My understanding of the foundation for the United States of America is a duly constituted republic built on a system of laws as codified in the Constitution of the United States of America and the Bill of Rights. Citizenship is predicated on a respect for and compliance with that duly constituted body of laws, and all subsequent addenda thereto.
Call it what you will but, in my humble opinion, that basic notion, rather than being absolute, has become situational, based on (1) a subjective interpretation of those laws, or (2) a failure to enforce those laws. That leads us to what I regard as a state of passive anarchy that opens the doors to whatever one can get away with. Nowhere is that more glaring than throughout our entire system of government and the myriad special interests that, essentially, own and control what is euphemistically held out as “a government of the people, for the people and by the people.” From that, I have concluded that to label this nation a “republic” or a “democracy.” is a joke. It exists only as a myth in the minds of extremists and demagogues. By any other name, an oligarchy is an oligarchy, and a plutocracy is a plutocracy.
I abhor the use of labels as an easy and irresponsible way of categorizing the system of beliefs held by individuals and groups of people. I need only to draw your attention to a couple of the most visible examples in our midst today, namely the “Tea Party” and the plethora of organizations advocating amnesty for what is politely referred to as “illegal immigrants,” which seems rather like an oxymoronic definition, if you ask me.
Permit me to offer just a few examples of what I mean:
a. The millions of aliens brought into this country through or with the full support of big business interests (aka U.S. Chamber of Commerce), in order to undercut the minimum wage and requisite working conditions required for U.S. citizens. It is the responsibility of the United States Government to enforce immigration laws and to secure the borders of the nation. Our government has chosen not to commit the resources and to exercise the resolve necessary in order to fulfill that responsibility to the citizens of this country. Consequently, because of that egregious failure, we now have millions of undocumented workers now claiming the right to remain in this country contrary to the laws of the land. Politicians, in order to court the favor of pressure groups and to enlarge the pool of future voters, foster and support those groups.
b. Since the end of World War II, virtually every conflict waged against foreign nations by the armed forces of the United States, and by unilateral action of the President of the United States, have occurred without a formal Declaration of War by the Congress of the United States have been illegal.
c. Failure to hold to account the Chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve for secretly shunting huge sums of money from the Fed to financial institutions, without the approval of Congress, as required by law.
d. Failure by the incumbent Secretary of the Treasury to deliver e-mails that were exchanged between his office and that of AIG, pursuant to orders from a lawfully constituted committee of the Congress of the United States.
We are all guilty of adopting labels as a convenient way to define political philosophies and parties, often at the expense of accuracy and understanding in
favor of perpetuating a certain level of ignorance. The most commonly used in our society are “conservative,” and “liberal.” I regard myself as neither. Rather, I try to base my positions on issues based on the knowledge I have acquired about those issues. I am sure, with some issues, I am regarded as more “liberal,” and with others as more “conservative.” I see no conflict in that for the simple reason that those two labels refer to both ends of a spectrum, with all shades of gray in between. Hence, that seems to be the responsible way to at least attempt arriving at a reasonable conclusion.
All of the foregoing not withstanding, the most pernicious and destructive force that has eroded what we were as a people is the absence of any meaningful moral compass to guide us in the conduct of our daily lives, and the roles we play in society in an effort to behave as responsible citizens.
Terms that once were the mark of shame and disgrace have come to be accepted as a normal part of our daily human existence. Terms such as honesty, integrity, trust, truth, character, honor, morality etc. were once looked upon with pride and reverence. Greed, lying, deception, manipulation, theft, bribery, etc., where looked upon with disgrace and contempt. Today, the former terms are regarded as the stuff of fools. The latter are championed as the means to success and fortune. We have managed, in a very short time, to go from simply being imperfect human beings striving for the best, to having achieved a state of almost total and complete depravity, with no shame or negative consequences for having successfully made the journey. Is it any wonder we are no longer shamed by anything and we simply look the other way as our country is systematically dismantled, pilfered and sold to the highest bidder, all at the expense of the millions who comprise the heart and soul of this great country?
Lest we fall into the trap of seeing ourselves as the victims in all this, let us remember that we, too, have contributed to our own demise and the descent into a state of individual and social decadence. We have been seduced by easy credit, cheap money and cheap goods. Our values have been eroded by the advertising and entertainment industries that titillate the baser aspects of our human nature. The more we get the more we dismiss our human dignity, and legitimate the very forces that are playing into the insatiable appetite of big money that is behind the purveyors of all that seeks to destroy the finer aspects of our nature. Our complacency has fostered our own complicity in what and where we are today.
I believe we have a right to expect and to demand absolute standards of honesty and integrity in the conduct of our government officials and a business community that owns those we elect to serve, not them, but us.
How many know and care that President Obama has deliberately and systematically violated significant numbers of his campaign promises, some of the major ones being -
a. To do away with warrantless wiretapping of United States Citizens. Rather, he has expanded those programs.
b. To vigorously pursue and prosecute those who approved and engaged in the torture of prisoners regarded as terrorists in the custody of the United States. He has now decided that he would rather look forward than backward. (Looks like George W. and Dickey Boy got a free pass out of jail on this trip around the Monopoly Board).
c. Promised the people of the United States that he would pass a Health Care Reform Bill that would include a single-payer provision. However, he met, in secret, with the heads of health care insurance companies and committed himself to the position that he would personally guarantee that there would be no such provision, or a provision for a public option, in any bill approved by Congress. What did we get? Billions more of our tax dollars shunted into the coffers of health insurance companies!
d. He met in secret with heads of the big pharmaceutical companies and assured them that they would not be required to negotiate prices with the government. What did we get? Billions of dollars guaranteed to continue flowing into the coffers of big
pharmaceutical companies!
e. So, what do you think we can expect from a Financial Reform Program? You can bet your bippy it will be just what those to be regulated want, not what we the people demand, deserve and expect!
f. Bernanke of the Federal Reserve, Timothy Geithner, Larry Summers and Rahm Emanuel will continue to ply their evil schemes, enabled by Barack Obama, (the great champion of “change we can believe in), a hopelessly corrupt Congress and a compromised Supreme Court. Wall Street will get bigger and more powerful, the economy will continue to tank, unemployment will continue to stagnate or rise, small
businesses will starve and atrophy, foreclosures on homes will continue, public services at the state and local levels will wither and disappear, and we will eventually arrive at a two-class society. It won’t make a tinker’s damn whether your are a Democrat or a Republican. Both will have been complicit with corporations, big money, big defense and corporate-owned news outlets in bringing about the total disintegration of the United States of America.
So, what can be done, if anything?
a. Revisit the entire concept of what it means to be a person of character, integrity and honesty. Put those attributes into practice and hold our public officials to those same standards. After all, much like pregnancy, it is an absolute condition. You can’t be just a little bit pregnant any more than you can be just a little bit honest.
b. If something is wrong, it is wrong. Hold our elected officials to those standards, as well. If those standards require substantive changes in the law, so be it. That is what they are there to do on our behalf. That includes every legislative action up to and including amendments to the Constitution if need be.
c. Insist on absolute standards in enacting and enforcing more stringent campaign finance laws. Keep corporate influence and money out of our elections. Reduce the cost of elections by reducing the amount of money and shortening the amount of time allowed for primaries leading up to general elections.
d. Severely restrict the power and influence of lobbyists on our government and government institutions.
e. Require at least 7 years between the time a government official leaves government service before he/she is allowed to accept employment as a lobbyist or consultant in the private sector, and vice versa.
f. Insist that every agency in government, created for the purpose of oversight and regulation of another government agency or a sector of the economy, be totally and completely independent and not under the jurisdiction of or beholden to any other agency. Accountability should be vested in joint oversight committees comprised of representatives of both houses of Congress, not the White House, with their business conducted in the open, except where issues of national security are concerned.
The most pressing needs we have today are to stop starving the states and communities of the public funds they need in order to provide vital services to the people and to put people back to work. Some of the ways in which that could be accomplished are to ---
a. Stop allowing private enterprise from using the U.S. Treasury and the Federal Reserve as their private piggy banks at the expense of the American taxpayers.
b. Break up the banks deemed too big to fail, and restore the rightful balance of power with banks at the local level, so the needs of citizens rather than big business are served in a fair and equitable manner.
c. Insist on total transparency by government at all levels, except in cases of national security and only in instances reviewed and approved by the Congress.
d. Review all free trade agreements and insist on changes more favorable to the United States of America. If necessary, level the playing field by imposing a value added tax on all foreign imports. Tax U.S. companies for shipping jobs overseas.
e. As a national priority, insist on the enactment of a comprehensive immigration bill that will honor and enforce the rights of legitimate citizens of the United States over those seeking to enter this country by illegal means. Those who have entered the country illegally should have no claim to any of the resources that
rightfully belong to those who are deemed to be legal and lawful citizens of the United States.
The President should be prohibited from using Social Security, or any other funds created for public and social programs, as his/her petty cash fund. That is the fundamental reason why those programs are in financial jeopardy today, compounded by a bloated defense budget.
The Government has an obligation to secure our borders, rather than looking the other way in order to accommodate influential business interests that desire a cheap and unregulated labor pool. The plight of undocumented workers in this country is, once again, predicated on unbridled greed and political pandering to special interests. In order to fund the needs of those 12 plus million people, I would favor a tax on the very industries and businesses that have profited so handsomely by fostering and supporting this staggering problem.
The Government, as a top priority, should draft enabling legislation and laws that will address this problem in a decisive and humane way without putting the liability on the backs of the American people who had nothing to do with creating the problem. The super rich, corporations, the military-industrial complex and defense are but a few of the “sacred and untouchable cows” that could take us a long
way towards funding this liability. Let them use their ill-gotten gains to rightfully assume this responsibility, not the taxpayers.
We live in a time and an age when there are no simple answers to complex issues. We have no alternative but to accept that fact. I believe the notion of a completely free and unfettered market is simply not workable. It assumes that everyone participating in the economy is motivated by complete honesty and integrity, not self-interest and greed. That flies in the face of human nature It is naïve and unworkable. The last thirty years of our history has certainly proven that. By the same token, the so-called “Progressives,” cannot expect to have a civilized society for the benefit of all when they choose to selectively ignore laws they don’t agree with in order to serve ends they perceive as lofty and noble, but which have no legitimate legal basis in the eyes of the broader society of which they are a part.
Regulation, taken to the extreme is tyranny. However, given the complex nature of the world in which we live today, regulation is a fact of life. We cannot afford to assume that all of those ostensibly serving the common good are, indeed, imbued with a sense of decency and altruism so pure as to lie beyond the possibility of compromises for their own self-interests. Society has every right to expect that government will do everything reasonable to protect us from ourselves and to ensure a safe food supply, safe working environments, safe products, services, etc., for the welfare of all.
There has to be a balance between what may well be contrary interests. However, other progressive and developed countries have managed to accomplish those objectives and still have a vibrant and successful society. Given the ingenuity of the American people, I do not believe it is beyond our reach.
If we are to save and restore health to this rather fragile democracy, we all share a responsibility as allies united in a common effort to make this a society that is of equal benefit to all. We cannot be adversaries pitted against each other while the parasites of corporate greed and big money continue, unopposed, gluttonously feeding at the expense of their host; our common welfare. The more we focus our enmity on each other, the greater the opportunity for the most sinister among us to fleece us of everything good and decent, both material and spiritual, that holds forth the promise of a better future for us and for those who will follow in our footsteps.
Cowboy Bob
April 25, 2010
Call it what you will but, in my humble opinion, that basic notion, rather than being absolute, has become situational, based on (1) a subjective interpretation of those laws, or (2) a failure to enforce those laws. That leads us to what I regard as a state of passive anarchy that opens the doors to whatever one can get away with. Nowhere is that more glaring than throughout our entire system of government and the myriad special interests that, essentially, own and control what is euphemistically held out as “a government of the people, for the people and by the people.” From that, I have concluded that to label this nation a “republic” or a “democracy.” is a joke. It exists only as a myth in the minds of extremists and demagogues. By any other name, an oligarchy is an oligarchy, and a plutocracy is a plutocracy.
I abhor the use of labels as an easy and irresponsible way of categorizing the system of beliefs held by individuals and groups of people. I need only to draw your attention to a couple of the most visible examples in our midst today, namely the “Tea Party” and the plethora of organizations advocating amnesty for what is politely referred to as “illegal immigrants,” which seems rather like an oxymoronic definition, if you ask me.
Permit me to offer just a few examples of what I mean:
a. The millions of aliens brought into this country through or with the full support of big business interests (aka U.S. Chamber of Commerce), in order to undercut the minimum wage and requisite working conditions required for U.S. citizens. It is the responsibility of the United States Government to enforce immigration laws and to secure the borders of the nation. Our government has chosen not to commit the resources and to exercise the resolve necessary in order to fulfill that responsibility to the citizens of this country. Consequently, because of that egregious failure, we now have millions of undocumented workers now claiming the right to remain in this country contrary to the laws of the land. Politicians, in order to court the favor of pressure groups and to enlarge the pool of future voters, foster and support those groups.
b. Since the end of World War II, virtually every conflict waged against foreign nations by the armed forces of the United States, and by unilateral action of the President of the United States, have occurred without a formal Declaration of War by the Congress of the United States have been illegal.
c. Failure to hold to account the Chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve for secretly shunting huge sums of money from the Fed to financial institutions, without the approval of Congress, as required by law.
d. Failure by the incumbent Secretary of the Treasury to deliver e-mails that were exchanged between his office and that of AIG, pursuant to orders from a lawfully constituted committee of the Congress of the United States.
We are all guilty of adopting labels as a convenient way to define political philosophies and parties, often at the expense of accuracy and understanding in
favor of perpetuating a certain level of ignorance. The most commonly used in our society are “conservative,” and “liberal.” I regard myself as neither. Rather, I try to base my positions on issues based on the knowledge I have acquired about those issues. I am sure, with some issues, I am regarded as more “liberal,” and with others as more “conservative.” I see no conflict in that for the simple reason that those two labels refer to both ends of a spectrum, with all shades of gray in between. Hence, that seems to be the responsible way to at least attempt arriving at a reasonable conclusion.
All of the foregoing not withstanding, the most pernicious and destructive force that has eroded what we were as a people is the absence of any meaningful moral compass to guide us in the conduct of our daily lives, and the roles we play in society in an effort to behave as responsible citizens.
Terms that once were the mark of shame and disgrace have come to be accepted as a normal part of our daily human existence. Terms such as honesty, integrity, trust, truth, character, honor, morality etc. were once looked upon with pride and reverence. Greed, lying, deception, manipulation, theft, bribery, etc., where looked upon with disgrace and contempt. Today, the former terms are regarded as the stuff of fools. The latter are championed as the means to success and fortune. We have managed, in a very short time, to go from simply being imperfect human beings striving for the best, to having achieved a state of almost total and complete depravity, with no shame or negative consequences for having successfully made the journey. Is it any wonder we are no longer shamed by anything and we simply look the other way as our country is systematically dismantled, pilfered and sold to the highest bidder, all at the expense of the millions who comprise the heart and soul of this great country?
Lest we fall into the trap of seeing ourselves as the victims in all this, let us remember that we, too, have contributed to our own demise and the descent into a state of individual and social decadence. We have been seduced by easy credit, cheap money and cheap goods. Our values have been eroded by the advertising and entertainment industries that titillate the baser aspects of our human nature. The more we get the more we dismiss our human dignity, and legitimate the very forces that are playing into the insatiable appetite of big money that is behind the purveyors of all that seeks to destroy the finer aspects of our nature. Our complacency has fostered our own complicity in what and where we are today.
I believe we have a right to expect and to demand absolute standards of honesty and integrity in the conduct of our government officials and a business community that owns those we elect to serve, not them, but us.
How many know and care that President Obama has deliberately and systematically violated significant numbers of his campaign promises, some of the major ones being -
a. To do away with warrantless wiretapping of United States Citizens. Rather, he has expanded those programs.
b. To vigorously pursue and prosecute those who approved and engaged in the torture of prisoners regarded as terrorists in the custody of the United States. He has now decided that he would rather look forward than backward. (Looks like George W. and Dickey Boy got a free pass out of jail on this trip around the Monopoly Board).
c. Promised the people of the United States that he would pass a Health Care Reform Bill that would include a single-payer provision. However, he met, in secret, with the heads of health care insurance companies and committed himself to the position that he would personally guarantee that there would be no such provision, or a provision for a public option, in any bill approved by Congress. What did we get? Billions more of our tax dollars shunted into the coffers of health insurance companies!
d. He met in secret with heads of the big pharmaceutical companies and assured them that they would not be required to negotiate prices with the government. What did we get? Billions of dollars guaranteed to continue flowing into the coffers of big
pharmaceutical companies!
e. So, what do you think we can expect from a Financial Reform Program? You can bet your bippy it will be just what those to be regulated want, not what we the people demand, deserve and expect!
f. Bernanke of the Federal Reserve, Timothy Geithner, Larry Summers and Rahm Emanuel will continue to ply their evil schemes, enabled by Barack Obama, (the great champion of “change we can believe in), a hopelessly corrupt Congress and a compromised Supreme Court. Wall Street will get bigger and more powerful, the economy will continue to tank, unemployment will continue to stagnate or rise, small
businesses will starve and atrophy, foreclosures on homes will continue, public services at the state and local levels will wither and disappear, and we will eventually arrive at a two-class society. It won’t make a tinker’s damn whether your are a Democrat or a Republican. Both will have been complicit with corporations, big money, big defense and corporate-owned news outlets in bringing about the total disintegration of the United States of America.
So, what can be done, if anything?
a. Revisit the entire concept of what it means to be a person of character, integrity and honesty. Put those attributes into practice and hold our public officials to those same standards. After all, much like pregnancy, it is an absolute condition. You can’t be just a little bit pregnant any more than you can be just a little bit honest.
b. If something is wrong, it is wrong. Hold our elected officials to those standards, as well. If those standards require substantive changes in the law, so be it. That is what they are there to do on our behalf. That includes every legislative action up to and including amendments to the Constitution if need be.
c. Insist on absolute standards in enacting and enforcing more stringent campaign finance laws. Keep corporate influence and money out of our elections. Reduce the cost of elections by reducing the amount of money and shortening the amount of time allowed for primaries leading up to general elections.
d. Severely restrict the power and influence of lobbyists on our government and government institutions.
e. Require at least 7 years between the time a government official leaves government service before he/she is allowed to accept employment as a lobbyist or consultant in the private sector, and vice versa.
f. Insist that every agency in government, created for the purpose of oversight and regulation of another government agency or a sector of the economy, be totally and completely independent and not under the jurisdiction of or beholden to any other agency. Accountability should be vested in joint oversight committees comprised of representatives of both houses of Congress, not the White House, with their business conducted in the open, except where issues of national security are concerned.
The most pressing needs we have today are to stop starving the states and communities of the public funds they need in order to provide vital services to the people and to put people back to work. Some of the ways in which that could be accomplished are to ---
a. Stop allowing private enterprise from using the U.S. Treasury and the Federal Reserve as their private piggy banks at the expense of the American taxpayers.
b. Break up the banks deemed too big to fail, and restore the rightful balance of power with banks at the local level, so the needs of citizens rather than big business are served in a fair and equitable manner.
c. Insist on total transparency by government at all levels, except in cases of national security and only in instances reviewed and approved by the Congress.
d. Review all free trade agreements and insist on changes more favorable to the United States of America. If necessary, level the playing field by imposing a value added tax on all foreign imports. Tax U.S. companies for shipping jobs overseas.
e. As a national priority, insist on the enactment of a comprehensive immigration bill that will honor and enforce the rights of legitimate citizens of the United States over those seeking to enter this country by illegal means. Those who have entered the country illegally should have no claim to any of the resources that
rightfully belong to those who are deemed to be legal and lawful citizens of the United States.
The President should be prohibited from using Social Security, or any other funds created for public and social programs, as his/her petty cash fund. That is the fundamental reason why those programs are in financial jeopardy today, compounded by a bloated defense budget.
The Government has an obligation to secure our borders, rather than looking the other way in order to accommodate influential business interests that desire a cheap and unregulated labor pool. The plight of undocumented workers in this country is, once again, predicated on unbridled greed and political pandering to special interests. In order to fund the needs of those 12 plus million people, I would favor a tax on the very industries and businesses that have profited so handsomely by fostering and supporting this staggering problem.
The Government, as a top priority, should draft enabling legislation and laws that will address this problem in a decisive and humane way without putting the liability on the backs of the American people who had nothing to do with creating the problem. The super rich, corporations, the military-industrial complex and defense are but a few of the “sacred and untouchable cows” that could take us a long
way towards funding this liability. Let them use their ill-gotten gains to rightfully assume this responsibility, not the taxpayers.
We live in a time and an age when there are no simple answers to complex issues. We have no alternative but to accept that fact. I believe the notion of a completely free and unfettered market is simply not workable. It assumes that everyone participating in the economy is motivated by complete honesty and integrity, not self-interest and greed. That flies in the face of human nature It is naïve and unworkable. The last thirty years of our history has certainly proven that. By the same token, the so-called “Progressives,” cannot expect to have a civilized society for the benefit of all when they choose to selectively ignore laws they don’t agree with in order to serve ends they perceive as lofty and noble, but which have no legitimate legal basis in the eyes of the broader society of which they are a part.
Regulation, taken to the extreme is tyranny. However, given the complex nature of the world in which we live today, regulation is a fact of life. We cannot afford to assume that all of those ostensibly serving the common good are, indeed, imbued with a sense of decency and altruism so pure as to lie beyond the possibility of compromises for their own self-interests. Society has every right to expect that government will do everything reasonable to protect us from ourselves and to ensure a safe food supply, safe working environments, safe products, services, etc., for the welfare of all.
There has to be a balance between what may well be contrary interests. However, other progressive and developed countries have managed to accomplish those objectives and still have a vibrant and successful society. Given the ingenuity of the American people, I do not believe it is beyond our reach.
If we are to save and restore health to this rather fragile democracy, we all share a responsibility as allies united in a common effort to make this a society that is of equal benefit to all. We cannot be adversaries pitted against each other while the parasites of corporate greed and big money continue, unopposed, gluttonously feeding at the expense of their host; our common welfare. The more we focus our enmity on each other, the greater the opportunity for the most sinister among us to fleece us of everything good and decent, both material and spiritual, that holds forth the promise of a better future for us and for those who will follow in our footsteps.
Cowboy Bob
April 25, 2010
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