“Where Is the Real You in All of This?”

I have to confess that I have an inherent mistrust of all of the “free trade agreements” started by Bill Clinton and given new life by Barack Obama, further compounded by Stephen Harper, Conservative Prime Minister of Canada.  The shroud of mystery surrounding each of them and the secrecy that seems to play an integral part in the process is, I believe, cause for concern by all of those who are likely to be affected by them.  Its alliance by the parties thereto seems to exceed the bounds of what we have come to accept as simply Chiefs of State as colleagues, but, rather, what smells more like an alliance of those serving big money interests in each respective country of participating members.  Rather, someone is coming up with the short-end of the stick in all this and, I rather suspect, are the citizens and working people of each participating country.  The constant echo of “trust me” is pause for keeping our backs to the wall and a response of “show me” before any agreement becomes codified and binding. 

I am particularly uncomfortable with the close association of President Obama and Prime Minister Stephen Harper.  How is it that Harper seems to manifest an inordinate amount of power and influence in these matters, particularly the Keystone XL pipeline and of more concern is the role Harper seems to be playing in determining how that project evolves, even to determining the value to be placed on the land to be expropriated to make way for the worst polluting petroleum in the history of the continent.  It just doesn’t pass the smell test. 

I, also, have haunting reservations about what kind of a Chief of State this Harper really is.  Why, for instance, did he remain silent when Michelin recently gave 900 of their Maritime workers their walking papers without so much as a peep from Mr. Harper?  If he did what he should have done, in my humble opinion, would have been for him to hustle his buns to Nova Scotia to convene a personal meeting with the powers that be at Michelin and asked them just what they were doing and justify the rationale for their actions.  900 unemployed in one fell swoop is not a minor issue, by any stretch of the imagination.  The massive influence of the oligarchs in the United States is well known.  However, it would seem to me that Mr. Harper is well qualified to assume his rightful place among that less than august group of the super rich and powerful.  What role have Canada’s oligarchs played in all this, and at what cost to the environment?  I think it bears careful scrutiny by legitimate watchdogs before any precipitous action is taken to make it a reality that cannot be stopped or reversed.            

I am mystified by the extent to which we, like so many civilizations that have preceded us on this planet, have so readily acquiesced to power, influence and great wealth without even so much as a whimper by all of those who are likely to be adversely affected by the actions of those who perceive themselves as members of some elusive and undefined superior stratum of society and, indeed, the world.  Where did even the most basic principles and foundations of control by and the consent of the governed go?  We have given up all that underwrites equality for the people to those who simply take control and claim the spoils for themselves and those of like makeup and ambition.  That seems readily apparent as the complete antithesis of a democratic society “of the people, by the people and for the people.” 

How can anyone abandon the inescapable fact that this entire planet belongs to all those occupying space on it?  This piece of real estate is not for the exclusive use and ownership by other mortals who may have more money, power and influence just by their status in life and their ability to con the rest of us out of what is, and always will be, rightfully ours by Divine right.  Insofar as intellectual property is concerned, I fail to see why that could not be addressed by society to ensure fair and just compensation to those who have given the world a better mousetrap. 

However, one aspect of all this remains sacred, and that is the welfare and will of the people.  Nothing should abrogate that inescapable fact of our common existence.  That should always be the foundation of any action being considered for the welfare of society and those we have deemed to be our public servants – the acid test for it all being, does it serve the interests of the governed?  No amount of money, breeding, power or force should ever trump that essential part of who we are and what we are as a people and a civilized society.  No one element of that society should ever be a second-class citizen or claim veto power over the governed.  Moreover, every political party should always serve the social contract in some fundamental way; never the vested interests of any one or more factions within that society. 

The days of emperors, kings, queens, dictators and any notion of an inherent superiority over those to whom the world belongs are over.  Let them earn what they claim as theirs, just like the rest of us.  Let them be accountable to the people, just like the rest of us.  Equality is universal and it is time we all got used to that fundamental fact of life.  It may not be easy, but it is possible.  If we, the people, want it to happen we can and will make it happen. 

We can start by making every election based on what the electorate sees as the common will of the people, not when some selected group forks out a fortune to convince us that they have come up with a better mousetrap that just happens to give them and their ilk an edge over the rest of us; always couched in the rhetoric of some deity and admonition from a divine power that makes us tremble in our boot straps.

Is this world government?  Not by any measure.  We are all different by virtue of our birthright and a whole host of familial and societal influences.  But, as rational and intelligent beings, we can discern what is the best deal for the majority of us, and go for the gold. 

Every platform of every political party should be published and commonly understood by the electorate.  Every election should be publicly financed and any form of private financing deemed against the law.  We should encourage everyone to actively participate in elections, but no one should be allowed to buy the votes of anyone voting.  A conflict-of-interest by any other name is still a conflict-of-interest.  It doesn’t take a judge in black robes to figure that one out.  End of story.

The end game must always be that nothing is adopted for or by the people without the expressed consent of the people by a vote of the people.  The “expert” has yet to be born who can trump the common wisdom of the governed.  To believe otherwise and, more dangerously, to defer to that belief is the death knell to democracy.  We cannot, now or ever, succumb to any hint of the notion that anything better is possible or desirable.

It is time for us to take off the rose-colored glasses and stare reality squarely in the face.  Our tastes and desires are the exclusive result of the efforts of business, commerce, the entertainment industries, network news organizations, and producers of every kind of electronic gadget imaginable.  They determine what we see, hear, and want and all they feed us simply numbs the brain and reduces our ability to think critically and discern the difference between reality and fantasy.  We have become automatons that exist for the sole purpose of increasing their wealth, enhancing their power and growing their influence.  They are the most evil force the world has ever had to face.  They will sacrifice limb, life and, yes, the very planet on which we live in order to simply acquire more, more and more at the expense of human life and the world in which we live.

There is not one elected official sitting in offices in government, or in industry, finance and raw power in all its forms that has one ounce of integrity and human compassion in his/her whole being.  Make no mistake about it; we are all expendable in the pursuit of their insatiable lust for greed, power, money and all that goes with it.  There is no redemption for any aspect of their being.  Moreover, they have no ability to see what they are creating.  They are blinded by their own lust. 

If there was ever a time to revisit our finer angels and the best about our human nature, it is now.  Time is not on our side.  This world belongs to all of us and necessity dictates that we must reclaim it for the common good, not for the ambitions and greed of the few. 

Real democracy and the welfare of the majority is our only hope.  Together we can make it happen.  Divided we will disintegrate before all the gods of wealth, power and privilege.  Hopefully, come 2016, the nation will relegate Hillary Clinton to her proper place in history and welcome Elizabeth Warren as the nation’s first Madam President. 

It is imperative that all of us vote, know what we are voting for and realize that it is the people of this country who work for a living and carry the weight of their responsibility as a citizen with pride in all that they are and all that we are.  It is not those of privilege, wealth and power who will make the difference.  It is you and all those like you.

When anyone says that he/she “works for a living,” it should be with pride and a badge of honor.

Cowboy Bob

The Sagebrush Philosopher

March 21, 2014

                             

              

“Freedom Taken to the Extreme Becomes the Barbaric State: Welcome to America!”

I cannot recall a time in my life when I have been witness to such an intellectual wasteland or the numbing of the human mind as has been set before us by the need for the American people to be passively entertained and the conscious choice to live in a state of self-imposed ignorance.  That is not only pathetic, it is an indictment of what we could and should be as a people.  Has not the time come for us to revisit the joys of original thought and dismiss the trite and meaningless nonsense that we accept as “fun,” and pursue with such vigor? 

Permit me to list just a few of what we have incorporated into our daily lives. 

·        We willingly allow the oligarchs and those who serve as their minions in government and industry to pillage and plunder the wealth of the nation for their own benefit by fostering subservience from the very systems that should be there to serve the needs and interests of the people of the United States.  They own and control every branch and agency of our government, minimize and denigrate any actions that may be taken for the benefit and welfare of the citizens of this country in favor of reducing their obligations to society and reducing the needs of the broader social order.  The rich just get richer and the poor get even poorer.  That is the new mantra of what we have become.  If that is not really what we want for this country, then why in the world don’t we change the system, and reign in the excesses they claim and which are fostered by those elected to serve us, the people?  They pollute our environment at will while dismissing the warnings of science and the perils to come by their blatant greed at the expense of the planet.       

 

·        We have completely abandoned any notion that we, the people, have a solemn duty and responsibility to hold our government accountable to us for what they do for us and to us because they have set themselves above the law and the will of the people.

·        We have allowed Bill “Fellatio” Clinton, Phil Gramm, Robert Rubin, Larry Summers, and Alan Greenspan to deregulate major financial interests in order to favor bankers, financiers and hedge fund managers at the expense of the American people and the viability of the financial institutions put there to better serve the body politic.

·        The Obama Administration bailed out renegade banks and other financial institutions at the expense of the taxpayers and at reduced rates of interest, for problems they, not we, created!  Moreover, he tacitly gave his approval for the massive and sustained “interest free loans” to failed banks by the Chairman of the Federal Reserve. 

·        The Obama Administration has favored reduced rates on income tax and other forms of taxation for wealthy benefactors, the movement of offshore funds in order to reduce their tax liabilities and has favored big business, corporate capitalists and other entrepreneurs to further reduce their tax rates while the average American has labored to meet their tax obligations. 

·        The Obama Administration has favored big energy companies, free trade agreements and other forms of subsidies to various industrial enterprises, again at the expense of the average American.    

         ·       We revere and defer to the military and intelligence services as if they were royalty and touched by               the hand of God.  To question them and their motives is almost an affront to the sanctity of all they                 profess to be and do for our collective benefit.  Sez who?

·        We have bought into the “privatization” of every conceivable kind of public service as inherently good, less expensive and far superior to anything that might accrue to our benefit by the efforts and work of public servants.  If so, why are the hucksters of the business and financial worlds in such a hurry to tap into that lucrative cornucopia of profit and greater wealth?  That just doesn’t compute. 

      

·        Why do we tolerate the massive cost of benefits and the loss of valuable time by our legislators so they can spend their time courting the favor of lobbyists, and taking vacations and excursions of various kinds at taxpayer expense?  While the “working” Americans and lower paid workers envy the perks they so freely flaunt, they turn a blind eye and go for even more.

·        Why do our elected government officials acquiesce to one-sided actions such as Citizens United by the Supreme Court, all for the benefit of those who claim their divine right of superiority to rig elections and the financing of those elections for the rich and famous so they can buy votes and the attendant benefits for the benefit of their insatiable greed and material gains?

·        Why is there such disparity in the funding of unemployment benefits, the minimum wage, student loan relief, etc. by the renegades sitting in the halls of the House and the Senate vs. what should be given to help all of those seeking honest jobs and bearing the responsibility for supporting their families with a living wage? 

From my perspective, our society has degenerated to a level where anything goes and we are not embarrassed or shamed by anything.  We are mesmerized by electronic gadgets that enable us to stare blankly into a hand-held device in order to “communicate” with others without ever having to talk, and to be passively entertained by every conceivable kind of titillating pleasure known to mankind.  How are we any better by ogling at girls with skirts up to the cheeks of their bottoms, the bare-chested and tight crotches of men’s clothing, and the use of gutter language as they emulate those who have managed to peddle that nonsense?  Do we really care to listen to a prolonged discussion about the private parts of human anatomy and the role those we are watching play in the entire scenario?  What does all that do for our sense of common decency and what sets us above the sewers from which it comes? 

We are a people who seem to find it attractive to use acronyms and other forms of abbreviated speech rather than proper language in order to carry on conversations.  We attach meanings to abbreviated forms of speech and react as if they were somehow subversive or vulgar, and convey some sort of disdain or prejudice by their very use. 

What comes to your mind when you hear the terms “Working American,” “Middle Class,” “Service Employee,” “Domestic Worker,” “Manual Laborer,” etc.?  Is there not more dignity to being a “Working American” than that of a “Senator,” “a Congressman,” a Consultant?  Where the former earns an honest day’s pay for an honest day’s work, the other earns his/hers by peddling knowledge of dubious value or by letting us know that he/she steals and deceives (with aplomb) for a living rather than stooping to that of a mere laborer.  Who are the more respectable and more noble in all this?   

What comes to your mind when you hear terms such as “Ivy League,” “San Jose State College,” “Junior College,” “Stanford University,” etc.  Does one strike you as superior or inferior to one of the others?  What does that say about you?

What makes a scion of Silicon Valley more valuable and respectable than someone who can fix your car, or build your house, or manage a cattle or sheep ranch, or serve you a well prepared hamburger in a fast food restaurant?  One works for a living and the other peddles technical expertise of a dubious value to society in general.  Both serve us in special ways and both are essential to a balanced life for all of us.  Why do we revere one more because he/she has money and the other is just a “working person?”

The nomenclatures we use by the names we attach to political parties convey a great deal about us and how we view those we put in public office.  What is the essential difference between a Republican and a Democrat?  Both are accomplished thieves and peddlers of all sorts of deception and manipulation that most decent people would find offensive. 

Did you know that the Presidential Debates to which we are subjected every four plus years are limited only to those who are candidates for the Office of President from the Democratic and Republican Parties?  Did it ever occur to you that is tantamount to a two-party political system to which we, the voters, are expected to subscribe?  Who deemed it a two-party political system to the exclusion of every other qualified candidate who may be seeking that office?  Why should the candidates from the Green Party, the Justice Party and the Freedom Party all be barred from participating in those discourses.  Might we, the voters, not learn a great deal more about who could and would serve us most effectively if we could hear their answers to the important and salient questions having to do with their occupancy of the Office of the President?  I would think so. 

Who deemed it appropriate that we should only have a limited number of political parties for any and all of our elections for public office?  I have never read where it was codified as the only option we were to have and, frankly, I think we (and the country) are the poorer for it.      

We Americans seem to have an ingrained disdain for any political party with the term “social” or “socialist” associated with it.  Somehow those terms connote some sort of subversive element that would surely undermine the purity and sanctity of what we currently have. 

For most of my life I labored by declaring my party of choice as the Republican Party.  With time and enlightenment, I came to my senses and shifted to the Democratic Party.  My greatest joy in that move was to have had the privilege of meeting John F. Kennedy.  I have had my moments with that political party, as well.  That discomfort has been largely created by the notion that, somehow, both of those political parties were more “American,” than others.  I no longer harbor that illusion. 

I now pride myself in being a “Social Democrat.”  A “Social Democracy” is defined as “a political movement advocating a gradual and peaceful transition from capitalism to socialism by democratic means.”  That suggests to me that we have not done a very good job of using the proper nomenclature in the use of such terms and how they might apply to the greater society at large.  If the largest segment of our society is that of the “working” or “middle” classes, does that not suggest also, the greatest segment of our population is a social class?  If that is the pre-eminent class, then it seems logical for that class to be occupied by those who claim membership in the largest group of people dedicated to the health and welfare of society.  That being the case, then why should we be limited to just Democratic, Republican, Green, Freedom, and Justice Parties, all of which are minority parties.  Why should we not have a “Social Democratic” party that embraces the largest majority of voters having the greatest vested interest in a political establishment that would serve the greatest number of citizens?  It would seem to me that the Scandinavian countries have proven the case rather well.  What is to be gained by re-inventing the wheel?    

Moreover, why should any minority party control the institutions of government more than any other political party?  Would it not be more reasonable and logical for a socialist democratic party to represent the greatest potential number of voters in a system that is, ostensibly, there to serve all of the people?       

        

It seems to me that we could make a good start by revisiting the wisdom of the Founding Fathers, going back to the Constitution and the Bill of Rights by putting back into place the safeguards that were so wisely incorporated into our way of life.  We could start with a “free and unfettered press,” followed by well-regulated corporations, an impartial judicial system that served us all, equally. 

We should, and could, clean up the mess we have so we are a real democracy that we can all take pride in and have confidence in to ensure we are all, indeed, “equal under the law.”

Frankly, I am tired of the games our political, commercial, intelligence and military/industrial establishment play with us and the persistent wondering if we, the people, really are in control and are being heard, or if we are little more than sheep waiting to be led to the slaughter.

Aren’t you?

Cowboy Bob

The Sagebrush Philosopher

March 16, 2014    

"A Hymn in Praise of Our Remaining Churches"

Demise of rural places of worship raises questions about our belief systems

This was written by Ron Macinnis who authors a column titled LIVING IN THE PROMISED LAND for the Halifax Herald in Halifax, Nova Scotia.  I was taken by his words because they reminded me of an earlier time in my life and the virtues that were such an integral part of the values, and that were so ingrained in our character and how we related to others.  True, it was a simpler life but, I believe, it was a better life because we did not have the diversions that took our attention away from those with whom we shared our lives and the community in which we lived.   We genuinely cared about one another and we were always ready to lend a helping hand whenever and wherever it was needed.  We did not have the wonders of the electronic age to trump our ability to talk to and relate to one another.  Each day was there for us to appreciate the essence of the life we shared and, above all else, to feel the pain and suffering that was often our common lot, but which were to be endured in one form or another.

The churches which were willingly supported by the people of those small towns sustained us and kept hope alive when that was about all we had.  That compassion is a characteristic I truly miss.  Nothing about what passes for “fun” and the mountain of visceral and material pleasures we covet today could ever tap into those finer aspects of what we were as human beings and which were a cherished part of each day we lived.  Those churches may look like tombs, but to some of us we know that deep within the recesses of those silent structures is a box of treasures somewhere from a golden age when people had character and decency but, sadly, seem long forgotten in the din, hustle and bustle of today’s hectic pace of life.

Are we really any better now?

Cowboy Bob

The Sagebrush Philosopher

February 19, 2014      

******

What I saw in my travels one day stopped me dead in my tracks.  It was in that moment that full impact of the metaphoric content of the scene hit me. 

For here was a vision that underlined the reality of what we, as a society, have done: we have, for all intents and purposes, albeit unavoidably put our churches, and all they stood for, out on the street.

While it is true that some of our old, gracious, highly symbolic, old rural Nova Scotia church buildings have been “repurposed,” and their physical form will take on new function, their demeanor, their aura, their evocative spirit and their important role as a gathering place will change indelibly, and in that I find there is, for our rural communities, a monumental loss of something deeply important to us all.

It is hard to know where to start with this one:  maybe with a nostalgic drive through our little rural hollows and hamlets, and the warming, esthetic pleasure I have derived from the presence of the tidy, little white churches dotting the green countryside, and how they spoke to me as would an open-armed, warm-and-welcome greeting on the doorstep of a friend – this would be a good place to stop and meet some of the folk, I would think.  Or if need be, for whatever reason, I could find help.  And certainly, at a deep level our churches spoke to me, based on my experience in rural community development, of the important role they played in holding our communities together:  of the dinners, of Christmas baskets, of the outreach to those in need and the endless but socially bonding conversations that took place when people got together as they did in the old days.  And, of course, there was the music, sometimes nothing short of spectacular. 

Perhaps most important, though, all of these churches stood for the virtues of compassion, of forgiveness, of loving one’s neighbor, of the importance of community and of keeping that fabric together.  I must say, in the years of community work I did in a small village, churches played a vital role in stitching community fabric together.  But it was one of ever-diminishing impact:  One could see their disappearance coming for years in the rising tide of grey hair in the pews. 

Why may that have been?

Perhaps because of the seeds of the demise of the church were planted many years ago.  I explored this at depth once out of curiosity and was gripped by the tale, tragic as it was.

Somehow, over time, the simple but beautiful everyday teachings of the man, Jesus, ended up being bought and sold by the early church’s heavenly gatekeepers: many of those precious lessons, scratched in the sand on a beach, became tangled in rhetoric, overrun with twisted brambles of myth and ritual, and frightening tales of a petulant, demanding and vengeful god who could all but hurl thunderbolts if He got ticked. 

And then there was the added burden through the centuries of rising costs to pay for buildings, the construction of which was specifically and ironically declared irrelevant by the church’s own spiritual master.  (“For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” Mathew 18:20)

Maybe Jesus understood something about human nature we did not. 

Little wonder then that our last couple of generations, with a sea of spiritualities and diversions on the other side of a keyboard, have little or no desire to do what is required

to keep those charming old buildings afloat, much less to be impassioned on a Sunday morning to go to church.

Our new cathedrals, after all, if we are forthright about it, are those big-boxes bursting with bargains, a sales flyer for a church bulletin, and an offering plate up front.  That is where all the cars are on Sunday.

But the big question is, what now?

Where may we find the moral and spiritual guidance, however imperfect it may have been, that came from the churches of past days?  From whence the reminder of human decency that one saw from afar when approaching our little rural communities?  Of the importance of compassion?  Of the loving heart?  Of community?

Sadly, from where I sit, I do not know the answer to my own question. 

But one never knows. 

Maybe new churches will spring up online.  Maybe congregations will buy into the idea of adaptive reuse, wherein other compatible organizations can share space and responsibilities of support.  Maybe some of the old churches will be repurposed as a new kind of church with new and younger adherents and a more concise “gospel,” less complex, more relevant, and tailored to the longings of today’s citizens, young and old alike.

Maybe, maybe, maybe. 

But, in the meantime, we should keep our eye on the ball:  whatever happens we need a moral guiding light of some sort to help keep our social fabric intact and to get us across the shoals of our uncertain future. 

With our churches falling away at an alarming rate – I know of at least 20, but data is hard to get – we may do well to keep in mind in our quest for that guiding light the uncomplicated but sweeping theology of one Rabbi Hillel, who lived in Jerusalem in the days of King Herod. 

When a skeptical young infidel came to him and agreed to join his church if the rabbi could explain the contents of his holy book while he stood on one foot, the young man was humbled by the answer he heard.  Hillel said, in so many words,
“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.  This is the whole book:  the rest is commentary.”

Ron Macinnis closes off with this request:  “Your thoughts on this matter, dear reader, would be most welcome.”  (promisedland@herald.can)

    

              

“It’s About Time!”

I did not grow up in a religious home.  What was lacking, however, was compensated by the zealousness of my Grandmother Minnie.  She was from the old Baptist School and had a black, leather covered Bible that was well worn from the diligence of her study of all that was believed to be good and holy within those pages.  She was as certain of the absolute truth of what was recorded therein as most of her children were that it was not.

As a child, I was terrified of what was meant by all of the words printed in the text of that book.  As I came of age as a grade-school student, Grandmother Minnie decided the time had come for me to become familiar with the tenets of her religion, and took it upon herself to introduce me to the joys of going to my first service at the Jesus Saves Baptist Church and the oratory of Reverent Pulis.  As the pageantry of that experience drew to a close, I became even more terrified.  The culmination was the point at which those who had been inspired by the words of the Lord (as so aptly intoned by Reverend Pulis) were to “go forward.”  Those words had absolutely no meaning to me, but I was asked by Grandmother Minnie if I did not want to “go forward.”  It quickly became apparent to me that I would be required to stand in front of the congregation, profess my belief in all that had been inspired by and attributed to the Lord, and culminate in the ritual of being “baptized.” 

I quickly discovered that “being baptized” amounted to a healthy dunking in a watering tank for livestock at the hands of Reverend Pulis, at which point I would then become a believer in the Lord and would be well on my way to a virtuous life and guaranteed salvation.  That was the first and last time I placed my trust in the inspirational words of absolute certainty coming from the mouth of anyone even remotely associated with the label of preacher. 

As I matured and joined the United States Navy for a tour of duty, I came to wonder just how all the marvels of the world around me came into being.  The mere fact that there were more unanswered questions than there were answers led me to conclude that there must be a higher power that could come into being by more than a spontaneous cosmic accident and, probably, was beyond my comprehension.  There had to be something greater and more powerful than anything I could possibly imagine.  I never felt that it was anything I could ever clearly understand; much less explain in absolute terms.  Therein was the mystery and one that still remains with me.  That is a conclusion that is entirely mine and nothing I can empirically prove or disprove as part of the belief system for others.  Nor do I believe that what I have come to accept is anything more than part of the system of beliefs of anyone else, despite the certainty of what they profess to be otherwise.  In my view, it is nothing but a system of beliefs that is yet to be empirically proven.  It is a system of beliefs I have come to choose, but one about which I have no illusions of proving. 

No matter how hard they may try to assert otherwise, the absolute certainty attributed to the teachings of any religion are nothing more than what a willing group of people have chosen to believe.  I remain open to proof, but anything less is self-delusional.  What in essence really is a simple act of faith unfortunately morphs into a zealousness that becomes absolute and unquestionable resulting, too often, in demagoguery.

 

Throughout recorded history there has been unlimited numbers of divinely inspired minds that have stated and preached, with absolute certainty, that they are the holders of the inspired word of God.  I would invite anyone to simply embark on a cursory study of all that is “inspired” and explain to me what value lies in all the horrific tales of violence that have been, and are yet to be visited on the human race.  However, all I see is the growing decadence and limitless evil emanating from the minds of those we label as our fellow human beings.  Where, I ask you, is the compassion for the suffering of others?  What is it that moves us to do with less and give more to others?   Where is it within us to deny our own materialistic and hedonistic appetites for the greater good of all of us?  What has brought us to the point of absolute certainty that all of our worst attributes are somehow a rightful entitlement, and that those who believe otherwise are simply fools to be exploited by all the “haves,” with any notion of justice being nothing more than folly?

Never, in my entire life, have I seen the standards of human decency and human decadence so fluid and ill-defined.  There are no measures of what is right vs. what is wrong.  Rather, any such measures are left to the individual and it is a world of “whatever the traffic will bear.”  We are no longer shocked by anything.  Greed is good and any lesser ambition is patently stupid.  What is even more egregious is the mere fact that we accept it all with complete abandon.  And the world sinks deeper into the mire and toward complete collapse.  Chicken Little keeps saying “The sky is falling; the sky is falling,” and the only response she ever hears is, “So what? Tomorrow is another day.”  Anyone and anything perceived to be weak and vulnerable is fair game.  They are the prey for the stronger among us, simply for the asking; all based on a set of simple beliefs. 

The greatest legacy of my life was from a professor at the university from which I graduated.  For his parting words to those of us going out into the world for the first time we were admonished to adopt as our mantra for the rest of our lives, “Question, question, question, and never abandon that fundamental premise for so long as you shall live!”

I have, by my own volition and free will, been a member of the Roman Catholic Church for most of my adult life.  I did not choose it because I necessarily believed in all that it professed to be, but because I chose to believe in what I most wanted and needed to believe.  That is an issue of choice based on reason, not based on mystery or fear.  Is it an imperfect system of beliefs?  Of course!  Is it a system of beliefs that can be made more perfect?  Of course!  Is it the only inspired Word of God?  How do I know?  Is He the only God and when, where and to whom has He spoken?  I have no idea.  Obviously, that line of questioning could go on ad infinitum, never to be conclusively answered.  In the final analysis it is the choice of a system of beliefs we choose to adopt.  From that point forward we become the embodiment of that system of beliefs and, if we are the least bit inclined to be rational, we do all in our power to see that system continue to nourish our very souls and become the guiding light of all we are destined to become as human beings.  However, with the passage of time comes the illusory phenomenon of insidious change that may threaten that system of beliefs and undermine the validity of what it once appeared to be.  We can no longer see the forest for the trees.   

I believe that the strongest and most pervasive phenomenon of the human condition is the ability of outside forces to corrupt what we are most prone to believe by our very nature.   The same applies to organizations of whatever ilk they are likely to be.  The more corrupt they become, the more inclined to further corruption they are likely to be.  Lord Acton said it best; “Absolute power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”  Therein lies what I believe to be the greatest peril to civilization, as we know it, and what I believe is the most ominous for some of the greatest institutions of civilization in our history; not the least of which is the Roman Catholic Church.  I commend the United Nations for taking it to task and raising many of the unanswered questions that have yet to be answered, and for far too long.   

The Catholic Church has, in my opinion, been seduced by the very power within the hierarchy of the Church.  The corrupting influence of that power has caused so many of its real problems to be passed over at the expense of reason that could have been better applied to lesser problems, not that any of them should be minimized.  The focus seems to have been directed more at the priests who are the offenders, and less at the so-called “princes” of the church who overlooked and tacitly condoned what was going on.  Who most benefitted from that?  Those who were in positions of power and influence.  Why did the responsibility for what befell the Church not come raining down on the heads of the Bishops, the Archbishops and the Cardinals who covered up so much of what was occurring, and who continued to be revered by the Church and their station within the Church?  Clearly, I see a conspiracy of silence with what appeared to have been set in motion in order to protect the power of those in high places.  They were accorded deference and respect they forfeited when they became as complicit in what was going on as the actual perpetrators of those offenses. 

What befell Cardinal Dolan of New York while he was serving as the Archbishop of Milwaukee in whose diocese boys who were deaf and mute were being molested by clergy?  The last I knew he was comfortably settled in St. Patrick’s Cathedral surrounded by all of the trappings of power and prestige customarily accorded that station.  Where was he when justice was handed out?  What kind of retribution is promotion to one of the most powerful and prestigious offices in the American Catholic Church?

Where was the atonement that should have been demanded from Cardinal Roger Mahony for his complicity in the cover-up of sex offenses while he was in the position of Archbishop of Los Angeles?  It was subordinated to the power and prestige of the office he held rather than his conduct in that office.  How did his complicity differ from that of the parish priests who were known to be sex offenders and who served in his diocese?  The mere fact that he knew what was going on makes him as complicit as any one or all of the priests he was aiding in the cover-up. 

Where was the retribution that should have come down on the head of Cardinal Laws of Boston for his failure to address the problems of sex crimes among the clergy of his Diocese?  The penalty he paid was for Pope John Paul II to transfer him to the largest and most affluent church in Rome where he remains to this day.  What pain did he suffer and how did he atone for his role in the scandal?  Moreover, we now hear that Pope John Paul II is going to be canonized as a Saint in the Roman Catholic Church!  Where is the rationale and justice in the face of all this?  I see no evidence of it, whatsoever.  If that isn’t raw political power I don’t know what is.  Moreover, what rational mind who is cognizant of this kind of power and privilege could accept this as “punishment” that fits the “crime?”  I just don’t see it. 

The foregoing is just a miniscule number of those in the hierarchy of the Church who has gotten off Scot free and has never been held to account for their transgressions simply because of the power and prestige of the offices they coveted and abused. 

Rather than acquiescing to the ravage of the Church’s vital resources serving the poor and deprived of the world in the form of schools, hospitals, churches, monasteries, etc. by those seeking “justice,” (if you can call it that), why has the Church not chosen to punish all those who could have and should have taken the influential and powerful members of the ruling hierarchy of the Church to task, defrocked them and let them suffer the shame and scorn of the public they betrayed and the victims who will never recover from the stain that will be indelibly etched into the history of the church, the church they so willingly betrayed in the pursuit of their own avarice and lust for power and prestige.  Nothing about them justifies the least bit of deference or leniency. 

All of the vast resources of the Church belong to the people of the Church.  Those resources were obtained through the sacrifice and devotion of those seeking spiritual guidance and salvation from that same church.  Many of those same resources were willingly taken from the legacy left by coal miners, fishermen, and myriad others who willingly gave of themselves through arduous labor in the service of a greater good and to charity for others of less means.  Instead, who benefitted?  Those who were encouraged to adopt a sense of entitlement and the opiate of money to wash away the pain of what they had endured.  Behind them, as one would expect, are legions of those who claim membership in the union of those seeking justice on behalf of others, all for a price of course.

Money is not the issue.  What is rests with all of those who used and exploited an institution and a system of beliefs they were sworn to serve, but only ravaged for their own aggrandizement, ambitions and shame.  Yet, to this very day, the Church has lost a treasure of resources acquired over many years to be used in the service of the poorest among us because it failed to address the cancerous growth of what was in the offing for more years than most of us could possibly recount.  

Now, let us focus on much the same set of issues closer to home. 

Why is it that, historically, those who are the most vile among us almost always seem to get a mild slap on the wrist for their crimes against humanity, but those who are their victims suffer the most?  How does the history of the Roman Catholic Church differ markedly in comparison to the history of wealth, power and privilege in the secular world?  How does its history differ significantly from the Wall Street Bankers, and the scions of commerce and industry who have become billionaires at the expense of those they have so blatantly and wantonly exploited, aided and abetted by a willing government that is sworn to serve those very same people?  How is it that they are supremely confident that no misfortune will ever befall them and the wealth they so covet?  Do they honestly believe the day will never come when they will have to pay their fair share and assume the responsibility and accountability that comes with their ill-gotten gains? 

Why do we, as a people, disparage the simplicity and purity of honesty, yet defer so willingly to thievery and exploitation by those who have mastered and practice every conceivable kind of thievery and dishonesty that can be imagined?  Their reward is handed out every day by a compliant government that subsidizes their greed with money commandeered from the people whose sacrifice is gargantuan compared to the millions in pocket change for the rich and powerful?

Where is that “government of the people, by the people and for the people” that is so revered and so often quoted by those whose disdain for those words is almost palpable?  Their words ring hollow and I see nothing of value to the broader social contract by what they allege vs. what they practice. 

I think we need to refocus on the basics.  We need to break free of the bonds of the rich and powerful, reclaim this nation for the people, restructure the framework of social and political justice so it serves all of the people, all of the time, and there is no privileged among us who have not earned the right to be respected members of the society they have exploited for their own personal gain.          

Karl Marx is famous for the quote, “Religion is the opiate of the masses.”  That embodies the essence of his contempt for a system of beliefs that can and should serve the common good.  I am more inclined to believe that, in the case of modern-day America, too many of those among us believe that materialism and hedonism is the alpha and omega of life’s ambitions, underscored by Marie Antoinette’s admonition for the masses to simply “Let them eat cake.”  There has to be more to it than that. 

Pope John Paul I said that Christ’s Church should be a poor church.  I think the time has come for the people of the United States of America to reclaim this democracy for the people.  Democracy should be a fair and just system, with liberty and opportunity for all and not a system for the wealthy, privileged and powerful to exploit at will for their own self-aggrandizement.  We need to start by culling from the system those who think they have deluded us into believing they proudly serve and genuinely care about the people while they work feverishly to guard the interests of the masters of that same wealth, privilege and power.  

      

Do I believe it can be salvaged?  Yes.  Do I believe massive reform will come to either the Catholic Church, the Government of the United States or the ingrained sense of entitlement claimed by the rich and the super rich will come about anytime soon?  No, because it will be a challenge of gigantic proportions simply because of its prominence in the world, its influence in the world and what it represents to the world.  What lies ahead is rather akin to the beast at the head of the herd that becomes injured and falls to the back of the herd.  The wolves have smelled that weakness and, if human nature proves correct, that same nature will motivate them to move in for the kill.  They are motivated by the same predatory skills that have befallen other bastions of power and influence throughout history that have so callously ignored the many humanitarian needs of people throughout the world, all in the pursuit of the “almighty dollar”, placing their own avaricious monetary gain ahead of their unbridled greed.  Nothing excuses the wanton plunder of what has, and will surely occur again, by the predators in the disguise of angels simply waiting in the shadows to further line their pockets at the expense of a greater need and a greater good.   

I have no idea as to why the rule of celibacy was invoked as a requirement for becoming a priest in the Roman Catholic Church.  I am totally mystified by that requirement. 

We are all living examples of God’s Creation, and God created mammals to procreate for survival of the species.  Man, as I understand it, is a mammal.  Mammals are infused with hormones that cause them to want to reproduce.  That is one of the strongest drives mammals have and one that is the most intense in gratification.  That is not lurid or titillating; it is simply a fact of life.  Why would God require that his church consign the most vital of His servants to a life that is contrary to that very nature?  It makes no sense to me at all.  It seems totally contrary to the essence of humanity, to me. 

If other religions, both Christian and others, can constructively deal with the issue of marital fidelity, then why can’t the Catholic Church?  My limited experience suggests to me that it is entirely possible for Ministers to be just as proficient in preaching the gospel and the values of the religion as can any Priest.  If the Catholic Church seriously wants to address this issue, then it seems to me it has to acknowledge that fundamental fact.  Celibacy has no place in a viable and dedicated priestly life to the religion it serves.  It only creates conflict and torment for simply being normal.  What does that achieve?  How does a life of loneliness and solitude serve God in any more noble ways than does a dedicated priest, a devoted husband and the father of children?     

In instances where sexual orientation precludes a married life and where there is a calling to serve, the Church has monasteries where those individuals could have the opportunity to devote their lives to intellectual, ecclesiastical and other callings that lend themselves to a celibate life, to the service of mankind and to the Church.  There is no reason why those same children of God cannot, and should not, be given the privilege of serving Him as well.

Pope Benedict showed tremendous courage by putting a significant number of pedophile priests out to pasture as his parting shot at what has been a smoldering fire within the belly of the Church for far too long.  It is time to open the windows, let in the fresh air and breathe new life into one of the greatest religious institutions in the history of the world.  It is time for his church to finish the job.  It is time for his successors to pick up the cudgel and get on with the challenge and promise of a better future for all the faithful.

It is, also, time for the American people to say “Enough is enough.”  The time has come to purge our public institutions of those who abuse the system, taking from the many in order to serve their masters of wealth, power and privilege.  We need a multiparty system of government, none of which should ever be allowed to enjoy special status over any of the others.  Democracy must always belong to the people, not vested interests of any kind.  It must be a society that belongs to us, the people and that democracy must serve all of us equally, fairly and justly. We have a long way to go before this even approaches reality; but it can be done.  

Cowboy Bob

The Sagebrush Philosopher

February 12, 2014                              

 

This is too good not to pass on.

• Published on Thursday, February 6, 2014 by Campaign for America's Future Blog

Post Office Banking Could Be the Start of Something Big

by Richard Eskow

An idea going nowhere or could this be the start of something bigger?It seems like an idea whose time has come. With one in four American households partially or entirely excluded from the current banking system, and with the U.S. Post Office in search of additional revenue, why not use the postal system to offer banking services to lower-income households?

In fact, this is an idea whose time has already come, more than once. Many nations – among them Great Britain, Japan, Germany, Israel, and Brazil – provide or have provided some form of postal banking services. So did the United States, until 1966.

It’s hardly a radical idea. The U.S. system was voted into law in 1910, during the presidency of William Howard Taft. In any case, a better way to describe it would be as a beginning.

What better way to start a much-needed transformation of our financial sector than by providing services to those communities the financial industry refers to as the “unbanked”? Right now those communities are routinely victimized by predatory payday lenders. As we first reported in 2010,
“Studies have shown that payday lenders disproportionately exploit minority neighborhoods with loans that are issued at an average annual interest rate of 455%. The average number of loan each borrower takes out is nine per year, according to one study, as these high rates lead to a cycle of indebtedness.”

Sen. Elizabeth Warren has endorsed the postal-banking concept, which David Dayen describes in more detail here. As Sen. Warren wrote recently, “if the Postal Service offered basic banking services — nothing fancy, just basic bill paying, check cashing and small-dollar loans — then it could provide affordable financial services for underserved families, and, at the same time, shore up its own financial footing.”

The report that stimulated all this new discussion was written by the Post Office’s Inspector General, and it makes a compelling case.

Who wouldn’t benefit from this proposal? Well, there are the payday lenders, of course. Then there are the politicians they support, and to serve them in return, like Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee. The other politicians and lobbyists who feed at the trough, a spectacle which only becomes publicly visible when their lobbying succeeds – which is often.

And then there are the big banks who underwrite the payday lending industry to a large, and largely invisible, extent. Those banks were bailed out by the American taxpayer, and continue to benefit from implicit and explicit government subsidies.

As the big-money interests band together to decry postal banking as “socialism,” it might be worth asking them why it’s not socialistic to keep bailing out the private-sector predators who currently dominate this market.

But there are other reasons to support this concept, too. If it works – and it will, if managed correctly – it will be a great boon for the transformative idea of public banking.  Public banking can include state-owned lending institutions like the Bank of North Dakota, county banks, and cooperatives. President Obama’s MyRA savings plan is also a form of public banking. Even Sen. Warren’s plan to link student loan rates to the rates which private banks get from the Federal Reserve is a variation on the public-banking theme.
Bankers, lobbyists, and their political apologists constantly tell us that the private sector can manage money better than the government can. If so, they should have no compunction about supporting this idea. Private lenders will still be free to compete for this business. If they can offer a better and more reliable product, and they can do so legally and ethically, they have nothing to fear.

They do have something to fear, of course: competition. While they claim to embrace it, they have no interests in proving their worth by competing on a level playing field with government – or, for that matter, with their own smaller competitors like credit unions and community banks.

Government institutions like the Post Office have a number of advantages over the big banks. For one thing, they have publicly accountable inspector generals, like the one who wrote this report. As has been demonstrated by recent experience, the private banks do not. Instead, powerful Wall Street institutions have a history of fraud and criminality that has been tacitly encouraged by lax law enforcement in Washington.
The situation has gotten so bad that the editor-in-chief of American Banker concluded this week that “bank executives would be crazy to hold back (from unethical and corrupt acts). If they get caught, they can pay their way out of the problems with shareholders’ money. And if their misdeeds pay off as expected, the profits will goose their pay.”

In a situation like that, who would you trust with your money: a powerful Wall Street banker, or a government institution? It’s time the big banks competed for the public’s business and stopped being the primary recipients of the public’s largesse. We need a sea-change in the banking industry. Public banking could provide it – either by transforming the banking system, or by forcing it to transform itself through genuine competition.

The postal banking concept deserves consideration on its own merits. But there’s another compelling reason to support it: It could be the start of something big.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.

Richard (RJ) Eskow is a well-known blogger and writer, a former Wall Street executive, an experienced consultant, and a former musician. He has experience in health insurance and economics, occupational health, benefits, risk management, finance, and information technology. Richard has consulting experience in the US and over 20 countries.

I take no credit for this article or Common Dreams.org in which it was published today, February 6, 2014.  I am, however, a regular reader of this online publication and take pride in being a fan of many of its outstanding authors, one of whom is Richard Eskow.  It is well worth reading.    

Cowboy Bob
The Sagebrush Philosopher     

“The Winds of Change are Upon Us”

What is the value of one American?  That varies from one individual to another and one moment to another in time.  It is whatever that one American’s vote is worth that puts just one person in office and in a position to exploit the system to his own advantage.  It just takes that one American to create what will, in turn, give unlimited power and privilege to that vote seeker which will put him in a position to claim all the spoils provided by the American taxpayer to a system of government that will promptly forget how he got there and lose sight of the fact that he is claiming the right to spend what has been entrusted to him as if all of it is a rightful entitlement to be disbursed as he may see fit, and at the expense of all those whose vote has been so freely given. 

I watch a lot of news programs about every conceivable aspect of what our government and all those who comprise that dubious manifestation of all those who profess to be doing something for us rather than to us.  They really do believe they are the anointed ones and Mr.& Mrs. America are nothing more than nameless and faceless conceptual creations that are there to do whatever they may deem their rightful prerogatives, any accountability to the benefactors be damned.  We, the American people, are nothing more than enablers to those who see the government and all its real benefactors as theirs to do with as they please.  You can bet that none of those who bothered to go to the polls will count for one scintilla of what public servants will do with the trust we have placed in them. 

Those who go to Washington, D.C. on the strength of our votes and our tax dollars have no shame at using what we have entrusted to them for their own personal ambitions, in whatever forms they may chose to take.  They almost appear to become intoxicated by their newfound membership in the club of the elite and powerful.  They will now rub shoulders with the 85 comprising the super rich who claim, with no shame whatsoever, an amount of money that is equal to that of the bottom 3.5 billion people in the entire world!  I would hazard a guess that it would be close to, if not impossible to identify any one of them who sees what they have taken with such abandon as anything to which they are not rightfully entitled, the source of their obscene wealth being totally irrelevant. 

While the common person, under penalty of law, gives their taxes to the government, ostensibly for myriad services that serve the common good, it is freely taken from them and re-channeled to the many vested interests who are the real benefactors of our government’s largesse to all those who grease the hands of those who do their bidding, more often than not at taxpayers expense. 

How did we come by a two-party system that, for all intents and purposes, is essentially the same?  They impoverish the bottom tiers of the population and pass their tax dollars to those in the form tax relief to the very rich, bailing out banks and financial institutions that have pillaged and plundered our nation’s economy.  They, in turn, pay less in taxes, engage in monopolistic practices and operate with fewer and fewer regulations there to protect the consumer public.  They operate in secret, make backroom deals and spy on us at will.  We, in turn, live in a flat-lined economy while the coffers of all the plutocrats simply bulge ever more with each passing handout from Uncle Sam.

 

Those we have elected to office, meanwhile, engage in ritual wailing and gnashing of their teeth because our national budget is out of control and we are overspending!  Alas, alack!  What misfortune faces us now?  Those of us who pay our taxes and live at the bottom of the food chain with barely enough to feed our families and pay our bills see what few social benefits we have evaporate right before our eyes.  Where has the unemployment insurance gone that was created to help those of lesser means to weather downturns in the economy?  Where have the food stamps gone that were put in place to help the least among us get through the tough times with barely enough to put food on the table for our children? 

What has happened to all those young people searching for a means to get into and graduate from college so they, in turn, just might have a shot at the American Dream by becoming a cut above all those living on a minimum wage?  Just ask any one of those aspiring professionals how much of a burden they are carrying and the constraints they live under for having taken the money from the government to finance their educations?  Is there any hope that their burden of debt will ever be paid off?  Then, just for the sake of watching the shock on their faces, ask those from the Ivy League Schools and environs sometimes frequented by the likes of Barack Obama how they managed to get through the system unscathed and financially sound?

Let’s face it, those who enjoy the most from all of those who have the least are the corrupt and compromised members of banking, law, hedge fund management, founders of successful companies, entertainers, senior managers and other scavengers who sit on the sidelines hoping, just hoping, one of the big boys will throw them a crumb once in a while in exchange for their loyalty and support. 

Call it what you will, but this country is owned by those of means and all those who serve them.  They are the wealthy, the privileged, the news media, the entertainment industry, the military services, the intelligence community, the military/industrial complex and all of those of lesser stature who routinely engage in feeding frenzies at the public trough.  Those who shape public opinion and appetites in their favor are the complete antithesis to anything resembling a democratic system.  It is a myth to think otherwise. 

Personally, I think the entire fable of how this country was founded is questionable.  How many of those so-called “Framers of the Constitution” were men of modest means?  How many of them lived in mansions on plantations and owned slaves?  How many of them lived on Elm Street and drove a one-horse carriage to the office every day?  How many of them worked by the sweat of their brow and supported a family living at the subsistence level?  How many of their philosophical progeny now work in the halls of government with the avowed purpose of limiting all forms of “democratic” behavior that has the potential to impede the continued exploitation of all that rightfully belongs to the American people?

Frankly, I see little difference between the “Conservatives” and the “Progressives.”  The former seems to have God on their side on every issue.  The latter seems to have an “enlightened and informed” view of society on every issue, as well.  The former operates from a base of divine enlightenment and the latter operates from their concept of what constitutes a perfect world.  Both groups seem to have plenty of money and privilege at their disposal.  It must be rather easy to leave all that behind and return to the comfortable surroundings to which each has become accustomed.  It is quite a different thing to take a stand and fight for what you know to be right and just.

At the end of the day we have Fox News to keep one side happy with the knowledge that they really are right all the time.  On the opposite side we have those who are secure in the knowledge their view of the world really is on the side of all those who are continually exploited by the system in one form or another.  If that doesn’t beg the question of having a multi-party system, I don’t know what does.  Both of what we have continually feed from the same troughs of corruption. 

We Americans, such as we are, always seem to be looking for something “different” to entertain us and to occupy our minds.  No sooner were the Christmas trees taken down and the liquor bottles put in the recycling bins than it was announced that Hillary Clinton was retaining one of the best political packs to launch her bid for the White House in 2016.  The euphoric exhortations from every corner of the Democratic Party, the White House, and the “progressive” community were deafening, almost to the point of hearing that she was about to be elected by acclimation.  This was just a reminder to saner minds that the entire spin machine was already in place to make sure she was the only viable Democratic candidate for President in 2016.  I don’t share that view. 

First of all, I perceive our two-party system as an accepted means of controlling the numbers of people seeking office and limiting their numbers to those who have already proven their prowess in how to play to the plutocrats that already own and control our system of government.  Their strategy is formulated and fostered by the club who seeks to further their own vested interests at the expense of the preponderance of Americans who will go to the polls and cast their votes in the next national election.

I don’t subscribe to the notion that the conduct and behavior of the Clintons in the White House, the Senate and the State Department are necessarily ancient history and should be forgotten, nor has the slate been wiped clean as their supporters would have us believe.  Bill Clinton’s conduct while President was reprehensible and he proved himself to be about as base and vulgar as one could imagine. 

From the tales that have circulated since she left the White House, Hillary could swear like a drunken sailor with the style and ease of a seasoned veteran.  She supported George W. Bush and Dick Cheney on going to war with Iraq and, frankly, I don’t think her performance beyond that has been particularly remarkable or impressive. 

The Clintons are what they are.  They are in it for the money, power and prestige.  It is a testament to their prowess and skill that they have managed to get as far as they have and to have burnished their image so an entire nation sees them as ready to mount the white horse and ride, triumphantly, back into the limelight.  They haven’t earned the renewed respect and admiration of the American people that is essential for such a quantum leap. 

We have the right to a couple in the White House that has the stature of the First Family.  Harry and Bess Truman may have been basic people, but they were honest, decent and down to earth.  Harry was a leader of principle and courage.  Bess was a dedicated and supportive wife.  That is more than I can say for the Clintons.

I, for one, believe we have had far too much testosterone in the White House for much too long.  Men posture too much and they are not always what we think they are.  Women, on the other hand, seem to be better listeners, studious and act on the basis of fact rather than supposition.  I think their time has come but we have better possibilities than Hillary Clinton.

Elizabeth Warren went to the White House and set herself to the task of creating a Department of Consumer Affairs, with the promise from Barack Obama that she would become the first Director of that endeavor.  However, typical of our resident chameleon at 1600 Pennsylvania, Barack Obama pulled the rug out from under that commitment and gave it to a man, about which little seemed to be known.  Senator Warren graciously accepted the decision and supported that effort during her remaining time in the White House. 

As soon as another opportunity arose that was compatible with her education, knowledge and experience, she set her sights on U.S. Senator from Massachusetts and won the office handily.  She has served with distinction, determination, strength, leadership and acumen.  She has garnered the admiration and respect of the country and those with whom she has served.  She has demonstrated a degree of honesty and resolve that few in the Halls of Government can duplicate.  She has all the attributes we need to clean up so much of what has been created by others who have gone before her in government.  She has consistently demonstrated courage and perseverance where others would have failed. 

Frankly, I do not believe we could find a better person to assume the mantle of the Presidency and to establish the precedent for a woman in the White House than Elizabeth Warren. 

My choice for a back-up would be U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar from Minnesota who has shown great promise for higher office by her intelligence, acumen, record of accomplishments and conduct during her time in office.

This country has suffered long and hard at the hands of a very corrupt government.  Moreover, President Obama has shown himself to be more a chameleon than a leader by his ability to talk out of both sides of his mouth and his complete adoration and accommodation of Bill and Hillary Clinton.  He has pandered to the rich and powerful plus the Republican power structure by his penchant for secrecy, Executive Orders and compromise at the expense of the Democratic Party and the multitudes who have suffered by his actions and which have adversely affected so many lives of those who could ill afford his folly. 

We need to demand a renewed sense of honesty, integrity and principled courage from our elected officials.  They all need to revisit their fundamental pledge and commitment to serve and defend the interests of the American people; not those of wealth, power and privilege, including the President, the Senate, the Congress, the Supreme Court and all the sundry departments and bureaus that have blossomed since the Founding Fathers affixed their signatures to the Constitution.  We, the people of this country, have had enough of being seduced by their rhetoric, their under-handed behavior, their thievery, their sense of entitlement and privilege.

The winds of change are upon us.  I see and hear it every day from people of all walks of life.  Their disdain is more than just a casual complaint.  Those of you who sit on high thinking you are putting one over on the people need to take stock of who and what you are, do your job and restore integrity and genuine service to the people of this country.

Cowboy Bob

January 28, 2014                

                                              

“Something Is Sticking In My Craw”

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

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

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

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

Hillary played the role of a United States Senator with some degree of aplomb, and set herself up to become President Obama’s first Secretary of State whose performance was, in the final analysis, a skilled part but lacking much substance.

 

The caveat of the entire role of the Clinton Family on the public stage was Chelsea’s career on Wall Street with a prominent hedge fund, for which I would imagine, true to the Clinton legacy, had to have been well paid.  The life of that career seemed rather short for reasons few, if any people, really understand.  The mystery remains. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

15.              Why do we tolerate continued financial support for big banks with interest-free loans from the Federal Reserve while re-building our infrastructure, valuable services that create jobs and support for the poor go begging? 

16.              Why do we tolerate the arrogance of a government that clearly is in the hip pockets of the super-rich, corporate capitalists, the military-industrial complex, largesse and sweet-heart support for those who have been elected to “serve” us in public office?   Why do we tolerate their blatant excesses in terms of compensation, perquisites and privileges (working half-time), secret meetings and deals behind closed doors that, by all rights, should be transparent, open to the public and against the law?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

Cowboy Bob

January 19, 2014