August 8, 2012

The reich-wing is trapped in a "zero-sum" mentality.

For them to be successful, others must be unsuccessful. For them to have a job, others must be jobless. For them to have a home, others must be homeless. For them to have civil liberties, others must be denied civil liberties. For them 'win' a war, others must 'lose' a war. What they don't seem to comprehend is that there's only "win-win" or "lose-lose" in social dynamics. War is the most obvious. Nobody "wins" a war. Everyone loses in a war. Nonetheless, we're totally awash in the false meme of "win the war." The GOP has gone MAD ... Mutually Assured Destruction. Their failure to comprehend the underlying tenet of MAD during the Cold War (that war is "lose-lose&quot led the to adopt it as a "good idea" and declare wars on every social front -- reproduction, civil rights, economics, and even voting. (Yes, Voter ID is just one more example.)

July 30, 2012

The problem with "originalism," as I see it, is how it regards the Constitution in isolation

... from the context of the times. I'm a systems wonk -- having made a career of analyzing and diagnosing systems both automated and behavioral/organizational. I have never been able to gain my in-depth understanding of any system without a thorough understanding of the relevant elements of the context within which the system operates. The mere distinction between exogenous and endogenous events is premised on that comprehension.

For example... to understand the 2nd Amendment, we must steep ourselves in a comprehension of the times in which it was established. No government of the time possessed weaponry of any kind that wasn't also, even to a greater extent, in the hands of private individuals. Indeed, "government" itself was, in many instances, embodied in individuals called 'monarchs.' There were individuals and collections of individuals on the world stage who possessed weaponry of even greater aggregate power than many 'governments' of the time. (Think "privateers." Think Barbary Coast.) Further, governments had very limited ongoing resources completely dedicated to and under the control of that government. Standing armies in peacetime were skeletal. Local and regional governmental power (government was distributed, much like a franchise) was typically wielded by proxy. In such a context, anything even approximating a 'democratic' or 'populist' form of governance necessitated private ownership and control of weaponry of all kinds, to be subject to activation (even by conscript) in the event of a security emergency that would be inherently obvious to the populace, without significant dissent. The manpower for addressing any such emergency was the populace itself. Anything else was inconceivable.

To respect the 2nd Amendment (and I do) is to regard the contextual conditions within which it was established as also either desirable or necessary in today's culture. Some, even though 'desirable,' are impossible -- level of weaponry technology, for example. It is no longer the case that all weaponry possessed by government is also possessed by private individuals. Nukes and aircraft carriers are obvious examples. We should very carefully note, however, that private corporations do possess such weaponry. The 'privatization' of far too much of government military power has resulted in a recent increase in the extent to which such WMD are in private (corporate or conglomerated) hands. Thus, it makes sense to have limits on the power of weaponry covered by the 2nd Amendment ... i.e. nukes, howitzers, bombers with payloads, and fully automatic rifles and pistols. It does NOT, however, make sense to fail to have a Universal National Service policy that engages every adult between the ages of 18 and 65 in a "well-regulated militia." (The Swiss model is but one example.)

But that is a whole 'nother discussion. We're dealing with 'originalism' and context. It is entirely understandable that the Founders weren't sensitive to government violations of individual privacy beyond those involving speech, religion, the home, and testimony. The technology just didn't exist to monitor and intrude beyond those excesses so often seen to be done by tyrants of the time and in recent history. Personal privacy was, therefore, an unenumerated right upon which individual popular sovereignty (i.e. democracy) itself rests. Scalia is being appallingly disingenuous and betraying his fascist biases.

July 2, 2012

It's not just BP.

Union Carbide. Exxon. Enron. ... the "Hall Of Infamy" merely identifies those corporations whose egregious conduct became so obvious, so excessive, so overwhelming that no amount of spin and deception could keep it from the global public's vision.

The global corporate colonialism of today is akin to the age of European monarch dividing up the (known) world into fiefdoms and colonies ... where the power of governance created the entitlement to engage in rape and exploitation without fear of liability for the harms inflicted. "Corporate capitalism" is, in essence, the very same thing. Capitalism is, and never was, about the worker owning the means of his own production. The worker has never been without liability for his tortious behavior. That has always been "sovereign immunity" -- the absence of recourse when the sovereign (monarch or state) inflicts a harm. Affording 'limited' sovereign immunity to the wealthy acting behind the legal fiction of a 'corporation' is the very essense of an entitlement.

Once upon a time, it was rationalized that such an entitlement was a "deal with the devil" ... created by our democratic republic in order to induce investment in projects and activities for the Public Good. For a time, it was felt that the state was superior to and in control of those entities which it created. It's no longer clear at all. When the state is owned, then it becomes subordinate to the interests of our new sovereigns ... the wealthy in control of the global corporations. Yes, it can be called a "plutocracy" ... but that's really not sufficient. "Corporatocracy" seems more appropriate to me.

June 25, 2012

I see no evidence that we're able/willing to reverse course.

In my view, the die is cast. We're facing a generation or more of economic Armageddon ... and the only question remaining is how the rebuild will happen. I'm not even optimistic about that. I've been a Cassandra about the implacable decimation of the working middle class for nearly 20 years. Every political and business institution controlling this country's course is under the control of banksters/fraudsters -- the day of the craftsman (people with expertise in OPERATION instead of MONEY) has gone in America. As long as we're in thrall of the MBA -- "I don't have to know how to DO anything ... I can HIRE those ... I just need to make decisions that make MONEY!" -- we'll NEVER reestablish a society in which LABOR is honored. We're a Banana Republic ... a corporate colony in which labor exists SOLELY to enrich the already-wealthy. The GOP/right are totally dedicated to the notion that labor must be CHEAP ... and it's a global race to the BOTTOM. A "nation" now exists solely to facilitate capitalism. We no longer place our NATION and the welfare of ALL The People at a higher priority than, say, the stock market. Corporations have TRILLIONS in reserve, are laying off Americans in favor of Slave-State Labor ... and they STILL want MORE.

Fuck it. I'm glad I don't have children.

June 5, 2012

From my DU WayBack machine: "Why I’m even voting, while I can." (October 2002)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/cgi-bin/duforum/duboard.cgi?az=show_thread&om=10175&forum=DCForumID60&archive=
[hr]
[center][font size="4"]Why I’m even voting, while I can.[/font][/center]
There has been much heat and a little light, within this forum, in our nation, and in our world. In my opinion, today’s “issues” (as defined by others often for their own convenience) are less about war, peace, left, right, crime, regulation, stock markets, jobs, or terrorism than about democracy itself. We live at a time when our founding first principles are under assault, and we are on the front line whether we yet realize this or not. It is not terrorists engaging in this assault; it is the force of our own fears, ignorance, and mutual animosities that threaten us, and threaten our democratic principles as a nation.

First Principles

“As most of the evils which have taken place in private life, and among individuals, have been occasioned by the desire of private interest overcoming the public affections, so most of the evils which have taken place among bodies of men have been occasioned by the desire of their own interest overcoming the principle of universal benevolence and leading them to attack one another's territories, to encroach on one another's rights, and to endeavour to build their own advancement on the degradation of all within the reach of their power.”

[p align=right] — Richard Price, A Discourse on the Love of our Country (1789)
http://www.constitution.org/price/price_8.htm
The inherent virtues and vices of a democratic system of governance are neither more nor less than the virtues and vices of the People themselves. (The same cannot be said of any other principle of governance, in any respect.) This was articulated far more completely and deeply than I could ever repeat by Hamilton, Madison, and Jay, and by Jefferson, Paine, and others. From them, we inherited a precariously balanced system of governance that sought to inhibit both a tyranny of the majority and a tyranny of any minority; that sought to protect the rights and liberties of all, while placing that very protection under our own authority where it rightfully belongs in justice and equity. Who can more rightfully claim the fruits, whether sweet or sour, of their political labors than the People themselves?

Within our system of governance, there is one and only one mechanism that’s democratic: an election, wherein the sovereign authority of the People is voiced in our vote, which must be heard, fully, completely, and accurately. When it comes to democratic self-governance, this is the leash; all else is the beast.

In this, I will not compromise or retreat. Yet I’ve seen exactly that. Overtly and hypocritically, I have seen the voice of the People stifled, distorted, muffled, and ignored — like never before in our history. I have seen the informed will of the People thrown into disarray by a plague of misdirection, falsehoods, deception, secrecy, predatory exploitation of public media, and extensive corruption at the apex of corporate, religious, and governmental institutions. Yet I still see many of us neurotically seeking “leaders” rather than custodians, parents rather than partners, bosses rather than coworkers, and entertainers rather than teachers.


A Declaration of Codependence?

Rather than hearing the clear voice and informed will of the People, we are told what we think, what we want, what we know, and how ignorant and uneducated we are. After we witness an atrocity in our neighborhood, we’re told to go shopping. Like repressed children, the self-proclaimed sovereign adults of governance instruct us to be seen and not heard. Then like disturbed children, we throw the tantrums of “Billy did it first!” and “My daddy can beat up your daddy!”

We proclaim “In God We Trust” and deludedly accept the exhortation of “Trust Me” from our public servants while, in collusion with one another and corpulently corrupt corporate carpetbaggers, they steal food from our neighbors’ gardens, steal medicines from our elderly, mortgage our children’s futures, and pillage our savings. Is it any wonder that our neighbors are losing their respect for us?

When an (arguably) elected President, ethically answerable to the People, unilaterally chooses to throw off the agreed-to restraints of International Law and Constitutional doctrine and pursue the conquest of a foreign nation, under the presumptive rationale that their political processes are undemocratic and their head of state is illegitimate and a threat to others; and when he then orchestrates a media parade of imagined horribles, I’m reminded of the bogeymen misguided parents employ to cow incompliant children, employing coercion not reason and honesty, dominated by fear rather than mutual love and respect.

I’m also reminded of the psychology of projection and that we were once asked "why behold thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but consider not the beam that is in thine own eye?”

It is not Congress to whom a President must report in promotion of a causus belli, it is the People. So also is it the People to whom the Congress must answer in exercising their delegated authority under the Constitution to engage our nation in a war or not — not their political party and not the President. Just as corrupt Executives have been facilitated in their predation by compliant Boards of Directors ignoring their fiduciary duties, the seductions of partisan allegiance in lieu of democratic duty corrupts our body politic.

It is also not Congress, even in collusion with an (arguably) elected President, that’s legitimately empowered to override the Bill of Rights when, neither informed nor with consent, they enact the cynically marketed “Patriot Act”. Such a heinous act, in presuming to ignore the very human rights and civil liberties under which any and all legitimacy of the Congress is formed, is an atrocity against democracy — an atrocity only the People can legitimately commit themselves.


For What or For Whom?

I will vote for the People — and for democracy itself. I can, in good conscience, vote for no other and none other. In the Maslov-like hierarchy of political needs, all else has become (sadly) secondary. I will raise my solo voice through the vote, through interactions with others, through communication with my elected representatives, through protests and dissents, and through any other avenue not yet denied me. If my solo voice becomes part of a chorus of democracy, singing the lyrics of liberty, I will be glad. But no matter what, I will not be silenced and will not retreat as long as there’s breath in my lungs and blood in my heart. I cannot, with any self-respect, do less.


Last Principles

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.”

[p align=right] — Declaration of Independence (Adopted in Congress 4 July 1776)
http://www.constitution.org/usdeclar.htm
The destruction of our democracy would not be the end — merely another beginning. While, like the cycle of birth and death, it may certainly be painful and agonizing, it is inevitable. It is inevitable since, as history has shown, tyrannies cannot survive. Whatever it’s lesser structural accoutrements may be, democracy will prevail. We may not see it in our lifetimes, but the will of People who aspire to justice, freedom, equity, and polity will prevail. Of this, I am certain.

And the last shall be first.

[hr]

_{For the theory, see http://www.constitution.org/pd/pd.htm}

May 27, 2012

The word is "sociopathic."

Indeed, the reactive antipathy for "socialism" is, quite literally, sociopathology. What makes it a 'pathology' is the harm to themselves (and others) inflicted by the choices made. Those choices are, invariably, based in some kind of antipathy for anyone else - the Other.

At the same time, let's not confuse the exploiters with the exploited. Those "useful idiots" who spew their antipathy on the 'tubes' from the safety of a keyboard (the Keyboard Brigadiers) do so with a "joie d'morte" akin to the Vandals or Berserkers ... feeling at their core a deep-seated impotence and channeling their narcissism in "making a mark" in the world through the destruction of the edifices of the 'elites.' They're the Brown Shirts ... given their uniforms by a demagogic cadre in the employ of the Military Industrial Complex of this day which in involved in transnational neocolonialism -- the Banana Republicans.



Afterthought: Let's not be hasty in condemning those who vote against their "self-interest." At least superficially, some white males who vote against their self-interest could be called "liberals." There's nothing inherently 'liberal' about a woman who advocates for equal pay, choice, or Title IX. There's nothing inherently 'liberal' about a minority who advocates equal rights and anti-discrimination. Liberalism, however, is about enlightened (in the Niemuller sense) self-interest -- standing up for the "level playing field" and the rights and liberties of demographic groups of which (s)he's not a member. We should always remember the two-edged sword of demographics. As we stand up for the equal rights of women and minorities, let's not forget that the attitudes of those recently included in the "melting pot" often come from (and carry) a culture of discrimination and overt bigotry. The long-standing sexism in Japanese and Middle-Eastern cultures is well-known. Likewise, the racial bigotry in many other cultures is long-established and well-known. As we recognize the inequities of our own institutional heritage against those recently-arrived, let's not forget the amplified sensitivities of those accustomed to ethnic privilege in their cultures of origin. Likewise, let's alos not forget that the motives of those emigrating to the US from countries that've undergone a major political shift from an autocratic/authoritarian regime to a "leftist" political predominance may be based in their desire to preserve their own privileges. I'm always conscious of those Cubans who benefited from autocratic Batista's corruption and who escaped ninety miles northward in the late 50s show a remarkable propensity for a political alignment with the far right -- having at least 'preserved' a cultural world view that aspires to the dystopian regime they enjoyed.

May 27, 2012

Please don't say "nuts" like it's a Bad Thing. It's offensive to us Nuts.

Thanks.

* This is a public service posting on behalf of the International Association of Fruits & Nuts, Ad Hoc DU Chapter.

^{** This message may or may not reflect the opinions of 10minutearticle, 1plain1peanut, AcadamiaNut, aquanut, B3Nut, blackwalnut, bobbonutrino, bozosleftnut, bulugnut, BUSHISNUTS, butternut, butternutty, buttnutt, Canadiangunnut, capsnut, Carnut, CarNutAtl, Cash U. Nutt, CA_liberal_nut, Chanute, coconut, Coconut Buddha Ape, coconut55, CoconutMonkey, coconutofdoom, Coconuts, coconut_oil, conspiracy-nut, cybernut, darlademnut, deeznuts, DemNutz, democratinutah, deznuts, deznutts, donut, donut33, donutrevolutionary, Donuts, donutwant, econut, elvisthenut, fleabitpeanutmonkey, fluffernutter, fordnut, FruityNuts, fuzzlenutz, gaygunnut, GnomesLeftNut, grapenut1998, graphixnut, gunnut12345, HangingSaddamByHisNutsack, hangonjustaminute, hazelnut, HealthNut, Historynut, Jacknut, jakenuts, JaneDoughnut, JustFiveMoreMinutes, just_anuther_gurl, Kazznut, KnuteThingrich, KNUTSY, kokonuts, konominut, lastminutevoter, leftnut22, leftrightwingnut, leftrightwingnuts, leftwingnut, LeftyWingNut, Lefty_WingNut, Lela McNutt, Letters From A Nut, liberalgunnut, LiberalInUtah, lilpnut, Lonenut23, lonenutcracker, loosenut, Lugnut, Luv nut, MACanuto, madminute, MarlinNut, MilsurpNut, Minuteman, Minutes, monkeynuts6969, monolithic_juggernut, Mr Peanut, Mr. Peanut, mrpeanut, my15minutes, NONnutcase, NorthwestNut, NoToCubanRepubnuts, nsaixphnutex, numinut, Nut Grinderswitch, Nutboy, nutcake, nutcase, nutcracker420, nutcrakcer, nutgrass, nuthatch, nuthead2ub, Nutkinnews, Nutmeg, NutMeg021576, nutmeg08, Nutmeg1576, Nutmeg61, Nutmegger, NutmegJenny, NutmegYankee, nutmeg_express, Nutniks, nuton2wheels, nutone, nutria, Nutrino, NutritionFacts, Nuts, nuts101, nutsco101, nutshell2002, nutsnberries, nutsnbolts, NutterFluffer, NuttinBut, nutty left, NuttyFluffers, nuttyjake, nuttymango, nuttywoody, nututhissite, oaknut, omgiamgoingnuts, Opera Nut, ornanut, paolonutuni, peanut, Peanut Gallery, peanut2010, peanut3729, peanut57, peanutbrittle, PeanutButter, Peanutcat, PeanutGallery, PeanutOne, peanuts, peanutz, Permanut, pnutchuck, pnutfarmer, PNutt, PoliSciNut, PolitiNut, PublicHealthNut, pucknut, Racenut20, reichwingnut, somenut, soulforpeanuts, soulforpeanutz, Soynut, spacenut, Spudnuts, superbeachnut, TahitiNut, the wingnuttiest, undamynutz, Unuttymuh, videonut, walnutpie, weenut1, Wingnut19, Wingnutblogger, Wingnutsawry, wwwalnut, or yoganut.}

May 18, 2012

Please don't say "nut" like it's a Bad Thing. It's offensive to us Nuts.

Thanks.

* This is a public service posting on behalf of the International Association of Fruits & Nuts, Ad Hoc DU Chapter.


[small][font size=-1]
** This message may or may not reflect the opinions of 10minutearticle, 1plain1peanut, AcadamiaNut, aquanut, B3Nut, blackwalnut, bobbonutrino, bozosleftnut, bulugnut, BUSHISNUTS, butternut, butternutty, buttnutt, Canadiangunnut, capsnut, Carnut, CarNutAtl, Cash U. Nutt, CA_liberal_nut, Chanute, coconut, Coconut Buddha Ape, coconut55, CoconutMonkey, coconutofdoom, Coconuts, coconut_oil, conspiracy-nut, cybernut, darlademnut, deeznuts, DemNutz, democratinutah, deznuts, deznutts, donut, donut33, donutrevolutionary, Donuts, donutwant, econut, elvisthenut, fleabitpeanutmonkey, fluffernutter, fordnut, FruityNuts, fuzzlenutz, gaygunnut, GnomesLeftNut, grapenut1998, graphixnut, gunnut12345, HangingSaddamByHisNutsack, hangonjustaminute, hazelnut, HealthNut, Historynut, Jacknut, jakenuts, JaneDoughnut, JustFiveMoreMinutes, just_anuther_gurl, Kazznut, KnuteThingrich, KNUTSY, kokonuts, konominut, lastminutevoter, leftnut22, leftrightwingnut, leftrightwingnuts, leftwingnut, LeftyWingNut, Lefty_WingNut, Lela McNutt, Letters From A Nut, liberalgunnut, LiberalInUtah, lilpnut, Lonenut23, lonenutcracker, loosenut, Lugnut, Luv nut, MACanuto, madminute, MarlinNut, MilsurpNut, Minuteman, Minutes, monkeynuts6969, monolithic_juggernut, Mr Peanut, Mr. Peanut, mrpeanut, my15minutes, NONnutcase, NorthwestNut, NoToCubanRepubnuts, nsaixphnutex, numinut, Nut Grinderswitch, Nutboy, nutcake, nutcase, nutcracker420, nutcrakcer, nutgrass, nuthatch, nuthead2ub, Nutkinnews, Nutmeg, NutMeg021576, nutmeg08, Nutmeg1576, Nutmeg61, Nutmegger, NutmegJenny, NutmegYankee, nutmeg_express, Nutniks, nuton2wheels, nutone, nutria, Nutrino, NutritionFacts, Nuts, nuts101, nutsco101, nutshell2002, nutsnberries, nutsnbolts, NutterFluffer, NuttinBut, nutty left, NuttyFluffers, nuttyjake, nuttymango, nuttywoody, nututhissite, oaknut, omgiamgoingnuts, Opera Nut, ornanut, paolonutuni, peanut, Peanut Gallery, peanut2010, peanut3729, peanut57, peanutbrittle, PeanutButter, Peanutcat, PeanutGallery, PeanutOne, peanuts, peanutz, Permanut, pnutchuck, pnutfarmer, PNutt, PoliSciNut, PolitiNut, PublicHealthNut, pucknut, Racenut20, reichwingnut, somenut, soulforpeanuts, soulforpeanutz, Soynut, spacenut, Spudnuts, superbeachnut, TahitiNut, the wingnuttiest, undamynutz, Unuttymuh, videonut, walnutpie, weenut1, Wingnut19, Wingnutblogger, Wingnutsawry, wwwalnut, or yoganut.
[/small]

May 16, 2012

The LDS doctrine of "free agency" ...

.. separates the rightness of a choice from the freedom to make a choice. In this respect, I wholeheartedly agree with the LDS stance. As a liberal, I am steadfastly opposed to any restriction (e.g. "prior restraint&quot on an individual's freedom to either (a) sin or (b) commit a felony. Thus, any adherent of a religion who, for alleged religious reasons, advocates legal restrictions on such choices is one of the worst kinds of human beings: a hypocrite. Further, if such an individual proclaims themselves an advocate for "freedom" and/or "liberty," they are then doubly a hypocrite. Even further, if such an individual proclaims themselves an advocate for "smaller government," then thay are triply a hypocrite.

Thus, Rmoney is not only a hypocrite of the third order, he is an unmitigated whore, virtually free of any character of note and essentially absent any integrity whatsoever..

May 2, 2012

"America! Love it or leave it!"

Mitt should follow his money and GET THE FUCK OUT!!



The self-indulged son-of-a-bitch won the sperm lottery and was born in a country that made his father rich, and then made the Mitt-Wit even richer ... and the motherfucker thinks WE OWE HIM SOMETHING??? Well, he can kiss my rosy, red asshole and leave. Let some hard-working Mexican families take his place. We'd be far better off.