I have to confess that I write a lot about politics, our government and the generally sad state of affairs that has prevailed for far too long in this country. I am extremely frustrated at how difficult it is to penetrate the barrier erected by the mainstream news media that, for all intents and purposes, effectively filters out truth in order to espouse the “company” line for every conceivable special interest operating within our society. It all comes at the expense of the average American who simply wants to earn a respectable living, provide for some degree of upward mobility for his/her family and set aside a fair sum for retirement. Is that asking too much? I really don’t think so.
I place a significant part of the blame at the feet of the opinion makers in the entertainment industries that create and peddle an endless array of pure crap though their myriad media outlets in movie, television and other avenues that does nothing more than corrupt our moral fabric, seduces us into believing that what they serve up to us is, indeed, the truth. Our aversion to any real attempt to seek out truth leads us to accept, at face value, all they market. Is it any wonder we are in such dire shape, with our society falling down around our heads?
I am genuinely concerned that the forces are converging toward an irreversible two-class society that may well culminate in some form akin to an elitist state that will clearly draw the lines of demarcation between those who “have it all” and those who are left to pick up the crumbs.
Much to my regret, I voted for Barack Obama in the last presidential election. For that, I assume full responsibility for all that goes with it. However, that does not prevent me from seeking the truth, and holding all of those who pervert truth and justice to account for what they do.
Were it not for the Internet, I dare say there would be little or no real news for us to digest in the course of our daily lives. Let’s face it. ABC is owned by Disney and all of its various business interests. Entertainment is but one small part of their empire. Then, there is NBC and MSNBC, and their never-ending love fest over Obama. Largely owned by General Electric, they have their tentacles right into the White House where Jeffrey R. Immelt, CEO and Chairman of General Electric, serves as one of President Obama’s chief economic advisors. Is it any wonder that NBC News and MSNBC never hold the President and his administration to account for their myriad failures on behalf of the American people?
Although Westinghouse largely owns CBS, they seem to do the best job of any of the major networks in trying to maintain some degree of objectivity in their news division. The fact that they have a long and distinguished history as a news organization may account for that fact.
CNN seems to be leaning toward a more conservative slant on the news. But the most glaring example, with no attempt at all to be fair and balanced, rests squarely with Fox News.
I am impressed with Current TV for making what appears to be a sincere effort to become a serious and reputable news organization. I am encouraged by what I have seen. However, I leave it to the reader to draw his/her own conclusions.
At the end of the day, the best repository of good journalism and the investigative journalists who make it all happen is clearly to be found on the Internet. It is well worth the time and effort to become more than casually acquainted with the wealth of knowledge and information to be found there.
I place a real premium on morality. By that I mean what is important to me; what I consider right vs. wrong. I have no need to preach to or convert others. That is a journey each of us must take on our own and for which we bear complete responsibility. Of all the moral virtues, I place the greatest premium on truth. Sadly, that seems to be the most elusive of all. Mining for truth is an arduous endeavor that is far too strenuous for most Americans. Just look around you. The four contenders running for the Republican nomination for President are a national joke. Obama gets a free pass because he manages to give a good speech whenever things get a bit shaky, but he can always be counted on to go back to the udder of his buddies on Wall Street, Corporate America and the Military/Industrial Complex for another dose of imperial sustenance. I shudder at how quickly he has become comfortable with the title, “Commander-in-Chief” and his adoption of some of the most intrusive measures, all wrapped in a shroud of secrecy, that he, Defense and Intelligence are prepared to invoke should circumstances (in their exclusive opinion) require. Anything less than a limited life of secrecy applied to issues of “national security,” should be outlawed. In the final analysis, our entire government apparatus should be transparent to those who cast their votes on Election Day. Otherwise, the master may soon become the slave to a system that was intended to be a servant of the people.
I have long believed that Bill Clinton and his administration, in collusion with key Republicans in government, set the stage for the total collapse of our financial system in 2008. From that, I concluded that Barack Obama became their surrogate, as evidenced by the massive infusion of former “Clintonites” into his administration. It only takes a cursory examination of the history of his administration and its relationship to the barons of Wall Street to realize that they have done their job well. Anyone wishing to get a clear picture of all those in key positions carried over into the Obama Administration are referred to an excellent piece of work done by firedoglake.com in 2010. It is all there and well worth the read.
Permit me to recount just a few of the danger signals that I think should be cause for concern to all of us:
1. The fact that there has been no effort, whatsoever, to indict and prosecute all those who set this nation up for a financial fall leading to the economic crash in 2008. They still remain free and very much an influence on our national, economic and financial lives. Compared to the sterling record and the test of time during which we relied on the Glass-Steagall Act to regulate the financial industry, the Dodd-Frank Act is hardly ominous. Poor former Senator Chris Dodd is now suffering under the burden of a mere 762 per cent raise in his newfound job with the entertainment industry. Barney Frank is giving up his House Seat. For what and for how much only time will tell.
2. The fact that the President of the United States has, for all intents and purposes, totally ignored every significant campaign promise he made while running for President, all to the detriment of the American people.
3. His “secret” meetings behind closed doors at the White House with the various players in our national health system, resulting in a total abandonment or watering down of everything he promised, and a virtual monopoly for an industry that continues to fleece us at every opportunity.
4. The total absence of any serious attempt to reign in the excesses of the military establishment, the intelligence apparatus and all the industrial giants who serve them and feed off our tax dollars.
5. His advocacy on behalf of big money and big business, and his token support of anything having to do with labor unions and the plight of those they represent, at a cost of untold billions (if not trillions) of dollars from the pockets of working people, the poor, the elderly and the disenfranchised.
6. His early support for extension of the Bush Tax Cuts and his persistent and veiled threats against Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are some of the most glaring examples. Every significant government service that has proven to be a benefit to the country, as a whole, is fair game. The U.S. Postal Service is but one of the more apparent and glaring examples.
7. The use of our civil police by federal and state governments in order to protect those who spawned the outrage from the Occupy Wall Street movement.
If one closely examines the lessons of history, the cries for economic justice and social change usually come from the rank and file of the oppressed. However, when the movement becomes formalized and aligned against the people, that same movement morphs into a government, co-opted and supported by big money, big business and the military services. Economic and social justice becomes subordinate to the pursuit of empire.
Every member of our society has a solemn obligation to be aware of and sensitive to the danger signals. We must free ourselves from the mindset of “tell me what I want to hear, not what I need to hear.” When we abandon our ability to engage in critical thought and a healthy dose of skepticism, we have only ourselves to thank for the loss of our democracy. Democrats, Republicans and every institution of government share a common thread; an inherent goal of taking care of their interests at the expense of those of us who put them in office and pay the tab. They all feed from the same trough of corruption at our collective peril. Vigilance is not just an ideal; it is the imperative for our survival as a nation and as a people.
As we approach the forthcoming circuses of the two major political parties, I would urge every concerned American to check out two fledgling political parties and what they stand for. Although in their infancy, they just may hold out the promise we are looking for in order to take this country in a new and better direction, for our individual and collective welfare.
• Rocky Anderson and the Justice Party
• Buddy Roemer and the Americans Elect and Reform Party
Without doubt, we certainly need something better than what we inherited and what we have. When it comes to wealth and power, we may be dwarfed by an elephant in the room. However, it may, also, prove to be the mouse in the same room that is his downfall. Hope may be all we have, but it is the same hope that has kept the world in focus throughout recorded history.
Cowboy Bob
The Sagebrush Philosopher
March 18, 2012
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Friday, March 9, 2012
What Is Meant By Education?
“Education” is a term used rather freely these days. It is almost as sacrosanct as Motherhood, Apple Pie and The Flag. It seems as if every one has an opinion about it, touts its many virtues, but has no clear understanding of what the term means.
I recall when I first entered university, a very astute professor who stood before our first class of the semester and announced he wanted to put what was meant by “education” in its proper context. With that, he simply stated, “before any of you buy into the notion that you are somehow special, just remember this. If you take a jackass and send him to college, all you end up with is an educated jackass. Where you take that pearl of wisdom is a serious responsibility and something that should impart to you a certain degree of humility. You will not only be a better student while you are here, but you will be an infinitely better person when you leave us.”
When they are in their best campaign mode, politicians tend to throw the term “education” around, as if it will impart a certain virtue to all the empty promises they peddle. They seem to believe that it will somehow cloak them with the same aura as that of the vestal virgin. At the end of it all, it can mean just about anything a person wants it to mean, with little or no common understanding of what the point of it all was meant to be.
From my particular point of view, I see education as having a multiplicity of meanings, depending on the aptitude and interests of those being “educated.”
The pinnacle of education is generally seen as the end product of a “college” education. College is perceived as the beginning and end all of the process by which we become treasured members of society. However, its one great flaw is to presume that “education” is a generic concept that applies to everyone exposed to it, and that they have the capacity to assimilate it to the point they really are anointed by the experience. I can only conclude that is the meaning as understood by every political personality when he/she promises a “college” education for everyone.
Recently, this notion was shattered by a news segment on television. It reminded me that there are, indeed, many different experiences subsumed under the label of “education.” It took place during an interview of one of the contractors involved in the construction of a new bridge from Oakland to San Francisco. The reporter, to his eternal credit, was concerned about the use of foreign labor against the backdrop of massive unemployment in this country. The offending country was, of course, China. The question that was raised was why modular portions of the bridge were being sub-contracted out to China. Good question! The answer was sobering. The reason given was, “because there are so few qualified welders left in the United States that, in order to garner that particular skill, the contractor had no alternative but to outsource that skill to China.
It never occurred to me that, because our industrial base has been so decimated by the avarice and greed of Corporate America, and its wholesale outsourcing that is so vital to their insatiable quest for yet more money, that may well be the root cause of this particular problem. Could it be that this is the result of an ingrained contempt by American business for vocational pursuits that might have anything to do with labor unions? Could this have diminished opportunities for American workers to serve a proper on-the-job apprenticeship under the tutelage of accomplished and certified journeymen? Therein lies a classic case of an opportunity for vocational “education” that is no longer available to those seeking a career within the broader economic context of our society. We have not only “outsourced” the skills, but we have dealt a mortal blow to opportunities for the vocational education necessary to develop and produce those skills. How does that provide opportunities for those seeking to enter the skilled job market?
The Europeans have always had a much healthier perspective on vocational pursuits and the requirements an aspirant has to fulfill before being permitted to work within any of their valued and respected vocations. I think the United States has lost sight of the relative importance that segment has within our educational system, and the means for acquiring the knowledge and skills that qualifies one to be a respected member of our vocational labor force so essential to our economy.
College may be very well suited to people who have an aptitude for more academic and intellectual pursuits. God knows we need those minds in order to have a balanced and healthy society, and to push forward the frontiers of knowledge. But not everyone is suited to go to college. For any of us who may have been reminded (as I have many times throughout the course of my life) about how inept we college types can be when faced with a vocational challenge, it gives pause for reflection on just how valuable those vocational skills are. I shudder to think of how many times my ass has been saved because of someone who could logically analyze a problem and fix it with his hands! I can attest that, without that help, I would have been dead in the water more times than I can recall. Some of those instances come to mind from a variety of predicaments I found myself in, one of which is particularly poignant and amusing.
One such occasion was when I put corn husks down the garbage disposal. When I tried to operate the disposal, it froze tighter than a drum. I labored for what seemed like hours to remove all of the debris, but it still would not work. The only option left was for me to call a plumber. When he arrived, he surveyed the problem, pressed a red “reset” button on the back and “voila,” it worked. When presented with his bill I argued that, surely, he was not going to charge me the full fee for a house call simply for pressing a red button. He politely reminded me that he was not charging me for having pressed the red button, but for the knowledge he had that there was a red button to be pressed that would solve the problem which, of course, was knowledge I did not have. That assault on my advanced degree from a great university proved to be a cardinal lesson in humility and gratitude; one which I have never forgot. There are indeed legions of skilled laborers who may lack the formal education I am fortunate to have acquired, but every one of them has a knowledge and skill that I can only envy. I could not have progressed in life without that battery of vocational knowledge and the skills I relied on to help me.
I see the opportunity for vocational studies as one of the biggest gaps in our educational system, and one which has been a major factor in the erosion and loss of so much of our industrial base. If we are to truly have equal opportunities within the population in order for this country to provide the means for earning an honest and decent standard of living, this is a part of what we call “education” that must be revisited and revalued.
“Education” encompasses many different aspects of learning and the mastery of knowledge. For one to claim to be seriously educated presupposes a certain amount of discipline and a serious commitment to what may be a long history of study.
There are three classic disciplines that are regarded as the pinnacles of achievement that only an “educated” person can rightfully claim in order to be considered a bonafide intellectual. They are those leading to (a) a Doctorate in Philosophy, (b) a Doctorate in Theology, and (c) a Doctorate in Law. The course of history has seen other disciplines lay claim to titles associated with that same level of achievement, none of which can honestly claim to have mastered the same level of intellectual prowess or the same degree of commitment as what is to be found among any of those three. To be sure, there has been a certain amount of bastardization of theology and law, but the purity of the knowledge base remains and is mastered by few.
As religion has become more secularized, the commitment to theological standards and the integrity of guiding principles have been compromised. As a consequence, religion has, in many cases, lost its standing as a moral compass. It has given license to a broad and varied interpretation of what is regarded as right vs. what is regarded as wrong. Fortunes have been built on peddling “faith and religion” to those who want a fast spiritual cleansing and instant wealth. One need only scratch the surface to see the vast storehouse of hypocrisy marketed as the “will of God.” The birth of the Tea Party and the zealots it has spawned says it all. As a member of the cloth once said to a rather self-absorbed parishioner, “I am less interested in how you talk your faith than I am in how you live it.” Well said.
The discipline reserved for the study and understanding of what is known as “Law” is, at its zenith, far from what has come to be regarded as the contemporary meaning of the term. The various meanings that now carry a market-based price tag can be found among the various political parties, the institutions of government, prestigious law firms, storefront lawyers and bail bondsmen. One can readily see quite a spectrum, with little or no relevance to what was originally meant by “law.” Ah, the lure of the almighty dollar vs. the purity of the profession!
If we are to restore integrity and respect for what we label “college” and “universities,” we need to pause and re-examine what is taught in those institutions with some effort to discern the difference between knowledge, mastery and training.
I happen to believe that the bedrock of our higher educational system is most completely embodied in the system of state universities and colleges, community colleges, and vocational schools. That is the system within which lies the greatest opportunities for an education that will best prepare the future custodians of our society. They are supported by the people and are, generally, more affordable.
There are, of course, those paragons of higher academia that are supported by private funds (rich people) and their progeny. There are provisions for the common folk to enter those hallowed halls on scholarships, but the bulk of those seeking a higher education are from the privileged among us. They not only learn marketable skills and disciplines, but they further assimilate and hone the value systems that cast an aura of certainty over their divine right to exploit the human condition in order to support their wealth and their station in life. An added bonus is being immune from conscription into one of the branches of the armed forces and the attendant dangers of being mortally wounded in the “defense of their country.” Oh, I almost forgot that all came about by the nation adopting an “all voluntary military.” Clearly, it is a class issue and a choice those from the bottom 99 percent choose to exercise. The fact that those counted among the “Hallowed Halls of Ivy,” sit on billions of dollars in endowment funds and that the preponderance of their student body comes from the secluded bastions of the super rich is purely coincidental. It is simply a matter of choice, freely exercised.
The most vile of all those holding themselves out as institutions of higher learning are counted among the “private colleges and universities” that develop and market “degrees,” at inflated prices. The underlying motive is to provide exorbitant returns to their investors who founded those rather sullied examples of academia, leading to the burdening responsibility carried by their students who are saddled with mountains of debt in the form of student loans they can no longer afford to pay. Seems an appropriate place to insert the word “greed,” doesn’t it? Moreover, the value of those so-called degrees is not worth the cost of the paper on which they are printed. The standing of the academic staff is, at best, dubious among the ranks of those who have a rightful claim to that distinction. Interestingly, politicians are the chief recipients of the financial largess for use in their quest for election or re-election. Does that really surprise anyone?
I have a particular contempt for all those who fall into what I call the “dot com techies.” To presume they are educated is an affront to the term. I see them as little more than highly skilled in the marketing and use of computerized systems and electronic gadgetry that serve as the basis for every conceivable kind of exploitation within the marketplace. They are plastic, empty and totally devoid of any compassion for the human condition. I find them superficial and arrogant. They have founded and operate some of the most exploitative business enterprises in our system of business and commerce. They have a sense of self-entitlement and what appears to be an inherent right to exploit those who work for them in their unending quest for affluence by the few at the expense of the many. At best, they “play boss,” but know little if anything about “being boss.” They are frauds that, at the end of the day, wouldn’t make a pimple on the ass of anyone who could reasonably consider himself/herself as a member in good standing of a real vocation. They are more fluff than substance.
Yes, I am an ardent supporter of real education that has legitimate standings in our society. But, although vitally important, I do not believe the health of our future rests, completely, on a foundation of scientific and technical disciplines. If we do not attend to a fundamental need to become thinking, feeling and compassionate human beings, there is no hope for our future. Those who seek out studies in the liberal arts are the real custodians of all that sets us apart from the predators who now seem to control every aspect of our lives. It is the Bill Moyers of this world who contribute so much toward the body of knowledge that feeds the finer aspects of the who and what we are as civilized people; not the Bill Gates.
Cowboy Bob
The Sagebrush Philosopher
March 9, 2012
I recall when I first entered university, a very astute professor who stood before our first class of the semester and announced he wanted to put what was meant by “education” in its proper context. With that, he simply stated, “before any of you buy into the notion that you are somehow special, just remember this. If you take a jackass and send him to college, all you end up with is an educated jackass. Where you take that pearl of wisdom is a serious responsibility and something that should impart to you a certain degree of humility. You will not only be a better student while you are here, but you will be an infinitely better person when you leave us.”
When they are in their best campaign mode, politicians tend to throw the term “education” around, as if it will impart a certain virtue to all the empty promises they peddle. They seem to believe that it will somehow cloak them with the same aura as that of the vestal virgin. At the end of it all, it can mean just about anything a person wants it to mean, with little or no common understanding of what the point of it all was meant to be.
From my particular point of view, I see education as having a multiplicity of meanings, depending on the aptitude and interests of those being “educated.”
The pinnacle of education is generally seen as the end product of a “college” education. College is perceived as the beginning and end all of the process by which we become treasured members of society. However, its one great flaw is to presume that “education” is a generic concept that applies to everyone exposed to it, and that they have the capacity to assimilate it to the point they really are anointed by the experience. I can only conclude that is the meaning as understood by every political personality when he/she promises a “college” education for everyone.
Recently, this notion was shattered by a news segment on television. It reminded me that there are, indeed, many different experiences subsumed under the label of “education.” It took place during an interview of one of the contractors involved in the construction of a new bridge from Oakland to San Francisco. The reporter, to his eternal credit, was concerned about the use of foreign labor against the backdrop of massive unemployment in this country. The offending country was, of course, China. The question that was raised was why modular portions of the bridge were being sub-contracted out to China. Good question! The answer was sobering. The reason given was, “because there are so few qualified welders left in the United States that, in order to garner that particular skill, the contractor had no alternative but to outsource that skill to China.
It never occurred to me that, because our industrial base has been so decimated by the avarice and greed of Corporate America, and its wholesale outsourcing that is so vital to their insatiable quest for yet more money, that may well be the root cause of this particular problem. Could it be that this is the result of an ingrained contempt by American business for vocational pursuits that might have anything to do with labor unions? Could this have diminished opportunities for American workers to serve a proper on-the-job apprenticeship under the tutelage of accomplished and certified journeymen? Therein lies a classic case of an opportunity for vocational “education” that is no longer available to those seeking a career within the broader economic context of our society. We have not only “outsourced” the skills, but we have dealt a mortal blow to opportunities for the vocational education necessary to develop and produce those skills. How does that provide opportunities for those seeking to enter the skilled job market?
The Europeans have always had a much healthier perspective on vocational pursuits and the requirements an aspirant has to fulfill before being permitted to work within any of their valued and respected vocations. I think the United States has lost sight of the relative importance that segment has within our educational system, and the means for acquiring the knowledge and skills that qualifies one to be a respected member of our vocational labor force so essential to our economy.
College may be very well suited to people who have an aptitude for more academic and intellectual pursuits. God knows we need those minds in order to have a balanced and healthy society, and to push forward the frontiers of knowledge. But not everyone is suited to go to college. For any of us who may have been reminded (as I have many times throughout the course of my life) about how inept we college types can be when faced with a vocational challenge, it gives pause for reflection on just how valuable those vocational skills are. I shudder to think of how many times my ass has been saved because of someone who could logically analyze a problem and fix it with his hands! I can attest that, without that help, I would have been dead in the water more times than I can recall. Some of those instances come to mind from a variety of predicaments I found myself in, one of which is particularly poignant and amusing.
One such occasion was when I put corn husks down the garbage disposal. When I tried to operate the disposal, it froze tighter than a drum. I labored for what seemed like hours to remove all of the debris, but it still would not work. The only option left was for me to call a plumber. When he arrived, he surveyed the problem, pressed a red “reset” button on the back and “voila,” it worked. When presented with his bill I argued that, surely, he was not going to charge me the full fee for a house call simply for pressing a red button. He politely reminded me that he was not charging me for having pressed the red button, but for the knowledge he had that there was a red button to be pressed that would solve the problem which, of course, was knowledge I did not have. That assault on my advanced degree from a great university proved to be a cardinal lesson in humility and gratitude; one which I have never forgot. There are indeed legions of skilled laborers who may lack the formal education I am fortunate to have acquired, but every one of them has a knowledge and skill that I can only envy. I could not have progressed in life without that battery of vocational knowledge and the skills I relied on to help me.
I see the opportunity for vocational studies as one of the biggest gaps in our educational system, and one which has been a major factor in the erosion and loss of so much of our industrial base. If we are to truly have equal opportunities within the population in order for this country to provide the means for earning an honest and decent standard of living, this is a part of what we call “education” that must be revisited and revalued.
“Education” encompasses many different aspects of learning and the mastery of knowledge. For one to claim to be seriously educated presupposes a certain amount of discipline and a serious commitment to what may be a long history of study.
There are three classic disciplines that are regarded as the pinnacles of achievement that only an “educated” person can rightfully claim in order to be considered a bonafide intellectual. They are those leading to (a) a Doctorate in Philosophy, (b) a Doctorate in Theology, and (c) a Doctorate in Law. The course of history has seen other disciplines lay claim to titles associated with that same level of achievement, none of which can honestly claim to have mastered the same level of intellectual prowess or the same degree of commitment as what is to be found among any of those three. To be sure, there has been a certain amount of bastardization of theology and law, but the purity of the knowledge base remains and is mastered by few.
As religion has become more secularized, the commitment to theological standards and the integrity of guiding principles have been compromised. As a consequence, religion has, in many cases, lost its standing as a moral compass. It has given license to a broad and varied interpretation of what is regarded as right vs. what is regarded as wrong. Fortunes have been built on peddling “faith and religion” to those who want a fast spiritual cleansing and instant wealth. One need only scratch the surface to see the vast storehouse of hypocrisy marketed as the “will of God.” The birth of the Tea Party and the zealots it has spawned says it all. As a member of the cloth once said to a rather self-absorbed parishioner, “I am less interested in how you talk your faith than I am in how you live it.” Well said.
The discipline reserved for the study and understanding of what is known as “Law” is, at its zenith, far from what has come to be regarded as the contemporary meaning of the term. The various meanings that now carry a market-based price tag can be found among the various political parties, the institutions of government, prestigious law firms, storefront lawyers and bail bondsmen. One can readily see quite a spectrum, with little or no relevance to what was originally meant by “law.” Ah, the lure of the almighty dollar vs. the purity of the profession!
If we are to restore integrity and respect for what we label “college” and “universities,” we need to pause and re-examine what is taught in those institutions with some effort to discern the difference between knowledge, mastery and training.
I happen to believe that the bedrock of our higher educational system is most completely embodied in the system of state universities and colleges, community colleges, and vocational schools. That is the system within which lies the greatest opportunities for an education that will best prepare the future custodians of our society. They are supported by the people and are, generally, more affordable.
There are, of course, those paragons of higher academia that are supported by private funds (rich people) and their progeny. There are provisions for the common folk to enter those hallowed halls on scholarships, but the bulk of those seeking a higher education are from the privileged among us. They not only learn marketable skills and disciplines, but they further assimilate and hone the value systems that cast an aura of certainty over their divine right to exploit the human condition in order to support their wealth and their station in life. An added bonus is being immune from conscription into one of the branches of the armed forces and the attendant dangers of being mortally wounded in the “defense of their country.” Oh, I almost forgot that all came about by the nation adopting an “all voluntary military.” Clearly, it is a class issue and a choice those from the bottom 99 percent choose to exercise. The fact that those counted among the “Hallowed Halls of Ivy,” sit on billions of dollars in endowment funds and that the preponderance of their student body comes from the secluded bastions of the super rich is purely coincidental. It is simply a matter of choice, freely exercised.
The most vile of all those holding themselves out as institutions of higher learning are counted among the “private colleges and universities” that develop and market “degrees,” at inflated prices. The underlying motive is to provide exorbitant returns to their investors who founded those rather sullied examples of academia, leading to the burdening responsibility carried by their students who are saddled with mountains of debt in the form of student loans they can no longer afford to pay. Seems an appropriate place to insert the word “greed,” doesn’t it? Moreover, the value of those so-called degrees is not worth the cost of the paper on which they are printed. The standing of the academic staff is, at best, dubious among the ranks of those who have a rightful claim to that distinction. Interestingly, politicians are the chief recipients of the financial largess for use in their quest for election or re-election. Does that really surprise anyone?
I have a particular contempt for all those who fall into what I call the “dot com techies.” To presume they are educated is an affront to the term. I see them as little more than highly skilled in the marketing and use of computerized systems and electronic gadgetry that serve as the basis for every conceivable kind of exploitation within the marketplace. They are plastic, empty and totally devoid of any compassion for the human condition. I find them superficial and arrogant. They have founded and operate some of the most exploitative business enterprises in our system of business and commerce. They have a sense of self-entitlement and what appears to be an inherent right to exploit those who work for them in their unending quest for affluence by the few at the expense of the many. At best, they “play boss,” but know little if anything about “being boss.” They are frauds that, at the end of the day, wouldn’t make a pimple on the ass of anyone who could reasonably consider himself/herself as a member in good standing of a real vocation. They are more fluff than substance.
Yes, I am an ardent supporter of real education that has legitimate standings in our society. But, although vitally important, I do not believe the health of our future rests, completely, on a foundation of scientific and technical disciplines. If we do not attend to a fundamental need to become thinking, feeling and compassionate human beings, there is no hope for our future. Those who seek out studies in the liberal arts are the real custodians of all that sets us apart from the predators who now seem to control every aspect of our lives. It is the Bill Moyers of this world who contribute so much toward the body of knowledge that feeds the finer aspects of the who and what we are as civilized people; not the Bill Gates.
Cowboy Bob
The Sagebrush Philosopher
March 9, 2012
Sunday, March 4, 2012
"Why?"
I have been writing this blog for just over three years. What I have committed to paper has, for the most part, been the product of my own take on a variety of issues that affect me and/or the society in which I live. I don’t pretend to have all the answers nor have I posed all the salient questions of the day, so when I have published something that is the product of another person's perception of the world, I have tried to be meticulously judicious in giving credit to that person.
I have a particular interest in politics and the affairs of government. I have a deep and abiding faith in this country as envisioned by the Founding Fathers. Whenever the integrity of those principles is compromised at the expense of the body politic of this country, I become concerned, as any responsible citizen should be. In those instances I have no compunction about expressing my views as honestly and clearly as I can. What others may choose to take away from that effort is their responsibility, which I cannot control but for which I have a profound respect.
I happen to believe that the underpinnings for us all, as responsible citizens, is quite simple – morality. By morality I am referring to a basic sense of what is right and what is wrong. I shall leave the various sordid interpretations of that concept to those seeking a more titillating experience.
I cannot recall a time in my life when I have seen the fabric of the people of this country, in every walk of life, so compromised. Rather than being concerned about a fundamental sense of integrity and what is right vs. wrong, we seem to have evolved into accepting a broad tolerance for “whatever the traffic will bear.” With that, morality flew out the window and was relegated to the stuff of fools by all of those who have set themselves to the task of exploiting every facet of our society for their own individual and collective ends, the common good be damned.
With this introduction, I have come to the conclusion that there are infinitely more questions than answers that should be of concern to all of us. However, given that we have become progressively more complacent and trusting of those to whom we have entrusted our futures, I hold out faint hope that any discernible effort to restore integrity to our social and political fabric will succeed. So, I am simply going to pose a series of questions for which I have found no credible answers. The mere fact that my questions may seem redundant is precisely because the questions remain unanswered. Most of these questions can be traced back to various campaign promises made by Barack Obama in his quest for the Presidency, and for whom I voted on the strength of those promises.
1. Why has Bill Clinton been given a free pass for his complicity in the deregulation of the financial industries when he was President of the United States? Why did he collude with Phil Gramm, the Chairman (Republican) of the Senate Banking Committee in order to eviscerate Glass-Steagall and open the doors to the wholesale plunder of our nation’s wealth? Why did he bring such paragons of virtue like Robert Rubin, Larry Summers, Alan Greenspan and others of like mind into the inner sanctum to participate in the gluttonous banquet that was about to become theirs for the asking?
2. Why, as one of his first acts as the newly elected President, did Barack Obama reincarnate those same rogues from the Clinton Administration to occupy every significant post in his Cabinet and his White House Staff? What was and still is the thread of continuity in that relationship?
3. Why has Barack Obama relied on the alumni from heavy hitters in the field of business and commerce to serve as his “chief economic advisers?” For example, the former senior executive from General Electric, a company that has figured prominently in the ownership and management of NBC, and among the major defense contractors to our military establishment. What happened to the perils of “conflicts of interest?”
4. Why has there been virtually no indictments and prosecutions of senior executives at the major financial institutions on Wall Street?
5. Why have the banks, mortgage companies and other financial organizations been given preferential treatment and access to taxpayer’s funds?
6. Why has there been only a token effort to restructure and regulate the very financial institutions that brought this economic calamity down on the heads of the people of this country?
7. Why has the Chairman of the Federal Reserve been given carte blanche to disburse government funds to domestic and foreign financial institutions at his sole discretion?
8. Why did our newly elected president decide not to honor his commitment to bring to justice those who lied the nation into an illegal war based on false evidence? Maybe it is because, when you become a member of the “Old Boys’ Club” you don’t assail your new-found brothers?
9. Why did Barack Obama decide to extend the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest among us at a time when the nation was crying for additional revenue to stave off the devastating effects of the “recession” he inherited from his predecessor?
10. Why did Barack Obama choose not to pursue the restructuring of NAFTA and CAFTA in order to make it more equitable to the working people of the United States of America and the pool of labor affected by those treaties?
11. Why did Barack Obama renege on his commitment to strengthen labor laws in order to level the playing field between those privileges given to business and industry, and those accorded organized labor?
12. Why did Barack Obama not honor his commitment to a single-payer option in his health care program?
13. Why did Barack Obama not stand firm on requiring drug companies to negotiate the cost of prescription drugs with the government?
14. Why did Barack Obama renege on his commitment to reign in the excesses of hospital management companies in their dealings with the government on matters of national health?
15. Why has Barack Obama failed to take China to task on issues of an equal playing field in trade between our two countries, and their persistent currency manipulation to our detriment and to their benefit?
16. Why has Barack Obama remained silent as renegade state and local governments engaged in repeated wholesale assaults on government workers and labor unions?
17. Why has Barack Obama failed to discontinue warrant-less wiretapping?
18. Why has Barack Obama failed to close the Guantanamo Gulag?
19. Why has Barack Obama continued to allow a double-standard of justice for those deemed to be “enemy combatants?”
20. Why has Barack Obama allowed British Petroleum to get away with a slap on the wrist for the devastation they caused in the Gulf of Mexico?
21. Why does Barack Obama’s penchant for “bi-partisanship” become most apparent when it comes to matters affecting the wealthy, international corporations, banking institutions and the defense establishment?
22. Why has Barack Obama only given lip service to environmentally friendly forms of energy development while he is, also, giving free reign for the exploration and development of fossil fuels?
23. Why does Barack Obama seem to, periodically, flirt with an assault on those government programs that have served the people responsibly, effectively and economically from their inception? I am referring to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and, yes, the Postal Service.
24. Why has the Department of Homeland Security grown in geometrical proportion to other functions of government while those previously associated with the agency reap huge profits by their association with companies doing business with that same agency? Has this agency, too, become "too big to fail?"
25. Why has the Department of Homeland Security been so intimately involved with state and local governments and local police in planning and executing their assaults on the peaceful protests of those subsumed under the banner of Occupy Wall Street? How has this become a "federal" issue and a threat to the nation?
26. Why is the entire military establishment treated so gingerly when it comes to requirements for cutbacks in defense spending? Their latest ploy to cut back on funding, but still giving them more money, in the aggregate, to spend isn’t even subtle.
27. Why has there been such a plethora of private contractors and their subsidiaries doing work for the Defense and State Departments that used to be vested with those serving their country in the armed services? I am referring to Halliburton, Black Water, and a whole host of others, the quality of whose work is often questionable, who operate under much less supervision, with less accountability and at humongous amounts of money compared to the cost paid for services provided by our military and government organizations. Who profits from all this? Moreover, how is this arrangement not only more effective but more cost-effective? It doesn’t compute.
I think the time has come for the American people to be treated to that long overdue promise of more transparency and accountability, and less secrecy. So far, I don’t think we got what we bargained for. Words are cheap and are the stuff of politicians. Courage and honor are the stuff of real statesmen.
When you look at our choices for the next presidential election, there isn’t a whole lot for us to celebrate. Unless we miraculously get character over greed, I think we are in for one hell of a fall. To effect the massive changes required in the culture of our politics, I am afraid, may require far more of that precious commodity, "time" which may no longer be on our side.
Cowboy Bob
The Sagebrush Philosopher
March 4, 2012
I have a particular interest in politics and the affairs of government. I have a deep and abiding faith in this country as envisioned by the Founding Fathers. Whenever the integrity of those principles is compromised at the expense of the body politic of this country, I become concerned, as any responsible citizen should be. In those instances I have no compunction about expressing my views as honestly and clearly as I can. What others may choose to take away from that effort is their responsibility, which I cannot control but for which I have a profound respect.
I happen to believe that the underpinnings for us all, as responsible citizens, is quite simple – morality. By morality I am referring to a basic sense of what is right and what is wrong. I shall leave the various sordid interpretations of that concept to those seeking a more titillating experience.
I cannot recall a time in my life when I have seen the fabric of the people of this country, in every walk of life, so compromised. Rather than being concerned about a fundamental sense of integrity and what is right vs. wrong, we seem to have evolved into accepting a broad tolerance for “whatever the traffic will bear.” With that, morality flew out the window and was relegated to the stuff of fools by all of those who have set themselves to the task of exploiting every facet of our society for their own individual and collective ends, the common good be damned.
With this introduction, I have come to the conclusion that there are infinitely more questions than answers that should be of concern to all of us. However, given that we have become progressively more complacent and trusting of those to whom we have entrusted our futures, I hold out faint hope that any discernible effort to restore integrity to our social and political fabric will succeed. So, I am simply going to pose a series of questions for which I have found no credible answers. The mere fact that my questions may seem redundant is precisely because the questions remain unanswered. Most of these questions can be traced back to various campaign promises made by Barack Obama in his quest for the Presidency, and for whom I voted on the strength of those promises.
1. Why has Bill Clinton been given a free pass for his complicity in the deregulation of the financial industries when he was President of the United States? Why did he collude with Phil Gramm, the Chairman (Republican) of the Senate Banking Committee in order to eviscerate Glass-Steagall and open the doors to the wholesale plunder of our nation’s wealth? Why did he bring such paragons of virtue like Robert Rubin, Larry Summers, Alan Greenspan and others of like mind into the inner sanctum to participate in the gluttonous banquet that was about to become theirs for the asking?
2. Why, as one of his first acts as the newly elected President, did Barack Obama reincarnate those same rogues from the Clinton Administration to occupy every significant post in his Cabinet and his White House Staff? What was and still is the thread of continuity in that relationship?
3. Why has Barack Obama relied on the alumni from heavy hitters in the field of business and commerce to serve as his “chief economic advisers?” For example, the former senior executive from General Electric, a company that has figured prominently in the ownership and management of NBC, and among the major defense contractors to our military establishment. What happened to the perils of “conflicts of interest?”
4. Why has there been virtually no indictments and prosecutions of senior executives at the major financial institutions on Wall Street?
5. Why have the banks, mortgage companies and other financial organizations been given preferential treatment and access to taxpayer’s funds?
6. Why has there been only a token effort to restructure and regulate the very financial institutions that brought this economic calamity down on the heads of the people of this country?
7. Why has the Chairman of the Federal Reserve been given carte blanche to disburse government funds to domestic and foreign financial institutions at his sole discretion?
8. Why did our newly elected president decide not to honor his commitment to bring to justice those who lied the nation into an illegal war based on false evidence? Maybe it is because, when you become a member of the “Old Boys’ Club” you don’t assail your new-found brothers?
9. Why did Barack Obama decide to extend the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest among us at a time when the nation was crying for additional revenue to stave off the devastating effects of the “recession” he inherited from his predecessor?
10. Why did Barack Obama choose not to pursue the restructuring of NAFTA and CAFTA in order to make it more equitable to the working people of the United States of America and the pool of labor affected by those treaties?
11. Why did Barack Obama renege on his commitment to strengthen labor laws in order to level the playing field between those privileges given to business and industry, and those accorded organized labor?
12. Why did Barack Obama not honor his commitment to a single-payer option in his health care program?
13. Why did Barack Obama not stand firm on requiring drug companies to negotiate the cost of prescription drugs with the government?
14. Why did Barack Obama renege on his commitment to reign in the excesses of hospital management companies in their dealings with the government on matters of national health?
15. Why has Barack Obama failed to take China to task on issues of an equal playing field in trade between our two countries, and their persistent currency manipulation to our detriment and to their benefit?
16. Why has Barack Obama remained silent as renegade state and local governments engaged in repeated wholesale assaults on government workers and labor unions?
17. Why has Barack Obama failed to discontinue warrant-less wiretapping?
18. Why has Barack Obama failed to close the Guantanamo Gulag?
19. Why has Barack Obama continued to allow a double-standard of justice for those deemed to be “enemy combatants?”
20. Why has Barack Obama allowed British Petroleum to get away with a slap on the wrist for the devastation they caused in the Gulf of Mexico?
21. Why does Barack Obama’s penchant for “bi-partisanship” become most apparent when it comes to matters affecting the wealthy, international corporations, banking institutions and the defense establishment?
22. Why has Barack Obama only given lip service to environmentally friendly forms of energy development while he is, also, giving free reign for the exploration and development of fossil fuels?
23. Why does Barack Obama seem to, periodically, flirt with an assault on those government programs that have served the people responsibly, effectively and economically from their inception? I am referring to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and, yes, the Postal Service.
24. Why has the Department of Homeland Security grown in geometrical proportion to other functions of government while those previously associated with the agency reap huge profits by their association with companies doing business with that same agency? Has this agency, too, become "too big to fail?"
25. Why has the Department of Homeland Security been so intimately involved with state and local governments and local police in planning and executing their assaults on the peaceful protests of those subsumed under the banner of Occupy Wall Street? How has this become a "federal" issue and a threat to the nation?
26. Why is the entire military establishment treated so gingerly when it comes to requirements for cutbacks in defense spending? Their latest ploy to cut back on funding, but still giving them more money, in the aggregate, to spend isn’t even subtle.
27. Why has there been such a plethora of private contractors and their subsidiaries doing work for the Defense and State Departments that used to be vested with those serving their country in the armed services? I am referring to Halliburton, Black Water, and a whole host of others, the quality of whose work is often questionable, who operate under much less supervision, with less accountability and at humongous amounts of money compared to the cost paid for services provided by our military and government organizations. Who profits from all this? Moreover, how is this arrangement not only more effective but more cost-effective? It doesn’t compute.
I think the time has come for the American people to be treated to that long overdue promise of more transparency and accountability, and less secrecy. So far, I don’t think we got what we bargained for. Words are cheap and are the stuff of politicians. Courage and honor are the stuff of real statesmen.
When you look at our choices for the next presidential election, there isn’t a whole lot for us to celebrate. Unless we miraculously get character over greed, I think we are in for one hell of a fall. To effect the massive changes required in the culture of our politics, I am afraid, may require far more of that precious commodity, "time" which may no longer be on our side.
Cowboy Bob
The Sagebrush Philosopher
March 4, 2012
Friday, February 17, 2012
"Don't Tell Us; Show Us!"
As I look out and survey the landscape of these United States of America, I am, more and more, overcome by a deep-seated sense of despair and hopelessness. Sure, we are getting overdosed on political rhetoric about how bad things are from one political party, and how things are beginning to look up by the other. Who in the hell are we to believe and where is the evidence? I just don’t see it.
Those who were and are instrumental in this fracturing of our society remind me of one gigantic sewage treatment plant, fed by the excrement created by the gargantuan greed and avarice of Wall Street, and those that are subsumed under the mantle of the Federal Government, the ubiquitous functions housed within the environs of Washington, D.C., and suburban Virginia and Maryland where the overflow has migrated. All of this is capped off by the mysterious Federal Reserve and the two major political parties that have a death-grip on our entire system of government, from the pinnacle at the federal level all the way down to state and local levels. From that flows the effluent down onto all of those whose hopes, dreams and futures hinge on the hollow promises of those in power who just might toss them a crumb, from time to time. It is a cardinal lesson in the perils of too much faith, too much trust and too little caution. The chickens do eventually come home to roost.
Morality, which used to be at the very foundation of conduct by principled people, and that provided us with a compass to steer the course for us to what is right vs. wrong, is simply no longer valued. Admittedly, we have been all too willing to take whatever those in high places might care to toss our way. However, they have been the cunning and skilled purveyors of the empty values and appetites they have cultivated in order to seduce us into casting aside our basic human decency that served as the basis for the discipline that made us what we were.
Those who have so willingly served as the minions of big money, big business, corruptive power and the endeavors of all those who have pillaged and plundered the American Dream have seduced us into believing that morality is passé. It is the stuff of fools. Except for very few in business, industry, politics and government who are genuinely good and decent people, they haven’t a clue as to what morality means and the measures used to define it. They have made lying and deception respectable and desirable. They have created the appetites we value and constantly seek to satisfy, but which may not be in our best interests. They are masters of the game that we, all too willingly, buy into.
Sad to say, but I honestly believe that, for the most part, we have become a people who no longer want to go through the rigors of seeking the truth. It has become so much easier for us to indulge ourselves in materialism, hedonism and the never ending quest for fun. We do a great job of pretending that we give a damn, but provide little evidence to support it. Don’t burden me with truth, just tell me what I want to hear and make me feel good.
What has all this gotten us? It has gotten us a complete system of power; social, economic, and political that we can no longer trust.
We were led into a war for which there was no justification, by a dunce and a pathological mindset that coveted empire, power and affluence. I dare say most of us had a hunch that it was a hoax, but we were simply too complacent to question the basis for committing countless billions (or trillions) of dollars and thousands of innocent lives. We were all too willing to believe rather than question.
Most of us had watched the deliberate destruction of old gambling casinos, hotels and other aging buildings by use of an implosion so as not to damage adjacent structures. For that to be made possible, it took a battery of very skilled explosive technicians to rig the charges that would explode in a predictable fashion and that would cause the building to collapse into itself. Yet, few questioned the same phenomenon and the skill that went into making it happen when the World Trade Center buildings imploded in like fashion. I am mystified how any sane mind could not question what we were told vs. what we witnessed. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that one out. I have no doubt that it took a lot more skill and planning to pull it off than a few solitary lunatics flying a couple of airplanes. And, the only way that could have happened is with the help of some one or several in high places who knew exactly what needed to be done and how to pull it off so that it would coalesce public opinion behind a bogus war effort. But, we all screamed in unison, “We are afraid!” Protect our freedoms!” We took the bait and readily deferred to our elected leadership. The rest is history and Iraq is now trying to pick up the pieces and recreate a viable nation.
People who hold great power seem to have no trouble rationalizing the use of that power in the pursuit of empire. The entire fleet of U.S. battleships that served as the bait for a sneak attack by the Japanese in 1941 was ordered into Pearl Harbor by Executive Order of the President. That can be verified by a short book titled, “The Final Secrets of Pearl Harbor,” published in 1945 by a former Rear Admiral in the U.S. Navy; John T. Flynn. Why would we doubt that the same mind set could not surface in our time by those who have infinitely more power at their disposal than did President Roosevelt? The growing absence of transparency in our national affairs, the penchant for secrecy and the lust for power and influence, in my judgment, make that far more likely now than it did then. We are told that power for a sitting President to order the execution of an American citizen suspected of being a terrorist can now be exercised without any advice and consent from any other arm of government. Further, we have been assured by the incumbent President that he would never use that power. But, it remains on the books for those who follow him in office. Doesn’t that seem rather incongruous?
Make no mistake about it. Secrecy serves the interests of those who advocate its use. Transparency serves the people. Congress needs to do a better job of ensuring that secrecy is judicially used and they should enact a system of sunset laws that places a limited life on the use of that designation. We, the people, have a right to know what is being withheld from us, its attendant cost to us and why it was deemed necessary to shroud it in the cloak of secrecy.
Another concern I have is the extent to which we go to ensure that the people’s money is wisely committed and wisely spent. My confidence level on this issue is minimal, at best. I think the time has come for an independent body to undertake an audit of the entire budget and financial system, with a set of recommendations for legislation that will tighten up the system and comply with the provisions of the Constitution.
Another issue which I think is long overdue for study and revision is the system of rules, regulations and protocols that govern the way both houses of Congress carry out their business. From my perspective, it is unduly cumbersome and belies respect for governing by the majority. A group of constitutional lawyers and legislators could be brought together in order to accomplish the task, with the majority coming from outside the system.
That our entire system of government is badly broken is self-evident. But to try and clean it up is going to require a huge commitment, a lot of time and the will to make it happen. I think it is worth it. However, it cannot be left in the hands of one or the other of each political party, incumbent politicians or those who obviously have an inherent conflict of interest.
Politics, as it exists today, is a contest of who can most effectively lie their way out of or into a situation most convincingly. I, for one, would not be willing to entrust such an endeavor to that kind of mind set.
The Republican Party is, to my way of thinking, nothing short of pathetic. How anyone could possibly take seriously the current roster of those seeking the presidency boggles the human mind. Talk about an aversion to truth and morality! The only way they can function is with very simplistic solutions to very complex problems, a myopic view of the world and a healthy dose of fundamentalist religious dogma. As much as they might like to think so, I seriously doubt God talks to them any more than He talks to the rest of us.
The Democratic Party is no more credible than the Republicans. Both parties serve the same masters and feed on the same diet of graft and largesse. The liberals talk a good story but they don’t seem to want to be bothered with what is embodied in established law. Rather, they appear to be more inclined to whine about how unjust an issue is and believe that it can only be rectified through the machinations of a bleeding heart; the law and legal precedent be damned. That just doesn’t wash with me, either.
I don’t see how there can be justice without responsibility.
I was raised in a working class home. I was extremely fortunate to have benefitted from the G.I. Bill that gave me an education from one of the finest academic institutions in the world. I remain humbled by that opportunity. However, I am still mindful of the struggles that often went on in that childhood home when times were tough and money was scarce. But from that I learned the value of strength in numbers and a shared concern for the welfare of others. I regard the people with whom I grew up to be much better, over all, than most of those I encountered among the educated and accomplished I joined later in life. I listened to more acts of real compassion from those in the bunk house than I ever did in the board room. Ranch hands demonstrated more concern for a suffering animal than most doctors showed for suffering patients. Doing the right thing was the stuff of the former; making money was the stuff of the latter.
In today’s world, whenever I see people struggling to make ends meet, like the stranded middle-aged man trying to breathe life back into a very old pickup, or a young couple counting their limited funds in the aisle of the supermarket, trying to decide what is most important for the basic necessities of life, I am reminded of the tough times in my own life. There was more attention then to “we” and less to “me.” They demonstrated more empathy and concern for others, and would readily go that extra mile to help someone. I don’t see much of that these days. Rather, those who have the least are demonized. Those who manipulate the system and steal the most are revered by the centers of power that reward them with taxpayers’ money.
I honestly believe this country is at the precipice, looking down on the greatest peril in its entire history. It is beyond our entrenched political system to do anything meaningful to stop it. The moment when a significant change is even mentioned, they can be counted on to go into their defensive or compromising mode in an attempt to preserve all of the lucrative perks they enjoy, and which sets them above and apart from those of us they profess to represent and govern. Both pursuits are mutually exclusive. It isn’t going to happen unless we demand that it happen, and make sure the goal is for the collective benefit of everyone.
Anything short of a new political party that shares our common values and demonstrates the determination to convert those values into reality will never work. I think that is possible, but it won’t be easy. It will require an iron will and dedication from a great many committed and principled people. I don’t know if that is possible. But, if left with what we have, any semblance of what we once were will be relegated to the rubble of what remains of the greatest experiment in democracy known to mankind.
Time really is upon us to place the common good above our own vested self interests, lest the parasite already within us ultimately devours its host.
Rocky, when are you going to come off the sidelines and enter the game?
Cowboy Bob
The Sagebrush Philosopher
February 17, 2012
Those who were and are instrumental in this fracturing of our society remind me of one gigantic sewage treatment plant, fed by the excrement created by the gargantuan greed and avarice of Wall Street, and those that are subsumed under the mantle of the Federal Government, the ubiquitous functions housed within the environs of Washington, D.C., and suburban Virginia and Maryland where the overflow has migrated. All of this is capped off by the mysterious Federal Reserve and the two major political parties that have a death-grip on our entire system of government, from the pinnacle at the federal level all the way down to state and local levels. From that flows the effluent down onto all of those whose hopes, dreams and futures hinge on the hollow promises of those in power who just might toss them a crumb, from time to time. It is a cardinal lesson in the perils of too much faith, too much trust and too little caution. The chickens do eventually come home to roost.
Morality, which used to be at the very foundation of conduct by principled people, and that provided us with a compass to steer the course for us to what is right vs. wrong, is simply no longer valued. Admittedly, we have been all too willing to take whatever those in high places might care to toss our way. However, they have been the cunning and skilled purveyors of the empty values and appetites they have cultivated in order to seduce us into casting aside our basic human decency that served as the basis for the discipline that made us what we were.
Those who have so willingly served as the minions of big money, big business, corruptive power and the endeavors of all those who have pillaged and plundered the American Dream have seduced us into believing that morality is passé. It is the stuff of fools. Except for very few in business, industry, politics and government who are genuinely good and decent people, they haven’t a clue as to what morality means and the measures used to define it. They have made lying and deception respectable and desirable. They have created the appetites we value and constantly seek to satisfy, but which may not be in our best interests. They are masters of the game that we, all too willingly, buy into.
Sad to say, but I honestly believe that, for the most part, we have become a people who no longer want to go through the rigors of seeking the truth. It has become so much easier for us to indulge ourselves in materialism, hedonism and the never ending quest for fun. We do a great job of pretending that we give a damn, but provide little evidence to support it. Don’t burden me with truth, just tell me what I want to hear and make me feel good.
What has all this gotten us? It has gotten us a complete system of power; social, economic, and political that we can no longer trust.
We were led into a war for which there was no justification, by a dunce and a pathological mindset that coveted empire, power and affluence. I dare say most of us had a hunch that it was a hoax, but we were simply too complacent to question the basis for committing countless billions (or trillions) of dollars and thousands of innocent lives. We were all too willing to believe rather than question.
Most of us had watched the deliberate destruction of old gambling casinos, hotels and other aging buildings by use of an implosion so as not to damage adjacent structures. For that to be made possible, it took a battery of very skilled explosive technicians to rig the charges that would explode in a predictable fashion and that would cause the building to collapse into itself. Yet, few questioned the same phenomenon and the skill that went into making it happen when the World Trade Center buildings imploded in like fashion. I am mystified how any sane mind could not question what we were told vs. what we witnessed. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that one out. I have no doubt that it took a lot more skill and planning to pull it off than a few solitary lunatics flying a couple of airplanes. And, the only way that could have happened is with the help of some one or several in high places who knew exactly what needed to be done and how to pull it off so that it would coalesce public opinion behind a bogus war effort. But, we all screamed in unison, “We are afraid!” Protect our freedoms!” We took the bait and readily deferred to our elected leadership. The rest is history and Iraq is now trying to pick up the pieces and recreate a viable nation.
People who hold great power seem to have no trouble rationalizing the use of that power in the pursuit of empire. The entire fleet of U.S. battleships that served as the bait for a sneak attack by the Japanese in 1941 was ordered into Pearl Harbor by Executive Order of the President. That can be verified by a short book titled, “The Final Secrets of Pearl Harbor,” published in 1945 by a former Rear Admiral in the U.S. Navy; John T. Flynn. Why would we doubt that the same mind set could not surface in our time by those who have infinitely more power at their disposal than did President Roosevelt? The growing absence of transparency in our national affairs, the penchant for secrecy and the lust for power and influence, in my judgment, make that far more likely now than it did then. We are told that power for a sitting President to order the execution of an American citizen suspected of being a terrorist can now be exercised without any advice and consent from any other arm of government. Further, we have been assured by the incumbent President that he would never use that power. But, it remains on the books for those who follow him in office. Doesn’t that seem rather incongruous?
Make no mistake about it. Secrecy serves the interests of those who advocate its use. Transparency serves the people. Congress needs to do a better job of ensuring that secrecy is judicially used and they should enact a system of sunset laws that places a limited life on the use of that designation. We, the people, have a right to know what is being withheld from us, its attendant cost to us and why it was deemed necessary to shroud it in the cloak of secrecy.
Another concern I have is the extent to which we go to ensure that the people’s money is wisely committed and wisely spent. My confidence level on this issue is minimal, at best. I think the time has come for an independent body to undertake an audit of the entire budget and financial system, with a set of recommendations for legislation that will tighten up the system and comply with the provisions of the Constitution.
Another issue which I think is long overdue for study and revision is the system of rules, regulations and protocols that govern the way both houses of Congress carry out their business. From my perspective, it is unduly cumbersome and belies respect for governing by the majority. A group of constitutional lawyers and legislators could be brought together in order to accomplish the task, with the majority coming from outside the system.
That our entire system of government is badly broken is self-evident. But to try and clean it up is going to require a huge commitment, a lot of time and the will to make it happen. I think it is worth it. However, it cannot be left in the hands of one or the other of each political party, incumbent politicians or those who obviously have an inherent conflict of interest.
Politics, as it exists today, is a contest of who can most effectively lie their way out of or into a situation most convincingly. I, for one, would not be willing to entrust such an endeavor to that kind of mind set.
The Republican Party is, to my way of thinking, nothing short of pathetic. How anyone could possibly take seriously the current roster of those seeking the presidency boggles the human mind. Talk about an aversion to truth and morality! The only way they can function is with very simplistic solutions to very complex problems, a myopic view of the world and a healthy dose of fundamentalist religious dogma. As much as they might like to think so, I seriously doubt God talks to them any more than He talks to the rest of us.
The Democratic Party is no more credible than the Republicans. Both parties serve the same masters and feed on the same diet of graft and largesse. The liberals talk a good story but they don’t seem to want to be bothered with what is embodied in established law. Rather, they appear to be more inclined to whine about how unjust an issue is and believe that it can only be rectified through the machinations of a bleeding heart; the law and legal precedent be damned. That just doesn’t wash with me, either.
I don’t see how there can be justice without responsibility.
I was raised in a working class home. I was extremely fortunate to have benefitted from the G.I. Bill that gave me an education from one of the finest academic institutions in the world. I remain humbled by that opportunity. However, I am still mindful of the struggles that often went on in that childhood home when times were tough and money was scarce. But from that I learned the value of strength in numbers and a shared concern for the welfare of others. I regard the people with whom I grew up to be much better, over all, than most of those I encountered among the educated and accomplished I joined later in life. I listened to more acts of real compassion from those in the bunk house than I ever did in the board room. Ranch hands demonstrated more concern for a suffering animal than most doctors showed for suffering patients. Doing the right thing was the stuff of the former; making money was the stuff of the latter.
In today’s world, whenever I see people struggling to make ends meet, like the stranded middle-aged man trying to breathe life back into a very old pickup, or a young couple counting their limited funds in the aisle of the supermarket, trying to decide what is most important for the basic necessities of life, I am reminded of the tough times in my own life. There was more attention then to “we” and less to “me.” They demonstrated more empathy and concern for others, and would readily go that extra mile to help someone. I don’t see much of that these days. Rather, those who have the least are demonized. Those who manipulate the system and steal the most are revered by the centers of power that reward them with taxpayers’ money.
I honestly believe this country is at the precipice, looking down on the greatest peril in its entire history. It is beyond our entrenched political system to do anything meaningful to stop it. The moment when a significant change is even mentioned, they can be counted on to go into their defensive or compromising mode in an attempt to preserve all of the lucrative perks they enjoy, and which sets them above and apart from those of us they profess to represent and govern. Both pursuits are mutually exclusive. It isn’t going to happen unless we demand that it happen, and make sure the goal is for the collective benefit of everyone.
Anything short of a new political party that shares our common values and demonstrates the determination to convert those values into reality will never work. I think that is possible, but it won’t be easy. It will require an iron will and dedication from a great many committed and principled people. I don’t know if that is possible. But, if left with what we have, any semblance of what we once were will be relegated to the rubble of what remains of the greatest experiment in democracy known to mankind.
Time really is upon us to place the common good above our own vested self interests, lest the parasite already within us ultimately devours its host.
Rocky, when are you going to come off the sidelines and enter the game?
Cowboy Bob
The Sagebrush Philosopher
February 17, 2012
Friday, January 27, 2012
"Republicans or Democrats - We Can Do Better"
Well, our resident “chameleon” in the White House did not fail to disappoint those of us who still hold out faint hope that a real leader lurks somewhere within that human form. Not to worry; just more of the same. Yes, we got a lofty and inspiring speech. Yes, we got the usual dose of double-speak that sent mixed messages in order to assuage the opposition. We did get a bit more bluster rather akin to little more than the sounds of a terrified child shouting into the darkness hoping it will scare away the boogey men lurking in the shadows. But, that too, is old hat. He is either just naturally disingenuous, or he lacks the courage to be a real leader and a person of the people.
Barack is no more a real Democrat than Bill Clinton. They are political opportunists and elitist in the game for what will, ultimately, benefit them. Once Monica Lewinsky was history, Bill Clinton jumped into bed with Phil Gramm, Robert Rubin, Larry Summers and others of like ilk, and facilitated the complete deregulation of the financial industries. Their collective efforts laid the groundwork for the financial collapse of 2008 and beyond. Barack Obama was no sooner declared the winner of the election than he became the shadow president for Bill Clinton and all of the unsavory characters that enabled Clinton to become a very wealthy man. Obama imported every scheming character from Clinton’s Administration to serve as his chief advisors and surrogates, thereby ensuring a continuation of the Clinton agenda for another four and, hopefully, eight years. That army of corporate thugs was, in turn, augmented by bringing the very ones who helped to cause the financial crisis in as advisors or trusted members of the White House Staff.
Morality, as a tenet by which to live, fell out of vogue a very long time ago. One need only survey the landscape of Washington, D.C., its Virginia suburbs and Wall Street in order to draw that conclusion. To all of those who own the institutions of government and great wealth, morality is the stuff of fools. A cursory examination of the schism between the “haves” and “have-nots” proves the truth of that contrast.
Obama was convincing in his demonstration that he did, indeed, have a set of gonads. But, if one listened carefully, he threw out assurances to the opposition that he was still looking out for their interests with the casual mention of his intent to still “reform” Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. That was echoed by his lengthy exhortation regarding his intent to open all of the oil reserves in the United States for exploration to ensure our energy independence for years to come. “Hey, all you oligarchs and energy barons (wink, wink), I am still looking out for your interests.” The broader social welfare and the environment be damned.
Permit me to list but a few of his promises having to do with more transparency and restoring democracy to our system of government:
• Reinstatement of Glass-Steagall and regulation of the financial industries. How many big banks have been broken up? How many big banks have been investigated for criminal conduct? How many bank executives have been prosecuted and are now serving time? Where is the resurrected Glass-Steagall Act? Where are the consumer protection programs? Where are the remedies for the home mortgage crisis?
• Where are the improvements to our health care system? I am not convinced that “Obama Care” is all that it is cracked up to be. The jury is still out on that one. Only time will tell. But, what is the outcome of his staunch support for a “public option?” Where is the requirement that drug companies must negotiate with the government on prices? Where is the regulation of the health insurance companies?
• What happened to his commitment to reassess the fairness of the free trade agreements codified in NAFTA and CAFTA on American industries and workers?
• What happened to his commitment to do away with warrantless wiretapping and the closure of Guantanamo Bay?
• What happened to assigning responsibility for the Gulf oil crisis and the culpability of British Petroleum? Where are the remedies promised to all of the residents and businesses in that area?
• What happened to ending the Bush tax cuts?
• What happened to the prosecution of members of the Bush Administration who are culpable for the deception and war crimes leading up to and the prosecution of the so-called “War on Terror?”
• What happened to a meaningful and effective economic stimulus program that would have given our economy the thrust it needed and still desperately needs?
• Why are those who commit the crimes the very ones whose counsel is sought in drafting the remedies needed to prevent future crimes?
• Why does this country (ostensibly the “most powerful” one in the world) have to have a massive Department of Homeland Security that is draining our economy of hundreds of billions of dollars far beyond a threat the magnitude of which may not exist? Why are we one of but a handful of countries resorting to such measures?
• Why have we yet to see any meaningful brakes put on the military-industrial complex in order to reign in the gargantuan excesses that deprive our citizens of the help they desperately need, and that will solve the real problems of this country for the all the people of this country?
• Why has our entire civilian law enforcement establishment turned against peaceful demonstrators while protecting the interests of those who are guilty of the very infractions against which the protests are directed? Why are military grade weapons being used in order to subdue a peaceful civilian population?
Enough said. I think I have made my point. But, I have to confess I am utterly mystified as to why we, the aggrieved, allow those we elect to serve us to enjoy privileges, perquisites and the licentious freedoms that we deny ourselves? Why do we defer to political minds and dismiss authoritative minds? For example, global warming and climate change, and the efficacy and need for ever more sophisticated military hardware.
Our academic institutions are replete with people who have made it their life’s passion to acquire the knowledge and expertise necessary to accurately and critically assess all the ramifications of those issues, based on objective and solid evidence. Yet, we dismiss the advice of those very minds and readily accept and acquiesce to what others only think they know. One need only reflect on Dodd-Frank vs. the combined expertise of the finest collection of economic minds in the world that are resident in our colleges and universities.
What happened to the concept of “conflict of interest?” and its relevance to a law-abiding society?
We can play the blame game all we want, but in the final analysis we are where we are because we have brought it on ourselves. The Legislative, Executive and Judicial branches of government are hopelessly corrupt and self-serving because we have allowed them to engage in such behavior within the conduct of their offices. The more licenses we have allowed them the more blatant they have become in exploiting that trust for their own personal gain. When we no longer have standards to which we hold ourselves, how can we hold anyone else to any meaningful standards? Complacency is, by definition, the abdication of respect for and adherence to those standards.
Is it not now the time for us to take seriously the need to get money out of politics, take back our government and clean up the corruption in order to fairly and justly meet the needs of everyone in this country, and reclaim the revered and trusted place for the United States of America on the world stage in the 21st Century?
Has not the time come to call out the Democratic and Republican parties for what they are? They all feed on the same largesse derived from those who seek to use them in the service of exploiting the people they are supposed to serve. Let’s stop the demagoguery and the charade by those who seek to destroy what so many have worked and died for, all for the sake of their rapacious and insatiable greed. Has not the time come to take control of our own destiny, re-establish honesty in leadership and politics for a nation of people rather than a collection of fragmented and vested interests who don’t give one hoot in hell about those who labor in their service? Has not the time come to simply say “the jig is up,” and go back to a real democracy? We sure as hell can’t stray much further before we sink into the mire of history as just another failed civilization consigned to the history books.
The appetite of the parasite is never satisfied until the host is dead. The acrid stench of decay is in the air.
Cowboy Bob
January 27, 2012
Barack is no more a real Democrat than Bill Clinton. They are political opportunists and elitist in the game for what will, ultimately, benefit them. Once Monica Lewinsky was history, Bill Clinton jumped into bed with Phil Gramm, Robert Rubin, Larry Summers and others of like ilk, and facilitated the complete deregulation of the financial industries. Their collective efforts laid the groundwork for the financial collapse of 2008 and beyond. Barack Obama was no sooner declared the winner of the election than he became the shadow president for Bill Clinton and all of the unsavory characters that enabled Clinton to become a very wealthy man. Obama imported every scheming character from Clinton’s Administration to serve as his chief advisors and surrogates, thereby ensuring a continuation of the Clinton agenda for another four and, hopefully, eight years. That army of corporate thugs was, in turn, augmented by bringing the very ones who helped to cause the financial crisis in as advisors or trusted members of the White House Staff.
Morality, as a tenet by which to live, fell out of vogue a very long time ago. One need only survey the landscape of Washington, D.C., its Virginia suburbs and Wall Street in order to draw that conclusion. To all of those who own the institutions of government and great wealth, morality is the stuff of fools. A cursory examination of the schism between the “haves” and “have-nots” proves the truth of that contrast.
Obama was convincing in his demonstration that he did, indeed, have a set of gonads. But, if one listened carefully, he threw out assurances to the opposition that he was still looking out for their interests with the casual mention of his intent to still “reform” Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. That was echoed by his lengthy exhortation regarding his intent to open all of the oil reserves in the United States for exploration to ensure our energy independence for years to come. “Hey, all you oligarchs and energy barons (wink, wink), I am still looking out for your interests.” The broader social welfare and the environment be damned.
Permit me to list but a few of his promises having to do with more transparency and restoring democracy to our system of government:
• Reinstatement of Glass-Steagall and regulation of the financial industries. How many big banks have been broken up? How many big banks have been investigated for criminal conduct? How many bank executives have been prosecuted and are now serving time? Where is the resurrected Glass-Steagall Act? Where are the consumer protection programs? Where are the remedies for the home mortgage crisis?
• Where are the improvements to our health care system? I am not convinced that “Obama Care” is all that it is cracked up to be. The jury is still out on that one. Only time will tell. But, what is the outcome of his staunch support for a “public option?” Where is the requirement that drug companies must negotiate with the government on prices? Where is the regulation of the health insurance companies?
• What happened to his commitment to reassess the fairness of the free trade agreements codified in NAFTA and CAFTA on American industries and workers?
• What happened to his commitment to do away with warrantless wiretapping and the closure of Guantanamo Bay?
• What happened to assigning responsibility for the Gulf oil crisis and the culpability of British Petroleum? Where are the remedies promised to all of the residents and businesses in that area?
• What happened to ending the Bush tax cuts?
• What happened to the prosecution of members of the Bush Administration who are culpable for the deception and war crimes leading up to and the prosecution of the so-called “War on Terror?”
• What happened to a meaningful and effective economic stimulus program that would have given our economy the thrust it needed and still desperately needs?
• Why are those who commit the crimes the very ones whose counsel is sought in drafting the remedies needed to prevent future crimes?
• Why does this country (ostensibly the “most powerful” one in the world) have to have a massive Department of Homeland Security that is draining our economy of hundreds of billions of dollars far beyond a threat the magnitude of which may not exist? Why are we one of but a handful of countries resorting to such measures?
• Why have we yet to see any meaningful brakes put on the military-industrial complex in order to reign in the gargantuan excesses that deprive our citizens of the help they desperately need, and that will solve the real problems of this country for the all the people of this country?
• Why has our entire civilian law enforcement establishment turned against peaceful demonstrators while protecting the interests of those who are guilty of the very infractions against which the protests are directed? Why are military grade weapons being used in order to subdue a peaceful civilian population?
Enough said. I think I have made my point. But, I have to confess I am utterly mystified as to why we, the aggrieved, allow those we elect to serve us to enjoy privileges, perquisites and the licentious freedoms that we deny ourselves? Why do we defer to political minds and dismiss authoritative minds? For example, global warming and climate change, and the efficacy and need for ever more sophisticated military hardware.
Our academic institutions are replete with people who have made it their life’s passion to acquire the knowledge and expertise necessary to accurately and critically assess all the ramifications of those issues, based on objective and solid evidence. Yet, we dismiss the advice of those very minds and readily accept and acquiesce to what others only think they know. One need only reflect on Dodd-Frank vs. the combined expertise of the finest collection of economic minds in the world that are resident in our colleges and universities.
What happened to the concept of “conflict of interest?” and its relevance to a law-abiding society?
We can play the blame game all we want, but in the final analysis we are where we are because we have brought it on ourselves. The Legislative, Executive and Judicial branches of government are hopelessly corrupt and self-serving because we have allowed them to engage in such behavior within the conduct of their offices. The more licenses we have allowed them the more blatant they have become in exploiting that trust for their own personal gain. When we no longer have standards to which we hold ourselves, how can we hold anyone else to any meaningful standards? Complacency is, by definition, the abdication of respect for and adherence to those standards.
Is it not now the time for us to take seriously the need to get money out of politics, take back our government and clean up the corruption in order to fairly and justly meet the needs of everyone in this country, and reclaim the revered and trusted place for the United States of America on the world stage in the 21st Century?
Has not the time come to call out the Democratic and Republican parties for what they are? They all feed on the same largesse derived from those who seek to use them in the service of exploiting the people they are supposed to serve. Let’s stop the demagoguery and the charade by those who seek to destroy what so many have worked and died for, all for the sake of their rapacious and insatiable greed. Has not the time come to take control of our own destiny, re-establish honesty in leadership and politics for a nation of people rather than a collection of fragmented and vested interests who don’t give one hoot in hell about those who labor in their service? Has not the time come to simply say “the jig is up,” and go back to a real democracy? We sure as hell can’t stray much further before we sink into the mire of history as just another failed civilization consigned to the history books.
The appetite of the parasite is never satisfied until the host is dead. The acrid stench of decay is in the air.
Cowboy Bob
January 27, 2012
Thursday, January 26, 2012
"No Great Surprise"
For those of you who are concerned about what our government and the two major political parties have done and are doing to us, I strongly recommend you read both of the following articles. They say it ever so much better than I ever could, and they are short and to the point.
'HOW LARRY SUMMERS' MEMO HOBBLED OBAMA'S STIMULUS PLAN" The Obama administration's economic blueprint was fatally flawed: it led to a weak stimulus and premature deficit reduction, by Dean Baker - published on www.commondreams.org on January 25, 2012
'OBAMA'S FAUX POPULISM SOUNDS LIKE BILL CLINTON" by Robert Scheer - published on www.commondreams.org on January 26, 2012
Now there is a rumor floating around that Obama wants to appoint Larry Summers to head the World Bank. Now, I ask you, just how more incestuous can the relationship between Obama, Wall Street, Bill Clinton and all of his former cronies be?
We are being screwed without benefit of kiss, big time, folks. If ever there was a need for a new political party that is the real deal, it is now. Keep an eye on Rocky Anderson and his fledgling new political party, aptly named THE JUSTICE PARTY. Therein just might be our last and best hope.
Except for Dylan Ratigan and Martin Bashir, we can't count on anything but one endless stream of adoration and adulation for Obama by the other mainstream pundits on MSNBC, no matter what he does to us.
Keep well and keep informed.
Cowboy Bob
January 26, 2012
'HOW LARRY SUMMERS' MEMO HOBBLED OBAMA'S STIMULUS PLAN" The Obama administration's economic blueprint was fatally flawed: it led to a weak stimulus and premature deficit reduction, by Dean Baker - published on www.commondreams.org on January 25, 2012
'OBAMA'S FAUX POPULISM SOUNDS LIKE BILL CLINTON" by Robert Scheer - published on www.commondreams.org on January 26, 2012
Now there is a rumor floating around that Obama wants to appoint Larry Summers to head the World Bank. Now, I ask you, just how more incestuous can the relationship between Obama, Wall Street, Bill Clinton and all of his former cronies be?
We are being screwed without benefit of kiss, big time, folks. If ever there was a need for a new political party that is the real deal, it is now. Keep an eye on Rocky Anderson and his fledgling new political party, aptly named THE JUSTICE PARTY. Therein just might be our last and best hope.
Except for Dylan Ratigan and Martin Bashir, we can't count on anything but one endless stream of adoration and adulation for Obama by the other mainstream pundits on MSNBC, no matter what he does to us.
Keep well and keep informed.
Cowboy Bob
January 26, 2012
Friday, December 23, 2011
Merry Christmas
December 23, 2011
I was going to try and write something profound and inspiring, but my barrel of profundities seems to be empty and the cask of inspiration is dry. So, let me sincerely say that each of you is special in your own way, and you have enriched my life immeasurably. I am enlightened when we disagree and reassured when we agree.
I cannot recall a time in my life when our nation was in such disarray and when corruption was so pervasive and insidious. The bad guys really are in control and they are using every evil means available to warp the minds and demoralize the souls of those who live at their mercy. We really do have to be vigilant and seize every opportunity we can to purge our government and those they serve from the darkest and most sinister forces that seem to have an iron-clad grip on all of the institutions we rely on to keep this country healthy and vibrant, and those on whom we depend by electing them to office in the service of the people.
When human beings are reduced to the subsistence level and survival becomes their preeminent concern, we are not at our best. Let us raise our sights to a higher level, difficult though that may be. Let us see human suffering for what it is and not demonize those whose misfortunes we may not understand and whose burdens we may not appreciate. Let us set aside our own personal preoccupations and ask our Dear Lord to let each of us be an instrument of His will and His loving peace in every facet of our lives. Let us not be swayed by emotions, but enlightened by reason. Let us dedicate ourselves to rebuilding the "we" among us and keeping the "me" within us in perspective. I honestly believe that the better part of our nature does not lie within the physical and material dimensions of our existence but, rather, in the mystery of the spirit within us that we are taught to believe is the essence and the promise of eternal life.
As we join in celebrating the birth of Christ, let us, also, celebrate the magnificence of God's creation that resides within the human soul.
I wish each and every one of you a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year filled with real hope and promise for a better future.
Cowboy Bob
The Sagebrush Philosopher
I was going to try and write something profound and inspiring, but my barrel of profundities seems to be empty and the cask of inspiration is dry. So, let me sincerely say that each of you is special in your own way, and you have enriched my life immeasurably. I am enlightened when we disagree and reassured when we agree.
I cannot recall a time in my life when our nation was in such disarray and when corruption was so pervasive and insidious. The bad guys really are in control and they are using every evil means available to warp the minds and demoralize the souls of those who live at their mercy. We really do have to be vigilant and seize every opportunity we can to purge our government and those they serve from the darkest and most sinister forces that seem to have an iron-clad grip on all of the institutions we rely on to keep this country healthy and vibrant, and those on whom we depend by electing them to office in the service of the people.
When human beings are reduced to the subsistence level and survival becomes their preeminent concern, we are not at our best. Let us raise our sights to a higher level, difficult though that may be. Let us see human suffering for what it is and not demonize those whose misfortunes we may not understand and whose burdens we may not appreciate. Let us set aside our own personal preoccupations and ask our Dear Lord to let each of us be an instrument of His will and His loving peace in every facet of our lives. Let us not be swayed by emotions, but enlightened by reason. Let us dedicate ourselves to rebuilding the "we" among us and keeping the "me" within us in perspective. I honestly believe that the better part of our nature does not lie within the physical and material dimensions of our existence but, rather, in the mystery of the spirit within us that we are taught to believe is the essence and the promise of eternal life.
As we join in celebrating the birth of Christ, let us, also, celebrate the magnificence of God's creation that resides within the human soul.
I wish each and every one of you a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year filled with real hope and promise for a better future.
Cowboy Bob
The Sagebrush Philosopher
Sunday, November 13, 2011
“Vice is Nice, But Incest is Best”
As I have witnessed our system of government in action and the way in which we select the talent for the various positions in that system, it occurred to me that we really haven’t changed all that much since the Founding Fathers signed the papers that set this circus in motion. By what process did they deem that elected officials would, somehow, become the fount of all wisdom and virtue as they set themselves to the task of governing? Why do we so readily acquiesce to elected officials as having all of the knowledge, experience, honesty and integrity necessary to make the heady decisions endemic to our modern world? Why do we allow them to isolate themselves from the real folk of this grand republic, sequester themselves in the hallowed halls of their various branches of government and pander to vested interests for the information that best serves what is required in order to make “informed decisions” on our behalf and for the nation on the world stage?
It seems to me that what has evolved since the infancy of this country is the election of a collection of individuals who are anything but equipped to deal with the affairs of state and domestic health that are the very foundations of what government is all about. To presume political acumen is necessarily synonymous with what it takes to understand issues and make decisions based on evidence seems all rather naïve to me. We have, for all intents and purposes, created a system that is just crying out for compromise on principles and the ability to overlook corruption when it comes to individual integrity. They routinely do things that would not be tolerated by any reasonably good and honest business person.
What kind of business acumen would allow his/her employees to unilaterally determine their compensation and benefit packages, and bless the outcome with absolute authority? Does that make any sense to you? Why do they pass on issues of such monumental complexity and ramifications without having ever consulted experience and expert advice? Doesn’t that seem rather arrogant and self-serving? It is akin to using the barter system as the basis for a contemporary retail business.
What qualifies the Senate and the House to evaluate and rule on complex issues of our day? A general education and background hardly qualifies one for an intelligent, informed assessment of the myriad issues submitted to them for deliberation and action. What qualifies the President to sit in private meetings with the barons of Wall Street, the shysters of the health care industries, those who peddle prescription drugs at vastly inflated prices and still come to terms on issues that are vital to the citizens of this country, and who will be affected for years after those decisions are made? It is a system tailor made for the massive corruption we have today. Is it any wonder that huge amounts of money flow into their coffers in exchange for decisions favorable to their vested interests? It seems that elementary Aristotelian logic would require that good decisions be made on the basis of verifiable facts and sound knowledge. Corruption flourishes on graft. Academicians have the knowledge we require. Peddlers of influence favor the use of shady deals in order to buy the influence they need in order to plunder the taxpayers treasure and fuel their insatiable greed.
This country has some of the finest colleges and universities in the world, staffed by some of the greatest academic minds the world has ever known. Why don’t we require that those who legislate avail themselves of that talent and require that it be applied to the vital issues of the day in this country? Can it be done? You bet it can. All it would take is a good system of checks and balances that would prohibit conflicts of interest, and money in politics. It would, no doubt, prove to be far less costly than the so-called campaign contributions they demand for their services. We need to keep reminding ourselves that they work for us, the people who put them in office and who pay the taxes to support what they are required to do on our behalf. Moreover, we need to insist on a demonstrated ability to provide the leadership we expect before we cast our ballot for the next resident at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Further, the exalted and omnipotent position enjoyed by the Supreme Court needs to be toned down so they, too, are constantly aware of the fact that their “judgment” does not trump the will of the American people.
I place a lot of stock in leadership. It may well be that one can learn the principles of leadership, but the actual practice of leadership is not only the knowledge of what it is all about, but that rare intuitive ability to make it all happen against the backdrop of what is inherently known to be right and just. Compromise is the stuff of obsequious sycophants, not leaders. Haven’t we had enough of those who pretend to be leaders? Isn’t it time to declare an end to the charade and get back to basics? Isn’t it time to tell all the demagogues that “enough is enough?” Isn’t it time to tell those who seek public office that we hold absolute honesty and integrity paramount for daring to claim the right to represent any and all of us? Isn’t it time to call out all of those who pretend to have mastered the art and science of politics for what they are? Frankly, I am tired of seeing them wrap themselves in mantles of virtue and expect me to trust them? The proof is in the pudding, as the old adage goes, "Actions speak louder than words."
The President of the United States has failed the American people. The House of Representatives and the Senate have failed the American people. The Supreme Court has failed the American people. The entire banking system has failed the American people. The military/industrial complex has failed the American people. The Republican Party has failed the American people. The Democratic Party has failed the American people. The “Tea Party” has failed the American people. Corporate America has failed the American people. The oligarchs and plutocrats have failed the American people. They all swim in the same cesspool of humanity that has brought this nation to the brink of destruction.
No matter how imperfect their movement may be, is it not time for all of us on the sidelines to stand, take off our hats and salute every one in the “Occupy Wall Street” movement for at least recognizing that enough is enough? In my humble pinion, they are the personification of what real democracy is all about.
To paraphrase the wisdom of Benjamin Franklin, has not the time come to give new meaning to “Believe none of what we hear and only half of what we see?” Is it not time for us to call out the demagogues who persistently and relentlessly engage in a frontal assault on our finest angels? Haven’t we had enough of their deceptive practices and empty words, and who flaunt our system of laws? Has not the time come for us to tell them to “pack up your tents and steal into the darkness from whence you came?”
The purveyors of hate and violence have no place among peace-loving people. And, it is the peace-loving people who genuinely seek answers to the tough questions that best serve us all and not just the will of a few. Those who labor in the quest for truth and justice are to be revered; those who revel in ignorance are to be pitied.
Cowboy Bob
The Sagebrush Philosopher
November 13, 2011
Support a Constitutional Amendment to “Get Money Out of Politics.”
It seems to me that what has evolved since the infancy of this country is the election of a collection of individuals who are anything but equipped to deal with the affairs of state and domestic health that are the very foundations of what government is all about. To presume political acumen is necessarily synonymous with what it takes to understand issues and make decisions based on evidence seems all rather naïve to me. We have, for all intents and purposes, created a system that is just crying out for compromise on principles and the ability to overlook corruption when it comes to individual integrity. They routinely do things that would not be tolerated by any reasonably good and honest business person.
What kind of business acumen would allow his/her employees to unilaterally determine their compensation and benefit packages, and bless the outcome with absolute authority? Does that make any sense to you? Why do they pass on issues of such monumental complexity and ramifications without having ever consulted experience and expert advice? Doesn’t that seem rather arrogant and self-serving? It is akin to using the barter system as the basis for a contemporary retail business.
What qualifies the Senate and the House to evaluate and rule on complex issues of our day? A general education and background hardly qualifies one for an intelligent, informed assessment of the myriad issues submitted to them for deliberation and action. What qualifies the President to sit in private meetings with the barons of Wall Street, the shysters of the health care industries, those who peddle prescription drugs at vastly inflated prices and still come to terms on issues that are vital to the citizens of this country, and who will be affected for years after those decisions are made? It is a system tailor made for the massive corruption we have today. Is it any wonder that huge amounts of money flow into their coffers in exchange for decisions favorable to their vested interests? It seems that elementary Aristotelian logic would require that good decisions be made on the basis of verifiable facts and sound knowledge. Corruption flourishes on graft. Academicians have the knowledge we require. Peddlers of influence favor the use of shady deals in order to buy the influence they need in order to plunder the taxpayers treasure and fuel their insatiable greed.
This country has some of the finest colleges and universities in the world, staffed by some of the greatest academic minds the world has ever known. Why don’t we require that those who legislate avail themselves of that talent and require that it be applied to the vital issues of the day in this country? Can it be done? You bet it can. All it would take is a good system of checks and balances that would prohibit conflicts of interest, and money in politics. It would, no doubt, prove to be far less costly than the so-called campaign contributions they demand for their services. We need to keep reminding ourselves that they work for us, the people who put them in office and who pay the taxes to support what they are required to do on our behalf. Moreover, we need to insist on a demonstrated ability to provide the leadership we expect before we cast our ballot for the next resident at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Further, the exalted and omnipotent position enjoyed by the Supreme Court needs to be toned down so they, too, are constantly aware of the fact that their “judgment” does not trump the will of the American people.
I place a lot of stock in leadership. It may well be that one can learn the principles of leadership, but the actual practice of leadership is not only the knowledge of what it is all about, but that rare intuitive ability to make it all happen against the backdrop of what is inherently known to be right and just. Compromise is the stuff of obsequious sycophants, not leaders. Haven’t we had enough of those who pretend to be leaders? Isn’t it time to declare an end to the charade and get back to basics? Isn’t it time to tell all the demagogues that “enough is enough?” Isn’t it time to tell those who seek public office that we hold absolute honesty and integrity paramount for daring to claim the right to represent any and all of us? Isn’t it time to call out all of those who pretend to have mastered the art and science of politics for what they are? Frankly, I am tired of seeing them wrap themselves in mantles of virtue and expect me to trust them? The proof is in the pudding, as the old adage goes, "Actions speak louder than words."
The President of the United States has failed the American people. The House of Representatives and the Senate have failed the American people. The Supreme Court has failed the American people. The entire banking system has failed the American people. The military/industrial complex has failed the American people. The Republican Party has failed the American people. The Democratic Party has failed the American people. The “Tea Party” has failed the American people. Corporate America has failed the American people. The oligarchs and plutocrats have failed the American people. They all swim in the same cesspool of humanity that has brought this nation to the brink of destruction.
No matter how imperfect their movement may be, is it not time for all of us on the sidelines to stand, take off our hats and salute every one in the “Occupy Wall Street” movement for at least recognizing that enough is enough? In my humble pinion, they are the personification of what real democracy is all about.
To paraphrase the wisdom of Benjamin Franklin, has not the time come to give new meaning to “Believe none of what we hear and only half of what we see?” Is it not time for us to call out the demagogues who persistently and relentlessly engage in a frontal assault on our finest angels? Haven’t we had enough of their deceptive practices and empty words, and who flaunt our system of laws? Has not the time come for us to tell them to “pack up your tents and steal into the darkness from whence you came?”
The purveyors of hate and violence have no place among peace-loving people. And, it is the peace-loving people who genuinely seek answers to the tough questions that best serve us all and not just the will of a few. Those who labor in the quest for truth and justice are to be revered; those who revel in ignorance are to be pitied.
Cowboy Bob
The Sagebrush Philosopher
November 13, 2011
Support a Constitutional Amendment to “Get Money Out of Politics.”
Friday, October 28, 2011
"Nothing Less Than Substantive Change Will Do"
It can be said with some degree of certainty that I am on the downside of the mountain when it comes to the average life expectancy for Homo sapiens. However, with age comes a resignation to the fact that all of life’s lessons were not learned in the classroom. I have come to realize that a sizeable portion of that education came from the native wisdom garnered from the people who walked in and out of my life over the years.
I was extremely fortunate to have had the privilege of being born and raised in the State of Wyoming. It was (and still is) a sparsely populated state occupied by people who were not afraid to be genuine. Generally speaking, they were people who took pride in being rugged individualists, but rarely ruthless. They could see wisdom in the most basic and simple forms of life, and the resultant behaviors that emanated from their unique makeup. I leaned a lot from the weathered faces of ranchers and ranch hands who grew up on and where they worked at being “real” cowboys, a labor of love throughout most of their lives. I learned a lot from the people who inhabited those small towns, looked out for each other and genuinely cared about their common lot. I grew up in a poor family, but when I left to go out into the bigger world, I took with me a wealth of life’s gems and the lessons I was taught that would sustain me for the rest of my life. Little did I realize at that stage of my life just how precious it was to become in the years ahead.
When I entered university little did I imagine that I would encounter the personification of that wisdom and the colorful patterns of speech I had taken with me as part of my youthful legacy. She was a Professor of English, but her name escapes me. At that time, I would estimate she was in her fifties. She was a bit on the full-figured side, with a head of hair dyed to a flaming red. She had blue eyes and an infectious laugh that kept things on a lighter note, but laced with profundities gained from her life’s experiences. She did her doctoral dissertation on the swearing habits of Alaskan Sourdoughs. She would often remark that there was no better music to her ears than someone who could swear with conviction. She regarded swearing as a colorful enhancement to what might have been an otherwise boring form of speech. She pitied those who were offended by mere “words,” and those who could not see beyond the form to the substance of what was being said. She, also, admonished us to cultivate the friendship of those who would enrich our lives, comparing them to the cracked pepper on the “salad of life.” An integral part of their makeup would be the ability to use colorful language to make a point and to spice up what could easily have been a dull and uninteresting verbal discourse.
With this rather protracted introduction, let me warn you that I intend to use a few bits of “salty” language in this piece of writing which some may find offensive. Should that be the case, so be it. I make no apologies for my choice of words.
I continue to be more than mildly disappointed at where we are, as a nation, given our politics and the institutions of government that flow from them. I see the whole lot as being so corrupt that the stench of what they are and all they represent would make a host of celestial beings vomit. They are all cut from the same cloth and have not one modicum of shame at pandering to those who own their very souls in exchange for the favors they are pledged to return to their benefactors. There isn’t one branch of government that is immune to this pernicious corruption and the evil use of power it has spawned. But, it seems as if none is willing or has the courage to call them out on it. Rather, they seem more inclined to focus on what they want to believe and ignore what they find disparaging of their beliefs. None does this better than the cadre of television personalities who just cannot bring themselves to be honest about what is really going on around us, with the attendant consequence of literally destroying our system of government.
Barack Obama, is aided and abetted by prominent figures from the Clinton Administration, Bill Clinton himself, and the myriad members of the Democratic Party who have no compunction about compromising their characters for the sake of a buck. They are, at the end of the day, nothing more than the “kissing cousins,” of their Republican counterparts. The mainstream news media have no trouble in serving as the willing accomplices to the mass deception being perpetrated against the American people. As an old cowboy once said, “They are like an old bull with one horn and one testicle. They can’t fuck nor fight; all he can do is bellow and shit.”
Several of the commentators on MSNBC, who I regard as real champions of the working class and poor of this country, just cannot bring themselves to fairly criticize the President for his consistent betrayal of the American people. All it would take to throw that entire issue into sharp relief would be to engage a couple of broadcast interns, have them prepare a grid, then identify all of the promises Barack Obama made in his quest for the White House in 2008, versus the actual outcome of those campaign promises in their final form. I have no doubt that it would boggle the mind to clearly see and to realize just how consistent he has been in his wholesale sellout of the Democratic Party and the people of this country, all justified in the name of bipartisanship. Give me a break!
The President isn’t the only one who seems to be infected with “Potomac Fever.” That is a malady which has been endemic in our nation’s capitol for much too long. The symptoms are a genuine belief in the arrogance of privilege. They really believe there is one set of rules that apply to the governed and one set of rules that apply to those who govern. The rule of law is much more absolute and stringent for the former and much more flexible and permissive for the latter. Those who are elected to office vs. the electorate are worlds apart. A two-class society, if you will, and still growing. What is so repugnant is that those in power honestly believe in the overriding sense of entitlement they practice, with little or no empathy for those who must bear the cost of and suffer the consequences for what has been unleashed upon us without our consent. It isn’t just Wall Street; it is all that is subsumed within the Beltway, as well. Make no mistake about it.
We seem to be locked into a persistent state of self-delusion. We just cannot bring ourselves to the point of expressing our outrage at the way we are treated by the “privileged class,” so we just continue to bitch and take it with no real organized effort to rectify the situation. No one can convince me that there aren’t a few very well qualified leaders out there who are both honest and have the courage to embark on a program that would restore a sense of equality and justice that would apply to everyone. As much as I would like to see it happen, I don’t believe that time is on the side of creating a viable third political party that could challenge those ensconced in power within the two-party system. However, by identifying those few who are real leaders and who do have a sense of fairness within the fabric of their being, I have no doubt that a strong alternative could be groomed in sufficient time to effectively challenge Barack Obama for the presidential nomination of the Democratic Party in 2012. He or she just might shake the very foundation of all the self-righteous whores who flaunt their ability to effectively screw the common people of this country. Who, I ask you, in their right mind could honestly trust any of them to be genuine? There just has to be a concerned and interested group of people out there who have the means and the talent to make that happen.
Where are they and why don’t they come out of the shadows?” Why don’t they ferret out the views of a few real ‘Progressives” like David Michael Green at Hofstra University, Bill Moyers, Chris Hedges, David DeGraw, Tom Hartmann, Robert Reich, Alan Grayson, Bernie Sanders and others of like mind?
I am thinking of people like Dylan Ratigan, Cenk Uygur, Keith Olbermann, all of whom have positions of high visibility and prominence, and those known by others with similar concerns. I am thinking of people like Eliot Spitzer, Alan Grayson, Elizabeth Warren, Peter DeFazio and others who make no bones of how seriously they see the lay of the land at the present time. Every one of them has the determination and the tenacity to light a spark that just might evoke the changes that we need to make.
Just step back and take a long, hard look at what we really have within the two-party system. It can be summed up in the words of that Wyoming Cowboy reputed to have once said, “They don’t know if they are afoot or horseback.” If a determined effort is not made to break the franchise of the status quo within the two major political parties, we are going to end up with just more of the same in the wake of the next national election that could cost further imperil the democracy in which have placed all our dreams for the future. I honestly believe that is within the realm of possibility. The demonstrations of the Occupy Wall Street marches across this nation underscore that concern.
Cowboy Bob
The Sagebrush Philosopher
October 28, 2011
I was extremely fortunate to have had the privilege of being born and raised in the State of Wyoming. It was (and still is) a sparsely populated state occupied by people who were not afraid to be genuine. Generally speaking, they were people who took pride in being rugged individualists, but rarely ruthless. They could see wisdom in the most basic and simple forms of life, and the resultant behaviors that emanated from their unique makeup. I leaned a lot from the weathered faces of ranchers and ranch hands who grew up on and where they worked at being “real” cowboys, a labor of love throughout most of their lives. I learned a lot from the people who inhabited those small towns, looked out for each other and genuinely cared about their common lot. I grew up in a poor family, but when I left to go out into the bigger world, I took with me a wealth of life’s gems and the lessons I was taught that would sustain me for the rest of my life. Little did I realize at that stage of my life just how precious it was to become in the years ahead.
When I entered university little did I imagine that I would encounter the personification of that wisdom and the colorful patterns of speech I had taken with me as part of my youthful legacy. She was a Professor of English, but her name escapes me. At that time, I would estimate she was in her fifties. She was a bit on the full-figured side, with a head of hair dyed to a flaming red. She had blue eyes and an infectious laugh that kept things on a lighter note, but laced with profundities gained from her life’s experiences. She did her doctoral dissertation on the swearing habits of Alaskan Sourdoughs. She would often remark that there was no better music to her ears than someone who could swear with conviction. She regarded swearing as a colorful enhancement to what might have been an otherwise boring form of speech. She pitied those who were offended by mere “words,” and those who could not see beyond the form to the substance of what was being said. She, also, admonished us to cultivate the friendship of those who would enrich our lives, comparing them to the cracked pepper on the “salad of life.” An integral part of their makeup would be the ability to use colorful language to make a point and to spice up what could easily have been a dull and uninteresting verbal discourse.
With this rather protracted introduction, let me warn you that I intend to use a few bits of “salty” language in this piece of writing which some may find offensive. Should that be the case, so be it. I make no apologies for my choice of words.
I continue to be more than mildly disappointed at where we are, as a nation, given our politics and the institutions of government that flow from them. I see the whole lot as being so corrupt that the stench of what they are and all they represent would make a host of celestial beings vomit. They are all cut from the same cloth and have not one modicum of shame at pandering to those who own their very souls in exchange for the favors they are pledged to return to their benefactors. There isn’t one branch of government that is immune to this pernicious corruption and the evil use of power it has spawned. But, it seems as if none is willing or has the courage to call them out on it. Rather, they seem more inclined to focus on what they want to believe and ignore what they find disparaging of their beliefs. None does this better than the cadre of television personalities who just cannot bring themselves to be honest about what is really going on around us, with the attendant consequence of literally destroying our system of government.
Barack Obama, is aided and abetted by prominent figures from the Clinton Administration, Bill Clinton himself, and the myriad members of the Democratic Party who have no compunction about compromising their characters for the sake of a buck. They are, at the end of the day, nothing more than the “kissing cousins,” of their Republican counterparts. The mainstream news media have no trouble in serving as the willing accomplices to the mass deception being perpetrated against the American people. As an old cowboy once said, “They are like an old bull with one horn and one testicle. They can’t fuck nor fight; all he can do is bellow and shit.”
Several of the commentators on MSNBC, who I regard as real champions of the working class and poor of this country, just cannot bring themselves to fairly criticize the President for his consistent betrayal of the American people. All it would take to throw that entire issue into sharp relief would be to engage a couple of broadcast interns, have them prepare a grid, then identify all of the promises Barack Obama made in his quest for the White House in 2008, versus the actual outcome of those campaign promises in their final form. I have no doubt that it would boggle the mind to clearly see and to realize just how consistent he has been in his wholesale sellout of the Democratic Party and the people of this country, all justified in the name of bipartisanship. Give me a break!
The President isn’t the only one who seems to be infected with “Potomac Fever.” That is a malady which has been endemic in our nation’s capitol for much too long. The symptoms are a genuine belief in the arrogance of privilege. They really believe there is one set of rules that apply to the governed and one set of rules that apply to those who govern. The rule of law is much more absolute and stringent for the former and much more flexible and permissive for the latter. Those who are elected to office vs. the electorate are worlds apart. A two-class society, if you will, and still growing. What is so repugnant is that those in power honestly believe in the overriding sense of entitlement they practice, with little or no empathy for those who must bear the cost of and suffer the consequences for what has been unleashed upon us without our consent. It isn’t just Wall Street; it is all that is subsumed within the Beltway, as well. Make no mistake about it.
We seem to be locked into a persistent state of self-delusion. We just cannot bring ourselves to the point of expressing our outrage at the way we are treated by the “privileged class,” so we just continue to bitch and take it with no real organized effort to rectify the situation. No one can convince me that there aren’t a few very well qualified leaders out there who are both honest and have the courage to embark on a program that would restore a sense of equality and justice that would apply to everyone. As much as I would like to see it happen, I don’t believe that time is on the side of creating a viable third political party that could challenge those ensconced in power within the two-party system. However, by identifying those few who are real leaders and who do have a sense of fairness within the fabric of their being, I have no doubt that a strong alternative could be groomed in sufficient time to effectively challenge Barack Obama for the presidential nomination of the Democratic Party in 2012. He or she just might shake the very foundation of all the self-righteous whores who flaunt their ability to effectively screw the common people of this country. Who, I ask you, in their right mind could honestly trust any of them to be genuine? There just has to be a concerned and interested group of people out there who have the means and the talent to make that happen.
Where are they and why don’t they come out of the shadows?” Why don’t they ferret out the views of a few real ‘Progressives” like David Michael Green at Hofstra University, Bill Moyers, Chris Hedges, David DeGraw, Tom Hartmann, Robert Reich, Alan Grayson, Bernie Sanders and others of like mind?
I am thinking of people like Dylan Ratigan, Cenk Uygur, Keith Olbermann, all of whom have positions of high visibility and prominence, and those known by others with similar concerns. I am thinking of people like Eliot Spitzer, Alan Grayson, Elizabeth Warren, Peter DeFazio and others who make no bones of how seriously they see the lay of the land at the present time. Every one of them has the determination and the tenacity to light a spark that just might evoke the changes that we need to make.
Just step back and take a long, hard look at what we really have within the two-party system. It can be summed up in the words of that Wyoming Cowboy reputed to have once said, “They don’t know if they are afoot or horseback.” If a determined effort is not made to break the franchise of the status quo within the two major political parties, we are going to end up with just more of the same in the wake of the next national election that could cost further imperil the democracy in which have placed all our dreams for the future. I honestly believe that is within the realm of possibility. The demonstrations of the Occupy Wall Street marches across this nation underscore that concern.
Cowboy Bob
The Sagebrush Philosopher
October 28, 2011
Saturday, October 22, 2011
“How Much More of This Bull Puckey Are We Doomed to Suffer?”
I must confess that I have more than a cursory interest in national and international affairs. I follow both closely and from a variety of news sources. I probably spend a disproportionate amount of my time on those sources of news with a more liberal orientation, given my political philosophy. However, I don’t place much confidence in sources that tend to skew their reporting at the expense of an honest effort to be objective. Given that perspective, I have been reasonably satisfied with MSNBC until recently. It seems to me that there is a decided bias in favor of the current administration with a disinclination to be critical of President Obama and his performance in office.
I don’t think it is a stretch to conclude, after lo these many months in office that the Obama Administration is clearly in the camp of big business, big money and the military/industrial complex, and his apparent confidence in Bill Clinton to keep him on target. His domestic agenda and actions on behalf of the working and poor people of this country have, for all intents and purposes, been difficult, if not impossible, to identify. To be sure, he talks a good story, but when it comes to delivering the goods, it is not to be found. All of our more recent Presidents seem to have an aversion to making an appearance with the common folk of this country. But, do they ever covet the title of “Commander-in-Chief.” It is always a better photo op when they can stand before a backdrop of cadets at one of the U.S. military academies, or a group of uniformed service men and women at one of our myriad military bases around the world. It almost brings a lump to my throat.
Despite the President’s aversion to the needs of the common people of this country, of which, to his eternal credit, Ed Schultz is a staunch advocate. But he only seems to get on his soapbox when “The President” does something extraordinary, like approving the assassination of terrorists in Afghanistan, Yemen and, more recently, his praise for the tangential part Obama may have played in the ultimate demise of Mummar Kaddafi by the rebels in Libya. I hardly consider that to be of particular significance when viewed against the backdrop of his faint support for the bottom one percent of Americans suffering through the greatest economic calamity since the Great Depression. In the three years he has been in office, the most glaring example of his “support” for the plight of the average American is his recent signing of yet another series of free trade agreements with Columbia, Honduras and South Korea at a cost of an estimated 200,000 American jobs. Now I ask you, is that “change we can believe in?” If my memory serves me correctly, as he was campaigning for the presidency in 2008, he promised to “renegotiate” NAFTA and CAFTA so they would be more favorable to American workers. I don’t recall that ever happening, do you?
Lawrence O’Donnell is, without question, a very bright man with a keen analytical mind. His commentaries and serious dissection of the salient issues of the day are, indeed, impressive and worth the time and effort it takes to listen. He spends a significant amount of his time extolling the virtues of immigration and what it has done for this country. But, how many times have you heard him mention the word “illegal,” as a preface to the word “immigrant?” Have I missed something? There is, in my mind, a distinct difference between their circumstances and that of those who came to our shores, legally, worked their way up the social/economic ladder and were assimilated into the fabric of American society. No small achievement, particularly when compared to those who seek a fast tract to the top at the expense of the American taxpayer. Frankly that offends my sense of fairness. I am a great believer that the rule of law applies to everyone, equally. I don’t see that same degree of objectivity reflected in the narratives of Lawrence O’Donnell. It seems as if there is a double standard. One for those who can walk across our Southern Border unencumbered vs. those who have to traverse oceans and continents only to find that, when they arrive, they don’t meet the immigration quotas for their nationality. That same mindset seems to be an unspoken strategy of a Democratic Party seeking to expand its political base.
Rachel Maddow is, without doubt, one of the brightest stars in the MSNBC lineup of news personalities. She is brilliant, knows her stuff and is always extremely well prepared. At times, she gets on a soapbox when it comes to some issues I respect her brilliance, her tenacity and her determination.
I think Dylan Ratigan is one of the superstars of MSNBC. His integrity as a journalist is reflected in his daily news program, always featuring a good group of guests, and he doesn’t shy away from controversy. He has a keen and insightful perspective on newsworthy issues and works to keep a balanced view. I am surprised he hasn’t had his wings clipped by senior management for his courage and candor, given the posture of NBC as a pillar in the mainstream news media.
Lastly, and certainly an indictment of the big wigs in the NBC news organization, is the fate suffered by Keith Olbermann and Cenk Uygur at their hands. The mere fact that the NBC hierarchy decided to end their relationship speaks volumes about the objectivity and the integrity of their news organization. It simply confirms that there is a very fine line between real journalism and journalism as it applies to the bias of NBC News, and the power structure that owns and controls our government. It doesn’t take a lot of moxie to figure that one out.
As for Fox News and their ilk, well all they have to do is open their mouths in order to remove any doubt that there might be a brain behind their constant diatribe and prevarications.
Like our government and all that comprises it, the mainstream news media is, at the end of the day, owned lock, stock and barrel by the wealthy elite and the power structure they serve. The people of the United States of America’s interests be damned.
If Obama, or any of those comprising the lunatic opposition running against him, gets elected to the Presidency in 2012, it will surely be one of the biggest travesties to have ever been visited on the people of this country.
I would like to see the movement, www.getmoneyout.com, spearheaded by Dylan Ratigan and seeking an amendment to the Constitution, succeed beyond our wildest dreams, and restore this country and its democratic system of government to its rightful owners, the American people. Ideally, I would like to see a new political party emerge that would relegate the incestuous relationship between Republicans and Democrats to obscurity for having sold out the country in the pursuit of their own greedy ambitions and those of the masters they so willingly serve.
Short of any of the above, I still believe that Eliot Spitzer could easily challenge Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination for President in 2012. We urgently need a real leader who has the intelligence, the determination and the courage to do the job for which he was elected. Eliot Spitzer has proven himself in that regard both as the Attorney General and, subsequently, as Governor of New York. I honestly believe he would be a President for all the people.
Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama have all established themselves as consummate masters of deception in the service of their country. Eliot Spitzer has been forthcoming and truthful. The others? Well I leave that to your judgment. But, wouldn’t it be refreshing to see a renaissance in real leadership and a new direction that would serve the interests of the entire nation for a “change?”
Frankly, I have had enough of “you vs. me.” Isn’t it time to have another go at “us?”
Cowboy Bob
The Sagebrush Philosopher
October 21, 2011
I don’t think it is a stretch to conclude, after lo these many months in office that the Obama Administration is clearly in the camp of big business, big money and the military/industrial complex, and his apparent confidence in Bill Clinton to keep him on target. His domestic agenda and actions on behalf of the working and poor people of this country have, for all intents and purposes, been difficult, if not impossible, to identify. To be sure, he talks a good story, but when it comes to delivering the goods, it is not to be found. All of our more recent Presidents seem to have an aversion to making an appearance with the common folk of this country. But, do they ever covet the title of “Commander-in-Chief.” It is always a better photo op when they can stand before a backdrop of cadets at one of the U.S. military academies, or a group of uniformed service men and women at one of our myriad military bases around the world. It almost brings a lump to my throat.
Despite the President’s aversion to the needs of the common people of this country, of which, to his eternal credit, Ed Schultz is a staunch advocate. But he only seems to get on his soapbox when “The President” does something extraordinary, like approving the assassination of terrorists in Afghanistan, Yemen and, more recently, his praise for the tangential part Obama may have played in the ultimate demise of Mummar Kaddafi by the rebels in Libya. I hardly consider that to be of particular significance when viewed against the backdrop of his faint support for the bottom one percent of Americans suffering through the greatest economic calamity since the Great Depression. In the three years he has been in office, the most glaring example of his “support” for the plight of the average American is his recent signing of yet another series of free trade agreements with Columbia, Honduras and South Korea at a cost of an estimated 200,000 American jobs. Now I ask you, is that “change we can believe in?” If my memory serves me correctly, as he was campaigning for the presidency in 2008, he promised to “renegotiate” NAFTA and CAFTA so they would be more favorable to American workers. I don’t recall that ever happening, do you?
Lawrence O’Donnell is, without question, a very bright man with a keen analytical mind. His commentaries and serious dissection of the salient issues of the day are, indeed, impressive and worth the time and effort it takes to listen. He spends a significant amount of his time extolling the virtues of immigration and what it has done for this country. But, how many times have you heard him mention the word “illegal,” as a preface to the word “immigrant?” Have I missed something? There is, in my mind, a distinct difference between their circumstances and that of those who came to our shores, legally, worked their way up the social/economic ladder and were assimilated into the fabric of American society. No small achievement, particularly when compared to those who seek a fast tract to the top at the expense of the American taxpayer. Frankly that offends my sense of fairness. I am a great believer that the rule of law applies to everyone, equally. I don’t see that same degree of objectivity reflected in the narratives of Lawrence O’Donnell. It seems as if there is a double standard. One for those who can walk across our Southern Border unencumbered vs. those who have to traverse oceans and continents only to find that, when they arrive, they don’t meet the immigration quotas for their nationality. That same mindset seems to be an unspoken strategy of a Democratic Party seeking to expand its political base.
Rachel Maddow is, without doubt, one of the brightest stars in the MSNBC lineup of news personalities. She is brilliant, knows her stuff and is always extremely well prepared. At times, she gets on a soapbox when it comes to some issues I respect her brilliance, her tenacity and her determination.
I think Dylan Ratigan is one of the superstars of MSNBC. His integrity as a journalist is reflected in his daily news program, always featuring a good group of guests, and he doesn’t shy away from controversy. He has a keen and insightful perspective on newsworthy issues and works to keep a balanced view. I am surprised he hasn’t had his wings clipped by senior management for his courage and candor, given the posture of NBC as a pillar in the mainstream news media.
Lastly, and certainly an indictment of the big wigs in the NBC news organization, is the fate suffered by Keith Olbermann and Cenk Uygur at their hands. The mere fact that the NBC hierarchy decided to end their relationship speaks volumes about the objectivity and the integrity of their news organization. It simply confirms that there is a very fine line between real journalism and journalism as it applies to the bias of NBC News, and the power structure that owns and controls our government. It doesn’t take a lot of moxie to figure that one out.
As for Fox News and their ilk, well all they have to do is open their mouths in order to remove any doubt that there might be a brain behind their constant diatribe and prevarications.
Like our government and all that comprises it, the mainstream news media is, at the end of the day, owned lock, stock and barrel by the wealthy elite and the power structure they serve. The people of the United States of America’s interests be damned.
If Obama, or any of those comprising the lunatic opposition running against him, gets elected to the Presidency in 2012, it will surely be one of the biggest travesties to have ever been visited on the people of this country.
I would like to see the movement, www.getmoneyout.com, spearheaded by Dylan Ratigan and seeking an amendment to the Constitution, succeed beyond our wildest dreams, and restore this country and its democratic system of government to its rightful owners, the American people. Ideally, I would like to see a new political party emerge that would relegate the incestuous relationship between Republicans and Democrats to obscurity for having sold out the country in the pursuit of their own greedy ambitions and those of the masters they so willingly serve.
Short of any of the above, I still believe that Eliot Spitzer could easily challenge Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination for President in 2012. We urgently need a real leader who has the intelligence, the determination and the courage to do the job for which he was elected. Eliot Spitzer has proven himself in that regard both as the Attorney General and, subsequently, as Governor of New York. I honestly believe he would be a President for all the people.
Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama have all established themselves as consummate masters of deception in the service of their country. Eliot Spitzer has been forthcoming and truthful. The others? Well I leave that to your judgment. But, wouldn’t it be refreshing to see a renaissance in real leadership and a new direction that would serve the interests of the entire nation for a “change?”
Frankly, I have had enough of “you vs. me.” Isn’t it time to have another go at “us?”
Cowboy Bob
The Sagebrush Philosopher
October 21, 2011
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)