Article: Humpty Dumpty Americans

Humpty Dumpty Americans

"Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall... Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.." Well, there you have it. My America, the place I grew up in and loved so very much for so long..... is in its final days of empire. Read Howard Blum's fine expose ' Rogue Nation ' and realize what has been done in your name and mine: The making and breaking of nations and their democratically elected leaders; policies that undermined the rights of foreign sovereignty; assassination, slander, bribery and other threats to individual freedom and privacy.... all in the name of profit through the crony capitalism of our mega corporations.. And now the ultimate prize for this cabal of greed :

The ( so called ) Iraq War and the War on Terrorism. It is so easy to get Humpty Dumpty Americans to stay on that wall, doing nothing to stop these criminals. First, they narcotize them with an overload of flag waving pseudo patriotism, boob tube garbage, junk food garbage, over saturation of sports coverage ( a panel discussion on Michael Vick's dog fighting escapades, with half the audience acting as activists for Vick- come on! ) , and best of all:

Consumerism! You know, 'shop till you drop' and all that. Junior Bush made sure of this when he said in his speech, right after the Twin Towers ( ever so suspiciously , by the way ) came tumbling down: "Go out and shop ".

" All the kings horses and all the kings men couldn't put Humpty Dumpty back together again." Who are today's ' kings horses and men ' ? The Republicans and Democrats ably fill that role. And guess what? A) They really, with but a few exceptions, could not care less about what happens to Humpty Dumpty Americans, so long as they get voted into office, and B) They are part of the problem, not part of the solution.

If politicians truly did care, why is it that we have no universal health coverage- the only major industrialized nation to not have it ? Why does over 60 % of our federal budget go for defense related spending- and why are there over 700 US military bases worldwide ? Why do the overwhelming majority of our autos still get under 25 miles per gallon, when Ralph Nader and others begged Congress to raise those standards 30 years ago? Why is pollution worse now than 20 and 30 and 40 years ago?

Why are the rich, who used to pay 90%, then 70%, of income to the Feds, now have the lowest tax rates ( with continuing tax breaks) in recent history? Why are the infrastructures of our cities crumbling? Why is there no comprehensive rail system in this country? Let's cut to the chase and examine the ' spoke in the wheel ' that keeps Humpty Dumpty Americans from having a better life: private money in electoral politics.

Think of the possibilities if we had a system of Total Public Funding of Elections? Meaning: a truck driver, a hairdresser, a grocery clerk, could actually run for office and win election, simply on the issues.

Yesterday, 92 Senators voted to continue funding this Iraq disgrace. Disregarding the sentiments of a majority of Americans, they voted to allow Bush and Cheney to continue spending our hard earned tax dollars on more weapons, trucks, tanks, planes, private military contractors AKA mercenaries , and of course the grand prize, ' Crony Contracts '.

So, where is the outrage? Well, I must end this column now. I have to go out and hold my protest sign that states 'Demand the Truth on Iraq Invasion and 9/11.... Join Us! ' I guess all those Humpty Dumptys out there are afraid to jump and weigh in. Don't they realize that sooner or later they'll get pushed off that wall and into the abyss?

PA Farruggio

Port Orange , Florida