December 10, 2014

We're fucked for the foreseeable future...

Once upon a time, America (that mythical one) stood for something. That something was a square deal and the truth...as we saw it.

I love to quote Winston Churchill from time to time and one particular quote comes to mine, it goes something like this, "America always does the right thing...eventually".

On the world stage, with the release of the CIA torture documents, the U.S. now finds itself in a situation of caught between a rock and a hard place; as it has been played out today.

If nothing is done to bring the war criminals to trial, the world will look upon us (not that they already haven't but the memos only confirm what they believed) that we are nothing more than a two bit nation lead by sociopaths who believe that getting information (regardless if it didn't really help us at all) via any means necessary regardless of the consequences. And explaining it away as the only way to beat an "enemy".

Now, as some people have floated, ACLU in particular, that Obama should pardon the war criminals. Because, that would go on record as saying they are war criminals without the dirty work of actually, you know, bringing them to trail. Because, what a mess that would be!

If nothing is done or even if a "pardon" of sorts is issued, the damage is still done. Or a phrase I like to use, "you can't put the toothpaste back in the tube".

We will forever be known as a nation that tortures. We now join the illustrious ranks of various third world nations run by dictators and military juntas.

Not really great company, huh?

But for the moment, please put all the failing, hand wringing and angry pronouncements aside.

This nation is remarkably nimble. While at times we seem like stogy old men doing all we can to get up out of our chair to complain about the kids on the lawn, we will, as Mr. Churchill said, "do the right thing...eventually".

While I would love to see that happen in my lifetime, it might, I feel that in order to heal as a nation, as a world, they need/will be brought to trial. Perhaps not in the traditional sense, but they will.

I take examples from our recent history of Cambodia. Those murderous bastards during the Pol Pot regime were finally brought up on charges of crimes against humanity.

Granted, it was many years later and Pol Pot himself died before he was sent to prison or actually found guilty. But he, never the less, was indeed eventually found guilty as well as many many of his henchmen.

But some might say, "well, we aren't Cambodia". No we aren't but that doesn't make the crimes the bush* and his room full of dopes any less serious and despicable.

The pieces are certainly in place, but like anything that really matters, the moneyed interests have to consult their balance sheets to see if the loss profit margin can withstand this "ding" to their bottom line. That will be the ultimate deciding factor.

Then and only then if this were to go forward, the U.S. would regain a margin of it's "respectability". Because that very gigantic, "IF", is at the bottom of a very deep hole this nation has dug itself into.

April 23, 2014

The US is an oligarchy, study concludes

http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-echochambers-27074746

After sifting through nearly 1,800 US policies enacted in that period and comparing them to the expressed preferences of average Americans (50th percentile of income), affluent Americans (90th percentile) and large special interests groups, researchers concluded that the United States is dominated by its economic elite.

The peer-reviewed study, which will be taught at these universities in September, says: "The central point that emerges from our research is that economic elites and organized groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on US government policy, while mass-based interest groups and average citizens have little or no independent influence."

Researchers concluded that US government policies rarely align with the preferences of the majority of Americans, but do favor special interests and lobbying organizations: "When a majority of citizens disagrees with economic elites and/or with organized interests, they generally lose. Moreover, because of the strong status quo bias built into the US political system, even when fairly large majorities of Americans favor policy change, they generally do not get it."

The positions of powerful interest groups are "not substantially correlated with the preferences of average citizens", but the politics of average Americans and affluent Americans sometimes does overlap. This merely a coincidence, the report says, with the interests of the average American being served almost exclusively when it also serves those of the richest 10 per cent.

More at link...

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after a bit of googling, I wasn't able to locate a single U.S. news outfit that carried this story.

April 7, 2014

"will anyone responsible for the torture,"

No.

That's how it works in todays America.

When confronted with questions as to why the purps won't be brought up on charges we will be the recipient of various forms of the now tired phrase, "the nation wouldn't survive it". And a rough translation means, "we, the current crop of willful stooges (aka politicians) to the wealthy and military machine, wouldn't survive it"

It's all about preserving legacy based on lies and the "winners" who write/rewrite the history.

Don't get me wrong, there will always be those who will work as the poster children for the outraged. The various congress people that will call for investigations (blue ribbon or otherwise) to "get to the bottom of this".

There will be all sorts of speeches, televised conferences and various hearings filled with lots of feigned indignation and finger wagging. The well rehearsed and over practiced expressions of "exasperation" and "head shaking in wonderment".

And most certainly there will be the usual smoke and mirrors by both sides to cloud out the actual issue which could lead to an actual real investigation.

In the end?

Several underlings will fall on their swords to serve their time in a country club jail for "crimes" that only cut the surface of the actual travesty, but they will be paraded around as the "one" who was the "mastermind".

The full court press by the Sunday talk show spokes models will make sure that subterfuge is the name of the game.

But the main mission is further division, not between the have mores and the have even less, but to further exploit infighting within the middle and lower class. Continuing to make sure that we the people never ever coalesce on a common cause.

And our gaze is never kept for long on the actual issue.

Don't be the least surprised if some non-trovercy (think Benghazi) is trumped up to distract us all when the real red meat of this report is issued. (most likely on a Friday Night News dump)

Yes, I'm cynical. I have lived a long time and have been witness to how our nation transitioned from the rights of the people to the rights of the corporation.

And at the end of the day, when all is lied and done, it's about money. It's always been about money. Nothing more nothing less.

And those in power; (don't insult yourself by thinking the politicians are in power) want to stay in power.

March 7, 2014

You mean the present day treadmill goal of trying to achieve the unachievable goal?

For most of us paying attention, the American Dream was nothing more than a marketing ploy so people would continue to buy more and more to keep the economy going (believing that it was never going to end) and to out do the russians.

That American Dream?

I'm of the firm belief that those of us born of the "baby-boom era" honestly believed that this was how it was always going to be. Of course we ate up the propaganda in copious amounts. After all, and believed that "we're Americans and we're just so special!"

Myself, having been born at the very tail end of the baby boom, and having paid attention to the devastating effects of horrible wars (Viet Nam, desert storm, iraq war, afghanistan and the many little micro-wars of choice in between), the slow and purposeful destruction of unions and the hollowing out of a living breathing economy by the right wing and ineffective democrats, the willful ignorance and lack foresight regarding pollution, and the rapid growth of a propaganda business to make us all believe that we are doing better, even though in retrospect, we are underpaid, overworked, less represented and gleefully ignored by our congress people; made for what we have to day. In essence, an American Dream that exists on paper with skewed stats and fudged numbers to make those in power sleep better at night.

Is that again that American Dream that is being talked about?

I don't know about all of you, but I grew up in a solid lower middle class union blue collar family, where my dad (a mechanic for the NY Dept of Sanitation) was able to, on a single salary, put myself and my brother and my two sisters through college, support my mom, buy a small cottage for vacationing, retire with a solid pension and provide for him and my mom, very well, until they passed away.

THAT, is the American Dream. Being able to live a full life without the daily slings and arrows, that seem to increase every moment, to keep us down, afraid and that much poorer with each and every following day all the while keeping us distracted and off balance with a new gewgaw or trumped up "controversy" to prevent us from coalescing into the formidable power we are as the people of this nation.

The real American Dream, is were the people of this nation have a voice and control the means by which they have an actual say in the decisions the effect us directly and not subject to the winds of daily bullshit that ravaged our character and destroys our spirit via the moneyed interests of the 1%. Who, I might add, have zero to nothing in common with us or care one whit of what we think.

The American Dream is to breath fresh air, drink clean water, eat clean food and raise our families without the threat of it all collapsing in the next moment.

We have been suckered into doing a more and more with a hell of a lot less. We are told daily to vote and support things against our own best interests out of fear that the "other guy" might win and "make our lives miserable".

Look the fuck around you. Our lives, compared to 40 years ago, are fucking miserable and they want us all so tied up in fighting for scraps that we don't have to time to realize this.

I love the writings of Robert Reich, but the whole concept and idea of "The American Dream", is nothing but a farce. What he writes of and what I wrote, is how it should be, not some fucking dream.

Dreams, I might add, for the most part, are just that: dreams.

February 6, 2014

Allowing the banks to fail here would have had a very interesting outcoume...

Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but bank savings are protected by the FDIC for up to 200k.

Look across the spectrum of our society. How many of the 99% have 200k in the bank? probably not many.

and see that's the rub. those in the upper income bracket would be the ones that would suffer the most.

letting the banks fail would have been an incredible social equalizer. those with millions would have lost a bundle and *GASP* would have to suddenly live like the rest of us, the "great unwashed".

and that is, one of the may reasons, the circular clusterfuck of our banking system hasn't been held responsible.

They couldn't possible live like the rest of us. It's beneath them.

And as a side note: those who argue that "letting them fail" would have been catastrophic for the nation, lives with the delusion that nothing at all would have been done to prevent a cascade of trouble across the board.

Let the banks fail and help the people. That's the chant that should have been yelled.

but alas...

February 6, 2014

the problem as to why the US can't do it, is very simple...

via propaganda we are lead to believe that if we allowed those bastards to fail, then life as we know it would suddenly vanish from the face of the earth.

That everything that we know and love would no longer exist and the slim possibility of ever returning to "normal" wouldn't exist.

so, instead we are forced to believe that by supporting this grifting institutions that we are much better off than the grossly over imagined sensationalistic apocalyptical alternative.

See? that's why it won't work here, because a portion of the population enjoy being suckered by their fears by the wealthy 1%.

while the rest of us get pissed off at not having any say or being accused of being "Un-American" because we want accountability.

whenever a politician says, "the country wouldn't survive it" what they really mean is they will lose their jobs because they are firmly tied to whatever illegal activity that was perpetrated.

February 4, 2014

less a club than a exclusive society entered into by birth.

clubs people can join, but the real "club" to be in is the one that is only allowed by birth.

there are lots of really wealthy people and, sure, you can say they are in a club, but for the obscenely wealthy, the kind that makes the word "wealth" sound down right poverty-like, well those folks only get in that society via genetic birth lottery.

the "hard-work" types who were born in the CEO's office and think they worked their way up to owning the team. All the other, the "poverty-like" wealthy, they are still playing ball and being born on home-plate and third base.

the rest of us, we are not only not in the dugout, not only not in the stadium, but we are the guys looking for change on the pavement in the parking lot.