“--------- and that’s the way it is on July 30, 2009”

Frankly, I am appalled by all the fuss being made about the incident in Cambridge, Mass. between Professor Gates and Sergeant Crowley. If that isn’t an example of much ado about nothing, I don’t know what is. I don’t believe race had anything to do with the issue, nor should it. It looks to me as if the rather inflated ego of a Harvard professor came up against the rather rigid routine of the Cambridge Police Force. Better to be right than reasonable. A little humility and less confrontation would have probably put the issue to rest. We can all arm-chair about what was done vs. what should have been done, but I dare say most of us would be off base if we tried. For it to go all the way to the level of the President of the United States is nothing less than ludicrous! For Obama to have dignified it is a reflection on his judgment. The beer among the guys at the White House is, in my humble opinion, just another cheap bit of political theater. Who needs it?


Don’t you just love the way people lay in wait to pounce on anything that might be the least bit offensive? As a good friend of mine once observed, “Our relationship to life is rather like a pubic hair on the edge of a toilet. If you stay there long enough, someone is sure to come along and piss you off.” If you want to be offended, there is always someone willing to accommodate you.

We really get a lot of mileage out of the word “racist” these days. Television provides us with endless hours and days of detailed coverage and analysis of the most insignificant issues regarding race, just to keep stirring the shit. You can always count on Joan Walsh to appear, with her most pained facial expression, admonishing us as to why this is such an important issue that has to be addressed. Al Sharpton can be counted on to remind us why we are a racist society. As far as I am concerned, Al Sharpton is a racist. But, do I give a damn? Would I lose any sleep over it? Hardly. He is a free man and a free agent. If his diatribe gives meaning to his role in society, so be it.

From my perspective, I resent being portrayed as a “white” person. When I look in the mirror and the millions of others of my ilk, I don’t see “white” people, I see “pink” people. However, given our political and racial sensitivities, I have no doubt that if I referred to the likes of so-called “white” people as “pink” people, I would immediately be pounced on by the conservative right as a socialist or, worse, a communist. I shudder at the mere thought of the wrath of Sarah Palin coming down on my head. So, better to be politically correct and safe with the label “white.”

Then, there is all the smoke and mirrors over a national health plan. That the average person believes the massive numbers of lies and distortions of the issue, I am surprised it didn’t die a long time ago. But, I am reassured by some of the key players, as well, such as Mitch McConnell, who carries a perennial facial expression that looks as if he had just let a wet fart in polite company. Max Baucus is rather reminiscent of a fading Hollywood star whose face lift is dropping while he struggles in vain to look forever handsome. But, that is not all, as the hawkers on television remind us. Let us not forget the inimitable Joe Lieberman. His caricature is more akin to that of the Pillsbury Dough Boy. No one can really take him seriously. They just want to squeeze him. Every one of the heavy hitters on this issue is as crooked as a Roman Road. Why in the hell we dignify or place any stock in anything they have to say is beyond me.


I think we can do with a hell of a lot more maturity when it comes to being offended. As far as what the sleaze bags in Washington are doing to us, I think we could (and should) be far better informed and take less seriously those who are so blatantly compromised because of the total corruption of any character they might have left.

Other than that, let us all continue to play the violin while the empire burns. Life is grand!


Have a good day.

Cowboy Bob
July 30, 2009

P.S. Inspiration for the lead-in goes Walter Cronkite, one of the great journalists of our time.

"The Natives are Restless"

I would have to say that, in my lifetime, I regard the four best presidencies as those of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy. We started to go down hill with the imperious delusions of Lyndon Johnson and the paranoia of Richard Nixon.

Jimmy Carter was way off base when he opened the Social Security Fund to government largesse for immigrants. I can’t quite square that with the intent of the Social Security Act, not to mention how it has affected all those who have paid. and continue to pay, into that fund. He may be a good statesman, but he didn’t show me much as a president.

Ronald Regan rode into Washington like the Grade B movie actor we all knew him to be, deriding the excesses of government, admonishing us that “government is the problem,” all the while piling more debt on the backs of the American people during his administration than all of the presidents who preceded him in office. I am still suspect that the ruse deifying him was so successful that he is freeze-dried somewhere waiting to be dragged out by the Republican Party for ceremonial occasions.

George H.W. Bush? Well, he and Gerald Ford would have made good fraternity brothers, what with all their personal charisma and notable accomplishments in office.

Bill Clinton was and continues to be a national disgrace, Monica Lewinsky not with standing. Virtue of any kind is an alien concept to this man. Despite his ability to chatter in the vernacular of the African-Americans and the working class, he is no friend of either. He sold his soul to big money. It was he who signed the bill deregulating the financial industries. It was he who had insiders like Robert Rubin, Larry Summers, Rahm Emanuel and the likes in key positions within his administration. It was he who was an advocate for NAFTA and who was the great champion of free trade that effectively emasculated our industrial base and competitive place in the world economy. He baited the trap as he was leaving office and ------

George W. Bush took the bait when the Supreme Court ordained him President. As Clinton gave new meaning to the term, “greed,” Bush gave new meaning to the term “Commander in Chief.” The haunting words of President Eisenhower regarding the dangers of the Military-Industrial Complex came floating back from an earlier time. I would append that term to read Military-Industrial-Intelligence Complex. Bush was the coward and the Office of President was the club that enabled him to be a bully.

We were eager for a fresh face, an honest man and a decent soul to assume the Presidency. Barack Obama gave this nation new hope and a promise for a better and more just future. Instead, he gave us a cabinet heavily weighted with re-treads from the Clinton Administration in the likes of Larry Summers, Rahm Emanuel, and others with ties and loyalties to Wall Street, all the while marginalizing superior economic and financial minds that might have helped to solve, rather than exacerbate, our economic problems. While he has pandered to Wall Street, he has promised a new future of abundance and plenty for working class America. Where is it? How can good jobs be promised to a work force whose means of labor have long ago been shipped overseas? If they are to be retrained for new, environmentally friendly jobs, how are they going to support their families while they are going to school? Where are all those “shovel-ready” jobs that are supposed to be waiting for those eager to render honest labor in exchange for a home, food on the table, education for their kids and quality healthcare? I don’t see any nor do most of those who heard and put stock in those same promises. All who have lost their jobs and their homes are still waiting for their bailout. Compared to what was so lavishly bestowed on Wall Street, the bailout simply wasn’t there for others equally or more deserving. A whole lot of people out in the hinterlands don’t see much happening. However, at the end of the day, he sure gives a good speech, doesn’t he?

I live in a rural community on the fringe of a major metropolitan area. I am retired, with friends from across the socio-economic spectrum. I can tell you, unequivocally, that they see little difference between Republicans and Democrats, except in name. Both parties are perceived as being held hostage by corporations and big money, aided and abetted by the offices they hold and the largesse that comes from their seducers. When did the social, economic and moral values that sustained our government institutions give way to those of a perversity of greed and avarice known only to Wall Street, K Street, the Military-Industrial Complex and the corporate news media? I would add, those same folks don’t place much stock in President Obama and the stuff he peddles either.

Like most of us, I never paid much attention to the professed merits of a third political party. However, I am beginning to rethink my position. A very wise man opined to me many years ago that, when we as a people are no longer shocked by anything, then the distinction between right and wrong becomes blurred, and it only becomes more so with time. We have been on a downward trajectory for a very long time that has only increased in mass and speed. We tolerate things from our political and business establishment that would have been unthinkable in the not-too-distant past.

Why do we tolerate the corrupting influence of lobbyists (both foreign and domestic) and their bulging pockets of money as a legitimate part of our government process? Aren’t the people we elect to public office there because of our votes and there, ostensibly, to serve us, the body politic? Aren’t the activities of lobbyists and the acceptance of huge sums of money by politicians clearly a conflict of interest with those of the electorate? Why do we blithely accept “pork barrel projects” as just part of doing business in Washington? Isn’t that the people’s money being garnered for pet projects by the fat cats we euphemistically refer to as “servants of the people?” Why is this regarded as “business as usual,” rather than the egregious conduct it is?

Why have we allowed corporations to continue with all of the rights and privileges of citizens just because it became precedent over the course of history, reputedly because of an “error” by a two-bit law clerk? That precedent was never legislated. Is it not time to correct one of the most deadly assaults on our democracy and the people of this country? They have finally arrived at the point where we are expected to defer to many of them as simply “too big to fail.” Too big to fail by whose measure? By those who have gone to Washington on our votes only to sell themselves to the huge sums of money and massive power of an entity that has claimed the right to be one of us, without ever having been legitimated by action of our government and the consent of the people?

Why do we tolerate the deliberative bodies sitting in the Capitol Building as representatives of the people who, in fact, behave as if they have an imperial mandate from some invisible monarch, the interests of those who put them there be damned? Their bloated salaries, benefits and perks (which they determine for themselves) would tend to underscore that perception. Why do we allow them to serve in perpetuity, often to the point of being so feeble and incapacitated they can’t function? Shouldn’t there be a retirement age for them as there is for the rest of us? But, most of all, why do we tolerate their blatant corruption, serving as the pawns of big money and corporate power to the detriment and at the expense of those who have worked so hard and paid so much to make this country what it is supposed to be?

Why do we have a Supreme Court that is regarded as a deliberative, judicial body when, in fact, it is clearly political and legislates accordingly? Why is there more concern about whether a nominee is a liberal or a conservative than there is for his/her judicial record prior to ascending to the highest court in the land?

Why have we created and supported what amounts to an imperial presidency? He is our elected Head of State, not a reincarnation of the emperors of Ancient Rome. The very trappings we have condoned for the office and the excesses we tolerate would give anyone serving in the office a swelled head and a distorted perception of reality. He works for the people of the United States, not the corporate cartels of Wall Street, the health care industries, foreign governments, etc.

Why do we allow corporate ownership of the nation’s news media that is supposed to serve as the people’s watchdog on our government? They should be telling us where our government has failed us rather than brainwashing us into believing the company line from all the putrid environs inside the Beltway!

I believe the time has come to accept the fact that both major political parties serve the same interests, just in different ways. They do not represent the interests of the American people whose labors and lives have made this country what it is. They are like the parasite that can’t see that he is killing the host. It is time for them to stop sucking the very life-blood out of this country in order to serve the masters of greed in the name of free enterprise and de-regulation. It is time to stop the hemorrhaging of our national resources by shipping our industrial base overseas and outsourcing jobs to cheaper labor markets around the world. It is time to stop giving away that which rightfully belongs to the people who have labored so hard to provide for a decent standard of living and a secure old age. Those resources belong to us, not to cheap labor pouring across our southern borders in order to feed the avarice of business interests that want to avoid paying a decent wage and providing a respectable package of benefits to those who labor on their behalf. We need to stop allowing drug dealers and criminals to freely enter this country, only to set up shop on our public lands and on our city streets. Like all of those who came before them and those who have legally followed, they haven’t earned the right to our resources, the bleeding hearts be damned. It is time for those of the cloth to tend to our spiritual needs rather than serving as advocates for plundering our resources out of some perverted notion that they have an inherent right to do so. Do you suppose God told them to?

I am all for this country being a responsible part of the world community, but I am not in favor of a pathological need to apologize for what we are because of what they are not. We are what we are because of the blood, sweat and tears shed by our ancestors. Like us, let them make the same sacrifices for democratic forms of government in their homelands that will serve the people, rather than the paragons of absolute power and corruption inherent in their government institutions, and the oppressive power of big business. Let them emulate all that we have become, rather than allowing them to emasculate us for what we are.

We sold our souls and abandoned the need to nurture those virtues that build character and responsibility in favor of the big house, the fancy cars, the pursuit of the perfect body and sexual pleasures that would have been the envy of the gods of ancient Greece. Big business interests and the political establishment that enabled them gave us the tools to live beyond our means so they could reap the vast wealth created by our overly stimulated appetites. The result has been the collapse of the house of cards, with the ill-gained spoils created by the wealthy remaining with them, while the average American descends deeper into a state of destitution brought on by their own materialistic and hedonistic pursuits. As they are responsible for their avarice, we are responsible for having abandoned the cardinal lessons of history that built and sustained our national character.

From conversations I have had with members of the intellectual community, from merchants, from professionals, from blue-collar workers, from those who work the land and labor in the fields, I am convinced the time is ripe for serious consideration of a new political party that is built on the intent and wisdom of the Founding Fathers, and as embodied in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. We need a government that is truly one “of the people, for the people and by the people.” Honesty and integrity must be the hallmarks of such an endeavor. We must end self-serving practices that prostitute the foundations of our political parties, and reign in the elected representatives who profit from the largesse of those whose interests are diametrically opposed to those of the citizens of this country. Moreover, we need to stop deluding ourselves into believing that they have our interests at heart. Look at Wall Street. I always thought the fundamentals of a free market meant, if you invested wisely, you reaped the profits. On the other hand, if you invested foolishly, you took the hit for your poor judgment. That distinction has morphed into the notion that if you win, you win. However, if you lose, you still win; all at the taxpayers’ expense. Aristotle would turn over in his grave at that bit of twisted logic.

Look at all that we have reaped from being too tolerant of corrupt politics and corporate domination of our economy, and a Fourth Estate that serves the centers of power at the expense of the people. The current debate on health care reform is a good example. The massive amounts of money spent on bombarding us with lies designed to put the kiss of death on a single-payer system boggles the mind. What happened to “truth in advertising?” Truth is an absolute concept, or at least I thought it was. It is not situational. As a result, in the name of bi-partisanship and inclusiveness, we have the classic example of undermining what is best for the country. We run up the cost of healthcare so profit-making healthcare industries can continue to prosper at the expense of the taxpayer. It is reminiscent of the example of that which says, “The definition of an appeaser is one who keeps feeding the alligators hoping they will eat him last.” Consensus decision-making vs. leadership? Just look at who is defending the business interests of healthcare. It is not just Republicans or Democrats; it is both. The President is, also, doing his part by his lukewarm support of a “single-payer option,“ and behind-the-scenes politics.

We need to get over our braggadocio about being the richest nation in the world. We gave away the store eons ago. Ordaining ourselves as the protectors of the world siphoned off (and still does) billions and billions of dollars to the military-industrial complex and, just because of the nature of the beast, very little is returned to the economy. We forego desperately needed programs for the population and go, with begging bowl in hand, to rich nations around the world (even adversaries) hoping they will loan us enough to keep the ship afloat (no pun intended). Rich? Who said that? We are flat-ass broke and going deeper in the hole with each passing day as our political and corporate elites continue satiating their gluttonous appetites, while we passively feed ourselves by sweeping the crumbs off the floor. As the health care industries reap gargantuan profits, we just get sicker and sicker, and go with less and less as premiums go up and up.

We are expected to buy into the bull crap that the economy is improving, all the while feeding the bandits on Wall Street as the average family falls victim to the loss of their jobs, foreclosure on their homes, and go from the supermarket to the food bank just to stay alive. Is that what we want? Is that what we are all about? I don’t think so.

It has been said that a shrewd man never underestimates what may lie behind the eyes of the man he is looking at. That is an apt caution as to where I see this country now. There are far more people who are very well attuned to what is actually going on and how they are getting short changed by the current brand and mix of politics in Washington. They are aware of the preponderance of former members of the Clinton Administration who are particularly close to the President and hold key positions of influence in his administration, especially when it comes to dealings with Wall Street and the favors doled out to them compared to the rest of the economy. All of which is wrapped in a shroud of secrecy with scant attention being paid to the professed virtues of transparency and accountability aided, once again and contrary to his campaign rhetoric, by our President. They are much more conversant about the pernicious activities and pervasive influence of the likes of Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and the Bank of America, enabled and assisted by such notables as Robert Rubin, Larry Summers, Timothy Geithner, Henry Paulson and Ben Bernanke. They see the sweetheart deals given to the bandits of Wall Street, what with their fat salaries and bonuses underwritten by the taxpayers of this country. All the while they go without work, see their homes repossessed and go without food and healthcare. They are well aware of who is getting the short end of the stick. More and more of these folks have come to mistrust the President, what with his talking out of both sides of his mouth when it comes to stimulus programs for middle-class working Americans, health care, etc., ad nauseum. Barack Obama is being seen more in political terms than in those of a leader who can be trusted. I predict it is only going to get worse. The dismissive arrogance of Congress is even more glaring. As for corporate news media they, too, fawn over and feed from the largesse of the rich and powerful. More and more people now depend on alternative sources for their news. Thank God for the Internet!

If we don’t seriously take stock of what we were intended to be vs. what we have become, and set ourselves to the task of cleaning up the mess and righting the wrongs of the past, we are surely destined to go the way of all great empires throughout history. We have to start by adopting a humility as to all we are and all we are not, by our very nature as mere mortals, followed by the courage and the determination to put in place institutions that will enable us to foster that which is best about us and remain vigilant against that which is the worst within us.

For too long those of us who exist at the mercy of big money, big business and a corrupt government have been content to behave as if we were a band of sheep being led to the slaughter. It is time to assert ourselves and demand all that went into our votes. We should expect and insist on integrity and openness in our government and by our government institutions. We need new leadership. Not relics, extremists or those of the lunatic fringe from the Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians or the Green Party. We need a person of strength and character, who is charismatic, articulate and independently wealthy, and supported by a political party that is genuinely dedicated to all that made this country great.

Change we can believe in? Already been there, done that. We are waiting for something more credible and tangible. Meanwhile, patience is running out. The natives are restless.


Cowboy Bob
July 27, 2009
　
　
　

"Where is the Hope?"

In the course of reflecting back on my lifetime, I vividly recall sitting in front of a Philco console radio with members of my family, listening to the haunting words of Franklin D. Roosevelt as he intoned the somber announcement of the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor by the Empire of Japan on December 7, 1941; “a day that will live in infamy.” That is my first clear memory of the horrors of a war that would be the focus of the United States for the next 4 years.

I can still recall the newscasts of the setbacks and triumphs of the European Theater, the African Theater and the Pacific Theater. I can still see the pennants hanging in the windows of the homes of those whose sons were serving in or who had been lost to the ravages of war. We could not pass by one of those homes without being humbled by the meaning behind each of those reminders of the sacrifice that had been brought down on this nation.

Despite our many imperfections, and there were many, we were for the most part a nation of good and decent people. To this very day, the overwhelming generosity of the American people remains unmatched by what we did for the nations that had been ravaged by the conquest of dictators and the following liberation of those so deeply affected by their evil, including our former adversaries.

From this war came the beginnings of a stark reminder of all of those who had been left behind in the wake of the pursuit of “liberty and justice for all,” and they were right in our own backyard. It was a piece of our national fabric that could no longer be ignored. Every immigrant population that ever hit the shores of this country, voluntary and forced alike, had to struggle for and earn their place in the sun, their part of the American dream. Internment camps for the Japanese Americans during World War II were but the latest reflection of that struggle. It was to be manifest in myriad ways and by many others, some of whom had a longer and more difficult road to follow towards becoming Americans. Those most forgotten were the Native Americans, long ago forced onto some of the poorest real estate and into the most remote backwaters of this country, and where they remain to this very day. Perhaps it is too much for us to be reminded of what was taken by all those “immigrants” and what rightfully belonged to an indigenous people long before this continent was known to the rest of the world.

The post war years brought a surge in economic activity in response to the pent-up demand of scarcity created by the war machine. Homes, durable goods and discretionary spending became the order of the day. However, through it all we retained a sense of decency, honor, integrity, dignity and propriety that held our social fabric together. We could count on each other and the social system for support. That is not to say we were without our faults, but some of what were regarded as flaws was an underlying hypocrisy that enabled us to carry on with some semblance of civility. I am not so sure that was altogether bad.

Then came the 60’s and the flood gates of “freedom” opened. We were engulfed by the excesses of the extreme. There was the drug culture, free love, campus revolts, etc. The mantra of “do your own thing!” carried the day. Selflessness morphed into a wave of selfishness that became instantly legitimized by having thrown off the yoke of convention. Instead of a nation of “us” we became a nation of “me.”

It would be naive to subscribe to the notion that this phenomenon reflected an “all or nothing” proposition. To be sure, there was a lot of good that resulted in this new found openness and freedom, but in many respects we threw the baby out with the bathwater. This was the time when, in my opinion, the seeds of greed as a legitimate pursuit were sown and which have taken us down the path of materialism, hedonism and depravity. We wanted it all and we were prepared to sell out everything and everybody in the pursuit of those ambitions. Greed became a noble pursuit, money became our god, and human misery was just a part of the cost of “having it all.”

We dismantled and sold off our industrial base to the new Utopian concept of globalization and free trade, never stopping to reflect on what the long-term consequences of those pursuits would be. We invested in every conceivable “get-rich” scheme imaginable. Cheap imported goods and a pocket full of plastic cards opened the world of riches to us all. We moved into our faux mansions with kitchens that would be the envy of Julia Childs, and bathrooms that would have made Polly Adler and Sally Stanford salivate at the “Romanesque” delights that could be had in such lavish surroundings. Mercedes, BMW’s, Lexus and the like became the “in” cars for those who were obsessed with keeping up appearances, and who had the means to tap into the credit pool necessary to sustain the illusion.

We managed to slip from an age of reason to an age of information. The warmth and comfort of human relationships gave way to the coldness and impersonality of communications and all the electronic gadgets that have made that possible. We no longer talk to each other. Rather, we ostensibly “communicate” by Blackberry, Face Book and Twitter. We can easily be totally alone in a crowd. We don’t need to take the time to interact with others around us. Is that healthy? I don’t think so.

We thrive on an advertising diet of “fun” in every conceivable form. Our focus is on the body beautiful and, more specifically, on those parts of the anatomy that have to do with the erotic pleasures of life. Erectile dysfunction is today’s equivalent of the bubonic plague. Nothing in life is possible without being in a semi-nude state, from the simple act of eating a hamburger to pursuing a dietary regimen that will guarantee the perfect body within a matter of weeks!

The reproductive organs haven’t changed over the course of the ages. They still remain much the same and serve the same functions. Most people know what they look like and how to use them. So, what is the big deal with showing a bit of cleavage, or sub-pubic flesh that requires waxing in order to be acceptable, and bikinis that have nothing to do with the function of swimming? I am almost convinced that, in order to be fashionable in today‘s world, there has to be a bit of the slut in every woman. The next “fashion statement” I expect to see is something on the order of a small hole in the crotch of men’s trousers so the viewing public can be titillated with a glimpse of partially exposed hairy scrota. Nothing would surprise me anymore. But, at the end of the day, it is a reflection on the minds and values of our human response to the corporate peddlers of anything that makes money. There is absolutely no dignity associated with much of anything marketed by commerce, the entertainment industry and the mass media. Vulgarity is very much “in.”

Spirituality is looked upon as something to be sold on the Internet by gurus of one ilk or another. Religion has been co-opted by those who market a “touchy-feely” brand of salvation, or a theology of absolutes and intolerance that pander to our worst instincts. They are the stuff of those who honestly believe God wants everyone to be rich, or who see themselves as the guardians and bastions of all that is good and righteous, the human cost be damned. The former gives a nobility of purpose to the pursuit of our baser side and the latter exiles from salvation anyone who dares to challenge their system of beliefs. Where, I ask you, is reason and common sense in all this?

So, what is the bottom line? Those of the current generation will never see the day when they can hold a candle to those who survived the Great Depression, those who endured the horrors of the Great War, those who survived the death camps of Nazi Germany, those who stormed the beaches at Normandy, and the countless millions of others who sacrificed, supported and stood behind them. We no longer have a sense of what is good and decent and kind and generous. Why?

• Because our moral compass is broken and we are off course.
• Because we cannot defer gratification and temper our proclivity for excesses.
• Because we either cannot or will not see that our political establishment is hopelessly corrupt and totally self-serving.
• Because we are blind to the deadly seduction and tyranny of multi-national corporations and the vast wealth created by their pursuits.
• Because we cannot feel the pain of or demonstrate a modicum of empathy for our fellow man.
• Because we simply don’t have the ability to think, question or feel anything beyond what is required in the pursuit of our own materialistic and hedonistic appetites.
• Because we are too complacent, lack the discipline and sacrifice, or simply don’t have the guts to right the wrongs of the past in order to save the future for those who will follow us.
• Because we have no sense of decency, decorum and propriety that makes for a civilized society.
• Because we have entrusted our future to the hollow promises of “change” promised by the current occupant of the White House, the dubious successes of the reconstituted Cabinet from the former Clinton Administration, and the shallow hope of a better future embodied in the likes of Sarah Palin.
• Because we are the culmination of a wayward nation that has finally arrived at a generation of our own making --- humanoids and automatons.
  

With this as our legacy, what hope is there for the future? Given the grotesque public adoration and the perverted attempt to deify Michael Jackson, I would submit, not a hell of a lot.

Cowboy Bob
July 10, 2009