"American Aristocracy"

In so many ways, we Americans are a mass of contradictions. We subscribe to ideals that we do not necessarily practice. Let’s look at the notion of aristocracy as a part of the American fabric.

We pride ourselves in being a nation of equals. Equality is a big issue with us. The credo, “All men are created equal,” is etched in the very foundations of our democracy. For the most part, we honestly believe there are no privileged gentry in our society. Opportunity is there for anyone willing to sacrifice and work hard. After all, that is the essence of the American Dream.

When I refer to “aristocracy,” I am not including the scores of movie personalities, rock stars, sports figures and all the others to whom we so willingly surrender up billions of our dollars a year just to vicariously savor their prowess, fame and fortune.

When I refer to “aristocracy,” I am thinking of a completely different class of people who, other than with close friends and associates, appear to be far more private, conservative in their lifestyles and a with a distinct absence of paparazzi around them. They carry a subdued aura of superiority compared to the rest of us. They are the elites who own and govern our political and economic lives. They are the ones who move in the shadows, with lives of wealth, privilege and power that most of us can only imagine. Yet, we revere them, honor them and we willingly yield up our lives to their benevolence. We feed on the opiates they dole out to us in order to dull our senses and suppress our ability to critically view them as they exist in reality. Their tentacles reach into every aspect of our lives, sapping the lifeblood of what most of us should be and which so few of us are. So much of their wealth and power derives from all they pander to us in terms of our materialistic and hedonistic appetites. They place a lot of stock in our collective ignorance. Their advertising machine has convinced us that there is no harm in easy credit and cheap goods. They have convinced us that a less than perfect body, erectile dysfunction and a whole host of other personal imperfections have reached epidemic proportions. But, fear not, for they have a program, product, regimen or pill readily available to cure any malady that may affect us. They have reduced us to an unhealthy preoccupation with the basest aspects of our human nature. All that is to be desired exists in the material and sensuous worlds they peddle. All we have to do is pay for it.

Those whom I hold most accountable for the erosion of the values that have made us a great people are the political elite inside the Beltway in Washington, D.C. They do the bidding of their wealthy benefactors, exploiting the human condition with the hope of eventually sharing in the largesse of the super-rich and multi-national corporations. They live within an amoral bubble of privilege where very different concepts of morality, integrity and entitlement exist; things they regard as their god-given right. They know better than we do what is good for us. We have created, perpetuated and deferred to this “aristocracy.” By default we have acquiesced to the belief that they really do know better than we as to what is best for us. Let’s look at just a few examples.

• NAFTA and free trade agreements are good for us. We will all be better off with this new thing referred to as “globalization.” Ask all those who have been impoverished by moving our industrial base overseas that provided us with secure jobs, a living wage and decent fringe benefits that have evaporated right before their very eyes.
• Ask those families who once lived comfortably from the income of a primary wage earner, but who are now reduced to the status of “faux” slaves, working two or three service jobs just to keep one jump ahead of the bill collector.
• Ask those who were seduced by the greed and criminal behavior of the financial institutions who sold them a bill of goods with sub-prime mortgages, easy credit and a set of false values that have convinced us we are less than ideal; the perfect personification of all that we can be for “just pennies a day.” Vanity is now our national preoccupation.
• Ask those who have given up their sons and daughters to a war based on lies and the glutoness appetites of business and political conies, few if any who have had to sacrifice one or more of their own on the altar of avarice and empire before which they worship.
• Ask those who are demonized because they resent hoards of illegal aliens pouring across our southern border, laying claim to social and economic programs into which they have paid nothing, but which are safety nets for those of us who have.
• They have given away our national treasures for commercial exploitation.
• They have given away one of the most important foundations of our democratic system of government to corporate ownership - a free and open press. What was intended to be the major watchdog on our democracy has now become the means by which big money frames their case for their own political, social and material benefit. Journalists who were once the vanguard of truth and honesty have now become regulars in the social registers of the Washington elite. The fox and the chicken now share the same circle of friends and associates. The Bob Schieffers and Bill Moyers are a dying breed and we are so much the poorer for it.
• They acknowledge the legitimacy of our vote every 2, 4 or 6 years. Once obtained they simply slide back into the Beltway Bubble to, once again, serve the oligarchy to which they are beholden, responding to our expressed concerns with canned letters, e-mails, etc., filled with latitudes and platitudes that say little and promise nothing.

Europeans have a long history of titled gentry as a part of their cultural collage. It is an honor bestowed by the vestigial remnants of royalty. Who and what they are is common and accepted knowledge. It is simply a part of their heritage.

The “American Aristocracy” represents our interests. We subscribe to the belief that they are accountable to the electorate. Instead, we go the Europeans one better without so much as a whimper; we allow them to ---

• Set their own salaries and salary increases.
• Determine their own healthcare plans, the likes of which are the envy of those of us struggling with the ever-growing burden of health care costs.
• A whole host of other perquisites and largesse of which most of us are totally unaware.
• They have only to flirt with public office in order to be rewarded with a lifetime of fat pensions and benefit plans, with rights of survivorship so their poor hapless spouses need not concern themselves with a lesser standard of living, or with having to tap into their independent wealth, which seems to be just another mysterious by-product of public service.

If the foregoing is not enough, and what I find the most galling aspect of their tenure in public office, is that we allow them to carry the title of the office they hold throughout the remainder of their lives. Therein lays the validation of American Aristocracy. Frankly, once their term of office is over, they should leave the title behind and go back to simply being known as Mr., Mrs., Miss or Ms. It would serve to remind them that they are, in the final analysis, just one of us; no more and no less. There is certainly no shame in that. No more president, congressman, ambassador, judge, councilman, etc., for a lifetime. Titles should remain with the office, not the individual.
Rather than being tainted by corruption, self-serving practices and power trips, serving in the seat of government in Washington, D.C. should be a treasured honor and a noble exercise in service and humility, not arrogance.

As our economy tanks and comes crashing down around our heads, perhaps there is an ironic grain of truth in the old adage to the effect that “the mettle of our character is tempered by the fires of adversity.” Perhaps, with impending national bankruptcy, we will no longer be able to wage immoral wars, our public coffers will no longer be a bottomless pit for the world and our for our massive give-away programs. We may just have to revisit the fact that we need to take care of one another. Just maybe we will have to acknowledge that we are all in this together, and begin to see each other as fellow human beings, sharing a common lot, and whose futures depend on all of us working together for the common good.

Blessings are sometimes manifest in strange and unexpected ways.

Cowboy Bob
March 20, 2008

"Lord, Bless Me"

I believe religion and religious beliefs are very private and personal. I respect everyone's right to his or her own system of beliefs, as I would expect them ro respect mine. It is in that spirit that I post this particular blog.

I wrote this prayer 7 hears ago for my own benefit. I have passed it on to a few friends over the years. Some of them have encouraged me to share it with a broader audience, so I make it available here for anyone who may find it of interest or of value in their life. This Lenten Season seems like an appropriate time to do so. No other motive.

LORD BLESS ME ……

Lord, bless me with a deep and abiding faith so that I may be worthy to stand in the light of your presence.

Lord, bless me with material resources sufficient to enable me to become all that I am capable of being without compromise.

Lord, bless me with good health so that I can carry the burdens of life with strength, confidence and grace.

Lord, bless me with an open mind so that I can see new horizons and never miss an opportunity to have my life enriched by those who dare to be different.

Lord, bless me with the spirit of your divine love, so that I may be free from prejudice, bigotry and hatred.

Lord, bless me with a kind and generous soul so that I may freely share my bounty and never be impervious to the sufferings of others.

Lord, bless me with humility so that I will be one with the inherent decency and goodness of my fellow man.

Lord, bless me with the joy of loving and serving You.

Amen.

Written 11/01
Posted by Cowboy Bob
March 13, 2008

"Folk Wisdom and the Old Dog"

I have never been enamored of the Clintons since they appeared on the national political scene. They are, without doubt, one of the most notoriously ambitious and ruthless politicians in the business. Their checkered past and the company they keep reveal a remarkable ability to elevate sleaze to a new low. They have the most fluid principles and standards imaginable, and with them, lying is not wrong, it is an art form. The disgrace they brought to the presidency and the Oval Office are etched for all time in our national memory.

Watching the current spate of primaries and caucuses reminded me of a time when I was a 9-year old boy on a cattle ranch in Wyoming. The ranch hands had gathered on the steps of the bunk house, having just finished “supper.” The western sky was beginning to take on the orange glow of a summer sunset. I was but a mere midget in the company of these giants among men. They were my heroes. The conversation turned to the foreman’s wife, who was unusually well endowed with a mouth so caustic she could burn the flesh off the back of any adversary. That particular evening she had engaged in a vicious assault on the character of one of the other women on the ranch. The “boys” took offense at her behavior and the incident was the topic of their conversation.

The senior ranch hand was a quiet man of few words. His face was wrinkled and weathered. His hands were calloused from years of fixing fence, branding calves, breaking horses and all of the other remarkable talents so peculiar to their ilk. His hat was stained by a band of sweat where the crown met the brim. His Levis were tattered, and his boots were rough and well worn. From the pocket of his shirt dangled the string and paper emblem attached to a bag of Bull Durham. This man was my mentor who taught me all of the skills required of a real ranch hand. I knew he must, in some rugged way, resemble God Himself. He was my Dad. As he listened to the conversation, he stared silently at the crude patterns he was drawing in the dirt with a stick. As silence began to descend on their words, he raised his head, looked into the eyes of his fellow cowboys and said, “Well guys, there‘s one thing for sure; “a dog always smells his own hole first.”

You don’t suppose that dog’s name was Hillary do you?


Cowboy Bob
March 7, 2008

"Greed"

There is nothing like an election season to bring out the “true believers” of every ilk. We are overdosed on absolute truths to the point that there is all but a stampede to the nearest vomitorium. Extremism flourishes, extremism being the tendency toward the eternal quest for simplistic solutions to complex problems. Extremists have no concept as to what critical thinking and intellectual discourse actually mean. All they know is they have all the answers and the opposition harbors an agenda that, if left unchecked, will surely destroy us all. Really?

The mantra that most amuses me is the one to the effect that, if left unfettered, the free and open market will always operate to the collective benefit of society much more efficiently and effectively than government could ever hope to. Talk about naive. It totally overlooks the frailties and shortcoming that are an inherent part of our human nature.

Despite their wishes to the contrary, not everyone operates from a totally moral base, with only the very best of intentions. The person has not been born who is not fundamentally flawed by the very fact of their humanity. It is simply inherent in our nature. Admittedly, some do a better job of reining in those temptations than do others, but the fact remains we all have our share of bumps and warts.

Society must have in place the means to ensure that individuals and institutions operate within constraints that protect our collective interests. Call it regulation, oversight, accountability or whatever. The fact remains that the frailty of our human nature must be tempered by consequences when we operate outside the bounds of legitimacy for the common good. Teddy Roosevelt, probably more than any president in history, was acutely aware of the need for government to protect us from ourselves, and he put in place the safeguards necessary to maintain a reasonable and healthy balance. On the other hand, we as responsible citizens have an obligation to ensure that government serves the interests of the electorate and is not allowed to go to either extreme of over-regulation or under-regulation. It is within those extremes that government must always operate. It is for our democracy to define the limits of those extremes, and hold both government and private enterprise to those standards.

Ronald Reagan came into office hell-bent on reducing the size of government in favor of a free-market economy. It has only intensified with successive administrations. Now, I dare say that goal was not without some merit. However, like most minds that deal in absolutes, they have failed to recognize and acknowledge one of the most insidious of all absolutes, namely GREED IS AN INSATIABLE APPETITE.

Once greed is unleashed on a society, it knows no limits and, like most parasitic characteristics, if left unchecked it will ultimately destroy its host. The seeds of self-destruction lie within the very nature of greed. Rather than seeing greed as the cancer it is on our social and economic fabric, it has become an accepted part of our daily lives.

Greed invariably leads to corruption. It panders to all kinds of vested interests focused on an unbridled profit motive and maximum return to stockholders. Those who benefit the most are those who have the most. However, those who reap the bounty do so at the expense of the most vulnerable among us.

Despite the fact that greed subscribes to the mistaken notion that “all men are created equal,” and uses that as the basis for touting the benefits of a level playing field euphemistically referred to as the free market, it totally ignores some very real differences in the human condition, namely:

• All human beings are not born with the same basic intelligence or physical characteristics.
• All human beings are not equipped to go to college and move into the more affluent levels of the workforce and society.
• All human beings are not born into and raised in a loving and well-rounded home that fosters self-confidence and the will to succeed...
• Human beings will tend to settle into the stratum of society where they are the most valued and that provides them with opportunities that allow for their limitations.
  

The nature of the free market, being what it is, will seek to procure their labor at the lowest price possible in the labor market. Greed will reduce that force to abject poverty and a sense of total helplessness. That is deemed, by the “powers that be,” as their divinely ordained station in life. Ownership flourishes at the expense of the owned.

Some of the more poignant examples of the price we have paid as a consequence of legitimizing greed as a perceived virtue in this country are:

• Easy credit with usurious rates of interest.
• Payday Lenders
• Cheap and unsafe goods flooding our markets.
• An unsafe and under-regulated food supply.
• The obscene cost of prescription drugs, aided and abetted by our government.
• The sub-prime mortgage disaster.
• Corporate ownership of healthcare delivery systems and their collusion with other sectors of the health care economy.
• Over 45 million people who cannot afford health insurance and have no access to health care.
• An energy policy that is the product of collusion and secrecy between energy companies and a government that is ostensibly charged with acting in the best interests of the consumer.
• No-bid contacts.
• Corporate ownership of a free and unencumbered press, the purpose of which was envisioned as society’s watchdog on our “democracy.”
• A crumbling infrastructure.
• The plundering of public lands held in trust for the people of the United States.
• Massive closures and the export of our manufacturing base to cheap labor markets overseas.
• The loss of millions of jobs to foreign pockets of slave labor around the world.
• The failure of our government to secure our borders, resulting in millions of illegal aliens coming into this country so business (greed) will have an endless supply of cheap labor at the expense of a living wage for unemployed Americans.
• A nation where ten percent of the worlds’ population consumes thirty percent of its resources.
• The most polluting nation on the face of the earth.
• And more ad nauseum ................

Greed seems to have fostered a prevailing characteristic within us that believes what we have sown will never come back to haunt us until there is a crisis. Then we want a quick and easy solution that will stave off the inevitable. We no longer seem to genuinely care about each other as a people. Rather, I see yet another manifestation of greed that essentially says, “As long as I get what I am after, I really don’t give a damn about anyone else.”

The worst and most perilous of all the consequences of greed as an accepted characteristic of our society is a government that is totally corrupt and self-serving. They seduce us every 2, 4 or 6 years only to return to pander to those who feed their own greed at the expense of the taxpayers. Nowhere is it more apparent than in the current spate of primaries. Those who swallow their every word as gospel are those doomed as surely as a herd of sheep waiting for the slaughter. Are they so desperate that they want to believe anything that will improve their lot in life, or are they simply content to live in a perennial state of self-imposed ignorance? God gave us minds for the purpose of thinking, analyzing and evaluating what goes on around us. To the extent we have those attributes, the time has come to start using them to our maximum advantage, rather than being spoon fed by those whose only goal is to feed on us!

I believe that our government is so compromised that there is little or no real distinction between the two major political parties. I have serious doubts that they genuinely care about any of us, particularly those whose lives are sacrificed on the altar of greed. That is the most vulgar form of exploitation. The whole lot of them should be ashamed for perpetuating a lie that has seduced the noblest intentions of the best we have to offer.

Our only alternative appears to be an independent political movement that will garner the support of the citizens of this country in expunging the cancerous growth on the government establishment from within the Beltway. I genuinely believe this election cycle is our last best hope to salvage the remnants of this great country. Otherwise, I shudder to think of what the future holds for us.

There is a finer side to our human nature and an innate decency within the fabric of the American people. We need to get re-acquainted with those values, and become all that we are capable of becoming in the very finest and best sense of the word.

Cowboy Bob
March 5, 2008

"Courage"

Courage is defined as the ability to disregard fear; bravery.

The range of situations to which the notion of courage applies spans a broad spectrum. Courage can be viewed as a conviction or a set of convictions; having the courage to act on one’s beliefs. Courage can be seen as having the determination and fortitude to endure adversity and to overcome all that is embodied within that context. It can be applied to a set of circumstances that seem insurmountable. It can be thought of within the context of a debilitating or terminal illness, over which one is determined to prevail. Then there is the act of courage where one is faced with responding to a situation that leaves the individual faced with a miniscule chance of survival.

I have a very good friend who recently faced a bout with colon cancer. He underwent the rigors of surgery, chemo and radiation therapy, and has been reassured by his physicians that they “got it all.” But, not only is colon cancer a deadly sleeper, but there is that intervening five-year period before its victims are safely out of the woods. Each of us has his or her own way of dealing with a blow of this severity, coping in the best way we know how.

Peter is a reasonably young man with a lovely wife and two young adult children. They are a kind and generous family who have that rare ability to make a stranger feel like he is a part of the family within a few minutes of meeting them. I know. I was alone and far away that Holiday Season many years ago when, over every excuse I could muster for not going, he insisted I join them and a group of friends at their home for Christmas Dinner. That was one of the best Christmases I have ever had. Peter quickly became a treasured and life-long friend. I realized he was an exceptional man, but his reaction to cancer has revealed a person of depth and courage I had not known before. He has a gift for writing that is extraordinary. His ability to engage in introspection about himself, his family, his life and his future are expressed in philosophical and humorous ways seen in few people. He has humbled and inspired me in ways he cannot imagine, and I am at a loss for words to adequately convey my feelings to him and for him in all that he has given me through his adversity. He truly is a living example of what I regard as “courage” in the finest and best sense of the word.

Nothing casts the issue of courage into sharp relief more than war. I was introduced to war and death at an early age during World War II. I cannot imagine anything more courageous than a young man landing on a beach, or huddling in a trench or a foxhole with everything to live for, waiting to be ordered or volunteering to rise up and face an almost certain death. To this very day, I am haunted by the memory of two of my Dad’s buddies who never came home from the war. Chuck Downey was little more than a boy when he joined the Marine Corps. I can still see his strawberry blond hair, his freckled face and the blue eyes of his Irish ancestry. I wanted to be just like him when I grew up. He was killed on Iwo Jima. Bill Gay was a dark haired, gentle and quiet guy with a big smile, who joined the Navy and went down with a submarine in the South Pacific, never to surface again. Death was a mystery to me, but the intervening years have sharpened my perception of the horrors he must have experienced in the last throes of his life.

Just because those of later generations who were to become the victims of the gargantuan egos of Lyndon B. Johnson & Co and their pack of lies, and the evil and calculated deception of George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and their cadre of cowardly neocons does not diminish the courage manifest in those who lost their lives in their wars. They faced, and continue to face, the same odds in the game of life and death. No matter how misplaced it might have been, they gave their life and limb out of a sense of patriotism; something that has never been operative in the moral fabric and character of the so-called “Commander in Chief” and his lieutenants operating in the shadows of their own dark agenda. Nothing should diminish their sacrifice just because of the sheer evil of those who planned and orchestrated their mortal demise.

Once in a while each of us should take the time to visit a military cemetery, alone, just for the experience of reflecting for a brief time on what real courage is all about. There is something about the vastness and stillness of those hallowed places that gives pause and reflection as to what we are all about. In the final analysis, could we have faced up to the challenges of their short and valiant lives? I don’t pay much attention to memorials erected to those who were the architects of war, for the true heroes are those who lie beneath our feet, row upon row, as far as the eye can see, and who faced the horrors perpetrated by those who sealed their fate.

On Memorial Day of 1956, as a young Navy man, I recall being in the National Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, standing at the foot of the grave of Ernie Pyle, a famous World War II journalist. I was humbled at knowing how insignificant I was compared to the man at whose grave I looked down upon. I vividly remember the warmth of the gentle trade winds, laced with the faint perfume of Plumeria, brushing against my face. It was as if Providence was telling me that, although they live in a different dimension, they still walk among us in that state of eternal youth waiting for their turn at the fullness of a life never to be realized.

When I am alone I sometimes think a lot about what courage and bravery are all about, and I wonder how I would stack up against those whose badge of honor is captured in the simple word, “courage.” Try as I might to conclude otherwise, I doubt that I would have passed muster. I stow those thoughts away to be reflected upon another day, and I get on with my life, such as it is ………


Cowboy Bob
February 17, 2008

"Where Do We Go From Here?"

Freedom, taken to the extreme, is the barbaric state. Absolute freedom is anarchy. In order to live in a civilized society, citizens must be willing to give up certain individual rights for the sake of the common good. The extent to which that is required can only be determined by those who are governed; not by those who govern.

Those who subscribe to a political policy that champion’s unfettered free enterprise and condemn government regulation choose to ignore the basic instinct of human beings to pursue their own vested self-interests at the expense of society. The absence of regulation gives license to the basest nature of men. Unbridled greed is the logical extension of this fundamental set of beliefs. The “true believers” in the Republican Party have either completely overlooked this fact or have chosen to ignore it. The public utility model was created to protect the interests of society in those sectors of the economy where competition did not necessarily accrue to the benefit of the citizenry. Nowhere do the ravages of globalization, free trade agreements and open borders bear this out more than in the present sorry state of our economy and its brutal assault on the American dream.

Before we fall victim to our tendency to play the blame game, let us pause for a moment. Democrats and Republicans share the burden of responsibility. De-regulation started with the transportation industry during the Carter Administration. The disdain for the working class American was clearly manifest by the Reagan Administration. His pursuit of de-regulation and his anti-labor agenda was anything but subtle. “Bush 1” carried on the tradition of favoring big business and big money. Bill Clinton, although a professed champion of the common man, undermined the working class American when he signed the NAFT Treaty and championed globalization. The plundering of the national coffers by George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and their cadre of neocons will surely go down in history as the most egregious assault on the United States economy since the days of Howard Taft and Warren G. Harding. From all this has evolved a mindset in Washington, D.C. that the political establishment knows what is best for the American people, the electorate be damned. They are all feeding from the same trough of corruption all the while pretending to be above the stench of our nation’s capitol, the lobbyists and special interests.

This attenuated painful charade of the primaries to which we have all been subjected this past year is almost beyond endurance. As much of a political junkie as I am, I am totally fatigued by the endless exhortations of false patriotism and the delusion that the national treasury is a bottomless pit of money that is destined to fund all of our ills during the first four years of the next administration. Hogwash! It just ain’t going to happen.

I am even more offended by the efforts to transform a war based on a pack of lies into a noble cause that must be pursued relentlessly to some perverted notion of an honorable conclusion. Give me a break! In case the political establishment in Washington hasn’t gotten the message, we simply cannot afford to continue the war. Hey folks, there ain’t any more money. How much longer do you think China and the Arabs are going to be willing to loan us the trillions necessary for us to prove a point?

I love to hear the championing of the laundered images of past presidential "heroes." Ronald Reagan was a Grade B actor, a Grade B governor and a Grade B president. No amount of resurrecting his memory and re-writing his legacy is going to change all that. For all the reverence heaped upon his record, they should have freeze-dried him so they could drag him out for ceremonial and political occasions.

The Clintons, although revered by a significant constituency, were and are little more than a couple of vulgarians with gargantuan political ambitions. His antics in the Oval Office with Monica Lewinsky, plus his lying about those trysts stand as mute testimony to the total disregard he has for the American people and the Presidency. The old saying goes, “you are known by the company you keep.” All one has to do is look at their history going back to Arkansas and up to the present day and that says it all. They are what they are.

George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and their happy band of thugs gave new meaning to corruption. They have probably collectively committed more criminal offenses than any administration in the history of the Republic. If we had any principles left and the cajones to do so, they should be impeached and held accountable for their criminal behavior. But, being part of the aristocracy of the Potomac, that isn’t likely to happen. They will get off as did Scooter Libby, Karl Rove, Donald Rumsfeld, and all the rest of their hoodlums. There is no question in my mind that they have taken us closer to an absolute dictatorship than at any time in our history.

We have had one great politician and one great statesman in the last 100 years; Franklin D. Roosevelt and Dwight D. Eisenhower, respectively.

So, where is all this taking us? Frankly, I don’t think the Washington establishment is capable of reform. They simply have it far too good at our individual and collective expense. The Republicans aren’t going to do it, nor are the Democrats. It is going to take a ground swell of independents to make it happen, and I think that is a distinct possibility.

Let’s look at some rather interesting events that have been occurring in the shadows over the last few months:

1. Chuck Hagel, who I regard as one of the most honorable and courageous men in the United States Senate, announced that he would not be seeking re-election at the end of his current term. No reason was given.

2. Rumors began to emerge that Michael Bloomberg was flirting with the notion of running for the presidency as an independent. Nothing concrete has come from that so far.

3. Michael Bloomberg and Chuck Hagel had a private dinner in New York. No one, to my knowledge, knows what was discussed at that dinner. It was simply “private.”

4. Rumors were floated to the effect that Michael Bloomberg was prepared to fund a run for the presidency to the tune of 1 billion dollars out of his own fortune.

5. Barack Obama and Michael Bloomberg were observed at a beanery in New York having lunch together. No one seems to know why they were “lunching” together or what was discussed. Interest was short lived and faded into the background.

6. Michael Bloomberg is reputed to have some of the best minds in the business researching what it would take to get on the ballots of all 50 states for the General Election.

7. After failing to gain any traction in the primaries, John Edwards drops out of the race without endorsing any candidate. (John Edwards ranks among the very few whom I happen to believe is a man with a mission and who is imbued with a strong sense of personal integrity).

8. Michael Bloomberg meets with a blue-ribbon panel of former political figures in Norman, Oklahoma. What was discussed remains shrouded in mystery. However, people of that caliber don’t usually travel great distances just for the fun of having a gabfest.

9. Michael Bloomberg denies having any interest in running for the presidency. All the while Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama continue to battle it out for votes and delegates in the primaries, running in a dead heat. Speculation starts to grow as to whether or not this race will end in a brokered convention and what role will the “super delegates” play in the final outcome?

I genuinely believe that the American people are fed up with the self-serving behavior of the entrenched Washington establishment who have set themselves above the electorate at the expense of the taxpayers. They are not even the slightest bit subtle about their corruption and personal ambitions. They are no longer credible and haven’t the sense to realize it.

Although I haven’t a shred of evidence to support this conclusion, I have a gut feeling that there is a small group of influential people that is deeply concerned at the current state of this nation and how the political establishment has led us down the primrose path to economic, moral and political ruin. They want to break the stranglehold of the political elite within the Beltway, clean up government and restore the vision of the Founding Fathers.

So, this is the way I think it is all going to play out.

The primaries and caucuses for the Democratic nomination will end up so close in delegates that the super delegates will step in and decide the outcome in terms of what they feel is best for the party, the electorate be damned. They will cast their lot for Hillary Clinton at the expense of Barack Obama, because she represents the club of the ruling establishment. There will be a great hue and cry from the party faithful crying fowl, but to no avail. Efforts will be made to bring Hillary and Barack together on one ticket for President and Vice-President.
Obama will reject the overture, feeling that he would be compromising his integrity and his commitment to the people.

Michael Bloomberg will persuade Barack Obama to run for president as an independent, with Chuck Hagel as vice-president and a prominent role for John Edwards in a new independent administration, resulting in a bi-partisan ticket comprised of individuals who have a reputation for honesty and integrity the likes of which we haven‘t seen in years.

They will coalesce the centrist independents and pull those who lean toward the Democratic and Republican parties, respectively, to make a majority that neither of the two major political parties can overcome.

The old political machine that has dominated our national politics will disintegrate and the old power brokers will steal into the night whimpering like a bunch of wolves that have lost their teeth. They just won’t matter that much any more.

The promise of a new America will emerge that will foster a renaissance of the American dream, rekindle the inherent decency of who we are as a people and what we are all about, and which was seemingly lost so long ago.

And that’s the way I see it.


Cowboy Bob
February 11, 2008

"Where Have All Our Heroes Gone?"

I vividly recall my grandparents, my parents, my brother, my sister and I all gathered around the Philco console radio in order to listen to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt declare war on the “Empire of Japan,” for the dastardly surprise attach on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941. Although I was too young to grasp the gravity of that event, I knew it had to be a momentous occasion in order to command the presence of so many important people in my life.

I remember the young men going off to a war that I could not comprehend. There were the ration coupons that limited so many of our choices and were traded between homemakers in order to balance the needs and wants of their families with those of others. I can still hear the adults in my life complaining because they had to smoke Wings when their prized Lucky Strikes and Chesterfields were not available. Scarcity and conservation became the hallmarks of a new way of life.

As the war progressed, there was the pall cast over our small town whenever a new pennant was hung in the living room window of some family’s home that created an aura of reverence I had not seen before. Then there was the home that had a pennant with not one but two stars, both of which were gold rather than the customary blue. That home became a symbol of service and sacrifice unmatched by any other.

The most popular radio program was the Hit Parade with a whole host of favorite singers and sentimental songs that seemed to nourish and sustain the hearts of adults of every age. They were the stuff of movies, so many of which were fantasies that helped to take the edge off of the fear and loneliness etched in the hearts of those waiting and hoping for good news of a loved one on some far distant shore. Each word of the lyrics struck a chord and conjured up memories of a special love and time, or a hoped for reunion at a future time yet to be realized.

As I watched Ken Burns’ THE WAR on PBS, all those random bits and pieces stored in my bank of memories have gradually coalesced into a collage of complete images of so much I had forgotten or simply could no longer accurately recall. A brilliant piece of work has touched me deeply. Seeing the horror, death, human cruelty and suffering from an adult’s perspective is a humbling experience.

World War II was spawned by the most heinous evil the world has ever known. Nazi Germany and its systematic approach to death and destruction were as nothing the world had seen, coupled with the unbelievable brutality of the Japanese throughout the Pacific and Southeast Asia. The United States of America and its allies knew it rested with their collective will to stem the onslaught of the scourge and to stop the perpetrators in their tracks. And they did it simply because it was the right thing to do. No ulterior motives or political agendas; just because it had to be done.

I believe the mettle of a nation and of a person is tempered by the fires of adversity. Those who fought in World War II were the product of the Great Depression and already knew what sacrifice meant and the courage it would require to face what was before them. They were witness to things and events no human being should have to face, particularly the young so full of hope and dreams for a future yet to be realized. They were scared and knew full well the odds were stacked against them that they would ever return. But they did what they did because it had to be done.

Those on the home front also knew what was before them as a nation. They joined hands and put their shoulders to the wheel of the war effort so the full might of this nation would be brought to bear against their common enemy. They willingly gave up so many of the creature comforts of their day but, more than that, they willingly gave up their sons and daughters. The Japanese whose families had been consigned to government internment camps answered the call. The African Americans answered the call, ignoring the symbols of segregation that persisted in the face of their courage. Why? Because it was the right thing to do.
There were no options. They were and remain our finest generation.

World War II was soon to be followed by the Korean Conflict, better known to those who fought as a “police action.” The agony and the face of war were essentially no different. But I have never quite figured out what the distinction was between a war and a police action. Perhaps it was because the result of the latter was containment rather than victory. Perhaps it was the growing specter of nuclear power. Nevertheless, an evil adversary had to be stopped with force and military might. Political considerations seem to have weighed more heavily on the outcome. We still live with the vestigial remnants of that conflict. It remains a truce that has yet to be brought to full closure by a peace treaty.

Those who took up arms and fought in Korea had the full support of the home front. When their tour was over, they came home to a grateful nation. Those who didn’t were and are remembered for the price they paid on our behalf.

The war in Vietnam had a far different complexion. It occurred against the backdrop of the Cold War. The threat of communism to the free world was forever present and our vigilance could never be relaxed. In this case, however, Vietnam posed no direct threat to the United States. Rather, any threat to us was a perceived possibility by the political establishment in Washington. The stage was set by the Kennedy Administration, coming to full bloom by the megalomania of Lyndon B. Johnson and ending in defeat under Richard M. Nixon. It was a war that had its genesis in the political ambitions of those in power in the White House. It was a war fraught with lies, misinformation, exaggeration and manipulation of the facts by the politicians and military elite in Washington. Those who fought that war did so because their “Commander in Chief” sent them to war. It was not because those who took up arms necessarily agreed with the mission, but those in uniform have no choice but to follow the orders of their superiors. What I find so appalling is that it was those consigned to combat who were scorned by the public when they returned from service. They were treated like common criminals by celebrities and a broad base of the population at large, with little or no gratitude for having served as they were ordered to do. As if they had any choice in the matter! The impact of the daily television news coverage of the casualties and body counts was to figure prominently in a future “war on terror“ and the manipulation of the images of war.

The culmination of the major milestones of war has to rest with the current war in Iraq and the “war on terror.” We went to war based on a pack of lies peddled by the investiture of the President by the Supreme Court, also known as the “Commander in Chief,” plus a bunch of co-conspirators in the Cabinet, the Pentagon and those among us known as “neocons.” To my knowledge, not one of them has sent a son or daughter off to this war in order to “protect our freedoms.” Please! Enough of that crap. The greatest threat to our freedoms has evolved from our having come as close to an absolute dictatorship in our history as ever, aided and abetted by the power of the military-industrial complex about which we were so aptly forewarned by President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Our news media have been intimidated and manipulated by the political establishment in Washington, including the Executive and the Legislative branches. Corporations, politicians, financiers, contractors, etc., all feeding from the same troughs of largesse and corruption provided by those who control the message and funnel untold billions into their coffers.

Our government scoffed at the Geneva Conventions and that fine thread of civility that is supposed to govern the conduct of adversaries in war. Citizens’ privacy was violated and our civil liberties were summarily trampled by those drunk with their newfound power.
The war is planned by the privileged ensconced in the corridors of power in our nation’s capitol. The war is fought by the underprivileged from across this great land, and who have few if any alternatives in order to survive in our rapidly disintegrating economic and social environment.

The coffins coming home with the remains of the vanquished have been barred from public view as they return home, almost as if their deaths are a mark of shame, rather than honor. Those who are permanently disabled through their service are shortchanged by what should be a grateful nation, both in terms of access to good medical and rehabilitative care, plus the means necessary for a decent standard of living. The Governor of Oregon has attended virtually every funeral of a fallen Oregonian brought home for burial. How many funerals have been attended by our illustrious "Coward in Chief" in Washington? None, I suspect. Too much of a reminder of what he should have been rather than what he has proven himself to be.

Regardless of who gets elected to the presidency, from either party, I seriously doubt that it will make one modicum of difference. They are all beholden to the same power structure and that is certainly not the voters! It will be business as usual, just peddled in different packaging. Until there are some fundamental changes in our system of government and the way we do our nation’s business, we will continue our meteoric descent into a two-class society.

So, where have all the heroes gone? To the arms of their loved ones at home eagerly awaiting their return. To their graves, each marked by the badge of honor that goes with having made the ultimate sacrifice. To lives of quiet dignity as they struggle to cope with the disabilities of armed conflict. To a life they left to fight a war that should never have been. They are all heroes. They did what the uniform they wore required of them. They fought for the badge of courage each of them proudly wears, pure and untarnished.

I pray that Divine Justice will descend on the heads of all of those who have exploited our heroes and who have fanned the fires of war for their own personal gain. May they forever hang their heads in shame before the same God from whom they will surely beg for eternal mercy and forgiveness.

Cowboy Bob

"Tis the Season"

I recently heard on television news that the “official” season for the start of the primaries occured the first part of September. What has been going on for the past seven months? Most of us are already worn out. What will we be like come January 2008?

Looking at the political landscape and how the voters stack up in all this, I have a few thoughts and observations of my own.

First, I happen to buy into the notion that our Founding Fathers had far more wisdom than has been attributed to them during the course of the last two plus centuries. They were careful and judicious in creating a balance of power between the legislative, the executive and the judicial branches of government, plus guaranteeing oversight of their actions by a free and open press. There is not a shred of doubt in my mind that they clearly intended that each be balanced and mutually exclusive. Clearly, it was their intent that powers granted to the individual states was to limit domination by a centralized government. I regard the 17th Amendment to the Constitution as the single most crippling blow to that balance of power, which effectively reduced the power of the states to a secondary position relative to that of the federal monolith in Washington, D.C. We are no longer “a government of the people, by the people and for the people.” We now have an insulated bubble of power and influence inside the Beltway that has given way to their own vested self-interests at the expense of the people they were supposed to serve. There exists within that sphere a perception of power rather akin to that of the divine right of kings.

We Americans take great pride in thinking of ourselves as a democracy. After all, we are the ones who elect those we send to Washington on our behalf. Let’s be realistic about what actually exists. Congressional representatives, the President and Senators go back to their so-called constituencies every two, four and six years, respectively, and pander to us for our votes. We are seduced into believing they are actually real and have a sincere desire to look out for our welfare. Instead, as soon as they are elected they return to the “bubble within the Beltway” to serve the interests of their “real” constituents; the lobbyists, big business, international corporations, and the rich and famous.” The rest of us can suck the hindmost until they next need our votes in order to continue indulging their voracious appetites at the public buffet set before them with our tax dollars. Yet, we have an almost ingrained need to convince ourselves that we really do hold sway over what they do. In reality, what exists is little more than an illusion.

The second most grievous assault on the individual citizens of the United States was granting the same rights to corporations as those belonging to the people. They seized that opening and have steadfastly held to the notion that what was created on a piece of paper was indeed equal in all respects to what was created by God as the temple of our immortal souls. Since then, corporations have acted out of their own self-interests and insatiable greed at the expense of those of us who depend on them to protect and maintain an economy for the health and welfare of the citizens of this country. Instead of trying to look at what they have done for us, it is ever so much easier to look at what they have done to us! It is time corporations were stripped of that perverted notion of equality with human beings. That action could and should be done with all due haste. They exist to serve us, not the other way around. Only people should be treated like and have the same rights as human beings.

The third most perilous change was that of what was supposed to be a free and unfettered press evolving into corporate ownership of the news media, making it the mouthpiece of big business and a servant of government’s quest for greater power and secrecy. That was not the intent of the First Amendment. The press is there to serve as the watchdog over government in order to protect the rights of citizens. The only way to ensure the integrity of that intent is to pass legislation prohibiting anything other than complete independence in the ownership of the news media.

When Carl Rove & Co. set out on their quest to make the coward of the Texas Air National Guard into a national hero, they brought with them the template for a propaganda machine that is eerily similar to that of the Nazi Party’s German Minister of Information and Propaganda, Josepf Gobbels. That should never have happened and safeguards should be put in place to ensure it never happens again. Were it not for a few courageous and dedicated professional journalists, God only knows what would have happened to this country. The independence of a free press must be re-established for the sake of preserving our free and democratic way of life.

This all brings me to the current race for the White House. Keep in mind that the public persona of the candidates is the product of professional image-makers and the best minds on Madison Avenue. Almost everything they say and do is highly scripted for our consumption. The mere fact that the single most important indicator of success from the eyes of the political pundits is how much campaign money the candidate is capable of raising speaks volumes. Who said that our elected officials are not up for sale to the highest bidder? Of course, they buy the office for which they are running. As the old saying goes, “There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch.” Those campaign contributions from the heavy hitters will have to ultimately be paid back from the bounty in the trough of “public service” at the expense of the common man.

Personally, I think the distinctions between the two major political parties are blurred. More often than not it is hard to discern one from the other on major issues and the real constituencies they serve. So, Because of time and space, I will limit my comments in this epistle to those running for president on the Democratic Ticket.

Hillary Clinton is reputed to be the undisputed front-runner for the Democratic Party and is generally regarded as having an almost divine right to the nomination because of (a) being the first woman to run for president, and (b) being the most “experienced” for the job. I have no problem with a woman serving as the President of the United States. That simply should not be an issue. However, for Hillary to boast that she has the most experience begs the question. What is so remarkable about her background as to set her above and apart from 99 other capable and qualified senators? I don’t see that her service and experience in the Senate has been so remarkable as to make her unusually well qualified to be president. Admittedly, her role as First Lady may well have made her privy to presidential decisions, but not in an official capacity. I have no doubts that she and Bill strategized over most major issues facing the presidency. After all, it was in many respects, a strategic alliance masquerading as a marriage. Given her reputation for using rather salty language, plus demeaning the White House Staff and the Secret Service, to apply the term “lady” to Hillary may be stretching it a bit.

I vividly recall an incident in 1996 when Bill was running for re-election. The Clintons and the Gores made a bus run through western Washington and happened to stop in a small farming community. The park where the rally was held consisted of little more than a patch of grass and a few Alder trees. I happened to be there with my daughter and I can still recall the mounting excitement of the crowd as they anticipated the arrival of the presidential campaign bus. When they finally pulled into the park, Bill and Al did their dog and pony show in splendid style. During the entire stop, Hillary sat by the windows in full view, with her back to the crowd and never turned around once. That incident spoke volumes about who and what she really is. Despite that air of superiority, Hillary wouldn’t have made a pimple on the ass of any one of those humble folks trying to get a glimpse of her.

I think Hillary and Bill have had a long-standing agreement to support the ambitions of each other and they will do almost anything to realize those aspirations. That, I believe, is the foundation for their relationship. There is an old saying to the effect that we are known by the company we keep. An examination of that parable as it applies to the Clintons clearly shows there has been a lot of sleaze in their life together. It is peppered with those who have operated on the fringe or outside the law. No small number of campaign contributors have had a checkered past, the most recent being Mr. Hsu.

It was Bill Clinton who signed the NAFTA Treaty and gave CAFTA his whole-hearted support. By his actions, he unleashed the scourge of globalization and the unfettered greed that was sure to follow. He did nothing for the middle class or working men and women in this country, other than to put them on a downhill trajectory leading to a two-class society and consigning them to a life of living on the edge or outright poverty. He and Hillary are heavily invested in companies in India that are major beneficiaries of the largesse created by outsourcing jobs from the United States. They have both pandered to corporations and lobbyists for financial support in their eternal quest for political immortality. They continue to do so.

Hillary Clinton is nothing more than a hard, tough, ruthless, self-serving politician who covets the highest office in the land for her own personal aggrandizement; a place in history as the first woman president. Frankly, I think we can afford to wait for a more genuine and deserving role model to grace the pages of history on that score, and one of whom we can be justly proud. We should be able to do better than Hillary Clinton.

Barack Obama. Now there is a man just oozing charisma from every pore. He is handsome, intelligent and articulate. I want to believe the best about him. However, the more public exposure I see causes me pause. There are times I sense a faint manifestation of arrogance. Perhaps that is the legacy of Harvard. What lies beneath that veneer? Does he have that touch of greatness we so desperately need or is he just another politician with his own personal agenda? He bears watching but I wouldn’t commit at this point. As far as I am concerned, the jury is still out on this one.

John Edwards has done a superlative job of staking his claim as the advocate for the working men and women of this country. When he recounts the struggles of his father and the humble home in which he grew up, that is touching stuff. He talks a good story but I find it more than a bit hypocritical against the backdrop of a 28,000 square foot mansion and a 400-dollar haircut. Who is he beholden to and what are his real motives for seeking the highest office in the land? Too many unanswered questions to garner any serious consideration from me.

Dennis Kucinich is probably the most on message in terms of where this country is and what we need to do in order to begin a serious effort to fix it. He is intelligent, articulate and knowledgeable, and appears to be an honest man. Unfortunately, in a country where appearance is more important than substance, he just does not have the charisma to be taken seriously by the majority he needs. No matter how good he may be, he doesn’t stand a ghost of a chance of getting the nomination.

Joe Biden has demonstrated his mettle throughout his career in the Senate. He seems to be well informed, intelligent, articulate and a straight shooter. He has immersed himself in the quest to better understand the cross currents in Iraq and to define a rational course of action in order to cut our losses. His net worth, alone, suggests he is the most honest among the bunch. If I were to vote for a Democrat, he would get my vote hands down.

As for the rest, they impress me as being little more than politicians, each with a slightly different bent. I don’t think any of them will command serious consideration in the forthcoming primaries.

The time has come to give serious consideration to a viable third political party for those of like mind and who feel disenfranchised from their current party affiliation. If Chuck Hagel were running for the Presidency, he would command an impressive following. He is made of the stuff this nation needs. His decision not to seek re-election or to run for the presidency is a real loss to all of us. We can only wish him well in his future endeavors.

September 14, 2007

"What About Me?"

Having worked overseas for several years, when I returned home to the “real” world I experienced a certain amount of reverse culture shock. This is not at all uncommon, particularly for those who have lived and worked in a closed society. Upon setting foot back on the good old terra firma of the U.S., the most obvious and available source of information is, of course, television.

I could not quite believe the changes that had occurred in that medium. Instead of commercial breaks during regular programming, it had become programming breaks during regular commercial messages. I quickly lost count of the number of commercials with which I was bombarded during a 30-minute program segment. I was immediately awestruck by the fact that sex sells everything. The amount of time dedicated to a few specific subjects caused me to rethink what our national priorities really are, and where the real dangers lurk for our way of life. The conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, the war on terror, etc. pale in comparison to the endless bombardment of what must surely be the more paramount issues we tend to minimize but which have real consequences for all of us.

Without doubt, erectile dysfunction is reaching epic proportions among the poor hapless American males. There are no less than four major products aggressively trying to address the problem. They all promise a life of what could only be regarded as an endless series of utopian experiences. However, like all good things, the audience is cautioned to be aware of some serious consequences. The worst must surely be an erection that lasts for 4 hours or more! Should that occur the user is advised to see their doctor immediately. That seems to be awfully self-serving. Penetrating deeper into the issue, and given the need to be more ecologically conscious, I should think the first priority would be to capitalize on the opportunity, have the clothes dryer disconnected and hang the laundry out to dry.

The next threat to the social foundations of our society would appear to be rather pathetic middle aged women yearning for the same “smoking hot body” of her college years. What is touted to be the crowing achievement of such an endeavor is the woman who brags that her husband now refers to her as his “trophy wife.” Now, I ask you, what self-respecting, reasonably intelligent and well-grounded female would boast of such an endearing label? Rather, should any husband dare to make such a boast, I would think she would be far more inclined to forcefully insert the television remote where the sun doesn’t shine!

I have also been struck by what appears to be an almost pathological fear of looking our age. Some faceless and elusive authority has ordained that vanity is the pre-eminent measure of our individual and collective worth. Have you noticed the number of young men on television who are dying their hair lest the slightest appearance of gray doom them and their career to the dust bin? Between the repeated commercial messages about the joys of indulging our appetites on the buffet of life, the examples of what really counts seems to be a physical countenance that borders on anorexia. Do any of these rather sad examples of humanity really believe that is all there is to life? Moderation in all things is good advice for all of us to follow during this trip through life. Good health just makes good sense, but so does taking the time to enjoy the trip.

Making the journey from birth to death is an inescapable fact for all of us. Wouldn’t we all be a whole lot healthier if we accepted who and what we are at any given point in time? Wouldn’t we all be more well-adjusted if we had the courage and the conviction to truly love and accept ourselves for who and what we are? In the end we just might discover there is ever so much more to “me” than the empty image endlessly thrown at us by Madison Avenue and what the economic behemoth has forced upon us , resulting in a progressively more empty and meaningless life’s journey?

The quote, “God doesn’t make junk,” should remind all of us that “me” is very special and a rare gem to be shared with all the world. Treasure that reality.

"Which is worse?"

September 1, 2007

Now I ask you, which is the most egregious? A silly old fart trying to hit on a young man in a public restroom or a psychopath that lied an entire nation into an illegitimate war? Seems the latter should be the one to resign.

I rest my case.