the unbearable truth in simplicity . . .

[OneBlueSky]

Chris Herz lives in the US and is a columnist for VHeadline.com, Venezuela's news service . . . since reading these two columns yesterday, I haven't been able to get what he says out of my mind . . . his take on things has a detached and elegant simplicity that cuts through the bullshit and tells things the way they really are . . . he hits both Republicans and Democrats, which he sees as two arms of the same corrupt (and bankrupt) system . . .

Warfare State
http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=22627

The display at the US Republican National Convention of militarism and phony patriotism is truly extraordinary. But it was the same theme as the show put on by the Democratic Party last month.

Each of these two US corporate factions is working with all their power to divert the population from the economic consequences natural to a debtor nation with twin displays of aggressive military power.And each has irrevocably married itself to this policy: This will be how each is prepared to deal with other nations in the coming months and years.

(snip)

The USA is running absolutely unparalleled state and trade deficits, with no possibility of amelioration of this amazing tide of red ink anytime in the foreseeable future.

The US economy has become, like an heroin addict, dependent on the same poison that is slowly killing him ... it has been so accustomed to the use of its awesome military forces to secure resources, territory and the labor of others that we -- in the USA -- now consider this to be the ordinary and routine course of action. It truly puzzles our leaders that any nation like Venezuela would first consider the needs of its own before gratifying the appetites of international corporate governance. Yet the massive cost of this aspect of the neo-liberal state, let alone its many other contradictions, is killing our economy and society.

- more . . .

http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=22627

More on the US Budget
http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=22730

(snip)

For it is clear that this Bush administration and any likely successor are in utter unity on the need for militarism abroad and domestic controls and repression at home. This to the extent that they contemplate the destruction of the very modest, by the standards of industrial countries, social security infrastructure in the USA itself: And the conversion of its resources to military purposes and the further enrichment of our corrupt business class.

Unless the regime actually manages to seize the targeted resources and then succeeds in finding means to really profit from the arrangement, the domestic repercussions over the next decade might result in the self-immolation of our own polity.

- more . . .

http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=22730

if what Herz is saying is true -- and I have no doubt that it is -- the election of John Kerry in November (of which I am thoroughly confident) will not be an end, but a beginning . . . if we are to survive as a nation, we MUST begin conducting ourselves differently, in ways that do not rely on militarism, corporatism, imperialism, and massive amounts of red ink -- and red blood . . .

Kerry will inherit an unimaginable mess and we, the American people, must convince him from the outset that the BushCo approach must be abandoned whoesale in favor of policies of non-aggression, strict corporate regulation, leadership by persuasion and example rather than by force, and an entirely new set of economic rules that tax progressively, balance the budget, support a vibrant middle class, provide a true safety net for the weakest among us, and reward corporations for creating good jobs rather than exporting them . . . anything less, I fear, will spell the rapid end of our great experiment . . .

[Professor_Moriarty]

1. Our budget deficits have reached close to half a trillion dollars.

Only the continued buying of our treasuries obligations by China and Japan help sustain us in our illusions of being the no.1 in the world.Unless we abandon this " Imperial Masquerade" as Lewis Lapham has aptly termed it, our decline will be a lot fater than any one has imagined. Chavez is a threat to our imperial pretenders precisely because he has put the needs of his people first and has the audacity to even think that those needs should be met by the revenues generated by the oil revenues of his nation.Our rulers are more comfortable with the Saudi Royal family that uses the oil revenues to buy villas and session with prostitutes in Paris, Milan and Rome.