For the past week America has been subjected to another spectacular display of banality by the media and the campaigns of our presidential hopefuls. First of all I must point out how amazing it is to me that, lately, just before an election there always seems to be a crisis of enormous proportion, something which has obviously been brewing for some time but somehow makes its' appearance at right about this time, a time for heroic measures to be displayed.
It's almost a perfect scenario. First, one of the largest insurance companies in the world balanced it's checkbook and found that they must have double entered a deposit or something because they're 80 billion dollars in the red. Understandable, we've all overdrawn our accounts at one time or another but somehow I had the feeling that this was just the beginning. In any event the government reacted quickly and, surprisingly, responsibly. They didn't bail AIG out with a gift. Uh-uh. They took 80% of the company as collateral and set a high interest rate on the payback. America, the taxpayers, for once will realize a profit for their money being used by the government to assist the rich in their endeavor to be richer.That is, of course, if AIG recovers and pays back the money. If not, the taxpayers will own 80% of an enormous debt. But I digress. Now, several days later the other anticipated shoe dropped. It seems that our banking industry misplaced some money also, some 200 billion dollars. According to someone who's smart, or I may have dreamed this, that's enough money to buy five thousand condoms for every man, woman and child in this country. Not a bad idea actually but we have a presidential campaign going on, coincidently, and one of the candidates feels that he is so important to this process that he must suspend his campaign and cancel a much awaited and needed debate between himself and the democratic contender. He has a plan and he'll have this whole thing solved post haste. So, he rushed to the meeting , found a chair right up front and sat there. And sat there. And as he sat there , silently, fingers interlocked, he moved his powerful mind around the room. It was felt by all, who reported feeling as though they had been possessed by Elmer Fudd. But, it was recognized by the people of this country as the familiar tactics of our current president. I understand that while he was in Washington the Monument began to tip and McCain held it up by himself for several hours until crews could get there to add support.
I can't understand, for instance how now, finally, 80% of the people in this country realize that Bush is a liar, manipulator and will ultimately, by choice, eliminate the middle class in the United States, yet, some of these people will consider voting for his evil twin, a man who not only extols the virtues of Bush through his actions but admits to planning to take the administration to the farthest boundaries of ultraconservative bumblism. He is an enemy of the constitution and of the people, as is Bush, yet people who recognize the absolute ineptness of Bush can't recognize it in the silly grin of McCain that replaces the bush smirk.
I said this eight years ago. I don't believe that I'm smarter than most people but what I can't understand is how did these men convince enough of the same people who now recognize Bush for what he truly is to vote for his retarded party brother. What are people thinking? As I asked eight years ago, why did all of these seemingly intelligent people believe that a man, who I perceived to be the most obvious lying, evil, snide, obnoxious, epitome of a psycho dictator, was a good man with decent intentions and they should vote for him? Could I possibly be that wrong about someone? I never have been before. I wasn't eight years ago and I don't believe that I'm wrong now.
Now I'm thinking differently though. Maybe Bush is a good thing. I didn't say a good man. What'd you think, that I took a stupid pill this morning? I said a good thing. Why? What could be good about a man who, I believe, was involved in allowing the largest terrorist attack in history to occur on our soil in order to initiate military action against a country which had no involvement in the attacks, distracting us from the actual war on terror which we were engaged in Afghanistan?
That's treason, punishable by death. It would take too long to continue citing individual transgressions but he obviously, with a smirk on his face and a song in his heart, went on to destroy our economy, strengthen the major conglomerates hold of the system over the people, breakdown the Constitution and begin the eradication of our freedoms and civil rights, alienate the people and political parties of our nation, defecate on our world image, alienate every ally we ever had, and now we discover, contributed to the topple of the financial giant which was the United States. Ok. Point made?
But wait, didn't I just say he was a good thing? Let's take a look from another angle.
Our country has been heading down the wrong road for some time now. I believe it began when the first bullet struck JFK. "Oh krist, another conspiracy nut". Whatever. No matter what happened that day or who was involved you have to admit that our country has been on a downward spiral since.
Through the Clinton administration we became a three ring circus. Our president, who was doing the best job of guiding this country in over thirty years is busted for getting blow jobs, like that's never happened before, but this time our entire political process was ground to a halt while he was trying to do his job, keep his family together, trying to defend his actions, the republicans devoted all of their efforts to,, what? Humiliate him? Prosecute him? For getting a blowjob? For lying? About a blowjob? Let's face it, it was embarrassing for our nation, a distraction from world affairs, another opportunity for corporate America to gain a stronger foothold on, not just our economy but our world.
It used to send shivers down my spine whenever I used to hear Reagan or Bush sr. bring up the New World Order, the One World. It would blow me away that the rest of the nation didn't have the same reaction. To hear the president of the United States espousing the views of some centuries old religious cult which has, for many years had questionable relationships and influences on our government scared the sh*t out of me. Why didn't it scare anyone else? No one ever mentioned it. Where was our media. Where was someone else who felt that this was a bit bizarre. Could no one else see, at the very least, what was happening in our government, where all the power was going? Where all the money was going? How come it seems that whenever there's a republican in office the country takes several steps backward? Well, except this last administration. It's taken us back a century, right to the depression. But McCain will fix all that. Keep as many wars going as you can and throw money at the rich.
We're a hard working nation of people. Was the money going to remunerate the working Americans, the people who broke their backs, toiled long hours, got educated, built this country, literally, in the past hundred years? No, it wasn't. It was going to a bunch of fat suits. Inherited wealth, CEO's who claimed to "have the right stuff" or the right contacts, basketball players, super salesmen, and teachers. What? Did I say teachers? Yea,, I was just kiddin. That's my point. We have the worst public education system in the world and everyone blames teachers. They must have become teachers just for the money because they make the big bucks. Why, here in Florida I know some teachers who make $40,000. a year. Yea, that ain't chickenfeed y'know. And if you're reading this and thinking "yea, he's right. That's plenty of money for teachers, or anyone who works 40, 50, 60 hours a week to earn a living" then you must be one of the idiots who voted for Bush. In this economy you cannot live a substantial life on that money. This is not the American Dream. It's a literal nightmare. What makes someone who's invested money more valuable than someone who invests their labor or brains and dedicates all of their energy to do their job well and increase profitability of a firm. Should a money investor live in such luxury and opulence while one who invests his life and labor barely gets by and can't even afford to save for a retirement, which, for many will never come as they must continue to work into their golden years just to survive?
If you're getting this point then you understand why GW Bush is possibly a good thing.
Bush finally opened America's eyes to the idiocy of the system, the growing inequities in the application of law, justice, money, health care, etc.
Now I'm not some liberal (not that liberal is a bad thing) who's spouting off about civil rights or the ecology or what have you. I have no agenda other than building this country to what it was meant to be, for the people, nothing about minorities or issues or special interests. Not for the poor, not for the rich. No special treatment whether you're brown, black, yellow or white. An equitable share of the wealth for anyone who wants to contribute. That's everyone, not just those who can contribute financially. Sure, you can't start a business without money but you can't run it without labor. Both are equally important to the success of any company and should be equally remunerated.
This is about what our country is supposed to be about. Honesty, hard work, family values, these are the things that used to be the key to success. Honest and hard work. I don't mean that everyone with these values should become a millionaire, most people don't even want to be millionaires. It's not about the accumulation of money. To most people money is just a means to an end. The end being to live a comfortable, not necessarily luxurious, existence, provide education for your children and save enough money to get you through retirement. These values have been lost in the past half a century and the Bush administration has opened the eyes of most good people to that. Now, not only can people not save for retirement, most will never know what retirement is as they'll have to work the rest of their lives. The fact that these are the important things in life and that there are those who are so greedy, so arrogant and yes, so evil that they would deny those values and make a mockery of them for nothing more than their own personal gain and financial growth is unconscionable. People are finally becoming aware because of his misdeeds and they're fed up.
For the first time since the sixties people are actually talking out loud about revolution. People are finally becoming, not only desperate but angry enough to consider what our forefathers found to be the only answer to tyrants who saw to kill their dreams, destroy the natural human spirit to provide for the welfare of their family by whittling away at their hopes, disallowing them the opportunities to advance themselves even to the point of experiencing true freedom, leaving them to fear the establishment and be satisfied to live in servitude, not daring to endanger the small chance remaining to them to just survive.
George Bush is the epitome of those tyrants and he's in your face.
This election, no matter what the results, is not going to change the direction in which we're heading. It will only be a distraction to the fact that the powers who are in rule are greedy, evil, bloodsucking tyrants. Bush is only the face of the establishment, putting Obama in his place will not change who he works for. We must keep on vigilance, not be fooled into believing that an election is going to change anything in this country. Open your eyes. We've already seen that an election under our present system is a meaningless joke. We only get to chose from who the establishment allows us to chose from. It's no accident who is in the running, everything is contrived and if you don't believe that yet then you're only kidding yourself.
It's time to stop being afraid of the realities of our world but to embrace them as your enemy. There's an Arabian proverb to which we should adhere. "Keep your friends close - hold your enemies closer." Don't ever forget that they exist and don't believe that they're not smart. They've gotten this far, they're not going to let a little thing like an election defeat them now. Electing Obama is a step in the right direction but we must continue to be vigilant, work for the changes needed to begin to fix the system where it's not working now, the electoral process, lobbying, corporate welfare are just the beginning. Still, be careful how you vote. Right now, I trust no one. McCain, to me, is an obvious mistake. He will obviously carry on in the tradition of Bush, keeping our enemy in our face, continuing to antagonize and rape our nation. Maybe again that's a good thing because much more of that and there will be a revolution. I'm not looking forward to it. It will be an ordeal which will cost many and a trauma which will alter our lives for generations but that's what our forefathers endured to preserve the way of life Americans strive for. Freedom doesn't come without sacrifice. McCain in office may be the antagonist which tips the cart. Four more years of Bush would surely do it. But, by putting Obama in office we're not assured that he's any different, but I do believe he will affect much of the "change" which we really need. I believe that he will not distract us from the truth, from the facts that the same old "Order" is still in power and that we must not let down our guard, that we must all still work together to find real solutions to the progressive downward spiral of the quality of life and freedom for the hard working people of America. I hope that's where Obama will take us. People are so easily fooled, so wanting to believe in the good of America that they will forget that the people who now own America don't care about them, only about their own greed, their own attainment of all of the wealth, no matter the cost to anyone else. If Obama wins he'll be fighting those people in congress and the senate and we must support him continuously. The far right claims that they want bi-partisanship but when it comes down to it they will fight every bill, every initiative and will not hesitate to attack the character and person of Barack Obama himself when the time comes. They are liars and backstabbers and we can't expect anything less from them than they displayed during the Clinton years. We must stand strong with him and fight of these abuses of power. Personally, I believe that the prosecution of the entire Bush administration for treason is the first line of order to punish the lawbreakers and demonstrate the consequences of such future actions. If the tables were turned they (the republicans) would surely pursue all prosecutorial actions with a vengeance and with fervor. This is what democrats must now do. It's time to demonstrate the strength of the party.
So remember, after the election, no matter the outcome, keep your eye on the ball. If we don't see real change, real fast, in our economy, the strength of working Americans to pull themselves out of the debt we've had to incur just to maintain a comfortable standard of living, our health care system and the cost of pharmaceuticals for everyone, and corporate accountability for the state of our economy then we must continue the fight. Not just for the elderly, nor to be distracted my minorities and special interest groups but for every working American, young or old, black or white or brown, man or woman, We have to end being a nation of special interests. If we take care of working Americans, all working Americans, then and only then can we begin the task of fixing the system to work for all Americans equally.
Vote, but don't let an election end our quest for true equality in our Nation.
The Establishment, One World Order, the New World Order, the powers that be, whatever you want to call it, or them, are not looking out for your best interests. They want to own you. They do own you. They're not "good Christian people", benevolent factions, or great leaders. They are greedy, monstrous, evil people who share no beliefs beyond their own personal gain of power and money and they rule. They will continue to rule until they are physically removed from power, by coup, as they came into the power they now hold or by revolution. Don't ever forget it and don't be afraid to speak.
I was born in 1951. I had the benefit of experiencing the naïveté of the 50', The Ozzie and Harriet years, when Dad went to work in a suit and tie and Mom stayed home in
high heals and an apron. Yea, that was life for me. I lived in a predominantly Irish neighborhood in South Boston. My Grandmother and Grandfather came to America from Sicily in the early 1900's and finally settled in "Southie", opening one of the many corner markets, a grocery and butcher shop. They learned English and made sure that it was the first language of their 7 children, 3 sons, my father the oldest of all of the children and 4 daughters. My Grandfather died with throat cancer in 1943, which brought my Father home from Panama, where he was stationed with the Army, to run the family business, as the others were still children. My Dad basically took on the role of Father to his brothers and sisters and along with my Grandmother, kept the family going. When my Father met my Mother he was 29 and she,20.They married in 1950 and when I was born in 51 they moved into the 3rd floor flat above the store where my Grandmother occupied the 2nd floor. I had one great advantage while growing up in the 50s. My cousin Janet, who was several years my elder, kept me attuned to the music and the lifestyle of teens of the era.I was also very sensitive to politics at a very young age. When Kennedy ran for president in 60 I actually helped campaign by passing out flyers and buttons at rallies. When he was murdered in 63, even at my young age, I felt a twinge of distrust of the government, as though something wasn't being said.That feeling stayed and amplified throughout every other assassination and demonstration and by the late 60s I was a full blown radical.Not in the sense that I was for peace and love but that I was against war and propaganda.In 1970 I moved to Florida. I met a "hippie" girl, got married and had a beautiful daughter. I now had to support a family so I put aside (as much as I could) my nonconformist ways and worked hard to advance myself into a career position with a New York based car rental co. As time went on my "hippie" wife came to love the material world which for me was just a means of survival. When the firm filed chapter 11 and sold all assets to another company (which turned out to be the largest car rental co. in the country)I lost my job. My no longer hippie wife divorced me, I filed bankruptcy, my house foreclosed and what was left went to her.I learned a great lesson in corporate loyalty and would never give myself over to a conglomerate again. Losing my daughter was devastating and I turned back to my old ways of drinking and drugs. Although I was responsible and worked and paid bills I sank deeper into a dangerous lifestyle.This continued until the late 80s when I met my current wife,Cindy. She helped me change my ways and things were great until the late 90s when I began developing symptoms which dr.s had a difficult time diagnosing. Through several years of excruciating pain,tests,scans and surgeries finally left me out of work and disabled with a multitude of problems.Now, I keep busy reading,writing, playing my guitar, taking care of my Lhasa Apso, Dusty, Cocker Spaniel named Lady, 19 yr old kitten,Chloe and my Green Cheek Conure named Sarge who is my constant companion. My wife, Cindy, saved my life in many ways and I'll never figure out why she keeps me around. Most times I even annoy myself. I love her dearly. She's my life. We share interests in collecting US coins and stamps, an occasional game of pool(she always destroys me)and when we can afford it,which isn't often,travel. After all we've been through I feel fortunate for what we have and though we don't have much what infuriates me is that we are better off than 70% of the people in this country. Any person who is willing to work should be able to live a comfortable life in this country. Me? As long as I have her I don't need much else, except maybe, to change the world.
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