Ooops!

I owe all my loyal friends, acquaintances and curiosity seekers a profound apology. 

I subscribe to a monitoring service for my blog postings for what I hope will be a mechanism for keeping me organized and abreast of what I may be putting out there for an unsuspecting consumer public.  I would be less than honest if I did not acknowledge that I am interested in my readership, not only in terms of numbers, but in terms of the comments that are proferred, as well. 

What I write is a reflection of my own perspective on the world and world events.  I am not out to convert anyone to my way of thinking nor to inflict my own set of biases on those who may choose to read what I have written.  I place a lot of stock in integrity, in all its forms.  Beyond that, take it for what it is worth.  We all know that, if we want to be offended, there will always be a few out there who will be more than happy to oblige us.  I respect your perceptions of the world as as much as I would hope you would respect mine. 

Now, for the big cahunah!  I have been writing this blog since 2007, and the biggest mystery I have had to contend with is "where in the world are all those comments that seem to be missing?"  Well, folks, I have to confess that the frailties of my mind are such that I never looked in the right place for that information.  Today, quite by accident, I was pleasantly surprised and somewhat overwhelmed by the discovery of the repository of all the comments going back to 2007.  I was completely stunned at all of you good people who must have concluded sometime ago that I did not give one hoot in hell about what you thought.  I cannot think of one thing we can do to others that is more insulting than to completely ignore their good efforts on our behalf.  For that I am truly sorry and hope you will forgive me for what must surely be the increasing fragility of an aging mind!

On February 10, 2013 I wrote a blog titled, "Time Is No Longer Simply A Choice.," which I failed to post.  I took care of that oversight earlier today in case some of you might want to peruse it. 

Let me end this by stating, unequivocally, that you are a special bunch to me and, with the help of Providence, I will do a much better job of demonstrating that in the future.  In the meantime keep well, be happy and may the wind be always at your back.

Cowboy Bob
May 20, 2013

“When Is Enough, Enough?”

I like to think that I am a reasonably well informed person. I pay attention to what is happening in this country on all of the major news fronts. I regularly patronize major news personalities and news programs. But, when I pause and look around me and talk to people face to face, my impression of what is really going on in this country is vastly different.

I see a burgeoning lower class that is, more and more, dependent on charitable organizations just to feed their families, the bill of fare largely meager and limited in nutritional value. But I, also, see vast numbers of people who seem totally impervious to the magnitude of the suffering and pain that exists all around them. It is rather like, “as long as I have my needs met, screw you!” We demonize the poor and revere the rich and famous. Where are the values of kinship and concern within that group?

I see a population that has sunk so low into the perverse pleasures of hedonism and materialism that they appear to have no souls. Where is their outrage at what is being done to this country and all those who have worked to make this a “land of the free,” and a “land of equal opportunity” for the benefit of everyone? Rather, I am met with an endemic complacency and indifference the likes of which I would never have dreamed possible in this great country.

Why are we so indifferent and so calloused? Are we afraid of all the manifestations of power and influence we see around us? Fear manifests itself in many ways. One can be terrorized, but people can also be gripped by a fear that they will be deprived of all the creature comforts and pleasures they have become accustomed to, but cannot bring themselves to the point of seriously considering that there are more noble pursuits in life that serve a greater good.

There is no secret about the growing disparity between the “haves” and the “have not’s.” It is all around us. We are bombarded with news about how that disparity is growing. The rich ARE getting richer. The rich are squirreling away their vast fortunes in off shore banks, openly and with no shame. Every action of our government favors anything they might do to enhance their wealth, all the while sticking it to those who have the least.

Where did the naïveté come from that convinced us that a bunch of radical bible thumpers would better serve the people of this country than the corrupt politicians who have no constituency, save themselves and those who enable them to plunder the resources of the people while they are in office? Where else can this bunch of motley bastards go, work half time, enjoy the riches and perks of the elite of this country, and brandish the flag in our faces at every turn without the slightest shame? Who among us are the bigger fools?

Why have we given a free pass to the President who, since his first term, has consistently pandered to the wealthy elite and business interests of this country at the expense of working people? Why has he gotten away with appointing scions of business and industry to government posts that are, ostensibly, there to serve all of us, equally? Why have his chief advisors all hailed from the ranks of that same bunch? Why does he covet secrecy when he is cooking up deals that will put more money in their pockets and further reduce those who work for a living to greater poverty and deprivation? Why has he managed to pull off “deals” that were supposed to have been conceived for the common good, but have only served to enhance the wealth of the providers at greater cost to the consumers? Has anyone been paying attention? Do any of those aggrieved by his actions really care?

What happened to negotiated drug prices by the government in order to protect the interests of the people, but it is now the drug companies that have flourished in the wake of that promise?

What happened to the single-payer option that was supposed to level the playing field between the cost to healthcare consumers and the insatiable appetite for more money among the entire field of health care providers? Instead, we got “Obamacare that will, ultimately, prove to be just another scam that will demand greater and greater amounts of money and from whom? The consumers, who else? And for whom? The providers, who else? Let’s have another toast to the Chameleon in the White House based on a wide-spread and continued false belief that he is the chief advocate for the common people.

What happened to the Presidential promise to revisit the entire issue of free trade agreements because, ostensibly, the ones in place had failed to protect the interests of the American worker? Rather, he has only expanded the scope and numbers of such agreements for the benefit of international business interests, and at whose expense? The working Americans, who else?

Who does the great champion of the working people of this country look to for advice and counsel on economic and social issues? The best economic and public minds in the world residing right here in the USA? Not a chance. To the largest and most powerful corporations in the country, who else?

Why has this government, in all its branches, managed to so completely abandon the welfare of the people and so blatantly catered to the wealthiest and most self-serving interests among us? Why are regulatory agencies so starved for funding in order to police the inherent greed of business interests and preserve the health and welfare of the people of this country?

It absolutely boggles the human mind that the vast majority of the population of this country is so enamored of power, money and prestige that they cannot see that we have one political party in power --- and that is the Plutocratic Party of the United States. There isn’t one within the environs in and around Washington, D.C. that isn’t so compromised that it would be a stretch to even remotely believe they are representatives of the people in a democratic system of government.

Why do only the Democratic and Republican Parties have an exclusive grip on what in reality is an exclusive two-political party in this country? Why do we allow them to completely ignore the basic tenets of what is commonly known as “conflicts of interest” and lace their pockets with ill-gotten gains in terms of money, privilege and power, and to do so with complete abandon? Are we so numbed by their largesse at our expense as to actually believe they give one hoot in hell about any of us? Get real, people! They aren’t doing a damned thing for us. It is all about them and those who own their dark and tarnished souls.

As for the wide-eyed “Progressives,” I would suggest they get real and re-name themselves for what they really are – “Regressive.” Call your hero in the White House what you want but, a reality check quickly reveals him for what he is – an Elitist Democrat of the worst kind. And, I might add, that mind set permeates every aspect of those elected and appointed to government positions and the majority of the agencies ostensibly created to serve the governed, not those who govern.

This country needs a new and viable political party. It needs to be based on the virtues of honesty, integrity and service, and firmly rooted in the tenets of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Those who serve government must clearly understand that their primary purpose is to serve the people first by cleaning up the mess in Washington, D.C., and fostering the growth of a new political party within each state.

I cannot believe there are not a few wealthy individuals who share the concern and have the wisdom to contribute funds, properly accounted for on a regular basis, to such an endeavor without them having their egos involved in any direct control, enmeshed with the purpose and work of the party. An arms length relationship to the party and a clearly defined conflict of interest policy should be the order of the day. Surely, given the number of blue-ribbon universities and colleges in this country, a group of economists, political scientists and constitutional scholars could be brought together to create and get a political party off the ground within a reasonable period of time. A point of departure might be by having conversations with Rocky Anderson, Buddy Roemer and the leadership of the Green Party.

We should, also, find out why there have been no organized marches on Washington and other environs, led by the leadership of various labor unions and activist groups. Where is the Occupy Wall Street movement? Why are people not “mad as hell,” and why aren’t they manifesting their grievances by engaging in peaceful demonstrations and civil disobedience? Are they afraid that law enforcement agencies are too firmly in the pockets of the power structure so as to leave them hanging out? If so, let that be an issue.

I was a student at the University of California at Berkeley during the student revolt by Mario Savio and his following. I can attest to the fact that protest efforts by well organized and determined activists work. But, it takes a “fire in the belly” by dedicated agents of change and the idealism of youth. Martin Luther King became a legend because he believed in that power. Who is to say anyone can’t do the same with conviction, dedication, decency and a genuine will to remake this country into what it was intended to be?

How much more do the basic citizens of this country have to take before they say “Enough is enough?” If not now, when?

Cowboy Bob
aka The Sagebrush Philosopher
May 3, 2013

"Doolittle's Raiders"

Although I don't know the exact date this was published, it is timeless.  This piece brought tears to my eyes as I recalled, from my own childhood, those years long ago relegated to the pages of time. I respect the right of everyone to have their own opinions and their own views on life. God knows we all deal with them in very different ways. That is a fact that has been with mankind since time memoriam. Nothing has changed, but the way we address that side of our lives has. People of their generation had a different perspective on virtues such as honesty, honor, valor, courage and basic human decency than we do. Frankly, I believe those who have gone before us had a better view of what was important in life. This article reflects the content of their souls and the style they used to demonstrate them. They were just made of better stuff.

Cowboy Bob
April 29, 2013

************************************************************************

Editor's note: CNN Contributor Bob Greene is a bestselling author whose 25
books include "Late Edition: A Love Story"; "Duty: A Father, His Son, and
the Man Who Won the War"; and "Once Upon a Town: The Miracle of the North
Platte Canteen."

************************************************************************

On Tuesday, in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, the surviving Doolittle Raiders
will gather publicly for the last time.

They once were among the most universally admired and revered men in the
United States. There were 80 of the Raiders in April 1942, when they carried
out one of the most courageous and heart-stirring military operations in
this nation's history. The mere mention of their unit's name, in those
years, would bring tears to the eyes of grateful Americans.

Now only four survive.

After Japan's sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, with the United States reeling
and wounded, something dramatic was needed to turn the war effort around.
Even though there were no friendly airfields close enough to Japan for the
United States to launch a retaliation, a daring plan was devised. Sixteen
B-25s were modified so that they could take off from the deck of an aircraft
carrier. This had never before been tried -- sending such big, heavy bombers
from a carrier.

The 16 five-man crews, under the command of Lt. Col. James Doolittle, who
himself flew the lead plane off the USS Hornet, knew that they would not be
able to return to the carrier. They would have to hit Japan and then hope to
make it to China for a safe landing.

But on the day of the raid, the Japanese military caught wind of the plan.
The Raiders were told that they would have to take off from much farther out
in the Pacific Ocean than they had counted on. They were told that because
of this they would not have enough fuel to make it to safety.

And those men went anyway.

They bombed Tokyo, and then flew as far as they could. Four planes
crash-landed; 11 more crews bailed out, and three of the Raiders died. Eight
more were captured; three were executed. Another died of starvation in a
Japanese prison camp. One crew made it to Russia.

The Doolittle Raid sent a message from the United States to its enemies, and
to the rest of the world:

We will fight.  And, no matter what it takes, we will win.

Of the 80 Raiders, 62 survived the war. They were celebrated as national
heroes, models of bravery. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer produced a motion picture
based on the raid; "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo," starring Spencer Tracy and
Van Johnson, was a patriotic and emotional box-office hit, and the phrase
became part of the national lexicon. In the movie-theater previews for the
film, MGM proclaimed that it was presenting the story "with supreme pride."

Beginning in 1946, the surviving Raiders have held a reunion each April, to
commemorate the mission. The reunion is in a different city each year. In
1959, the city of Tucson, Arizona, as a gesture of respect and gratitude,
presented the Doolittle Raiders with a set of 80 silver goblets. Each goblet
was engraved with the name of a Raider.

Every year, a wooden display case bearing all 80 goblets is transported to
the reunion city. Each time a Raider passes away, his goblet is turned
upside down in the case at the next reunion, as his old friends bear solemn
witness.

Also in the wooden case is a bottle of 1896 Hennessy Very Special cognac.
The year is not happenstance: 1896 was when Jimmy Doolittle was born.

There has always been a plan: When there are only two surviving Raiders,
they would open the bottle, at last drink from it, and toast their comrades
who preceded them in death.

As 2013 began, there were five living Raiders; then, in February, Tom
Griffin passed away at age 96. 

The name may be familiar to those of you who regularly read this column; in
2011, I wrote about the role Mr. Griffin played at his son's wedding.

What a man he was. After bailing out of his plane over a mountainous Chinese
forest after the Tokyo raid, he became ill with malaria, and almost died.
When he recovered, he was sent to Europe to fly more combat missions. He was
shot down, captured, and spent 22 months in a German prisoner of war camp.

The selflessness of these men, the sheer guts ... there was a passage in the
Cincinnati Enquirer obituary for Mr. Griffin that, on the surface, had
nothing to do with the war, but that emblematizes the depth of his sense of
duty and devotion:

"When his wife became ill and needed to go into a nursing home, he visited
her every day. He walked from his house to the nursing home, fed his wife
and at the end of the day brought home her clothes. At night, he washed and
ironed her clothes. Then he walked them up to her room the next morning. He
did that for three years until her death in 2005."

So now, out of the original 80, only four Raiders remain: Dick Cole
(Doolittle's co-pilot on the Tokyo raid), Robert Hite, Edward Saylor and
David Thatcher. All are in their 90s. They have decided that there are too
few of them for the public reunions to continue.

The events in Fort Walton Beach this week will mark the end. It has come
full circle; Florida's nearby Eglin Field was where the Raiders trained in
secrecy for the Tokyo mission.

The town is planning to do all it can to honor the men: a six-day
celebration of their valor, including luncheons, a dinner and a parade.

Do the men ever wonder if those of us for whom they helped save the country
have tended to it in a way that is worthy of their sacrifice? They don't
talk about that, at least not around other people. But if you find yourself
near Fort Walton Beach this week, and if you should encounter any of the
Raiders, you might want to offer them a word of thanks. I can tell you from
firsthand observation that they appreciate hearing that they are remembered.

The men have decided that after this final public reunion they will wait
until a later date -- some time this year -- to get together once more,
informally and in absolute privacy. That is when they will open the bottle
of brandy. The years are flowing by too swiftly now; they are not going to
wait until there are only two of them.

They will fill the four remaining upturned goblets.

And raise them in a toast to those who are gone.

***********************************************************************
I am definitely going to become acquainted with Bob Greene’s books.  I just might go back in time, as well, and revisit “Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo.”

Here's one for "Doolittle's Raiders."

-- Cowboy Bob

"Sometime"

April 14, 2013

I think many of us have a stash of treasures from various stages in our life, and which we resurrect, from time to time, only to discover that there are gems among them that we have totally forgotten, but which contain profound lessons that have changed the course of our lives. 

Today, I was going through my treasure trove of wisdom I have saved over a great many years.  Following is one of the most profound and moving of my entire lifetime, given to me at a time when I had a pretty good opinion of my abilities.  When it was given to me I was taken aback but, upon  reflection, it was and has remained one of the most profound and valued lessons anyone ever cared enough to share with me.  I would be remiss if I did not pass it on to my readers.

"SOMETIME"

Sometime, when you’re feeling important,
Sometime, when your ego’s in bloom,
Sometime, when you take it for granted,
You’re the best qualified in the room,

Sometime, when you feel that your going,
Would leave an unfillable hole,
Just follow this simple instruction,
And see how it humbles your soul.

Take a bucket and fill it with water,
Put your hand in it up to the wrist,
Pull it out and the hole that’s remaining,
Is a measure of how you’ll be missed.

You may splash all you please when you enter,
You may stir up the water galore,
But stop, and you’ll find in a minute,
That it looks quite the same as before.

The moral in this quaint example,
Is do just the best you can,
Be proud of yourself but remember,
There is no indispensable man.

--- Anonymous


Given to me by Petty Officer First Class, “Shady” Lane
U.S. Submarine Base #128
Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
- 1956

A treasured reminder of the value of personal humility in life, and
A cardinal lesson I hope I have never forgotten.
- April 2013

“For Whom Does The Bell Toll?”

I vividly recall when Barack Obama gave the Keynote Speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. I, like so many, was totally mesmerized by the oratorical ability of this young, charismatic black man. I, too, saw him as the brightest star on the horizon of the Democratic Party for President. I did not hold a shred of doubt that he was destined to become one of the greatest presidents the United States had seen in a very long time.

Then came the declaration of his candidacy and the ensuing campaign leading up to the Democratic National Convention of 2008. His exposure and composure were pause for concern. His appearance in Berlin brought a chill down my spine. I began to ask myself “who is this man and from where did he come?” The ghosts of Nuremberg came to mind. Was Obama more than we had imagined? Who engineered his dramatic rise to political prominence? What was his real mission to be and for whom? Was there more to be feared than celebrated?

When Barack Obama’s election was history and he greeted the massive crowds of adoring admirers in Grant Park in Chicago, the sheer magnitude of the crowd and the adulation gave me pause, once again, for concern as to who this man really was, what was his real mission and, again, for whom?

The staging for his inauguration was hardly dismantled when it became apparent that William Jefferson Clinton was to play a significant role as one of the key players in Barack Obama’s Administration. This was the same Bill Clinton that had conspired with Phil Gramm and a host of Wall Street cronies in the dismantling of Glass-Stiegel and the total deregulation of the financial structure of this country. Robert Rubin, Alan Greenspan and Larry Summers were just the beginning of a cadre of those to whom our economic future would be entrusted. The spoils were there for the asking, and no time was wasted in making it available to all of the lean and hungry barons of Wall Street who had coveted that economic feast, about to be set before them, for a very long time. They were quickly brought into the fold and occupied every significant position in the new administration. The battle plan was clearly evident to anyone who had a modicum of curiosity, interest and concern about what was in the offing. What was ours was soon to become theirs. The very foundation of our economic system was beginning to crumble. The vision and the wisdom of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the good men who followed were beginning to fade. The common man was to become the fuel for their engines of avarice.

Those who had been perceived as the complete antithesis of the Middle Class and the working people of the United States where given carte blanche to every influential position in the Obama Administration. Scions of big business, big money, power and influence became an army of “advisors” to the new President. It was becoming patently clear that any semblance of what had been the Democratic Party had been marginalized, and the powerful and influential comprising the oligarchic and plutocratic elite were in the drivers’ seats. The noose was tightening around the necks of all the “true believers” that better days would follow in the footsteps of the new administration. Not to be.

Wise words once echoed by a very astute person to the effect that “You are known by the company you keep,” were given new meaning.

I regard Bill Clinton one of the most compromised and morally bankrupt individuals to have ever sat in the White House. Once his tarnished image was cleansed, he wasted no time in divesting himself of his relationship with all those who helped to burnish his character, he became the great hero of the Democratic Party, and he cast his lot with those who were to become the power house operating in the shadows of the Obama Administration.

The front door of the White House was reserved for every sleazy, corrupt and compromised character wielding wealth, power and influence for the benefit of the few at the expense of the many. People of character were no longer welcome. It was to become the renaissance of the huckster, the corporate capitalist, the masters of the financial shell game and a whole host of others who basked in the light of a new emperor reigning over the entire landscape of what was well on its way, and destined to become one of the worst and most corrupt systems of government this country had seen since the days of Calvin Coolidge. The conquest was complete. The spoils were set before them.

Empty rhetoric spewed forth and soon became the means for peddling lies, deception, broken promises, massive secrecy and the abuse of power to the masses who still wanted to believe only the best about the newly crowned Democrats elected or appointed to positions of power.

The wagons were circling and would soon harbor the real power structures of government for those who would benefit most from all the evil they peddled. As much as we might like to think otherwise, it doesn’t take much to conclude that the role of the electorate in the process is nothing more than to elect or re-elect the happy band of thieves to their positions of power, wealth and privilege.

Believe what you will, but none of them does an honest day’s work. They all have part-time jobs, inflated salaries and perquisites that would be the envy of the most privileged of the world, all accorded them by their own actions. Believe what you will, but the phrase, “conflict of interest” in reality means “privilege for the few at the expense of the many.”

We have what I believe to be an Executive Branch that covets the power and privilege of office, operates in secrecy, talks out of both sides of its mouth, and panders to a constituency that could not be further removed from the values of the common man. They could not be any less concerned about the commitments they have made to the electorate. At best, we are a minor annoyance to the real world of politics that we would like to believe is there for all of us, not just for a select few. It may be pretty to think so, but that is as far as it goes.

Where the Executive Branch may be the personification of banditry, it is the Legislative Branch that most personifies the stereotypical ladies of the night. They may profess to be vestal virgins, but it is apparent the pleasures they thrive on couldn’t be further from that reality. Just barely peel away the veneer and there you have it, in all its glory!

Then there is the Judicial Branch. They may look distinguished and foreboding, but they, too, are there to ensure the continued viability of the privileged few they look out for, on and off the golf course. Judicial purity and integrity is the least of their concerns. Citizens United is but one of their most glaring examples of this conclusion.

It was once opined by a wise sage, “People can only do to you what you permit them to do.” That is where we, the people of this country come in. We revel in such a vast state of self-imposed ignorance, the pursuit of affluence and pleasure, and a complete indifference to the plight of the common man, that those who own most of the country have no trouble manipulating them at will. They are secure in the knowledge that they are pliable and will, at the end of the day, do what wealth deigns to be best for them and the most lucrative for their masters.

So long as we attach importance to living in more house than we can comfortably occupy, drive cars that we can ill afford, live on credit we cannot pay and covet the material and hedonistic pleasures that only serve to denigrate and destroy us, we are there for the asking. We will have decayed from within, and those who salivate at our demise know it. They know that we will not take our eyes off Facebook, Twitter, and all the other aspects of the contrived “fun” we see as our inherent right, long enough to question what they are really doing to us.

Sad to say, but I honestly believe that, so long as we are getting what we want, we really don’t give a damn about all those who are living on the edge. As long as we don’t have to look at people who live in abject poverty, who don’t have enough to feed their children and who stand in line for jobs that cannot support the needs of the average person, it is really not my problem. The folly of that mind set is, “what you most fear today may well become your reality of tomorrow.” It has happened before in history and there is no reason to believe it won’t happen again.

When despair morphs into desperation that is when people start asking themselves who and what has brought them to this state of life? That is when people start weighing the alternatives they have at their disposal and assessing the relative efficacy of the means vs. the ends. That is when we start to reach critical mass in our evolution. That is when the kind of change none of us want to see becomes the reality of the day. History has and will repeat itself.

If there is any dictum in the world I believe to be true, it is that “Greed is an insatiable appetite. Those who feed on it never get enough. But, they do so at their own peril.”

Equality is the most basic of human rights. We of these United States had it once in our history and we shall, by the hand of Providence, surely have it once again.

However, if we don’t open our eyes to the urgency of the reality staring us in the face, the wrath of the universe may well become the death knell for us all. No matter how much that may be denied by those who cannot divest themselves of all they covet, it is our common lot. Are we going to sit passively on the sidelines and just let it happen because we did not insist on being key players of our own destiny in this ominous scenario?

Do we have any alternative? I think not.

Cowboy Bob
The Sagebrush Philosopher
April 10, 2013

"Who Will You Choose?"

I have the good fortune of living in a small town on the outer fringes of a reasonably large city. Cities don’t do much for me, but that is in keeping with my nature. I like to have the freedom to drive down to the Post Office and get the mail. I like to stop in at the corner grocery store to pick up a few items, and chat with the clerk and the owner. I enjoy talking with the clerk at the Post Office who still can’t quite understand why there is such a frontal assault on an institution that has served this country well for so many years. I see a microcosm of what reality is in this country today. I see the middle aged woman, the wife of an absentee husband, trying to cope with raising two boys while her husband is away trying to earn a living in some distant state. They are all, each and every one of them, Americans. They are good and decent people who still reel in utter disbelief at what has happened to them and their fading dreams of a good life. They are a cross section of those who wondered how this country could have gone from the promises of a place for everyone, just a few years ago, to wondering what the final chapter in their lives will be as they sink, further and further, into the abyss of hopelessness that seems to be their common lot as they see a future that looms ever more ominous on the horizon.

We are, by our very nature, social animals. We were meant to engage in social intercourse with our fellow human beings. That means personal contact that is revered much more than the plethora of electronic gadgets to which we have entrusted our very souls. I like this small town because those are the folks that still find talking to others a worthwhile and enjoyable endeavor. It is the human element that is still primary in their lives. It reminds us that we are a part of something far greater than just “me.” And it is something for which I have a healthy respect and on which I place great value.

I don’t carry a cell phone because when I walk out the door of my home; that time is my time. It is mine to ponder the myriad thoughts about all that is around me and the dynamics of the human condition of which I am an integral, albeit small, but valued part. It is the warmth and the enrichment of all that gives my life meaning.

I, for one, don’t place much stock in the so-called wonders that have been wrought upon the world by Microsoft, Apple and the myriad “tech” companies that have numbed the human mind, all in the name of “progress” and a “better” world. Frankly, I can’t see that we are a hell of a lot better off because of the electronic gadgets that have come from the mental diarrhea of the “techies” that have created all that we are led to believe we can no longer live without. Rather, I see the richness of a world once dominated by feeling, thinking, caring human beings who gave us a world of wonder and enrichment that seems to be dying right before our very eyes.

Real education has given way to a curriculum that teaches us, not how to think, but how to achieve, the ultimate goal of which is the money and prestige one can amass before the final bell tolls. We are people that have forsaken the richness of intellectual discourse, the fine arts, the philosophical and still unanswered questions that generations have pondered for eons, and captured the minds of all that used to amaze us. For what? For the gimmickry that has taken away our ability to converse with one another? What used to be an inspiring argument with a professor whose legacy has vanished has been replaced by such great minds as Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and others of like ilk who have, at the end of the day, given us the wonders of electronics that have created a reverence for the silence of texting, twitter, facebook, iPads, iPods, staring blankly at a computer screen, and all that only serves to further insulate and isolate us from being cognizant of an unnoticed world that is all around us, and being an active participant in a life made up of real human beings. It has made us impervious to the suffering of all those who keep sinking further into the mire of life and drowning, ever so slowly and painfully, into the hopelessness created by all of those we now revere and who feed on the very essence of the poorest and least advantaged among us. We envy their vast fortunes based on creations that are destined to revolutionize the world one day and consign to the dust bin of obsolescence the next. At the end of the day all they have amassed is money and more money, most of which is acquired by plundering nations of their resources and exploiting the human condition of a population that has no choice but to work for a pittance in order to survive. They are the idols of today that, rather than emulate, we should fear. Their sheer gluttony may well, before it is ever satiated, simply consume the last vestigial remnants of what exists for the survival of this planet and the human element that depends on it for life.

They will have created a legacy that is nothing more than a wasteland of what once was and a can never be again. I don’t discount that as a possibility one bit.

Stop and think for a minute. How are we better off today than we were when the “Occupy Wall Street” movement was in full bloom? Do you recall how they were marching in the cities, demanding that the system be more equitable for the benefit of all? What happened to them? Do you see them anywhere anymore? Do you recall how the local and federal police were pressed into service, not to protect their right to engage in peaceful protest, but to protect the darkest and most sinister interests of those who brought this country, and indeed a large part of the world, to its economic knees?

Are you aware that MSNBC is a joint venture of General Electric and Microsoft? Who is beholden to them and all they covet? The people of this country? The system of government upon which this country was built? The resources that belong to all of us? The spirit and very souls of all those who look to them to make our lives better?

Are you aware that banks and financial institutions are making more money now than ever before? How does that square with you? Are you aware that corporations are making more money today than in their history, and that they are sending more of their ill gotten wealth to foreign tax havens in order to avoid their rightful obligation to share the burden of responsibility for keeping this country viable for all of us? Are you aware that, thanks to Bill Clinton and his emancipation of big business from its responsibility to the people who built this country that free trade is now sapping the very life-blood and vitality from an economic system that was to be there for all of us and future generations? Where did those resources go? It sure as hell isn’t to be found in the public treasury.

Where is the investment in that much-touted “infrastructure” our illustrious President has been “selling” for years? I am beginning to think it is nothing more than a cruel illusion. His real attention is, instead, directed to the scions of Wall Street, corporate capitalists, the massive military/industrial complex and a compromised and corrupt government bureaucracy that serves those who ply them with massive wealth and a favored status, all at the expense of the American people who they are sworn to serve, aka Eric Holder for starters. Then, there is the burgeoning secret side of government we don’t even know about. Therein lay the cadre of chief advisors and chief confidents. For whose benefit? How would you know?

What dominates our national agenda today? What should be issues of paramount importance to us all have, instead, become a cleverly created collection of issues to divert our attention from what reality is and the attendant cost to the country and the health of the nation. Not that most or all of them are not noble endeavors in their own right, but are they the most paramount of all that looms before us?

We have “marriage equality,” “immigration,” “gun control,” “sequestration,” “the problem of our national debt,” “the problem created by entitlements,” ad nauseum. However where, on our national political agenda, are issues such as addressing the persistent problem of massively corrupt banks and financial institutions that are “too big to fail? Where is the discourse on the obscene profits of big corporations and their very successful efforts at avoiding payment of their fair share of taxes to support the pressing and urgent needs of this society? Why have they gotten away with ignoring all those who have been chronically unemployed and disenfranchised because of the insatiable greed of industries that set themselves above the law, and now own and control the very political institutions that were put in place to serve us, the people who are the backbone of this nation?

Just take a few minutes to seriously listen to what spews forth from the mouths of Republican “leadership” and Democratic “champions” of the people. How much of that actually pertains to and addresses the real and pressing needs of this country. You could put it all in a thimble.

Like it or not, folks. We are a nation suffering from an endemic complacency and those who can spot it for their own benefit are wasting no time in capitalizing on it. Dream on!  When the sun finally sets on all this we, the people, will be the losers because we did not keep our hands on the tiller and our eyes on the road. We let it happen and, we may rest assured, it won’t be pretty. We are losing the very legacy that rightfully belongs to us and to those who will come after us. But, as long as there is fun to be had, passive entertainment to amuse us and unnecessary things for us to covet, we will be fat, dumb and happy.

When the sun sets on this sad state of affairs, we will be left with a wasteland of what they, the ones who have plundered this country, have deemed to be all they have decided to be our rightful lot in life. We will only have ourselves to thank for it.

Keeping in mind the fact that you no longer have Concorde as an option, ponder this. You are on a transcontinental flight and you have your choice of one of two seat mates; Bill Gates or Bill Moyers. Who will you choose?

I rest my case.

Cowboy Bob
aka The Sagebrush Philosopher
March 30, 2013

“Happy Days Are Here Again?”

Let’s hear it for all those who believe the lyrics made famous by Franklin Delano Roosevelt – “Happy Days Are Here Again.” For whom?

Let’s hear it for all the fat cats on Wall Street who have stolen this country blind, aided and abetted by a compliant White House and Justice Department, all the while disparaging the very ones who have been reduced to life at the subsistence level by their evil and sinister schemes and practices.

Let’s hear it for all the fat cats in the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches of government who have, without a modicum of shame, sold out the very people who cast their votes and gave their contributions to those already in or seeking a place in government, ostensibly to “serve the people.”

Let’s hear it for all the corporate capitalists who have sold out the means of earning an honest living to slave markets around the world that have benefitted from their unbridled greed in order to make the most from those who have the least, at the expense of Americans who once labored in their service.

Let’s hear it for all those living in opulent splendor as their inherent right while countless millions wait patiently in lines at local food banks, soup kitchens and employment offices hoping for just enough to support life and limb for yet another day.

Let’s hear it for all those who disdain those of lesser means as “deadbeats,” “moochers,” and “lazy parasites,” etc. as they covet the body beautiful, abs of steel, perennial erections and pendulous boobs that border on the obscene, all symbols of what they consider as having made it.

Let’s hear it for all the millions of those who have infested our domiciles of government like a bunch of lobbying maggots, peeling the last vestigial remnants of flesh from the bones of those who have sworn to represent the people of this country.

Let’s hear it for all the corrupt and compromised businesses and industries that have systematically destroyed our economy, our environment and our very way of life, by a greed that knows no limits, compromising standards that have been put in place to protect the consumers of this country.

Let’s hear it for the predatory lenders who have impaled students and all those trying to better themselves, by the mountains of debt that would put the loan sharks of yesteryear to shame.

Let’s hear it for all those who have enough to keep their heads above water, but show no compassion for those who don’t, complacent because they know they have theirs and don’t give a rat’s ass about all those who don’t.

Let’s hear it for all those who have worked to destroy the legitimate voices of the working people of this country by demonizing and criminalizing labor unions and citizens activists that have done so much to level the playing field between what is “fair and just,” vs. what is utterly obscene when it comes to profiting from the backs of all those who made their fortunes possible. (Waltons, Romneys, Kochs, Roves, Limbaughs, and all other human vermin, are you listening?)

Let’s hear it for all those who feed our fears in order to snooker us into pouring vast amounts of taxpayer money into defense, intelligence and all the hardware that goes with it, so they can become rich while struggling masses of good and decent people go without the necessities of life.

Let’s hear it for all those who have convinced themselves that they are good and righteous members of “God’s Army,” who ply their perverted beliefs against those they have deemed to be less than virtuous, and don’t know a damned thing about what real virtue and Christian charity means. (Tea Partiers, are you listening?)

Let’s hear it for all those who have “made it” at the expense of the thousands of our nations youngest and fittest because of “an all voluntary military,” while they live in opulent splendor fed by the blood, sweat and tears of all those who have returned in caskets or are permanently disabled or maimed and cannot get the care and help they so desperately need.

Let’s hear it for all the agents of government who have turned our prisons over to “private enterprise” creating gulags of over populated institutions for crimes that should never have put them there, all for the almighty buck because they have no souls and don’t give one hoot in hell about the human condition.

Let’s hear it for all the so-called “entrepreneurs” who are making millions of dollars off homes that have been repossessed from those who struggled to make their payments just to keep a roof over their heads, or to have a place of domicile in their later years.

Let’s hear it for all the abandoned cities, closed factories, and the other domiciles of what was once the means to an honest living and a healthy way of life, all systematically destroyed by the collusion of a government owned by big money, a political establishment that can never get enough, and a way of life that is no longer viewed as fertile ground for a new generation that can restore this country to the greatness it once knew.

Let us not delude ourselves one more moment. We are a nation of one, coherent and corrupt government. Any difference between what we call “Democrats” and “Republicans” is purely academic. They are beholden to the same masters that do whatever they want to do, at the expense of the greater population of this country, and do so without an ounce of shame. Until we have the will and the courage to take back the essence of what made us great, we will continue to languish and, ultimately, perish in our own feces. We need to open the doors to all political parties, not just the two incumbents. We need to make the process available to all who might just have a better take on how to restore our greatness, and the honesty and integrity to make it happen. There should be no imposed limit on the number or type. It should be us, the people who are rooted in the soil of what we once knew as the United States of America. We are the only ones who should make those decisions for ourselves; the politicians and all their minions be damned.

Otherwise, about all we can do is bend over, grab our ankles and wait for that long ago promised “change we can believe in!” At the end of the day, is that what we really want? I don’t think so. We do have choices if we will just relearn the skills of critical thinking, not just blind beliefs, and the attendant courage to make it happen – our way.

Cowboy Bob
The Sagebrush Philosopher
March 9, 2013

“The Average American Has Been Had”

Well, folks, the “sequestration” is now in effect. I don’t know about you but, frankly, I am sick and tired of bearing witness to all the people in this country who are getting royally screwed without benefit of kiss.

Anyone who is naïve or simply living in a state of self-imposed ignorance, and who would believe one word that emanates from the mouth of Barack Obama should seriously consider professional help. He is about as much a Democrat as Vladimir Putin. He is one of the “insiders” who is as beholden to big money, big corporations and the military/industrial complex as anyone who has ever sat in the White House. He knew, full well, what he was going to “cut” from essential programs the average person depends on, in order to endear himself to the Republican Neanderthals who pretend to act from virtue and appear to know what they are doing. He is like the Pied Piper who leads all those who want to believe he is the personification of the Second Coming by his lofty speeches and who will lead us all to the Promised Land. Many of those of a liberal bent will always follow him into the bowels of hell, with stars in their eyes, and knowing with certainty that he is what he professes to be. With just a modicum of effort, all one has to do is carefully listen to what he says and watch what he does to know he is doing exactly what the oligarchs, plutocrats, corporate capitalists and all those who are raking in millions from the favored positions they covet through largesse and political favors given. They are the very ones who have managed to convince all those who act from a base of “tell me only what I want to hear; not what I need to know.” What a bunch of bull crap.

Republicans and “faux” Democrats that comprise the elite among the “fat cats” that continue to rape the country for their own material gain have no shame, whatsoever. They are completely devoid of any sense of decency, honor or service. At the end of the day they are nothing but a bunch of political whores. Those with whom they have cast their lot ply their multi-faceted sides of sheer evil and operate within the triangle of unbridled greed and avarice that extends from Wall Street, to the “hallowed halls” of government within the boundaries of Washington, D.C., to the suburban environs of Virginia. It is where secrecy and questionable motives hold our fate in their hands, and that work overtime to convince us that the “boogey man” is just waiting to rob us of our freedoms and our way of life.” Guess what, folks? It is they who are doing a number on us, not the mystical evil forces we are led to believe we need to fear into perpetuity.

What we have fallen victim to since John F. Kennedy was assassinated is a government, an economic elite and a compliant news media that are the most amoral enterprises one could possibly imagine. How many times have any of those who are sworn to serve us made an honest effort to actually consult with some of the best economic minds that reside among us? How many times have they availed themselves of the wisdom of great philosophical, social and intellectual minds that might just give them better advice and counsel they need to make honest decisions on our behalf? Instead, they look to their political cronies who are totally bought and sold by the likes of the bankers, corporate capitalists and the oligarchs who have destroyed our economy. How many of that ilk have been indicted, convicted and sent to the slammer for their criminal plunder of what rightfully belongs to all the good and decent people of this country. Instead, they just continue to sap the life blood from the national treasury, enabled by agencies of our government and with the skilled assistance of the Federal Reserve.

There are a few dedicated members of Congress who sincerely strive to act on our behalf with dedication, honor and integrity. There is a distinct minority who is constantly engaged in an uphill fight to do what is simply right and just. They deserve all the help and support we can give them. They are the ones who know there is no crisis in national spending that requires what “King” Obama has wrought, aided and abetted by the court jesters in the Republican Party that keep trying to wring every last bit of life from those who labor in their service and yet try to be all that patriotic Americans strive to be. They are the ones, who deplore, with all the fervor in their dark souls, in what we have been taught to believe is a solemn responsibility to be shared by all of us. But those they seek to destroy are, also, the ones who have been demonized and marginalized. They are the ones who are labeled “socialists,” “rabble-rousers,” and “deadbeats.” They are the ones who have been reduced to a lifetime of living on the edge and consigned to a life of poverty, all because of those who have snookered us out of our vote so they can take care of their cohorts in crime at our collective expense.

There is far too much secrecy in Congress, the White House, the Pentagon and the vast bureaucracies that comprise the intelligence agencies that profess to serve us. They keep us under surveillance in the interest of all the elite institutions, and their pursuit of an insatiable greed; an appetite that can never be satiated. They are the once who keep growing, not for the common good, but to suppress those who go to the streets in protest against what is being done to us. They are aligned against all those who engage in nonviolent protest with a never-ending hope and a valiant dedication in order to make things right for our mutual welfare and the least among us.

I have absolutely no confidence in a government that is aligned against the majority of those who simply ask for what is fair. I have no faith in either of the two major political parties that have managed, rather effectively, to marginalize any challengers to their monopoly on the political process. There is no crisis that warrants what is called “sequestration.” It is nothing but a ruse that gives our illustrious President, the House of Representatives and the Senate all they need in order to cut back on programs that are paid into by and serve the common people. They seek to shift ever more of the nation’s wealth to the most evil and rapacious among us; the very ones who continue the plunder of all that rightfully belong to the American people. But, the tide ebbs and flows. I cannot help but believe that the day of reckoning is not far into the future.

The malady of congenital greed is chronic. They never get enough. It is that which will lead to their downfall and, eventually, that which will bring them to justice, albeit at a horrendous cost to this country and to those who believe in it. The chickens do come home to roost. When the tables turn, as they always do, I believe that it will bring out the best in all who have never given up hope. We will become a nation of better people. That seed of goodness is not to be found in the Tea Party. It is not to be found in institutional religions that hold out false promises, and make the most spiritually fragile become demagogues. It is not to be found in all that is beamed to us from corporate news media and the entertainment industries. It is not to be found in a government that has worked overtime to seduce us into believing they really do subscribe to the wisdom of the Founding Fathers and all that this republic was founded on. It is not to be found in the darkest corners of corporations, banks, and other institutions that want nothing more but growing their share of the nation’s wealth at the expense of our environment and the common welfare. Rather, it is to be found within all who believe in and are willing to fight for what is fair and just, for all those who subscribe to a code of decency that makes it possible.

I honestly believe there are better days ahead, but we must become actively involved in making the changes that will bring that about. We must remain vigilant against the hucksters who never give up on a two-class society. It is they who thrive by feeding on the flesh of those they deem to be inferior and expendable.

So, let us never acquiesce to the dark and dangerous forces aligned against all those who seek to make this a better country for everyone. Let us join in a common effort to truly make this a country “of the people, by the people and for the people.” Let’s open the doors to all the genuine political parties that may just have better ideas and values that were abandoned, long ago, by the two major political parties that euphemistically call themselves “democrats” and “republicans.” Nothing could be further from the truth. Let’s get money out of politics and give back to the people the power that is rightfully theirs to define what we expect from those in power.

The time has come and it is long overdue. Always believe, not in what you may hear, but only in what you can clearly see.

Cowboy Bob
The Sagebrush Philosopher
March 1, 2013

"Time Is No Longer Simply A Choice"

Because of the nature of my life’s work, I have had an abiding interest in formal organizations, how they are created and how they operate. They have been with us for centuries and have created massively successful legends of success, examples of dismal failures and abuses of power that have brought suffering and human misery to new levels. But, I think it is safe to say that, for the most part, they have been the engines that have taken the world to new heights and have created the modern-day marvels which we have come to depend on for the myriad essentials we take for granted.

Formal organizations have been the bane of our existence and the emancipation of our limitations. They are a product of man’s ability to create and amass profits that have pushed the bounds of human existence forward. But they have, also, limited and enslaved the potential of human beings because of their insatiable greed and their willingness to bend the rules of fair play in order to amass the material, financial, social and political power they covet. Their ability to grow and prosper knows no limits. The other side of the coin is that they have the ability to prey upon and consume the lives of those who labor in their service.

When we look at them in their entirety, we cannot live without them, but we, also, cannot live with them. The peaks and valleys of our evolution clearly demonstrate that to be the case. They must be an integral part of and regulated by the societies in which they operate or they exist at our peril. Ambition and innovation are the essentials of the diet on which they feed. Taken to excess, those are the very ingredients that feed their gluttonous appetites when they cease to enable and further the boundaries of modern-day societies. When their appetites begin to feed on their own growing quest for more, more and more they become a threat to the order that is the foundation of civilized societies. They have to abide by the common good in order to responsibly serve ownership and, at the same time, serve the needs of those they exist to serve. When a state of homeostasis no longer prevails, their power becomes less a virtue and more a threat to the broader social context in which they operate. When society is no longer able to set limits on their ambitions and to control their conduct, they begin to morph into entities that pose a clear and present danger. That is when the human benefactors of their engines of power and influence are no longer served by their might, but become the stuff that feeds their appetites and the attendant greed that follows. When they cease to provide goods and services for society in order to thrive and prosper, and begin to consume the goods and services of society in order to feed the appetites of investors, you know we are in trouble. When the needs of society become subordinate to the ambitions of the organization, it becomes apparent that the beast is growing at the expense of the populace. As a wise man once cautioned; “All things in moderation,” which has become an enigma to the corporate world and governing bodies of today.

The indications of a growing degenerative disease in the corporate beast usually become apparent by a need for greater power and influence within the arenas in which they operate. There is a need for greater leeway in the amassing of material resources. Their activities become more reliant on secrecy. Their agenda ceases to be outwardly focused and increasingly focused inward. They become more preoccupied with their own growth, survival and relevance than they do to those of the constituencies they were created to serve. They eventually sow the seeds of their own demise by becoming less transparent and become separated from the broader fabric of society and from those they profess to serve. It is only a matter of time before a form of organizational “ethnocentrism” sets in and they exist entirely for their own self-interests and survival. Power overtakes purpose and flourishes for its own sake. They begin to manifest an aura of privilege, expecting and buying special treatment from the institutions of society.

I see this evolution occurring in the world today. The norms by which social intercourse was judged and measured have become fluid and defined in situational terms. Absolute standards are no longer measures of the generally accepted norms by which a society lives and functions. Compasses of moral and ethical behavior are no longer regarded the yardsticks by which we measure our conduct and behavior. Rather, it is whatever the traffic will bear. Licentiousness is generally accepted and we, the people, are no longer shocked by anything. The standards to which formal organizations used to subscribe are defined, more and more, by what is in the best interests of the organization, their clientele be damned. The very fabric of society begins to unravel. The measures of conduct generally accepted as the measures of a healthy society begin to evaporate. I see that all around us today. Ethics morphs into “ethonomics,” which surrounds and engulfs us. One need only look at the excesses of Wall Street, Corporate America, and Government in all its forms. They have reached the pinnacle whereby they are totally self-serving. What was once regarded as blatant criminal conduct is dismissed by labels such as “too big to fail,” and all the other labels that they use to convey their privilege at the expense of the body politic. Our government is, essentially, a government of only two parties. How that came to be, I have no idea. But, it can be safely said that our very existence is owned and controlled by the Democratic and Republican Parties. The system has effectively marginalized and excluded any other political parties from participating in the democratic process – and we passively accept that as the norm, but to the great peril of all this democracy stands for. By whose divine hand was it determined that the Green Party, the Justice Party, the Independent Party, the Libertarian Party, etc. had no legitimate role to play in our society? Who established the “party monopoly” to which we defer and accept? There is no question but that we are much the poorer for what has evolved and what has occurred. But, enter the most enabling phenomenon of societal decay – complacency, which has reached epidemic proportions and to which we have so readily acquiesced.

“When formal organizations are no longer responsive to their constituencies and no longer defer to their advice and counsel, they become insulated and isolated, left to their own excesses. Societal chaos, immorality and corruption flourish and, ultimately, reign supreme”

I would submit that is what we have become. Just look around you.

By what measures are we to determine whether we are behaving in honest, moral and virtuous terms? How do we decide when the needs of the majority are being trampled on by the motives of the powerful and influential? How are we to know that we are accepting conduct that is the complete antithesis of what we have every right to expect? How are we to know that we are being manipulated for the sinister motives of those we look to for guidance?

It goes without saying that our entire system of finance, commerce, government and other important social institutions is totally corrupt and compromised. Wall Street is “too big to fail.” Commerce is dominated and defined by big business and corporate capitalists. Government is defined by the corrupt influences of power, influence and massively huge sums of money. Privilege reigns supreme and the average lives at the bottom of the food chain readily accept it as their lot in life. The image makers of Madison Avenue and Hollywood have sold us a bill of goods and we bought into it! Billionaires and millionaires have convinced us that they have an inherent right to greater wealth, privilege and opportunities than do the rest of us. They live by a different code of morality and taxation, not to be questioned but supported!

Frankly, I believe that every formal organization that serves a public constituency or is elected to office should be required, by law, to have access to bodies that serve without compensation, to advise and temper the decisions of those organizations, with full transparency. Where do you think the “Barons of Wall Street” would be today if they had to abide by such a form of public accountability? I would hazard a guess that we would not be suffering the pillage and plunder they have visited upon every aspect of our economic lives, and we would have a healthier and fairer society than what we are trying to deal with today.

I find it utterly incredulous that any sane person would seriously believe that ours is “a government of the people, by the people and for the people.” It is, at best, just another gargantuan example of a theater of the absurd. Sure, we elect them to office, but once elected, they enter an inner sanctum that is shrouded in mystery and that is a completely independent and autonomous from the people. It assumes a life of its own that is totally self-serving. They summarily ignore what the electorate has told them they want. They don’t demure to our mandates; they simply create their own. Rather, they tell us what is best for us and write the rules for how they are going to translate our mandates into action solely determined by their infinite wisdom, their personal agendas and blatant arrogance. They become a self-serving club of exclusivity and privilege. We become the spectators who simply look on them from the sidelines and passively defer to all their indulgences for constituents we can’t even see. They become the pawns of wealth, power and privilege. We are relegated to little more than a band of sheep waiting to be led to the slaughter.

Where, I ask you, is democracy in all this? We have absolutely no control over the beast we have created. Worse yet, we simply acquiesce to the monster and give it free reign to do whatever it wants. We keep feeding them, hoping they will eat us last. Moreover, the free and unfettered press advocated by the Founding Fathers long ago became a pawn of power and privilege. Its independence has become manifest as corporate ownership and control. Instead of serving as the watchdog on government, it has become its biggest champion and advocate. The most glaring example of how twisted they become is how Harry Reid deliberately failed to rectify the rules for filibuster that is crippling the Senate, and simply caved in to the opposition. Instead of being drummed out of the corps, he remains one of the great sages of the United States Senate. Go figure!

The parliamentary system of government makes what we have look like a joke. The openness and transparency of that system goes a long way toward keeping the bastards honest. We could learn a lesson from their example. I rather suspect that the cost of supporting a monarchy would prove to be a hell of a lot cheaper to the taxpayers than what it takes for us to support the massively huge system of corruption that passes for our government. But, I suppose the “feel good” we derive from the brass bands, the waving flags and the faux patriotism we experience mesmerizes us to the reality with which we live.

Where would we be in our relationship with and expectations from religious institutions that were, ostensibly, created to serve the faithful if that same principle were to be followed by them? We once looked to religious institutions for the moral compass to guide us in our daily lives. Now, they have become so compromised and so insulated from the rest of us, we no longer look to them or defer to them for the moral guidance all civilized societies require. They are in the business of amassing influence, power and wealth to feed those who pretend to serve our spiritual needs. Look at the cadre of evangelists that prey on their desire for a better life, telling them what they want to hear rather than what they need to hear. Look at the Reverend Osteen and how he fills football stadia to capacity in order for the assembled to hear his divinely inspired message that God wants all of us to be rich. Look at the Evangelicals who have taken over vast parts of our social and political establishments, peddling tommyrot, prejudice and venom that only a fool would buy into. Where is the moral compass in all this?

The most egregious of all is, of course, the modern-day Roman Catholic Church. A worldwide institution that used to minister to people all over the globe has now become an institution under siege because of its glaring departure from the tenets upon which it was founded, that it is hollow and devoid of any real ecclesiastical roots. It is a church that was founded on principles that were generally accepted as beyond the ability of normal human beings. Yet, they still persist in covering up their abhorrent behavior and pretending that that they are the keepers of the flocks and guardians of the faith. One need only look at the empty parishes on Sundays and Holy Days to realize just how far into the mire of human decadence they have descended.

Any reasonably logical mind knows that the forces of reproduction are, if not the most, one of the most intense drives we are imbued with as mortal humans. Celibacy is a fraud, resulting from the twisted minds of “princes of a church long vanished.” It is reality denied. It never has and never will work. If the Church is to recover and become the great bastion of moral guidance it aspired to be, it is time to bring an end to pedophilia and other clandestine forms of deviant sexual behavior. It is time to pitch out celibacy and accept the fact that the Church can only be served by a married and committed clergy living normal well-adjusted lives. Moreover, the wisdom of Pope John Paul I should be revisited and more attention paid to his admonition that “Christ’s Church should be a poor church.” I cannot believe that Christ’s Church would summarily ignore the fact that He walked the face of the earth a poor man, clad in camel hair robes and open sandals, and, instead, favor the lavish modes of dress, opulent residences and the trappings of privilege, power and luxury that can only be vicariously enjoyed by those who have given their life savings to His Church. That is the ultimate affront to those who have suffered the agonies of the damned as they have borne witness to the demise of the church that has been the rock of salvation for so many.

I am, and will remain a Roman Catholic, a conscious choice on my part. The responsibility for dealing with it and all its imperfections is inherent in that choice. But I make no bones about the fact that I think it can and should be more relevant to the times and be accountable, in some form, to the laity for its guidance and accountability. Can you imagine the Church with an uncompensated advisory body (akin to a Board of Regents) to the Pope and to the College of Cardinals as a vital part of the decision-making process that has been the exclusive purview of a small, elite and powerful group of self-styled representatives of God? Celibacy could and should be applied to those who serve in monastic orders, but that is the only legitimate place for that requirement that I can see. For all others, throw open the windows, join the secular world and become full participants in our common journey to salvation!

We, as a nation and a society are adrift on an ocean of confusion, complacency, and apathy that is costing us dearly. For us to have any stability requires that we subscribe to standards of conduct that will guide us in our daily lives. Standards are, by definition, absolutes. There is no room for being “a little bit pregnant.” They are the guiding principles that may be beyond our reach, but the ideals to which we should always aspire. Honesty, integrity, decency and a genuine concern for others should always be in our lexicon of what life is all about. They are, also, the ideals our leaders should hold before us and before themselves to keep us on the right path. We cannot treat them in a cavalier manner, important some of the time but, not so important at others.

Some of the more pressing issues that come to mind are:

1. Get money out of politics.
2. Prohibit lobbying and the culling of political favors with money and influence.
3. Get politics out of the judiciary.
4. Transparency must be the order of the day, not the exception.
5. In all cases, it must be the will of the people that prevails, not the ambitions and avarice of those elected to serve the people.
6. Equality for all must be our standard, not privilege for the few at the expense of the majority.
7. Adulation of materialism and celebrities must give way to a common respect for mankind, this fragile planet and all we depend on for our very survival.

The list could be expanded and amplified by minds far better than mine, but it is a start.

I sincerely and fervently believe the time has come for us, the people, to get serious, to become committed and involved and genuinely work to change the complexion of this country. We instinctively and objectively know where the problems lie. Let us put our shoulders to the wheel, stop talking and begin to do what is required in order to make this country all that we profess and seek to be.

To hearken back to an old cliché “Time is of the essence” It is no longer simply a choice.

Cowboy Bob
aka The Sagebrush Philosopher
February 10, 2013

"God Is Merciful, But He Is Also Just"

I was perusing one of the news sites on the Internet the other day and came across a piece titled, “Corporate CEO ‘Extremists” Target Social Security, Medicare”, amplified by ‘For the wealthy, pampered, and narcissistic CEO’s of the Business Roundtable, sacrifice is always for someone else.” Now I ask you, what could be a more noble pursuit?

Since time immemorial, the most despicable characteristics of Homo sapiens have manifest themselves at the expense of the finer aspects of human nature. It has always been a struggle by a small minority with insatiable materialistic appetites to oppress and feed on those whose character is more aligned with those of the Divinity. It is and always will be, the eternal quest for survival of the “fittest,” however one may choose to define the term, the measure for which is always based on materialistic possessions and consumption of more than one comfortably needs. The rationale is always rooted in an inherent contempt for those who reflect back to them all they lack in terms of the finer attributes of the human condition. They are, quite simply, predators of the worst kind. They have no conscience, no morals, no principles, no compassion, no spirituality, ad nauseam. They are lifeless beings whose only contribution to the four score and ten years allotted to them is the production of human waste in one form or another. Try as they may to purchase a lasting and eternal legacy in their cursory belief in an afterlife, at the end of the life process they are, at best, simply a pile of excrement, foul smelling and the stuff upon which green flies subsist. A noble and fitting end to the time they have spent on this earth.

If one takes the time to study their habits and to learn from their narcissism, they have no trouble, whatsoever, in rationalizing all they covet and possess. No matter how altruistic they attempt to make their “charitable” endeavors, they simply cannot give freely. What they may choose to give to less favored mortals always comes with strings attached so the benefactors will always maintain ownership and control of all they have left behind. I find that personal aggrandizement is paramount and human suffering is the least of their considerations. Personally, I find that common thread woven through the fabrics of the various “Foundations” among the more pre-eminent examples in our contemporary society.

Throughout recorded history, the pattern of their existence has ebbed and flowed in very predictable ways. The gorge themselves on the labors of the poorest among them, only to have all they have accumulated forcibly taken away from them by those they have exploited, reduced to rubble with their mortal remains summarily dispatched in the least ceremonious and revered methods imaginable. The legacy they have so coveted and labored for is a mere pittance compared to that left by those they have exploited in their materialistic and rapacious pursuits.

As I look around and listen to the plight of those who have lost so much, I am reminded of how, in the natural course of events, the rich and powerful manage to reduce the common man to that of some form of servitude to those of “privilege and wealth.” The last major thrust in that cycle of events occurred when an “all volunteer” army was created. The draft was eliminated, consigning those from the “working” class to a lesser status in society. They are the ones, because of reduced opportunities in life, that were reduced to availing themselves of the option of laying down their lives in the “service of their country,” as one means of earning a meager sum for the support and welfare of those who were dependent upon their sacrifices. They are the ones among us, today, who wait for their just dues in terms of veterans’ benefits, disability assistance and rehabilitation, while their “privileged” counterparts revel in the environs of Harvard, Princeton, Yale, MIT and other bastions of snobbery and higher learning, acquiring the very skills that will ensure a permanent place in society, not just for themselves, but for those who have made it all possible by their sacrifices in one form or another. They are the ones we honor at ceremonial funerals in Arlington while their counterparts insulate and entomb themselves in mansions, estates and yachts.

These are the ones who are burdened down with debt in order to acquire a college education. These are the ones whose homes are repossessed in order to satisfy the loans given to them by the predatory rich. They are the ones who haunt the unemployment lines, hoping for the opportunity to earn a decent and honest living for themselves and those who rely on them for survival. These are the ones the rich laugh at when the periodic photos of poor hapless souls shopping at Wal-Mart are distributed on the Internet; a stark reminder that they are simply fodder for the canons of those who have “made it,” aided and abetted by the very institutions of government that were assumed to be there for all of us in order to underwrite and support an economic and social agenda for a better life. They are the ones who bear the burden of contempt because they dare to demand a better shake in this one journey through life. They are the ones who regularly frequent the food banks and soup kitchens in order to keep their children from crying on an empty stomach. They are the ones who simply want an honest share of the pie.

What, I ask you, justifies this kind of an existence? Is the rationale to be found in the temples of greed on Park Avenue, in Stamford, in Chevy Chase, in the gated mansions in The Hamptons, in Miami Beach, on Beacon Hill, the North Shore of Chicago, in Bellaire, in Beverley Hills, on the beaches of Malibu, in Pacific Heights, in Lake Oswego, on Mercer Island, just to name a few? Those are but a mere smattering of where the remnants extracted from honest working human beings are deposited, all in the greater glory of every oligarch, plutocrat and corrupt politician walking the face of this country.

History has shown that everything progresses in cycles. If you pause and listen carefully, you will surely hear the Grim Reaper sharpening his scythe in preparation for the Divine Justice that will surely result from the depths of decadence and depravation into which the “privileged” in our society has sunk, all because they somehow believed they were deemed by their creator to be superior beings, entitled by their station in life to deprive all those who have tried so hard to simply earn an honest and decent right to a better life.

It has been poignantly said that “God is merciful, but He is, also, just.” The sun has yet to set on this tragic period in our national existence.

Sleep well.

Cowboy Bob
The Sagebrush Philosopher
January 19, 2013