"Who Will You Choose?"

I have the good fortune of living in a small town on the outer fringes of a reasonably large city. Cities don’t do much for me, but that is in keeping with my nature. I like to have the freedom to drive down to the Post Office and get the mail. I like to stop in at the corner grocery store to pick up a few items, and chat with the clerk and the owner. I enjoy talking with the clerk at the Post Office who still can’t quite understand why there is such a frontal assault on an institution that has served this country well for so many years. I see a microcosm of what reality is in this country today. I see the middle aged woman, the wife of an absentee husband, trying to cope with raising two boys while her husband is away trying to earn a living in some distant state. They are all, each and every one of them, Americans. They are good and decent people who still reel in utter disbelief at what has happened to them and their fading dreams of a good life. They are a cross section of those who wondered how this country could have gone from the promises of a place for everyone, just a few years ago, to wondering what the final chapter in their lives will be as they sink, further and further, into the abyss of hopelessness that seems to be their common lot as they see a future that looms ever more ominous on the horizon.

We are, by our very nature, social animals. We were meant to engage in social intercourse with our fellow human beings. That means personal contact that is revered much more than the plethora of electronic gadgets to which we have entrusted our very souls. I like this small town because those are the folks that still find talking to others a worthwhile and enjoyable endeavor. It is the human element that is still primary in their lives. It reminds us that we are a part of something far greater than just “me.” And it is something for which I have a healthy respect and on which I place great value.

I don’t carry a cell phone because when I walk out the door of my home; that time is my time. It is mine to ponder the myriad thoughts about all that is around me and the dynamics of the human condition of which I am an integral, albeit small, but valued part. It is the warmth and the enrichment of all that gives my life meaning.

I, for one, don’t place much stock in the so-called wonders that have been wrought upon the world by Microsoft, Apple and the myriad “tech” companies that have numbed the human mind, all in the name of “progress” and a “better” world. Frankly, I can’t see that we are a hell of a lot better off because of the electronic gadgets that have come from the mental diarrhea of the “techies” that have created all that we are led to believe we can no longer live without. Rather, I see the richness of a world once dominated by feeling, thinking, caring human beings who gave us a world of wonder and enrichment that seems to be dying right before our very eyes.

Real education has given way to a curriculum that teaches us, not how to think, but how to achieve, the ultimate goal of which is the money and prestige one can amass before the final bell tolls. We are people that have forsaken the richness of intellectual discourse, the fine arts, the philosophical and still unanswered questions that generations have pondered for eons, and captured the minds of all that used to amaze us. For what? For the gimmickry that has taken away our ability to converse with one another? What used to be an inspiring argument with a professor whose legacy has vanished has been replaced by such great minds as Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and others of like ilk who have, at the end of the day, given us the wonders of electronics that have created a reverence for the silence of texting, twitter, facebook, iPads, iPods, staring blankly at a computer screen, and all that only serves to further insulate and isolate us from being cognizant of an unnoticed world that is all around us, and being an active participant in a life made up of real human beings. It has made us impervious to the suffering of all those who keep sinking further into the mire of life and drowning, ever so slowly and painfully, into the hopelessness created by all of those we now revere and who feed on the very essence of the poorest and least advantaged among us. We envy their vast fortunes based on creations that are destined to revolutionize the world one day and consign to the dust bin of obsolescence the next. At the end of the day all they have amassed is money and more money, most of which is acquired by plundering nations of their resources and exploiting the human condition of a population that has no choice but to work for a pittance in order to survive. They are the idols of today that, rather than emulate, we should fear. Their sheer gluttony may well, before it is ever satiated, simply consume the last vestigial remnants of what exists for the survival of this planet and the human element that depends on it for life.

They will have created a legacy that is nothing more than a wasteland of what once was and a can never be again. I don’t discount that as a possibility one bit.

Stop and think for a minute. How are we better off today than we were when the “Occupy Wall Street” movement was in full bloom? Do you recall how they were marching in the cities, demanding that the system be more equitable for the benefit of all? What happened to them? Do you see them anywhere anymore? Do you recall how the local and federal police were pressed into service, not to protect their right to engage in peaceful protest, but to protect the darkest and most sinister interests of those who brought this country, and indeed a large part of the world, to its economic knees?

Are you aware that MSNBC is a joint venture of General Electric and Microsoft? Who is beholden to them and all they covet? The people of this country? The system of government upon which this country was built? The resources that belong to all of us? The spirit and very souls of all those who look to them to make our lives better?

Are you aware that banks and financial institutions are making more money now than ever before? How does that square with you? Are you aware that corporations are making more money today than in their history, and that they are sending more of their ill gotten wealth to foreign tax havens in order to avoid their rightful obligation to share the burden of responsibility for keeping this country viable for all of us? Are you aware that, thanks to Bill Clinton and his emancipation of big business from its responsibility to the people who built this country that free trade is now sapping the very life-blood and vitality from an economic system that was to be there for all of us and future generations? Where did those resources go? It sure as hell isn’t to be found in the public treasury.

Where is the investment in that much-touted “infrastructure” our illustrious President has been “selling” for years? I am beginning to think it is nothing more than a cruel illusion. His real attention is, instead, directed to the scions of Wall Street, corporate capitalists, the massive military/industrial complex and a compromised and corrupt government bureaucracy that serves those who ply them with massive wealth and a favored status, all at the expense of the American people who they are sworn to serve, aka Eric Holder for starters. Then, there is the burgeoning secret side of government we don’t even know about. Therein lay the cadre of chief advisors and chief confidents. For whose benefit? How would you know?

What dominates our national agenda today? What should be issues of paramount importance to us all have, instead, become a cleverly created collection of issues to divert our attention from what reality is and the attendant cost to the country and the health of the nation. Not that most or all of them are not noble endeavors in their own right, but are they the most paramount of all that looms before us?

We have “marriage equality,” “immigration,” “gun control,” “sequestration,” “the problem of our national debt,” “the problem created by entitlements,” ad nauseum. However where, on our national political agenda, are issues such as addressing the persistent problem of massively corrupt banks and financial institutions that are “too big to fail? Where is the discourse on the obscene profits of big corporations and their very successful efforts at avoiding payment of their fair share of taxes to support the pressing and urgent needs of this society? Why have they gotten away with ignoring all those who have been chronically unemployed and disenfranchised because of the insatiable greed of industries that set themselves above the law, and now own and control the very political institutions that were put in place to serve us, the people who are the backbone of this nation?

Just take a few minutes to seriously listen to what spews forth from the mouths of Republican “leadership” and Democratic “champions” of the people. How much of that actually pertains to and addresses the real and pressing needs of this country. You could put it all in a thimble.

Like it or not, folks. We are a nation suffering from an endemic complacency and those who can spot it for their own benefit are wasting no time in capitalizing on it. Dream on!  When the sun finally sets on all this we, the people, will be the losers because we did not keep our hands on the tiller and our eyes on the road. We let it happen and, we may rest assured, it won’t be pretty. We are losing the very legacy that rightfully belongs to us and to those who will come after us. But, as long as there is fun to be had, passive entertainment to amuse us and unnecessary things for us to covet, we will be fat, dumb and happy.

When the sun sets on this sad state of affairs, we will be left with a wasteland of what they, the ones who have plundered this country, have deemed to be all they have decided to be our rightful lot in life. We will only have ourselves to thank for it.

Keeping in mind the fact that you no longer have Concorde as an option, ponder this. You are on a transcontinental flight and you have your choice of one of two seat mates; Bill Gates or Bill Moyers. Who will you choose?

I rest my case.

Cowboy Bob
aka The Sagebrush Philosopher
March 30, 2013

“Happy Days Are Here Again?”

Let’s hear it for all those who believe the lyrics made famous by Franklin Delano Roosevelt – “Happy Days Are Here Again.” For whom?

Let’s hear it for all the fat cats on Wall Street who have stolen this country blind, aided and abetted by a compliant White House and Justice Department, all the while disparaging the very ones who have been reduced to life at the subsistence level by their evil and sinister schemes and practices.

Let’s hear it for all the fat cats in the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches of government who have, without a modicum of shame, sold out the very people who cast their votes and gave their contributions to those already in or seeking a place in government, ostensibly to “serve the people.”

Let’s hear it for all the corporate capitalists who have sold out the means of earning an honest living to slave markets around the world that have benefitted from their unbridled greed in order to make the most from those who have the least, at the expense of Americans who once labored in their service.

Let’s hear it for all those living in opulent splendor as their inherent right while countless millions wait patiently in lines at local food banks, soup kitchens and employment offices hoping for just enough to support life and limb for yet another day.

Let’s hear it for all those who disdain those of lesser means as “deadbeats,” “moochers,” and “lazy parasites,” etc. as they covet the body beautiful, abs of steel, perennial erections and pendulous boobs that border on the obscene, all symbols of what they consider as having made it.

Let’s hear it for all the millions of those who have infested our domiciles of government like a bunch of lobbying maggots, peeling the last vestigial remnants of flesh from the bones of those who have sworn to represent the people of this country.

Let’s hear it for all the corrupt and compromised businesses and industries that have systematically destroyed our economy, our environment and our very way of life, by a greed that knows no limits, compromising standards that have been put in place to protect the consumers of this country.

Let’s hear it for the predatory lenders who have impaled students and all those trying to better themselves, by the mountains of debt that would put the loan sharks of yesteryear to shame.

Let’s hear it for all those who have enough to keep their heads above water, but show no compassion for those who don’t, complacent because they know they have theirs and don’t give a rat’s ass about all those who don’t.

Let’s hear it for all those who have worked to destroy the legitimate voices of the working people of this country by demonizing and criminalizing labor unions and citizens activists that have done so much to level the playing field between what is “fair and just,” vs. what is utterly obscene when it comes to profiting from the backs of all those who made their fortunes possible. (Waltons, Romneys, Kochs, Roves, Limbaughs, and all other human vermin, are you listening?)

Let’s hear it for all those who feed our fears in order to snooker us into pouring vast amounts of taxpayer money into defense, intelligence and all the hardware that goes with it, so they can become rich while struggling masses of good and decent people go without the necessities of life.

Let’s hear it for all those who have convinced themselves that they are good and righteous members of “God’s Army,” who ply their perverted beliefs against those they have deemed to be less than virtuous, and don’t know a damned thing about what real virtue and Christian charity means. (Tea Partiers, are you listening?)

Let’s hear it for all those who have “made it” at the expense of the thousands of our nations youngest and fittest because of “an all voluntary military,” while they live in opulent splendor fed by the blood, sweat and tears of all those who have returned in caskets or are permanently disabled or maimed and cannot get the care and help they so desperately need.

Let’s hear it for all the agents of government who have turned our prisons over to “private enterprise” creating gulags of over populated institutions for crimes that should never have put them there, all for the almighty buck because they have no souls and don’t give one hoot in hell about the human condition.

Let’s hear it for all the so-called “entrepreneurs” who are making millions of dollars off homes that have been repossessed from those who struggled to make their payments just to keep a roof over their heads, or to have a place of domicile in their later years.

Let’s hear it for all the abandoned cities, closed factories, and the other domiciles of what was once the means to an honest living and a healthy way of life, all systematically destroyed by the collusion of a government owned by big money, a political establishment that can never get enough, and a way of life that is no longer viewed as fertile ground for a new generation that can restore this country to the greatness it once knew.

Let us not delude ourselves one more moment. We are a nation of one, coherent and corrupt government. Any difference between what we call “Democrats” and “Republicans” is purely academic. They are beholden to the same masters that do whatever they want to do, at the expense of the greater population of this country, and do so without an ounce of shame. Until we have the will and the courage to take back the essence of what made us great, we will continue to languish and, ultimately, perish in our own feces. We need to open the doors to all political parties, not just the two incumbents. We need to make the process available to all who might just have a better take on how to restore our greatness, and the honesty and integrity to make it happen. There should be no imposed limit on the number or type. It should be us, the people who are rooted in the soil of what we once knew as the United States of America. We are the only ones who should make those decisions for ourselves; the politicians and all their minions be damned.

Otherwise, about all we can do is bend over, grab our ankles and wait for that long ago promised “change we can believe in!” At the end of the day, is that what we really want? I don’t think so. We do have choices if we will just relearn the skills of critical thinking, not just blind beliefs, and the attendant courage to make it happen – our way.

Cowboy Bob
The Sagebrush Philosopher
March 9, 2013

“The Average American Has Been Had”

Well, folks, the “sequestration” is now in effect. I don’t know about you but, frankly, I am sick and tired of bearing witness to all the people in this country who are getting royally screwed without benefit of kiss.

Anyone who is naïve or simply living in a state of self-imposed ignorance, and who would believe one word that emanates from the mouth of Barack Obama should seriously consider professional help. He is about as much a Democrat as Vladimir Putin. He is one of the “insiders” who is as beholden to big money, big corporations and the military/industrial complex as anyone who has ever sat in the White House. He knew, full well, what he was going to “cut” from essential programs the average person depends on, in order to endear himself to the Republican Neanderthals who pretend to act from virtue and appear to know what they are doing. He is like the Pied Piper who leads all those who want to believe he is the personification of the Second Coming by his lofty speeches and who will lead us all to the Promised Land. Many of those of a liberal bent will always follow him into the bowels of hell, with stars in their eyes, and knowing with certainty that he is what he professes to be. With just a modicum of effort, all one has to do is carefully listen to what he says and watch what he does to know he is doing exactly what the oligarchs, plutocrats, corporate capitalists and all those who are raking in millions from the favored positions they covet through largesse and political favors given. They are the very ones who have managed to convince all those who act from a base of “tell me only what I want to hear; not what I need to know.” What a bunch of bull crap.

Republicans and “faux” Democrats that comprise the elite among the “fat cats” that continue to rape the country for their own material gain have no shame, whatsoever. They are completely devoid of any sense of decency, honor or service. At the end of the day they are nothing but a bunch of political whores. Those with whom they have cast their lot ply their multi-faceted sides of sheer evil and operate within the triangle of unbridled greed and avarice that extends from Wall Street, to the “hallowed halls” of government within the boundaries of Washington, D.C., to the suburban environs of Virginia. It is where secrecy and questionable motives hold our fate in their hands, and that work overtime to convince us that the “boogey man” is just waiting to rob us of our freedoms and our way of life.” Guess what, folks? It is they who are doing a number on us, not the mystical evil forces we are led to believe we need to fear into perpetuity.

What we have fallen victim to since John F. Kennedy was assassinated is a government, an economic elite and a compliant news media that are the most amoral enterprises one could possibly imagine. How many times have any of those who are sworn to serve us made an honest effort to actually consult with some of the best economic minds that reside among us? How many times have they availed themselves of the wisdom of great philosophical, social and intellectual minds that might just give them better advice and counsel they need to make honest decisions on our behalf? Instead, they look to their political cronies who are totally bought and sold by the likes of the bankers, corporate capitalists and the oligarchs who have destroyed our economy. How many of that ilk have been indicted, convicted and sent to the slammer for their criminal plunder of what rightfully belongs to all the good and decent people of this country. Instead, they just continue to sap the life blood from the national treasury, enabled by agencies of our government and with the skilled assistance of the Federal Reserve.

There are a few dedicated members of Congress who sincerely strive to act on our behalf with dedication, honor and integrity. There is a distinct minority who is constantly engaged in an uphill fight to do what is simply right and just. They deserve all the help and support we can give them. They are the ones who know there is no crisis in national spending that requires what “King” Obama has wrought, aided and abetted by the court jesters in the Republican Party that keep trying to wring every last bit of life from those who labor in their service and yet try to be all that patriotic Americans strive to be. They are the ones, who deplore, with all the fervor in their dark souls, in what we have been taught to believe is a solemn responsibility to be shared by all of us. But those they seek to destroy are, also, the ones who have been demonized and marginalized. They are the ones who are labeled “socialists,” “rabble-rousers,” and “deadbeats.” They are the ones who have been reduced to a lifetime of living on the edge and consigned to a life of poverty, all because of those who have snookered us out of our vote so they can take care of their cohorts in crime at our collective expense.

There is far too much secrecy in Congress, the White House, the Pentagon and the vast bureaucracies that comprise the intelligence agencies that profess to serve us. They keep us under surveillance in the interest of all the elite institutions, and their pursuit of an insatiable greed; an appetite that can never be satiated. They are the once who keep growing, not for the common good, but to suppress those who go to the streets in protest against what is being done to us. They are aligned against all those who engage in nonviolent protest with a never-ending hope and a valiant dedication in order to make things right for our mutual welfare and the least among us.

I have absolutely no confidence in a government that is aligned against the majority of those who simply ask for what is fair. I have no faith in either of the two major political parties that have managed, rather effectively, to marginalize any challengers to their monopoly on the political process. There is no crisis that warrants what is called “sequestration.” It is nothing but a ruse that gives our illustrious President, the House of Representatives and the Senate all they need in order to cut back on programs that are paid into by and serve the common people. They seek to shift ever more of the nation’s wealth to the most evil and rapacious among us; the very ones who continue the plunder of all that rightfully belong to the American people. But, the tide ebbs and flows. I cannot help but believe that the day of reckoning is not far into the future.

The malady of congenital greed is chronic. They never get enough. It is that which will lead to their downfall and, eventually, that which will bring them to justice, albeit at a horrendous cost to this country and to those who believe in it. The chickens do come home to roost. When the tables turn, as they always do, I believe that it will bring out the best in all who have never given up hope. We will become a nation of better people. That seed of goodness is not to be found in the Tea Party. It is not to be found in institutional religions that hold out false promises, and make the most spiritually fragile become demagogues. It is not to be found in all that is beamed to us from corporate news media and the entertainment industries. It is not to be found in a government that has worked overtime to seduce us into believing they really do subscribe to the wisdom of the Founding Fathers and all that this republic was founded on. It is not to be found in the darkest corners of corporations, banks, and other institutions that want nothing more but growing their share of the nation’s wealth at the expense of our environment and the common welfare. Rather, it is to be found within all who believe in and are willing to fight for what is fair and just, for all those who subscribe to a code of decency that makes it possible.

I honestly believe there are better days ahead, but we must become actively involved in making the changes that will bring that about. We must remain vigilant against the hucksters who never give up on a two-class society. It is they who thrive by feeding on the flesh of those they deem to be inferior and expendable.

So, let us never acquiesce to the dark and dangerous forces aligned against all those who seek to make this a better country for everyone. Let us join in a common effort to truly make this a country “of the people, by the people and for the people.” Let’s open the doors to all the genuine political parties that may just have better ideas and values that were abandoned, long ago, by the two major political parties that euphemistically call themselves “democrats” and “republicans.” Nothing could be further from the truth. Let’s get money out of politics and give back to the people the power that is rightfully theirs to define what we expect from those in power.

The time has come and it is long overdue. Always believe, not in what you may hear, but only in what you can clearly see.

Cowboy Bob
The Sagebrush Philosopher
March 1, 2013

"Time Is No Longer Simply A Choice"

Because of the nature of my life’s work, I have had an abiding interest in formal organizations, how they are created and how they operate. They have been with us for centuries and have created massively successful legends of success, examples of dismal failures and abuses of power that have brought suffering and human misery to new levels. But, I think it is safe to say that, for the most part, they have been the engines that have taken the world to new heights and have created the modern-day marvels which we have come to depend on for the myriad essentials we take for granted.

Formal organizations have been the bane of our existence and the emancipation of our limitations. They are a product of man’s ability to create and amass profits that have pushed the bounds of human existence forward. But they have, also, limited and enslaved the potential of human beings because of their insatiable greed and their willingness to bend the rules of fair play in order to amass the material, financial, social and political power they covet. Their ability to grow and prosper knows no limits. The other side of the coin is that they have the ability to prey upon and consume the lives of those who labor in their service.

When we look at them in their entirety, we cannot live without them, but we, also, cannot live with them. The peaks and valleys of our evolution clearly demonstrate that to be the case. They must be an integral part of and regulated by the societies in which they operate or they exist at our peril. Ambition and innovation are the essentials of the diet on which they feed. Taken to excess, those are the very ingredients that feed their gluttonous appetites when they cease to enable and further the boundaries of modern-day societies. When their appetites begin to feed on their own growing quest for more, more and more they become a threat to the order that is the foundation of civilized societies. They have to abide by the common good in order to responsibly serve ownership and, at the same time, serve the needs of those they exist to serve. When a state of homeostasis no longer prevails, their power becomes less a virtue and more a threat to the broader social context in which they operate. When society is no longer able to set limits on their ambitions and to control their conduct, they begin to morph into entities that pose a clear and present danger. That is when the human benefactors of their engines of power and influence are no longer served by their might, but become the stuff that feeds their appetites and the attendant greed that follows. When they cease to provide goods and services for society in order to thrive and prosper, and begin to consume the goods and services of society in order to feed the appetites of investors, you know we are in trouble. When the needs of society become subordinate to the ambitions of the organization, it becomes apparent that the beast is growing at the expense of the populace. As a wise man once cautioned; “All things in moderation,” which has become an enigma to the corporate world and governing bodies of today.

The indications of a growing degenerative disease in the corporate beast usually become apparent by a need for greater power and influence within the arenas in which they operate. There is a need for greater leeway in the amassing of material resources. Their activities become more reliant on secrecy. Their agenda ceases to be outwardly focused and increasingly focused inward. They become more preoccupied with their own growth, survival and relevance than they do to those of the constituencies they were created to serve. They eventually sow the seeds of their own demise by becoming less transparent and become separated from the broader fabric of society and from those they profess to serve. It is only a matter of time before a form of organizational “ethnocentrism” sets in and they exist entirely for their own self-interests and survival. Power overtakes purpose and flourishes for its own sake. They begin to manifest an aura of privilege, expecting and buying special treatment from the institutions of society.

I see this evolution occurring in the world today. The norms by which social intercourse was judged and measured have become fluid and defined in situational terms. Absolute standards are no longer measures of the generally accepted norms by which a society lives and functions. Compasses of moral and ethical behavior are no longer regarded the yardsticks by which we measure our conduct and behavior. Rather, it is whatever the traffic will bear. Licentiousness is generally accepted and we, the people, are no longer shocked by anything. The standards to which formal organizations used to subscribe are defined, more and more, by what is in the best interests of the organization, their clientele be damned. The very fabric of society begins to unravel. The measures of conduct generally accepted as the measures of a healthy society begin to evaporate. I see that all around us today. Ethics morphs into “ethonomics,” which surrounds and engulfs us. One need only look at the excesses of Wall Street, Corporate America, and Government in all its forms. They have reached the pinnacle whereby they are totally self-serving. What was once regarded as blatant criminal conduct is dismissed by labels such as “too big to fail,” and all the other labels that they use to convey their privilege at the expense of the body politic. Our government is, essentially, a government of only two parties. How that came to be, I have no idea. But, it can be safely said that our very existence is owned and controlled by the Democratic and Republican Parties. The system has effectively marginalized and excluded any other political parties from participating in the democratic process – and we passively accept that as the norm, but to the great peril of all this democracy stands for. By whose divine hand was it determined that the Green Party, the Justice Party, the Independent Party, the Libertarian Party, etc. had no legitimate role to play in our society? Who established the “party monopoly” to which we defer and accept? There is no question but that we are much the poorer for what has evolved and what has occurred. But, enter the most enabling phenomenon of societal decay – complacency, which has reached epidemic proportions and to which we have so readily acquiesced.

“When formal organizations are no longer responsive to their constituencies and no longer defer to their advice and counsel, they become insulated and isolated, left to their own excesses. Societal chaos, immorality and corruption flourish and, ultimately, reign supreme”

I would submit that is what we have become. Just look around you.

By what measures are we to determine whether we are behaving in honest, moral and virtuous terms? How do we decide when the needs of the majority are being trampled on by the motives of the powerful and influential? How are we to know that we are accepting conduct that is the complete antithesis of what we have every right to expect? How are we to know that we are being manipulated for the sinister motives of those we look to for guidance?

It goes without saying that our entire system of finance, commerce, government and other important social institutions is totally corrupt and compromised. Wall Street is “too big to fail.” Commerce is dominated and defined by big business and corporate capitalists. Government is defined by the corrupt influences of power, influence and massively huge sums of money. Privilege reigns supreme and the average lives at the bottom of the food chain readily accept it as their lot in life. The image makers of Madison Avenue and Hollywood have sold us a bill of goods and we bought into it! Billionaires and millionaires have convinced us that they have an inherent right to greater wealth, privilege and opportunities than do the rest of us. They live by a different code of morality and taxation, not to be questioned but supported!

Frankly, I believe that every formal organization that serves a public constituency or is elected to office should be required, by law, to have access to bodies that serve without compensation, to advise and temper the decisions of those organizations, with full transparency. Where do you think the “Barons of Wall Street” would be today if they had to abide by such a form of public accountability? I would hazard a guess that we would not be suffering the pillage and plunder they have visited upon every aspect of our economic lives, and we would have a healthier and fairer society than what we are trying to deal with today.

I find it utterly incredulous that any sane person would seriously believe that ours is “a government of the people, by the people and for the people.” It is, at best, just another gargantuan example of a theater of the absurd. Sure, we elect them to office, but once elected, they enter an inner sanctum that is shrouded in mystery and that is a completely independent and autonomous from the people. It assumes a life of its own that is totally self-serving. They summarily ignore what the electorate has told them they want. They don’t demure to our mandates; they simply create their own. Rather, they tell us what is best for us and write the rules for how they are going to translate our mandates into action solely determined by their infinite wisdom, their personal agendas and blatant arrogance. They become a self-serving club of exclusivity and privilege. We become the spectators who simply look on them from the sidelines and passively defer to all their indulgences for constituents we can’t even see. They become the pawns of wealth, power and privilege. We are relegated to little more than a band of sheep waiting to be led to the slaughter.

Where, I ask you, is democracy in all this? We have absolutely no control over the beast we have created. Worse yet, we simply acquiesce to the monster and give it free reign to do whatever it wants. We keep feeding them, hoping they will eat us last. Moreover, the free and unfettered press advocated by the Founding Fathers long ago became a pawn of power and privilege. Its independence has become manifest as corporate ownership and control. Instead of serving as the watchdog on government, it has become its biggest champion and advocate. The most glaring example of how twisted they become is how Harry Reid deliberately failed to rectify the rules for filibuster that is crippling the Senate, and simply caved in to the opposition. Instead of being drummed out of the corps, he remains one of the great sages of the United States Senate. Go figure!

The parliamentary system of government makes what we have look like a joke. The openness and transparency of that system goes a long way toward keeping the bastards honest. We could learn a lesson from their example. I rather suspect that the cost of supporting a monarchy would prove to be a hell of a lot cheaper to the taxpayers than what it takes for us to support the massively huge system of corruption that passes for our government. But, I suppose the “feel good” we derive from the brass bands, the waving flags and the faux patriotism we experience mesmerizes us to the reality with which we live.

Where would we be in our relationship with and expectations from religious institutions that were, ostensibly, created to serve the faithful if that same principle were to be followed by them? We once looked to religious institutions for the moral compass to guide us in our daily lives. Now, they have become so compromised and so insulated from the rest of us, we no longer look to them or defer to them for the moral guidance all civilized societies require. They are in the business of amassing influence, power and wealth to feed those who pretend to serve our spiritual needs. Look at the cadre of evangelists that prey on their desire for a better life, telling them what they want to hear rather than what they need to hear. Look at the Reverend Osteen and how he fills football stadia to capacity in order for the assembled to hear his divinely inspired message that God wants all of us to be rich. Look at the Evangelicals who have taken over vast parts of our social and political establishments, peddling tommyrot, prejudice and venom that only a fool would buy into. Where is the moral compass in all this?

The most egregious of all is, of course, the modern-day Roman Catholic Church. A worldwide institution that used to minister to people all over the globe has now become an institution under siege because of its glaring departure from the tenets upon which it was founded, that it is hollow and devoid of any real ecclesiastical roots. It is a church that was founded on principles that were generally accepted as beyond the ability of normal human beings. Yet, they still persist in covering up their abhorrent behavior and pretending that that they are the keepers of the flocks and guardians of the faith. One need only look at the empty parishes on Sundays and Holy Days to realize just how far into the mire of human decadence they have descended.

Any reasonably logical mind knows that the forces of reproduction are, if not the most, one of the most intense drives we are imbued with as mortal humans. Celibacy is a fraud, resulting from the twisted minds of “princes of a church long vanished.” It is reality denied. It never has and never will work. If the Church is to recover and become the great bastion of moral guidance it aspired to be, it is time to bring an end to pedophilia and other clandestine forms of deviant sexual behavior. It is time to pitch out celibacy and accept the fact that the Church can only be served by a married and committed clergy living normal well-adjusted lives. Moreover, the wisdom of Pope John Paul I should be revisited and more attention paid to his admonition that “Christ’s Church should be a poor church.” I cannot believe that Christ’s Church would summarily ignore the fact that He walked the face of the earth a poor man, clad in camel hair robes and open sandals, and, instead, favor the lavish modes of dress, opulent residences and the trappings of privilege, power and luxury that can only be vicariously enjoyed by those who have given their life savings to His Church. That is the ultimate affront to those who have suffered the agonies of the damned as they have borne witness to the demise of the church that has been the rock of salvation for so many.

I am, and will remain a Roman Catholic, a conscious choice on my part. The responsibility for dealing with it and all its imperfections is inherent in that choice. But I make no bones about the fact that I think it can and should be more relevant to the times and be accountable, in some form, to the laity for its guidance and accountability. Can you imagine the Church with an uncompensated advisory body (akin to a Board of Regents) to the Pope and to the College of Cardinals as a vital part of the decision-making process that has been the exclusive purview of a small, elite and powerful group of self-styled representatives of God? Celibacy could and should be applied to those who serve in monastic orders, but that is the only legitimate place for that requirement that I can see. For all others, throw open the windows, join the secular world and become full participants in our common journey to salvation!

We, as a nation and a society are adrift on an ocean of confusion, complacency, and apathy that is costing us dearly. For us to have any stability requires that we subscribe to standards of conduct that will guide us in our daily lives. Standards are, by definition, absolutes. There is no room for being “a little bit pregnant.” They are the guiding principles that may be beyond our reach, but the ideals to which we should always aspire. Honesty, integrity, decency and a genuine concern for others should always be in our lexicon of what life is all about. They are, also, the ideals our leaders should hold before us and before themselves to keep us on the right path. We cannot treat them in a cavalier manner, important some of the time but, not so important at others.

Some of the more pressing issues that come to mind are:

1. Get money out of politics.
2. Prohibit lobbying and the culling of political favors with money and influence.
3. Get politics out of the judiciary.
4. Transparency must be the order of the day, not the exception.
5. In all cases, it must be the will of the people that prevails, not the ambitions and avarice of those elected to serve the people.
6. Equality for all must be our standard, not privilege for the few at the expense of the majority.
7. Adulation of materialism and celebrities must give way to a common respect for mankind, this fragile planet and all we depend on for our very survival.

The list could be expanded and amplified by minds far better than mine, but it is a start.

I sincerely and fervently believe the time has come for us, the people, to get serious, to become committed and involved and genuinely work to change the complexion of this country. We instinctively and objectively know where the problems lie. Let us put our shoulders to the wheel, stop talking and begin to do what is required in order to make this country all that we profess and seek to be.

To hearken back to an old cliché “Time is of the essence” It is no longer simply a choice.

Cowboy Bob
aka The Sagebrush Philosopher
February 10, 2013

"God Is Merciful, But He Is Also Just"

I was perusing one of the news sites on the Internet the other day and came across a piece titled, “Corporate CEO ‘Extremists” Target Social Security, Medicare”, amplified by ‘For the wealthy, pampered, and narcissistic CEO’s of the Business Roundtable, sacrifice is always for someone else.” Now I ask you, what could be a more noble pursuit?

Since time immemorial, the most despicable characteristics of Homo sapiens have manifest themselves at the expense of the finer aspects of human nature. It has always been a struggle by a small minority with insatiable materialistic appetites to oppress and feed on those whose character is more aligned with those of the Divinity. It is and always will be, the eternal quest for survival of the “fittest,” however one may choose to define the term, the measure for which is always based on materialistic possessions and consumption of more than one comfortably needs. The rationale is always rooted in an inherent contempt for those who reflect back to them all they lack in terms of the finer attributes of the human condition. They are, quite simply, predators of the worst kind. They have no conscience, no morals, no principles, no compassion, no spirituality, ad nauseam. They are lifeless beings whose only contribution to the four score and ten years allotted to them is the production of human waste in one form or another. Try as they may to purchase a lasting and eternal legacy in their cursory belief in an afterlife, at the end of the life process they are, at best, simply a pile of excrement, foul smelling and the stuff upon which green flies subsist. A noble and fitting end to the time they have spent on this earth.

If one takes the time to study their habits and to learn from their narcissism, they have no trouble, whatsoever, in rationalizing all they covet and possess. No matter how altruistic they attempt to make their “charitable” endeavors, they simply cannot give freely. What they may choose to give to less favored mortals always comes with strings attached so the benefactors will always maintain ownership and control of all they have left behind. I find that personal aggrandizement is paramount and human suffering is the least of their considerations. Personally, I find that common thread woven through the fabrics of the various “Foundations” among the more pre-eminent examples in our contemporary society.

Throughout recorded history, the pattern of their existence has ebbed and flowed in very predictable ways. The gorge themselves on the labors of the poorest among them, only to have all they have accumulated forcibly taken away from them by those they have exploited, reduced to rubble with their mortal remains summarily dispatched in the least ceremonious and revered methods imaginable. The legacy they have so coveted and labored for is a mere pittance compared to that left by those they have exploited in their materialistic and rapacious pursuits.

As I look around and listen to the plight of those who have lost so much, I am reminded of how, in the natural course of events, the rich and powerful manage to reduce the common man to that of some form of servitude to those of “privilege and wealth.” The last major thrust in that cycle of events occurred when an “all volunteer” army was created. The draft was eliminated, consigning those from the “working” class to a lesser status in society. They are the ones, because of reduced opportunities in life, that were reduced to availing themselves of the option of laying down their lives in the “service of their country,” as one means of earning a meager sum for the support and welfare of those who were dependent upon their sacrifices. They are the ones among us, today, who wait for their just dues in terms of veterans’ benefits, disability assistance and rehabilitation, while their “privileged” counterparts revel in the environs of Harvard, Princeton, Yale, MIT and other bastions of snobbery and higher learning, acquiring the very skills that will ensure a permanent place in society, not just for themselves, but for those who have made it all possible by their sacrifices in one form or another. They are the ones we honor at ceremonial funerals in Arlington while their counterparts insulate and entomb themselves in mansions, estates and yachts.

These are the ones who are burdened down with debt in order to acquire a college education. These are the ones whose homes are repossessed in order to satisfy the loans given to them by the predatory rich. They are the ones who haunt the unemployment lines, hoping for the opportunity to earn a decent and honest living for themselves and those who rely on them for survival. These are the ones the rich laugh at when the periodic photos of poor hapless souls shopping at Wal-Mart are distributed on the Internet; a stark reminder that they are simply fodder for the canons of those who have “made it,” aided and abetted by the very institutions of government that were assumed to be there for all of us in order to underwrite and support an economic and social agenda for a better life. They are the ones who bear the burden of contempt because they dare to demand a better shake in this one journey through life. They are the ones who regularly frequent the food banks and soup kitchens in order to keep their children from crying on an empty stomach. They are the ones who simply want an honest share of the pie.

What, I ask you, justifies this kind of an existence? Is the rationale to be found in the temples of greed on Park Avenue, in Stamford, in Chevy Chase, in the gated mansions in The Hamptons, in Miami Beach, on Beacon Hill, the North Shore of Chicago, in Bellaire, in Beverley Hills, on the beaches of Malibu, in Pacific Heights, in Lake Oswego, on Mercer Island, just to name a few? Those are but a mere smattering of where the remnants extracted from honest working human beings are deposited, all in the greater glory of every oligarch, plutocrat and corrupt politician walking the face of this country.

History has shown that everything progresses in cycles. If you pause and listen carefully, you will surely hear the Grim Reaper sharpening his scythe in preparation for the Divine Justice that will surely result from the depths of decadence and depravation into which the “privileged” in our society has sunk, all because they somehow believed they were deemed by their creator to be superior beings, entitled by their station in life to deprive all those who have tried so hard to simply earn an honest and decent right to a better life.

It has been poignantly said that “God is merciful, but He is, also, just.” The sun has yet to set on this tragic period in our national existence.

Sleep well.

Cowboy Bob
The Sagebrush Philosopher
January 19, 2013

"Do You Prefer KY or Vaseline?"

Well, well, well. Our resident chameleon at 1600 Pennsylvania has remained true to his colors. He is just a continuation of what we got from him during his first term, and he has yet to take the Oath of Office for his second term! The so-called “progressives” hardly had a chance to bend over and kiss the presidential petard before he was busying himself with ways to stick it to the people who elected him to office, all without benefit of kiss. All the tough posturing in the wake of his electoral mandate was just blowing more smoke up the posterior of those who honestly thought there was more to the man than we had seen during his first term. Surprise! T’aint one shred of difference. Just more of the same in keeping with his commitment to massive wealth, corporate power, the military/industrial complex, and the vast panorama of polluting energy companies that are destined to destroy the world. It is just more of the same assault on those who seek to make this a fair and just country, with opportunity and a share of our national resources for everyone. Watch out, Occupy Wall Street, law enforcement will, once again, stand with those aligned against you, all that you stand for and those who support you.

The champagne corks are hitting the ceilings of the posh offices on Wall Street like the sound of machine gun bullets at Omaha Beach on D-Day. They are, without doubt, delirious with glee that the disenfranchised at the bottom of the food chain will, once again, be separated from their meager treasures as an excuse to “reign in entitlements” and to make good on Barrie’s commitment to require everyone to share equally in the pain of restoring America to the land of opportunity it once was. Equally, my ass.

The food banks will not soon be going out of business. Unemployment, although given a brief reprieve, is probably already earmarked to fade into the sunset when the current grace period is over. The elderly can take some heart, however. It is much easier to gum it on hamburger than it is to chew better cuts of meat. It saves wear and tear on dentures that can now be made to last longer. Who said our president doesn’t think ahead? He has probably already tipped off his affluent friends that there is money to be made in cushions for us to sit on while the waiting time for our social and health care services become further attenuated and the system becomes more cost effective. It should be pointed out that the threshold of $250,000 for a tax break on middle class Americans was, also, moved upwards to $400,000 which, coincidentally, is the same amount Barrie draws annually as his presidential salary. Coincidence or design? Only a fool would make book on that one! I would hazard a guess that a goodly number of those working in banks, investment brokerage houses, derivates, hedge funds and the like are largely in income brackets at or above $400,000. Nah, that would probably be much too obvious, wouldn’t it?

Lest I appear to be cynical, let me reiterate that I am still convinced that the President is a Democrat in name only. Rather, I would be more inclined to say he is of a conservative persuasion. I do believe he is concerned with fiscal frugality and doing what he can to ease the burden on taxpayers. After all, look at what he did for the country by going soft on British Petroleum when it came to assessing the financial damage they inflicted on the country with the Gulf oil disaster.

Look at what he did for the national treasury by importing all of the experienced politicos from the Clinton Administration. No need to orient them to his administration. They came with all the knowledge and seasoning one could hope for. The wealth of experience brought to bear on issues of national prominence by Robert Rubin, Larry Summers. Peter Orzag, Rom Emanuel, Jeff Immelt, Leon Panetta must be priceless, not to mention all of those of lesser rank who have responded to the call to serve.

Look at what he did by having the Justice Department forgo any efforts to indict and try the Wall Street hucksters for their crimes in bringing the country to the brink of financial disaster. He must have saved the taxpayers a fortune on that one alone.

Look at what he has done by backing away from the issue of warrantless wiretapping. The mere thought of the massive amount of funds saved that could be applied to the national debt simply boggles the human mind.

Look at what he has saved corporate interests in the United States by engaging in secret negotiations on free trade agreements. Now, mind you, there is a slight loss of jobs that go with the deals, but it is all in the national interest, right? Ask Harper of Canada and Nieto of Mexico, for starters.

Contemplate the tax payer’s funds that have been saved by keeping Guantanamo open. No need to build more maximum security prison facilities on the mainland if we can continue to use what is already there.

Think of the huge amount of money that has been saved by not deploying aircraft and flight crews to overseas bases that can now be put to much better use in addressing the acute problems of home foreclosures, bank bailouts, and the loss of jobs, to name just a few. Unmanned drones must surely be much more cost effective. The loss of innocent lives must be just a pittance in comparison, the pain and suffering of surviving families not withstanding.

No doubt about it, folks. This guy could, if asked to do so by the Republican Party, walk on water and save them even more money! Now that is what I call a real deal.

For all those who naively believe this guy is genuine, and that Middle Class America is getting a real bargain, think again. He has elevated lying and deception to new heights and has managed to get the full and complete support of all those admiring supporters who call themselves “Progressives,” whatever that means. They just can’t bring themselves to call him out on the simple matter of “truth,” which is probably the most repugnant prospect he can contemplate.

My only hope is that, after this latest round of being hosed by this dude, the people who have suffered the most at his hands will simply say, “enough,” and set themselves to the task of holding him and all his two-faced cronies to account for what they have done to this country and all the good and decent people who are proud to be the backbone of all the ideals we still cling to.

Obama is simply no longer credible. I shudder to think of what he can, and just might, do before this second term comes to a close. There is nothing he can do that would surprise me. I would make book that more Americans will have reached that point by then than there are among us now. One thing can be predicted with certainty, however, and that is it will be one hell of a rough ride for those who work for a living and still hold out hope that things will get better for them.

Seriously, it is time to do away with the stranglehold the so-called two-party system has on our government. Both are simply two branches of the same monopoly and we are paying handsomely for tolerating it. Every aspiring political party that is clearly legitimate should have a seat at the table and a place at every political debate. No privileged character in this game does us any good, whatsoever.

Isn’t about time we stopped flirting with the notion that things can be made better? Isn’t it time we made it happen for us, the people, and not those who seduce us into believing they, the establishment, really gives a damn about us?

Time IS of the essence!

Cowboy Bob
The Sagebrush Philosopher
January 1, 2013



“Keep Hope Alive. It May Be All We Have.”

I have been writing this blog for several years, based on the long-delayed response to various individuals who, during the course of my life, opined that I had a talent for writing and that I should have a go at it. Perhaps it was a lack of self-confidence or misplaced modesty that precluded me from giving it a try.

I found retirement an uncomfortable fit and I seemed to have more time on my hands than I could put to good use, so I decided to take up the pen and see if there was a modicum of truth to all of those voices of encouragement. I found a comfortable niche and realized that I rather enjoyed putting my thoughts on paper. As to whether that has proven to be a fruitful and worthwhile endeavor, I have to leave that to the reader. Praise is not the issue. Honesty is.

My venture into the world of the written world caused me to pause and ask, “What is the most important tenet that should govern this endeavor?” I decided it could be summed up in one simple word – TRUTH. I could not possibly take the plunge without a firm commitment to always strive to be truthful with myself and to my readers. I have tried to remain true to that commitment. As to how successful I have been, again that has to be left to better judges than me – my readers.

I make no bones about the fact that I am interested in a variety of issues and subjects, and I have no qualms about being forthright in that regard. The multi-faceted makeup of what we are as human beings in all its manifestations has provided me with a wealth of opportunities. I have few regrets.

If I had to identify one aspect of what we are, as a people, it is the ease with which we have allowed others to shape and determine our values based on the skilled use of tools that play to our hedonistic and materialistic needs. Knowledge is, without question, the most arduous and difficult of all the pursuits put before us. The rigors of acquiring knowledge and the attendant wisdom that comes with it seem, all too often, to take a backseat to anything that plays to the entire panoply of what makes us feel good or what may cause others to envy or idolize us for what we have. That is sad testimony to the value we place on our full potential to become responsible citizens of the world and to cultivate a genuine desire to make this planet a better place for us all.

The most awesome period of innovation that has occurred during my lifetime is that wrought by computer technology. Now, I cannot dispute the benefits that technology has bought to the various aspects of our lives. However, the “free market” has also exploited that technology so we are immersed in electronic toys beyond belief. We wait, with baited breath, for the next gimmick that will play to our need to yet have more fun with the latest and greatest coming off the assembly lines spewing forth an endless array of “toys” sold to us as yet another means for making us more savvy, accomplished and successful, whatever those terms may mean. I am saddened by the casualties that have followed in the wake of those “advancements” to our way of life. We no longer talk to each other. We no longer visit with others. We no longer read good books. We no longer know how to write, both in substance and style. We have diminished the value of social intercourse and substantive human relationships. We can’t live without cell phones, social networking, texting and social media. We are plastic and unfeeling. Sadly the most egregious of all, is that we no longer know how to think critically and hold those institutions and servants of the common good to account for their failures to serve the societies and the world community for the sake of every inhabitant of this planet. In the final analysis it is the ultimate indictment of what we should be at our best. Mediocrity has now become the standard by which we measure ourselves. Is that not the ultimate tragedy of mankind?

I measure the United States by those to whom we have entrusted our institutions of government. To me, that is the best insight we have as to where we are as a nation and how much we will either (a) demand from our public servants, or (b) how much we will succumb to the deceptive practices and ambitions from them. It doesn’t take a lot of effort to throw these two divergent perspectives into sharp relief. I find that by reflecting back on the occupants of the White House, I can pretty well tell who has been the worst and the best during my lifetime. It isn’t rocket science. Rather it is common sense.

The best Presidents of my lifetime were:

1. Harry S. Truman for his tenacious commitment to basic human honesty and decency.

2. Dwight D. Eisenhower for restoring dignity, stature and statesmanship to the office of President.

3. John F. Kennedy for demonstrating the sheer brilliance of what it means to be a real leader by his handling of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Anyway you look at it; he saved the world and its people from total annihilation.

The worst Presidents of my lifetime were:

1. Those who were members of the Bush Dynasty and their skills in courting the deceptive, ambitious and destructive talents of dictators, plutocrats and oligarchs.

2. Richard M. Nixon for obvious reasons.

3. William J. Clinton for his total lack of any sense of character, decency and morality. His failure to serve the electorate as President and his collusion with those whose avowed pursuits were personal gain, wealth and power contrary to the common good and the welfare of the nation.

4. Barack Obama stands out as the most disingenuous president of my lifetime. I believe he was hand picked by the most avaricious among us. I am persuaded that he was chosen as the keynote speaker at the Democratic National Convention in 2004 for very good reason. He was anointed as the one to carry the torch for the grand scheme of subduing the nation for the benefit of the wealthy and privileged. He would become President to further the agendas of those who were determined to shred the fabric of the middle class and working people of this country. He would be President to do their bidding and to obliterate any semblance of power and equality by those who were and are the backbone of this nation. He would be President to rape and pillage the environment for big money, corporate capitalists, defense, energy, foreign interests, and to emasculate anything that might have the slightest appearance of advocating for organized labor. He would give lofty and inspirational speeches in order to mesmerize and seduce the people for those who were sworn to reduce them to servitude in the service of great wealth and power. He would lie with impunity and engage in double-speak without the slightest reservation or remorse. He would covet secrecy, presidential prerogatives, and cozy relationships with defense and intelligence agencies. His Justice Department would be an arm of his administration that would turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to violations of the law in favor of those who would seek to pervert and exploit any notion of justice.

In my opinion, he has proven himself to be the most amoral person to have ever taken the Oath of Office. He is a person without conviction and character. The nation has only begun to pay the price for his avariciousness and servitude to all the forces that seek to destroy all that we are and seek to be. I am convinced that everything he does, ostensibly for the welfare of the many is, in reality, simply a part of his agenda for furthering the goal of serving the seats of power, privilege and affluence that put and keep him in office. I am deeply remorseful for ever having supported him in his quest for the presidency.

All Barack Obama is and is not has been glaringly apparent to anyone with the slightest curiosity as to what makes him tick. He is as transparent as a window pane. I think the time is upon us for the so-called “Progressives,” to wipe the stars from their eyes and see this man for what he is. Isn’t it time to call him out on his blatant hypocrisy and stop blindly accepting him for what he professes to be? Deception is abhorrent, but self-deception is criminal. The results of the last election have not changed Obama one iota, nor will they. He is what he is; a shill for every vested interest that is the complete antithesis of civility and what this country is all about. He sold his soul a long time ago. He is locked into delivering on his commitment to power and money. We, in turn, are duty bound to do everything we can, within the framework of the law, to stop the juggernaut he is about to unleash on a fragile, but trusting and unsuspecting public. Time is no longer on the side of well-intentioned and reasoned minds.

I would like to think there is some hope to stem the tide of his agenda, but I am not at all optimistic that is likely to happen. My fear is that we are so complacent from our self-imposed ignorance, lethargy and the will to do anything meaningful to rectify it that it is almost hopeless to seriously entertain any such prospect.

Where is the lifeblood and energy of the Occupy Wall Street movement? Where is the determination and strength to support organized labor in its quest to rescue and restore health to an economy for those who want nothing more than to earn an honest living? Where are the environmentalists who want to save this planet for those who seek to reverse the plague and savagery of exploitation? Where are the seeds of a government that wants to see better days for all people, and that realizes the merits of regulation and oversight by a government that is elected to serve everyone and to advocate for all of us? Where is the will to fine tune our system of government so that it serves our common purpose and nurtures our finer angels?

It is not to be found in the halls of an entrenched government that serves only the interests of those who seek to destroy our common purpose, our will and the determination to be all that we were intended to be by those few brave men who created this nation?

a. Let’s begin by getting money out of politics.
b. Let’s insist on complete separation of powers, with honesty and transparency in every aspect of government.
c. Let’s return a balance to the power between the states and the federal government. Anything that has the appearance of being self-serving should be viewed with suspicion and, if necessary, ratified by a vote of the people before being enacted into law.
d. The two-party system is a ruse for the concentration of political power in the hands of a few in order to manipulate the many. That notion should be abolished in favor of allowing any legitimate party to actively seek the votes of the electorate, without any encumbrance or restrictions that do not apply equally to all other political parties.
e. A semi-autonomous bureau should be created that is accountable to an appropriate and impartial oversight body in order to ensure that all contracts, treaties and other binding agreements are free of any appearance of being self-serving and are deemed to be in the best interests of the United States of America.
f. It should be required that all businesses engaged in news reporting, analysis and other means of informing the electorate are totally independent and free of any relationship, whatsoever, that would compromise its complete independence and autonomy from any other business enterprise.

I have advocated before that it is time for us to consider an autonomous convention of independent experts in all aspects of government and constitutional law, free of any affiliation other than to academia, to conduct an audit of our government and how it addresses its obligations to be of service to those who elect them to office. The results of their study and any attendant recommendations should be published for distribution and appropriate action by the people who vote and elect public servants to office. From my perspective, there is far too much secrecy, conflicts of interest and collusion by elected officials and public servants, and those whose interests may be contrary to the welfare of the nation.

I can only scratch the surface. God knows, this nation is awash with some of the best brains in the world that would dwarf anything I might have to say. However, I would hazard a guess that the lion’s share of those minds would welcome the opportunity to take this task head-on and demonstrate their collective ability to make what we euphemistically call “government” one hell of a lot better than it is!

What, I ask you, do we have to lose? A dose of healthy introspection might just be what the doctor ordered. At the end of the day, the hallmark of this country must always be “Freedom, with liberty and justice for all.” Surely, it is time to permanently retire the misconception that this country exists to ensure that “those who have the most always get the most, and the rest of us suck the hindmost.” If we don’t do it for ourselves, you can bet your sweet “bippy” that the cesspool of humanity ensconced in Washington, on Wall Street and the suburban environs in Virginia that hold this nation hostage sure as hell won’t do it for us.

Keep hope alive.

Cowboy Bob
The Sagebrush Philosopher
December 19, 2012

"A Sprig of Rosemary"

You probably wouldn't know it by the way I write when I am on my high horse over something that has really rankled me, but I am basically a sentimental softy.  What causes my rancor to turn to mush are the words of an accomplished master in the use of the English language. 

Charles McCabe was a columnist with the San Francisco Chronicle when I was a student at UC Berkeley in the 1960's.  I rarely missed savoring his daily columns.  He played on a panoply of thoughts and feelings within me.  Although emotionally fragile after I finished, I always felt better about my own humanity when I did.  He was one of a kind. 

He died in 1983 in San Francisco.  In his memory, the restaurant he frequented every day reserved his table for one full year, dutifully adorned with a martini and a single red rose.  A fitting tribute to an honest man whose emotions ran deep but which he openly and freely shared with his devotees. 

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A Sprig of Rosemary
by
Charles McCabe
The Fearless Spectator


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How would you like to be remembered? Or is the thought really too awful to think? Is saying good-by to life one of those things that strikes you with terror, as the word cancer affects some people?

When the time comes for me to say good-by (and I would have it delayed as long as possible, thank you) I should like to be able to summon the grace of that civilized Englishman, Horace Walpole. “I shall be quite content,” he said, “with a sprig of rosemary thrown after me, when the parson commits my dust to dust.”

I am perfectly willing to be remembered for what I am, which means what I think I am. That is not all as admirable as you might think if you do not know me well. My value, in the end, is no greater than any other collection of flesh and blood below the earth or on it.

One of the nice things about living, though, is that you can savor, in memory, the vanished presence of those you have loved or liked. While it is no longer fashionable to memorialize the dead with rosemary, as it was in Shakespeare and Walpole’s day, one can still throw a sprig of the stuff in the direction of those who graced life while we were around.

I think of a special girl who is buried in Golder’s Green, on the far side of London. She was perhaps the most beautiful woman I ever met -- coal black and snow white, of hair and skin. For a while we meant everything to each other, which means there were no words we did not say to each other, from the ugliest to the loveliest, and no things we did not do to each other, in that spectrum of action which we command.

We parted with the bitterness of those who know they have failed, failed in that marvelous adventure which can be the discovery of a soul.

Yet the memory of that girl, when she was alive and now that she has gone, was never bitter. When she was away from me I could do what was not possible for me when we were together: I could accept her for herself. What she was, was too much for me to handle when she was mine. She was too beautiful, and loved by too many men, and too various and bright in her spirits to belong to anyone, even herself.

I did not know the beauty of her spirit, or what it meant to me, until we were parted. Then I knew, and it hurt like hell for a long time. The fire finally burned out. It became beautiful.

I think of her today, and often, with a delight which is tinged with sadness, which is I suppose the appropriate combination of feelings for those we have loved. I can hardly remember a word she said, though she said many witty and memorable things, but the vivid dancing of her face comes to me as strongly as the colors of the garden I am now looking at.

She would never know that she would give me this richness, in a place so far away and a time so remote. She could not know, when I said I loved her, how the words would become tinged with truth as the years passed by. The blessing she dispensed may have been, to her, as casual as the affection she bestowed on a horse. These things we can never know.

I do not believe I will ever be remembered the way I remember this half-Irish, half-Spanish elf. It was her quality to bring out, in one particular man, from time to time, the best part of his nature. That a life can do this is surely a quite beautiful thing.

If one had the faith that one had touched another in this way, at any time, that surely would be an affirmation of the value of life. As I said, one can never know about these things. One can only guess. But it can be a lovely guess. Rosemary is for remembrance, and for constancy. Today would be that girl’s birthday.

Charles McCabe
Tall Girls are Grateful
Chronicle Books, 1973
54 Mint Street
San Francisco, California 94103

"Blowin' Smoke"

I don’t know about most folks but I, for one, am tired of being patronized and schmoozed by every brand of those who claim to be a part of the “1%” or privileged class that seems to believe they have what is equivalent to the divine right of kings, in the pursuit of every conceivable kind of avarice and greed known to mankind. I am tired of the never-ending effort to keep us in the dark while feeding us bull crap. There is a time when everything points to the fact that we are being “had,” big time. That time is upon us and it is time to stop the merry-go-round and get off. It is time for a reality check and to place the whole spectrum of deception into proper perspective.

I simply no longer accept as credible all of the rhetoric that is handed to us as truth and reality by the opinion makers in Washington, New York and Hollywood. I am no longer enamored by the products of Silicone Valley and the sanctity of Wall Street. I am no longer willing to grant special privileges to those who simply take those dispensations and rip us off, then tell us to shove the leftovers where the sun don’t shine. They are all a bunch of con artists and whores of one ilk or another, constantly on the look out for one of our many vulnerabilities so they can jump at the chance to exploit the human condition yet again. By their behavior, you would think they regard the rest of us as a bunch of fools and blithering idiots and, sadly, we certainly give them reason to believe as much.

We all dutifully fall into line when patriotism is called for. We salute the flag and get all teary-eyed when the brass bands play. But, what are we saluting? A grand illusion that causes us to believe what they (the power structure) want us to believe. Contrary to popular belief, we simply don’t have one system of government. We have one political party with two branches. Both serve the same masters of wealth and privilege. But it is done with a different slant every two, four and six years. Other political parties have, for all intents and purposes, been marginalized from actively participating in the political process. I would say that looks a lot like a carefully crafted and closed system that benefits a few at the expense of a great many.

Every aspect of our lives is controlled by a whole host of corrupt political, judicial, financial, military and intelligence agencies that scratch each other’s backs to the collective detriment of the taxpayers. Every election requires that we dutifully play the role of “voters” so they can lay legitimate claim to their favored and coveted positions in the plunder of this country and, indeed, the world. They are the power elite who own and control every aspect of our lives. They are the oligarchs, the corporate capitalists, and the corporate news media. They are the consummate seducers who keep us totally oblivious to the reality that is swirling around our heads as they brutally assault every right and guarantee that we, as citizens, believe to be ours. Social safety nets become their next opportunity for material gain at (you got it) the expense of the common people.

Like a band of sheep being led to the slaughter, we look the other way and believe what we want to believe, while the planet is systematically destroyed through avariciousness the likes of which the world has never seen. We, the people, are a pathetic lot, allowing every conceivable kind of exploitation and destruction of all that rightfully belongs to us, so long as our appetites are satiated by what they, the establishment, has convinced us is what we really want, not what we need, all in our best interests.

We are so burdened with military hardware floating on the oceans of the world and flying in the skies above us that we will probably soon need a new government agency just to police the congestion caused by the sheer volume of traffic in order to prevent oceanic or stratospheric collisions. Of all that armament, ostensibly developed and purchased in order to protect our “national interests,” I rather suspect that very little is or will ever be pressed into any form of bona fide military service. But, it certainly makes legions of defense contractors, and senior military and procurement officers handsomely rich come retirement day, all at the expense of the American taxpayers. If they aren’t the closest thing we have to royalty, I don’t know what is. And, we dutifully pay the expected measure of proper homage to them.

Compare the attention and resources devoted to Wall Street, Corporate America, Defense, Intelligence and the myriad perks they have accorded themselves or have bought with bribes to their collaborators in order to make it all happen. What is happening to teachers, fire fighters, law enforcement officers and the nation’s infrastructure is the reality with which we live, day to day. It gives new meaning to terms of what is deemed essential and what is discretionary. All the while, the thieves go free from indictments and prosecution, while dedicated public servants hit the bricks and wonder where the next meal is coming from. Where is the justice in all this? Passive entertainment is in; reasoned intellect and deliberative and critical thought are passé.

The current popular jargon used to refer to our perceived financial crisis is “falling off the cliff.” Do we actually believe there is a debt crisis in this country without giving the slightest bit of attention to asking why and for whom? Do we actually believe social programs put in place for the common good are, somehow, to blame for all this or are we standing on the verge of simply acquiescing to that belief as the predators take more away from us, reduce services and increase our taxes for the privilege of doing so? Where is the simple logic in all this? Who gains and who loses? I rest my case.

While the victims of Hurricane Sandy huddle in the darkness of what is left of their homes and their communities, mindful of the fleeting rhetoric of our resident orator at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, and Colonel Sanders on steroids from New Jersey, the opulent splendor of Park Avenue is ablaze with lights illuminating the chick shops and the surrounding environs of wealth and privilege. Who is left to come to their aid? It is their friends, neighbors, families and a few well-intentioned and dedicated groups who give a damn, simply because they accept their efforts as the dues they pay for being a part of the human race. FEMA is a faint acronym from another world that has left them to fend and survive for themselves. Is this the America we want and the America we have a right to expect? I would hope not.

Tourists visit our nation’s capitol, mesmerized by the monuments erected to the power and privilege we revere, not so much for what they have done for us, but quite unconsciously for what they have done to us. Their lofty words not withstanding, more often than not all their professed noble intentions boil down to some form of pillage, plunder or seduction that makes us actually believe they give a damn. Or, do we accept it because we are afraid not to? Their ill-gotten wealth, privilege and raw power are ominous forces to contemplate.

Isn’t it time we got serious about the reality of our lives? Climate change and global warming are real. They are the biggest threat to our very existence and all of the “things” we have come to covet. When the planet is barren, what is the value of all the money amassed by the oligarchs, the politicians, the financiers, the producers of fossil fuels and all the other destructive forces that have been unleashed on us? The “point of no return” is upon us. If we don’t stop kidding ourselves, it will be too late. When we reach that point, I would ask you, “Who benefits?” All of the goodness, decency and creative energy of the common man goes down with the most vile and despicable specimens of humanity among us. At that point, there are no winners.

We simply must clean up government. We must get money out of politics. We must insist our elected officials stand on their own, focus on the people who elected them to office, and stop being mesmerized and beholden to big money and the influence of all the branches of government that operate in the shadows and in secrecy, and routinely practice the art and science of “conflicts of interest,” all accruing to the detriment of the people. It is not a healthy arrangement for anyone and it is toxic for all of us.

We must insist on a return to a completely free and unfettered press that will serve the citizens of the country and acts as our watchdogs on all the centers of political, social and financial power that may have the potential to harm the very foundations of our democracy. As the old sage from Missouri once said, “Don’t tell me; show me.”

There is an old bit of Wyoming folk wisdom that says, “Someone is blowing smoke up our ass.” That pretty well sums it all up from my perspective. I would, in turn, ask you, “How much longer are we going to tolerate this as standard bill of fare from our elected and appointed leadership before we say, “Enough is enough!” We want our country back and we want the urgent action necessary in order to save this planet and our very lives before it is too late.

Greed and avarice may be powerful influences, but they are not moral, honorable or humanely decent. I, for one, don’t believe one damned word they say, one damned promise they make, nor do I have a modicum of trust and confidence in anything they advocate being “in our best interest.” Their total and complete lack of character tells me otherwise.

Cowboy Bob
The Sagebrush Philosopher
December 5, 2012

Equality: For Whom and At What Price?

Equality is defined as the quality or state of being equal.  That is a notion that all Americans seem to revere and cherish as a quality particularly unique to us, as a people.  Now, I grant you that it is nice to think of it as a part of our fabric that is universally shared by all who claim to be “American,” whatever that means.  Contrary to the popular conception that we are one people, I view us as a collection of special interests, each with a different persuasion and a different agenda relative to our ethnicity and our economic, social and political interests.  Our history supports and gives credence to that fact, regardless of how much we may want to believe otherwise.

Before venturing further into this treatise, let me acknowledge the power and influence of religion on our perceptions of what equality means to each of us.  After all, the roots of what we perceive to be the America of today were first planted on the shores of this nation with the arrival of European settlers seeking a new life free from religious persecution.   I respect the religious beliefs of everyone, but I do not subscribe to the notion that religion is anything more than a system of beliefs.  None can empirically prove the existence of the Deity.  Each is what it is, predicated on a simple set of beliefs.  I do not believe, no matter how fervent one may choose to profess otherwise, that God does not talk to any of us nor do any of us enjoy favored status with a heavenly being.  At best, we can only ascribe to our concept of God what we would like to think are our own individual and collective virtues.  I reject out of hand any admonition that anything one may purport to be absolute is anything more than a simple belief.  The sheer brilliance of our Founding Fathers is reflected in the fact that they chose to establish this nation on a system of laws, not divine beliefs.  It is the rule of law that is supreme, a fact of our existence we should not lose sight of. 

I was born and raised in the State of Wyoming, coincidentally the motto of which is “The Equality State.”  The ideals embodied in that motto versus what I experienced growing up in that State clearly relegates the motto to an ideal, not necessarily a way of life.

My earliest recollection of what were the beginning of my life’s experiences are rooted in the foothills around Hart Mountain, Wyoming where my Dad was working as a laborer on the construction of an internment camp for Japanese Americans at the beginning of World War II.  That was my introduction to one of many definitions of what “equality” meant.  Later in life, when I was a university student, I was dating a Japanese American girl.  Rather suddenly, she was called home, causing us to break a date for the movies.  When she returned, she told me that her family had forbidden her to see me again.  I was stunned, but I later found out that her grandfather once owned a large truck farm in the Imperial Valley of California.  At the beginning of World War II, he and his family were removed from that farm and transferred to one of the internment camps for Japanese Americans.  As a result of that twist of fate, he lost his entire farm to a “real” American and never recovered from the loss.  His bitterness was firmly woven into the fabric of his family and the innocence of my intrusion into their family, I am sure, must have bordered on treason.  I never saw Nobuko again.  Their meaning of “equality” did not square with mine. 

During World War II, Mexican laborers migrated from Mexico to the sugar beet fields in the Big Horn Basin of Wyoming.  They were referred to as “Spics,” receiving a paltry wage for their back-breaking labor, isolated from the local social structure, and consigned to a rudimentary housing camp on the banks of the Big Horn River.  I often wonder what “equality” meant to them. 

Later and early in my adolescence, we lived in the small town of Thermopolis where I went to school and worked as a soda jerk in my Uncle’s drug store.  It was there that I first witnessed the station to which the Native Americans of the Arapahoe and Shoshone Tribes were consigned.  In those days, it was a federal offense to sell liquor to the “Indians.”  The only time we saw them in numbers was during the annual rodeo.  They would gather on the streets of town, many of whom would spend the entire time in a stuporous state induced by the consumption of bay rum, shaving lotion or vanilla extract.  I wonder what “equality” meant to them. 

There were two blacks living in that town with a population of around 2,500.  One was “Nigger Nate” who shined shoes at the local barber shop, and “Bob” who was the janitor at the local bank.  On one occasion I invited Bob to have lunch with me.  He reluctantly accepted, but it was difficult for him to accompany me into the café.  Once seated, he told me he could not stay.  I insisted that he remain, we had a nice lunch and became fast friends.  I often wonder what “equality,” meant to both of those men.    

Throughout our history, equality must have had a vastly different meaning to all of those who occupied a specific place in the pecking order of these United States of America.  I wonder what equality meant to the Chinese laborers who worked in the gold fields of California and were hunted for sport on weekends by the sourdoughs mining for the riches they hoped would emancipate them from their station in life.

The infamous expulsion of the Cherokees from the South and their “trail of tears” to the Oklahoma territories must have surely given new meaning to what equality meant for them. 

Then there are all of the Native Americans consigned to some of the poorest real estate in the nation, living at or below the subsistence level and relegated to obscurity from main stream America.  As they were brutally murdered, had their lands stolen from them, and died from starvation and exposure to the elements in the cold and brutal winters on the plains and in the mountains, I wonder what equality meant to them.  Their station in life hasn’t changed much over the years, and I still regard them as the real “forgotten” Americans among us.  The blatant failure of the U.S. Indian Service to invoke and uphold “equality” on their behalf has always and still remains a national disgrace.

There has been wave after wave of immigrants to the shores of this country.  Each came here seeking a better life free of poverty, and ethnic and religious persecution.  They started at the bottom, and through determination and hard work; most of them progressed up the social and economic ladder to take their places as full members of all this country had to offer.  Most of them were absorbed into the mainstream of this country, some later rather than sooner.  It was not all that long ago that the much coveted vote of the Latinos in this last election belonged to an almost invisible group of “bra ceros or wetbacks” who labored in the fields so we, mainstream America, could enjoy the luxury of cheap produce to grace our dinner tables.

I find it difficult to reconcile the concept of a nation founded on a dubious claim that God intended for them to reclaim and settle a “promised land,” by disenfranchising and brutalizing an entire population that had lived on and farmed that land for centuries.  As the land was reclaimed on the basis of divine will, the rightful inhabitants were marginalized and relegated to the status of second-class citizens.  Since then, there has been a relentless move to annex lands that were rightfully taken from Palestinians for the sake of a greater Israel, a nation that claims to be our closest and staunchest ally, yet has a history of spying on the United States, attacking a United States Naval vessel, the USS Liberty, in international waters and sapping vast economic resources from the people of the United States in order to subsidize their existence and to provide them with a defense establishment that is second to none in the Middle East.  Where is the notion of equality in all this?

We have an enclave of Cuban exiles living in the United States that exert tremendous financial and political influence in order to keep Cuba isolated from fully participating as an equal among nations.  It is yet another example of keeping the specter of phony subversion of another “boogey man” from undermining this nation.  Our politicians pander to that minority for the sake of shoring up their own political ambitions.  The rest of us fall for the ruse and look the other way.  As a matter of fact, through the courage and leadership of John F. Kennedy in dealing with the Cuban Missile Crisis, Cuba and Fidel Castro ceased to be a threat to the United States long ago.  However, the contrived threat to our sovereignty has kept the people of Cuba economically and politically marginalized as a full partner in the international community for over forty years!  What still remains their reality today should have been relegated to history a long time ago, their sovereignty should be recognized and they should be full trading partners with the United States and, indeed, the world.  I think the people of Cuba have been punished long enough for supporting Fidel Castro, today a frail and aged man.  He may have been the dragon of yesterday, but there is no fire coming from his nostrils today.  Had we embarked on a mature and enlightened relationship with Cuba, who knows how quickly they might have made the transition to a democratic form of government?  But, the money and politics of an enclave of nationalistic zealots have managed to trump common sense.  Where is the notion of equality in all this? 

Taking this dichotomy a step further and focusing on the economic reality of the United States, why is there such a vast disparity in the recognition and power of organized labor versus what is enjoyed by big business, international corporations and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce?  Hasn’t the time come to level the playing field so everyone has an equal place at the table?  Isn’t it time for us to infuse the concept of equality into the equation? 

Hasn’t the time come for this country to adopt a mature stance and think in terms of equality for everyone rather than pander to fragmented special interests and the agendas of an influential and powerful few?

It’s about time the tail stopped wagging the dog. 

Cowboy Bob

The Sagebrush Philosopher

November 17, 2012