Tonkin and wasn’t held accountable. Richard Nixon was never held accountable for any of his innumerable high crimes or misdemeanors. Carter was held accountable for Iran. Ronald Reagan wasn’t held accountable for supply side economics or ordering support of the Contra guerrillas that mined Nicaraguan harbors. George H W Bush was never held accountable for his role in Iran Contra or the Savings and Loan Scandal but Bill Clinton was held accountable for getting blow job. Ironic how Democrats are held accountable while Republicans do not.

Today the indisputable facts are these: George Bush and Dick Cheney’s Administration violated: the “Convention Against Torture” signed by President Reagan, Article 146 of the Geneva Convention, Article 8 of the International Tribunal at Nuremberg and Article VI of our own Constitution and to date no one is held accountable except a “few bad apples” who followed the orders of war criminals who have no shame.

During the presidential campaign in 2008 Michele Obama claimed that for the first time in her adult life she felt proud of her country yet in the winter of my years without shame or surprise I experience nothing but disappointment that my country continues to look the other way when crimes are committed in my name and “change” means more of the same.

A CATHOLIC EDUCATION

Notre Dame, the Fighting Irish, “thee” premier Catholic college in the country has issues with President Obama giving a commencement speech because of his views i.e. a woman’s right to choose” conflicts with their “right to life” religion.

Their hypocrisy is shameless. They call the woman’s right to make a decision independent of the man, god the father “abortion” and as such killing the unborn fetus while they lay claim to “right to life” yet they have nothing but contempt and disdain for those who do not believe in or worship in the same way some imaginary friend.

Ironic that they had no problem with George W. Bush, who as Governor of Texas presided over the execution of 152 people including mocking Carla Fay Tucker when she pleaded for life. And Notre Dame had no problem with George H. W. Bush speaking at this “right to life” university after invading Iraq during Gulf War I which resulted in over 500,000 Iraqi death mostly women and children.

Even a quarter of the Catholic Bishops now object to President Obama’s visit to Notre Dame because it conflicts with their Catholic ideology. No doubt most of whom were silent when the U.S. was waging an unjust, immoral and illegal war against Iraq. So much for the “right to life”.

And you don’t hear about Notre Dame demanding that the Catholic Church turn over pedophile priests rather than reassign them to other parishes. Maybe the best way to resolve differences between those who are so self righteous about the sanctity of life is to let them put their money where there mouth is come tax time they can check a box that says they believe in the rights of the yet to be born so god damn much that they’re willing to pay more in taxes to support the unwanted when they are born.

The question is does the Catholic Church follow the example of the Christ who taught his followers to love one another, the one who gave the sermon on the mount or a bunch of old white men wearing colorful robes in Rome praying for peace once a year when celebrating their savior’s birth while preaching hate and ignorance the rest of the year?