"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