Sunday, January 19, 2014

“Something Is Sticking In My Craw”


When I was growing up in Wyoming, the natives would use a particular phrase to describe their disdain and impatience about something that just would not seem to go away.  They would say, “There is something sticking in my craw.”  Having grown up with that particular pattern of speech, it seems appropriate to invoke it in this particular instance. 

Frankly, I have reached a saturation point where so much of what I see, hear and feel seems beyond repair that I have decided to publish this blog.  The title aptly embodies those feelings about various issues that really piss me off.   


1.                  The whitewashing of the entire Clinton Family.  I simply fail to comprehend, given that Bill Clinton demonstrated to the entire world just how sullied and low-life he was, why he is now revered as one of the “greatest presidents ever known.”  His tryst with Monica Lewinsky and her private lessons on the skin flute should have been more than enough to relegate him to the dust bin of human decency.  Instead, he lied to us without a modicum of shame and threw himself on the sword begging forgiveness from political and ethnic leaders as a way of showing us that he was sanitized and really a great man after all.  As if that weren’t enough, he got back in the good graces with some of the worst personalities in government and politics, totally decimated safeguards on the financial community that had served this country extremely well going back as far as the Great Depression.  He enlisted some of the biggest sharks in Washington, D.C., not the least of who were Phil Gram, Robert Rubin and Larry Summers, all of whom could not resist the smell of honest people’s money just waiting to be plundered for those whose greed and avarice knew no limits.  And, he got away with it!  That entire charade, of course, set the stage for the crash of Wall Street in the early years of the Obama Administration and the worst economic recession since the 1930’s.  His protégé quickly demonstrated that he was a willing student eager to please the big boys and show the nation just how adroit he was at screwing the American people without benefit of kiss.  Billy Boy, being the loyal mentor he was, wasted no time in transferring the most accomplished of his happy band of thieves to important and influential positions as chief political and financial advisors and confidents to the Obama Administration.   They taught the newest and youngest of their kind from the windy city of Chicago all the tricks of the trade, and they were off and running while the nation paid, and continues to pay, for their ability to ply their tricks of the trade. 

Billy Boy wasted no time in convincing George H.W. Bush that he was, in reality, a darling and the two of them have done a yeoman’s job of doing all sorts of illicit skullduggery with other people’s money, not the least of which is a virtual monopoly on anyone wanting to do business in Haiti that just might speed its recovery from that long-ago and almost forgotten hurricane.  Moreover, if that were not enough of his questionable skills, he sent over some of the biggest scions of industry and corporate raiders to “advise” the new president on how the game was really played, all the while blowing smoke up the backside of all those naïve but good souls who voted him into the White House.  And the so-called progressives were pleased. 

Hillary played the role of a United States Senator with some degree of aplomb, and set herself up to become President Obama’s first Secretary of State whose performance was, in the final analysis, a skilled part but lacking much substance.
 
The caveat of the entire role of the Clinton Family on the public stage was Chelsea’s career on Wall Street with a prominent hedge fund, for which I would imagine, true to the Clinton legacy, had to have been well paid.  The life of that career seemed rather short for reasons few, if any people, really understand.  The mystery remains. 

After all this, William Jefferson Clinton is now hailed as one of the “Greatest Presidents” in history!  If the history of that family does not prove the prowess of the media in white washing, I don’t know what does!  But for all of this, the so-called “Progressives” are deliriously happy, resulting in glaring speculation that Hillary is going to be our first female President!  Any rational mind must surely wonder why they are not held to account and called out for what they really are.  When, if ever, will truth matter in and around the environs of our nation’s Capital?  I am not making any book on that one. 

2.                  Giving Barack a free pass on every deception he has perpetuated against the American people, from his reverence for power, money and the military/industrial complex to his penchant for “Executive Orders,” “secrecy” and “compromise” with all of those he has sworn to oppose, whatever that means.

3.                  Although I voted for him, I am repulsed by Barack Obama’s lofty speeches and appearance of being on the side of the people when, in fact, he is an elitist of the worst kind, more often at the expense of the average American?

4.                  The broad-base of apathy and complacency on the part of the American people within the ranks of those who should be outraged and actively engaged in turning this country around.

5.                  Failure to recognize the fact that we have a two-party monopolistic political system that does nothing to open the doors for others seeking a shot at the presidency or a seat in any of the other houses of government.

6.                  Blithely accepting the power and influence of those seeking personal favors and influence from government rather than expressing public outrage at their backdoor and underhanded practices that spawn ever-increasing pain and suffering on the health and welfare of the common people. 

7.                  A corporate owned and managed press which is contrary to the intent of the Founding Fathers.  Why do we not respect and demand a “free and unfettered” press that serves the people, not vested interests, power and big money?

8.                  The lack of a system of government that insists on public ownership and supervision by the public of all institutions that are there to serve the interests of the people, not special interests, unimaginable wealth and centers of power? 

9.                  Focus on making this country a beacon for the world and mind our own business.  We have no reason to be the protector of the world and the impetus for moving this country, and all countries, towards world government.

10.              Why we revere anything “private” and “entrepreneurial” as the alpha and omega of everything good and progressive for the people, but have disdain for anything that suggests public ownership and oversight that will best serve the majority of the people rather than power and money?  Why is anything remotely labeled as “socialist,” “organized labor” and “progressive” attacked as evil and wicked, while rigging the system to favor those whose greed and lust for power know no limits?  

11.              Why we don’t demand anything that smarts of a “conflict of interest” or “self-serving” by everyone elected to public office from their personal conduct while in office.

12.              Prohibit any form of religion from interfering in our politics and limit participation in our politics to the population at large.  Lobbying has no place in our system of government.      

13.              Why we don’t insist that our government be an open book, for all to see, scrutinize and hold to account. 

14.              Why so few of our great academic minds choose to remain sequestered in the halls of ivy rather than taking an active interest as change agents in giving real meaning and purpose to this democracy, and what their knowledge could contribute to making the system more democratic and more responsive to the will of the people.

15.              Why do we tolerate continued financial support for big banks with interest-free loans from the Federal Reserve while re-building our infrastructure, valuable services that create jobs and support for the poor go begging? 
16.              Why do we tolerate the arrogance of a government that clearly is in the hip pockets of the super-rich, corporate capitalists, the military-industrial complex, largesse and sweet-heart support for those who have been elected to “serve” us in public office?   Why do we tolerate their blatant excesses in terms of compensation, perquisites and privileges (working half-time), secret meetings and deals behind closed doors that, by all rights, should be transparent, open to the public and against the law?

17.              Why have we allowed public figures to sell out the interests of the people by their penchant for “privatizing” every conceivable service imaginable so their “buddies” can make fortunes at public expense while the quality of those services go begging?

18.              Where are all the improvements to our infrastructure that we were promised?  Why is there little or nothing being done or demanded by those of us who have a right to expect that those promises will be kept?

19.              Why, when domestic industries and services are withering on the vine, do we fall for the hollow promises and questionable results that flow from “free-trade” agreements and the shipping of industries and jobs overseas?  How does that benefit the United States of America now and into the future?

20.              Why do we continue to give a free pass to those in power for deceiving us with sheer abandon and taking care of their rich and powerful cohorts?   

21.              Why do we tolerate the blatant deference to the rich, powerful and privileged while the needs of the common people of this so-called democracy go begging, with all the attendant suffering and pain they endure?

22.              Why do we blithely accept the corruption and self-serving practices of our elected officials and the so-called “justices” of the Supreme Court”?  We seem unable to discern the difference between “judicial review” and “legislating from the bench.”

23.              Where is the “free and unfettered” press prescribed by the Found Fathers that now is owned lock, stock and barrel by big business and serves as the mouthpiece for all of those who seek to shape public opinion and our appetites, rather than questioning and challenging their motives for advocating them? 

24.              Why do we tolerate so-called esteemed justices who blatantly interpret the law, the Constitution and the intent of the Founding Fathers that simply play to the most corrupting and powerful influences in our society, yet deprive the broader public of power that rightfully belongs to the body politic?  Just look at what they have done in terms of fair and open elections and all the safeguards to ensure that those elections are always open and free.  Let’s hear one for North Carolina!

25.              Why we are so deferential to wealth, power and privilege yet so willingly demonized those at the bottom of the food chain and the jobs they rely on for a living?  I thought we abolished slavery a long time ago. 

26.              Why are we so willing to “privatize” public services that are essential to the broader society and that serve as the foundation for a free and healthy democracy?  Who benefits vs. those who lose?

27.              Why do we invest so little treasure and knowledge in responding to the impending perils of “climate change” but subsidize fossil fuels and food producers who continue to pollute the environment and destroy the health of the people?

28.              Why do we tolerate the excesses of business interests while depriving those who work for a living with the right to engage in collective bargaining to ensure a fair and just work place and fair compensation for their labors?

29.              Why do we allow the hollow offers from television, movies, the internet and the myriad social networks to determine our basic values and what they have deemed to be fundamentally sound and moral for a civilized and functioning society?

30.              Why do we allow the religious institutions to operate as “tax-free” entities and amass wealth and influence without returning a sound moral compass and a clear voice to society that just might inspire us to reach for higher and nobler standards in our daily life, rather than reveling in the sewer that is sold to us as “entertainment?”  Surely there is a balance between what is good and decent vs. what is licentious and “free,” whatever that means?  

31.              What has happened to our fundamental belief in what is inherently good and decent about all we are as a people, and our insistence that the foundation for those virtues can only thrive in an environment where the common people are the bedrock of society, looking out for each other and supporting all that has been proven by the test of time to be the essence of the health and welfare of our nation? 

32.              And, last but surely not least, why have we chosen to focus on and talk to inanimate electronic devices rather than just talking to each other?  From my point of view, that remains the most bizarre mystery of all.       

 
Keep hope alive and let’s all pray for better days ahead.      

Cowboy Bob

January 19, 2014

No comments: