Odds and ends
This is NOT an essay, merely a string of semi related mutterings and musings that have been bouncing around the old head thing these last few days. So apologies if it seems a bit disjointed....
No blog since Wed. And that was barely a blog. No particular reason. Partly cause I'm so busy. Partly because I didn't have much to say. Or maybe too much to say....
IF YOU ARE NOT COMPLETELY APPALLED WITH THE WAY THE COUNTRY IS HEADED YOU ARE NOT PAYING ATTENTION.
Please read that again.
The Shrub administration has taken full aim not only at the Clinton successes in environment, worker protection and the economy, but actually is disassembling the New Deal, or what's left of it.
This is the triumph of the vast vested interests of the Country beating back the social progress made in mid to late 90's. Sidney Blumenthal sums up the Clinton Administration's accomplishments in this Truth Out article
"The record of the Clinton administration should be made clear to people: Not only are we talking about 22 million new jobs, the longest expansion of economic prosperity in the country’s history, but we are also talking about the greatest rise in family income in real wages in a generation and a half, and a reduction of poverty by 25%, the greatest reduction since the Great Society brought the elderly out of poverty. This came largely through Medicare, a program Bush has begun to systematically unravel. "
I was very taken by Hillary Clinton's participation in the Sunday Talking Heads shows this week. I wish I had taken notes. I hope that the Democratic Candidates did. She was forceful, passionate and factual about the horrendous damage that the Shrub administration is doing to this Country. This administration has meticulously and with great care handed sector after sector back to the Big Business Buddies that it is beholden to.
Look at the new Medicare bill. Turning Medicare into a HMO! Talk to any Doctor, or any patient who has dealt with them. Doctors will tell you that HMO's are the single biggest reason for RISING medical costs, and (who would guess) shrinking profits. So where does the money go? Into the Corporate Coffers of the HMO's. Or ask any patient who has had some barely educated mandarin deny them needed medical care because said mandarin is actually bonused by denying coverage. Do you own research if you don't believe me. Talk to your Doctor.
Bottom line. Shrub slides another industry into the hands of his Corporate Sponsors. This is but one example of many of what his Administration is doing to this great Country.
Lets look at the biggest gem in the Shrub crown: the so-called war on terrorism. Is the world a safer or more dangerous place to live in now? Gentle readers its much more dangerous. In fact the SHARP rise in terrorism in the first year or so of the Shrub presidency can be partially attributed to the Shrub administration itself. You see, as I have mentioned time and time again here, the Shrub Administration's foreign policy coming in to office was simple. If Bill did it we won't.
Again Sidney Blumenthal:
"When we left office, our National Security team conducted three extensive briefings of the incoming Bush team on terrorism. Their attitude was, essentially, dismissive, that it was a “Clinton thing.” It was considered to be part of the package of soft foreign policy issues. They thought of themselves as the adults, the real men, interested in hard things like Star Wars. So they blew off the Middle East peace process. They blew up the long negotiations involving North Korea, and humiliated the South Korean president, who had won a Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts. This has set us down the road to where we are today with North Korea, as they try to rediscover, essentially, the Clinton position. On terrorism, they assigned the matter to Vice President Dick Cheney “for study.” Anyone who has been in government knows that when you do that, you are essentially taking it off the table and not taking it seriously."
Are you familiar with the real reason that Shrub invaded Iraq and why the French didn't want any part of it? It had nothing to do with neither Terrorism, nor any connection to Al Quaida (in fact Saddam Hussein and Ossama bin Laden detested each other).
This may be apocryphal but considering the history of Republican's in office, I very much tend to believe it. The French were about to break the oil embargo from Iraq and pay in Euros. Now you may think this a tiny thing. But it is actually quite economically significant. This would have been the catalyst to bring the Euro forward as the "world currency". Can you imagine what the Shrubsters thought about this? Can you imagine what his Big Oil Sponsors were saying to his cronies behind closed doors. If you think this theory is far fetched I encourage you to speak to some Europeans, not American ex-pats mind you, but actual Europeans. I think you might find that this is an accepted fact the French had this plan in the works.
What is happening to this country? It's one thing and one thing only.. A massive power grab by the vested interests who saw their power evaporating with the social reforms naturally evolving over the last part of the 20th Century. Again Sidney Blumenthal: "So, the Democrats have slowly and belatedly come to the realization that the whole campaign to grab power against them may not be about individual persons and their foibles. Maybe its about power itself, and the Republican impulse and will to power. "
Now bear with me here.....
Now most of you may think because of my age (42) I'm too old to be a "hippy" and maybe I am. But I'm still fascinated by the Millennium’s being described by the various ages, i.e. this Millennium being the Age of Aquarius. The last Millennium, especially the last 400 years of so were one of the most blood soaked in Mankind's history.
The Shrub Administration is peopled with Nixon and Regan era cronies, themselves some of the most greedy and blood soaked mandarins and politicians in this half of the Century.
So far this is pretty depressing eh? Unless you are a sheep of the Right and then you think I'm full of horseshit. But for the rest of you who think for yourselves, it's pretty depressing.
But here is my hope. In the BIG trend of human endeavors, I hope that we can look back at this time in our Nation's history as the LAST GASP of the 20th Century, reaching its bloody hand into the 21st Century. This blood soaked, greedy, grasping Century has it's last figurehead (ok hood ornament) in GWB.
Well that's my dream anyway.
This is NOT an essay, merely a string of semi related mutterings and musings that have been bouncing around the old head thing these last few days. So apologies if it seems a bit disjointed....
No blog since Wed. And that was barely a blog. No particular reason. Partly cause I'm so busy. Partly because I didn't have much to say. Or maybe too much to say....
IF YOU ARE NOT COMPLETELY APPALLED WITH THE WAY THE COUNTRY IS HEADED YOU ARE NOT PAYING ATTENTION.
Please read that again.
The Shrub administration has taken full aim not only at the Clinton successes in environment, worker protection and the economy, but actually is disassembling the New Deal, or what's left of it.
This is the triumph of the vast vested interests of the Country beating back the social progress made in mid to late 90's. Sidney Blumenthal sums up the Clinton Administration's accomplishments in this Truth Out article
"The record of the Clinton administration should be made clear to people: Not only are we talking about 22 million new jobs, the longest expansion of economic prosperity in the country’s history, but we are also talking about the greatest rise in family income in real wages in a generation and a half, and a reduction of poverty by 25%, the greatest reduction since the Great Society brought the elderly out of poverty. This came largely through Medicare, a program Bush has begun to systematically unravel. "
I was very taken by Hillary Clinton's participation in the Sunday Talking Heads shows this week. I wish I had taken notes. I hope that the Democratic Candidates did. She was forceful, passionate and factual about the horrendous damage that the Shrub administration is doing to this Country. This administration has meticulously and with great care handed sector after sector back to the Big Business Buddies that it is beholden to.
Look at the new Medicare bill. Turning Medicare into a HMO! Talk to any Doctor, or any patient who has dealt with them. Doctors will tell you that HMO's are the single biggest reason for RISING medical costs, and (who would guess) shrinking profits. So where does the money go? Into the Corporate Coffers of the HMO's. Or ask any patient who has had some barely educated mandarin deny them needed medical care because said mandarin is actually bonused by denying coverage. Do you own research if you don't believe me. Talk to your Doctor.
Bottom line. Shrub slides another industry into the hands of his Corporate Sponsors. This is but one example of many of what his Administration is doing to this great Country.
Lets look at the biggest gem in the Shrub crown: the so-called war on terrorism. Is the world a safer or more dangerous place to live in now? Gentle readers its much more dangerous. In fact the SHARP rise in terrorism in the first year or so of the Shrub presidency can be partially attributed to the Shrub administration itself. You see, as I have mentioned time and time again here, the Shrub Administration's foreign policy coming in to office was simple. If Bill did it we won't.
Again Sidney Blumenthal:
"When we left office, our National Security team conducted three extensive briefings of the incoming Bush team on terrorism. Their attitude was, essentially, dismissive, that it was a “Clinton thing.” It was considered to be part of the package of soft foreign policy issues. They thought of themselves as the adults, the real men, interested in hard things like Star Wars. So they blew off the Middle East peace process. They blew up the long negotiations involving North Korea, and humiliated the South Korean president, who had won a Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts. This has set us down the road to where we are today with North Korea, as they try to rediscover, essentially, the Clinton position. On terrorism, they assigned the matter to Vice President Dick Cheney “for study.” Anyone who has been in government knows that when you do that, you are essentially taking it off the table and not taking it seriously."
Are you familiar with the real reason that Shrub invaded Iraq and why the French didn't want any part of it? It had nothing to do with neither Terrorism, nor any connection to Al Quaida (in fact Saddam Hussein and Ossama bin Laden detested each other).
This may be apocryphal but considering the history of Republican's in office, I very much tend to believe it. The French were about to break the oil embargo from Iraq and pay in Euros. Now you may think this a tiny thing. But it is actually quite economically significant. This would have been the catalyst to bring the Euro forward as the "world currency". Can you imagine what the Shrubsters thought about this? Can you imagine what his Big Oil Sponsors were saying to his cronies behind closed doors. If you think this theory is far fetched I encourage you to speak to some Europeans, not American ex-pats mind you, but actual Europeans. I think you might find that this is an accepted fact the French had this plan in the works.
What is happening to this country? It's one thing and one thing only.. A massive power grab by the vested interests who saw their power evaporating with the social reforms naturally evolving over the last part of the 20th Century. Again Sidney Blumenthal: "So, the Democrats have slowly and belatedly come to the realization that the whole campaign to grab power against them may not be about individual persons and their foibles. Maybe its about power itself, and the Republican impulse and will to power. "
Now bear with me here.....
Now most of you may think because of my age (42) I'm too old to be a "hippy" and maybe I am. But I'm still fascinated by the Millennium’s being described by the various ages, i.e. this Millennium being the Age of Aquarius. The last Millennium, especially the last 400 years of so were one of the most blood soaked in Mankind's history.
The Shrub Administration is peopled with Nixon and Regan era cronies, themselves some of the most greedy and blood soaked mandarins and politicians in this half of the Century.
So far this is pretty depressing eh? Unless you are a sheep of the Right and then you think I'm full of horseshit. But for the rest of you who think for yourselves, it's pretty depressing.
But here is my hope. In the BIG trend of human endeavors, I hope that we can look back at this time in our Nation's history as the LAST GASP of the 20th Century, reaching its bloody hand into the 21st Century. This blood soaked, greedy, grasping Century has it's last figurehead (ok hood ornament) in GWB.
Well that's my dream anyway.
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