“Revisiting The Wisdom of Molly Ivins On Hatred"

I have recently been engaged in a project that is long overdue. I don’t know if that is because of a homing instinct for the grave or because I have finally come to my senses to the fact that I simply cannot read and re-read all of those long-forgotten treasures I have kept hidden away. However, there are a few that I have re-read that have hit me right between the eyes.

One of my favorite sources of writing has been some of the great syndicated columnists of my time. Two stand out, in particular, as giants among their peers. One was Charles McCabe who wrote a column for the San Francisco Chronicle, titled “The Fearless Spectator.” He was imbued with that rare talent which is surely a gift to the Irish from God Himself. An ability to manipulate the language like no others, and the ability to touch the human heart with the elegance of his prose. Much of his work was published in a few books, all of which I heartily recommend. You might find them available on Amazon.com.

The other who stands tall as my second favorite, was Molly Ivins. She was a syndicated columnist for one of the great newspapers of our time, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Sadly, the angel of death paid his/her visit to her much too early in her life, thereby depriving so many of what had become a regular diet of wisdom and insight. However, thanks to my proclivity for saving newspaper clippings, I found the following among those treasures. What astounded me was how relevant it is today as it was when it was first published. When that was, I haven’t a clue, but I am grateful I had the good sense to save it. Molly had that great gift with which so many of the giants from Texas possess; the ability to tell it like it is and making every word worth savoring.

I hope you will enjoy this column, and will be as moved by her words as I was with my long overdue second reading of her brilliance.


“ENTITLED TO HATE? “
How many straights chose to become heterosexual?

By Molly Ivins

Well, the gay folks had a fine march in Washington, D.C., but I think they missed a couple of bets. Jack Gordon suggests that they should have stopped en route and had a ceremony thanking the feds for naming that fine new building right there on Pennsylvania Avenue after one of their own. That’s the J. Edgar Hoover Building.

Speaking of whom, there was a great example of why we don’t want to force gays to stay in the closet.

And I would have liked to see a banner reading “Ban Heterosexuals from the Military -- Remember Tailhook.” I trust you all took a look at the charming little report on that incident.

I suspect that finally ventilating all the myths and misconceptions about gays is a useful exercise, even for those who would prefer not to think about them. “I have nothing against gays,” my mother is fond of saying. “I just wish they’d stay in the closet.” But we all know by now -- or should -- that that state of affairs was cruel and unjust and led to terrible abuses.

Of all the odd misperceptions current about homosexuality, perhaps the oldest is that it is a choice, that people choose to be homosexual. That strikes me as so patently silly. Did any of us who are straight choose to be heterosexual? When? Did we wake up one morning when we were 15 and say, “Gosh, I think I will be a heterosexual”? For heaven’s sakes, how can anyone believe that people choose to be homosexual? “I think it would be a lot of fun to be called ’queer’ and ’sissy’ for the rest of my life, so I think I’ll be gay.”

Last time I checked, the experts were still leaning toward the view that homosexuality is multicausational (isn’t that a dandy word?). Most gay people I know believe they were literally born that way, that it’s like being left-handed or brown-eyed. But in at least some cases, there is apparently some developmental influence as well.

The best description I ever heard of sexual orientation came from Dr. John Money of Johns Hopkins University, who used to draw it on a horizontal scale going from one to 10, with one being completely homosexual and 10 being completely heterosexual. Money says that very few people are either one or 10 and about as few are five (totally bisexual). Most of us fall into a clump ranging from about six to eight, while there’s a smaller clump of homosexuals ranging from about four to two.

Because homosexuality occurs in many species of animals (stickleback fish always struck me as the strangest case) and because it has appeared in all human cultures throughout history, we must conclude that it is what statisticians call “normal aberrant,” (and isn’t that a dandy phrase?)”

I actually saw a letter to the editor last week declaring that homosexuality is a symptom of the decadence and decline of civilization and that it didn’t exist among primitive people such as American Indians. Au contraire, as we say in Lubbock. Aside from the insult to Indians, there were indeed gay Indians before the white man came, and at least in the Plains tribes they were regarded as sort of endearingly special.

Among the less charming counter-demonstrators at the Washington march was the group from Kansas carrying signs saying “God hates fags” and “Death to fags.” It is true that the Old Testament contains an injunction against homosexuality; it’s in the same list of laws given when the Hebrews were a wandering desert people and were forbidden to eat shellfish. I always thought Christians were supposed to be followers of Jesus Christ, and Jesus’ injunctions to love one another -- to love even the despised and the outcast -- could scarcely be clearer. Hate is not a Christian value.

And, of course, there are the gay fundamentalists. We all know of scandals involving gay preachers, and if you wonder what it’s like to grow up gay in a religious environment that stigmatizes gays, I commend to you a truly funny book called “Strange Angel -- The Gospel According to Benny Joe” by Ben Davis, who grew up near Dallas and would have become a fundamentalist preacher had it not been for his sexual orientation.

As a matter of law, I do not see that we have any choice but to seek to ensure that gays have full civil rights. They are citizens, they pay taxes; as Jesse Jackson said Sunday, no one gives them a break on April 15. They serve honorably in the military, ban or no ban.

It has been my observation that some gay people are absolutely wonderful human beings, and some are complete you-know-whats, and most are somewhere in between. So I suggest we all grow up and get over our small-town prejudices (I can never remember whether it was “Queers wear red on Friday” or “green on Thursday.” Lord, didn’t we grow up with some silly ideas?). In our fair land, no one can force us to be tolerant. But neither can prejudice be allowed to keep people out of jobs for which they are qualified.

I suppose some people will continue to feel entitled to hate gays. As the psychiatrists have been telling us for a long time, hating them seems to be a function of being afraid that you might be one yourself.

---- Molly Ivins


“Man attacks most vociferously that which he most fears within himself.”

Cowboy Bob
October 2, 2010

"Where Is The Truth In All This?"

As I reflect on the ongoing brouhaha about the millions of “immigrants” who are in this country illegally, I cannot help but wonder how an issue that was originally regarded as a matter of law morph into one of a national guilt complex induced by a respect for the law?

I have to hand it to the ability of those who oppose the law to reframe it into a moral, rather than a legal issue, at the expense of the citizens of the United States of America. It rather reminds me of the classic shell game that the hucksters at traveling carnivals used to snooker their victims out of a few of their hard-earned bucks. What the so-called “Latino” block has managed to do, in terms of reframing an issue, has to go down in history as one of the most skilled ploys ever designed to completely redefine the fact that “illegal” means precisely that. Those who advocate and insist on a respect for the law are now the demons and those who break the laws are their victims.

How is it that what started out as an effort by big business interests to import a cheap pool of labor so (a) they could make vastly greater sums of money and (b) so we Americans could purchase produce in our local supermarkets for a pittance of what it actually costs to produce, has become a social and economic issue to be born by the broader population? Looks like both sides of this issue bear some responsibility for this rather perverse state of affairs. You can bet, as it always does, the taxpayers of this country will be expected to shoulder the cost for the burden of making what is “illegal” into what is “legal.” There will go the safety nets put in place through the sacrifices of previous generations only to be quickly exhausted, and the economic and social burden shifted to the taxpayers. Where is the moral and financial responsibility for all this insofar as big business is concerned? Seems to me that, with the full support of our illustrious government, big business is, once again, getting a free pass at our collective expense. I still regard that as patently unjust.

How is it that generations of immigrants from the far-flung corners of the globe have managed to “legally” immigrate to this country, learn to read, write and speak the language of the nation; and become assimilated into the society through perseverance and hard work, but those crossing our southern borders are held to a different standard? Seems to me “one nation under God,” should translate into “one language for one people.”

How does one explain the fact that the Latinos crossing the border come from countries that, for the most part, have a long-established history of governments by brutal dictators, propped up by a rich and powerful elite, with dominion over a massively huge population of the downtrodden, poor and uneducated? Why is it they seem incapable of rising up and revolting against the yoke of tyranny and oppression by spilling their blood for freedom, both domestic and foreign, in the same way the patriots of this country have done throughout our national history? The answer is quite simple. Because that is the will of the oligarchs, and our government is there to serve that stratum of society first, foremost and always. The added bonus, and the most compelling motivator for our political establishment, is the fact that it is a completely new block of potential voters that is growing by leaps and bounds, any semblance of a respect for the law and established precedent be damned.

What in the hell happened to the fundamental principle of equality we all used to revere and defend? It is time the duly elected Government of the United States of America cleaned up its act and re-commit to representing all the “people of these United States,” instead of every special interest group that has its own axe to grind and is trying to manipulate the system for its own ends. Every city that declares itself a “safe haven” for those who deliberately violate the laws of this country should have all federal funds to which they are entitled immediately frozen until they bring their activities into full compliance with established laws. All churches that, also, declare their sanctuaries as “safe havens” should have their non-profit status immediately revoked until they, too, bring their activities back into full compliance with the laws. There is a right way and a wrong way to seek redress of grievances. Frankly, I have had a belly full of the righteous demagogues unilaterally decreeing what is to be the current prevailing standard of what is right vs. wrong. The tail has to stop wagging the dog!

Our entire system of government is falling apart. The social and economic fabric of this country is rotten. We are no longer a people of “us,” but a collection of individuals, living within a framework devoted exclusively to “me.” If that is not a recipe for ultimate disintegration of a civilized society, I will put in with you.

If we are so concerned about the rights of all citizens of this country, and equality under the law, isn’t it about time we re-directed our focus on the plight of the Native Americans? How much longer are we going to treat them as some ancient novelty, consigned to isolated “reservations,” only to be dragged out for our entertainment at rodeos and the festivals observed by coastal tribes? For your own self-edification, you might try doing a web search on “Famous Native American Intellectuals,” and see what you find. Based on my own endeavor in that regard, let me give you a hint. You will come up with a big fat zero! I rather suspect that is the result of being isolated, marginalized, locked in a never-ending state of total and abject poverty, and compounded by limited efforts at education, with virtually no economic base upon which to build a future. Thanks to decades of persistent and blatant corruption and indifference, the Indian Service made damned sure they were never to be taken seriously by the so-called “real” Americans.

Why doesn’t our government redirect its efforts into righting the egregious wrongs of the past against those we disenfranchised from their lands, persecuted, murdered and isolated so we could pursue our own visions of empire without having to fairly deal with the “red” problem? Why don’t some of those high-profiles among the super-rich organize their peers (and the government which they own) and start a massive and urgent effort to take industry to their reservations, provide them with a solid foundation of vocational and academic education, and enable them to earn a decent standard of living? They might just find out, despite the centuries of stereotypical assumptions to the effect that they are nothing but a bunch of “savages,” there is instead a valuable gene pool of talent from which this country might well benefit. This is a national disgrace that should no longer be tolerated. They, too, deserve to be accepted and treated as equals among us.

The state of this nation would cause any reasonably decent person to rush to the nearest “vomitorium.” Our so-called “two-party” political system is a joke. Admittedly, they have different labels but they sure as hell share a common set of values, more aptly labeled as a codified system of corruption. You know; the congenital malady known as “screw others before they screw you.” “Steal before they steal from you, etc., etc. etc.,” ad nauseum. They no more serve the citizens of this country than do the indigenous peoples of Tierra del Fuego ! We need a new political party, founded on a sound platform dedicated to cleaning up government, restoring integrity to all the institutions of government, polishing up a badly tarnished respect for the rule of law, and absolute transparency on everything they do in the name of governing on behalf of the American people. That, of course, would presuppose one could find sufficient numbers of people of character to embark on such a venture, but more than that, a bunch that would have the character, courage and the collective will to save us from ourselves. I am not so cynical as to rule out the ability within us to succeed with such an endeavor.

How much more of the elitist mentality and reverence for the entrenched parasites and crooks firmly ensconced in Washington, D.C. can we tolerate?

Don’t you think it is time for that long-overdue “change we can believe in?“ I do.


Cowboy Bob
September 24, 2010

"The Sandpiper"

I keep a file of bits and pieces of writing that have moved me, and that have helped to keep this whole experience called "life" in some kind of perspective. This is one of them.

All I know about Robert Peterson is his name.
________________

The Sandpiper
by Robert Peterson

She was six years old when I first met her on the beach near where I live. I drive to this beach, a distance of three or four miles, whenever the world begins to close in on me. She was building a sand castle or something and looked up, her eyes as blue as the sea...

"Hello," she said.

I answered with a nod, not really in the mood to bother with a small child...

"I'm building," she said.

"I see that. What is it?" I asked, not really caring.

"Oh, I don't know, I just like the feel of sand."

That sounds good, I thought, and slipped off my shoes.

A sandpiper glided by.

"That's a joy," the child said.

"It's a what?"

"It's a joy. My mama says sandpipers come to bring us joy."

The bird went gliding down the beach. Good-bye joy, I muttered to myself, hello pain, and turned to walk on. I was depressed; my life seemed completely out of balance.

"What's your name?" She wouldn't give up.

"Robert," I answered. "I'm Robert Peterson."

"Mine's Wendy... I'm six."

"Hi, Wendy."

She giggled. "You're funny," she said.

In spite of my gloom, I laughed too and walked on. Her musical giggle followed me.

"Come again, Mr. P," she called. "We'll have another happy day."

The next few days consisted of a group of unruly Boy Scouts, PTA meetings, and an ailing mother. The sun was shining one morning as I took my hands out of the dishwater. I need a sandpiper, I said to myself, gathering up my coat.

The ever-changing balm of the seashore awaited me. The breeze was chilly but I strode along, trying to recapture the serenity I needed.

"Hello, Mr.. P," she said.. "Do you want to play?"

"What did you have in mind?" I asked, with a twinge of annoyance.

"I don't know. You say."

"How about charades?" I asked sarcastically.

The tinkling laughter burst forth again. "I don't know what that is."

"Then let's just walk."

Looking at her, I noticed the delicate fairness of her face..
"Where do you live?" I asked.

"Over there." She pointed toward a row of summer cottages.

Strange, I thought, in winter.

"Where do you go to school?"

"I don't go to school. Mommy says we're on vacation"

She chattered little girl talk as we strolled up the beach, but my mind was on other things. When I left for home, Wendy said it had been a happy day. Feeling surprisingly better, I smiled at her and agreed.

Three weeks later, I rushed to my beach in a state of near panic. I was in no mood to even greet Wendy. I thought I saw her mother on the porch and felt like demanding she keep her child at home.

"Look, if you don't mind," I said crossly when Wendy caught up with me, "I'd rather be alone today." She seemed unusually pale and out of breath.

"Why?" she asked.

I turned to her and shouted, "Because my mother died!" and thought, My God, why was I saying this to a little child?

"Oh," she said quietly, "then this is a bad day."

"Yes," I said, "and yesterday and the day before and -- oh, go away!"

"Did it hurt?" she inquired.

"Did what hurt?" I was exasperated with her, with myself.

"When she died?"

"Of course it hurt!" I snapped, misunderstanding wrapped up in myself. I strode off.

A month or so after that, when I next went to the beach, she wasn't there. Feeling guilty, ashamed, and admitting to myself I missed her, I went up to the cottage after my walk and knocked at the door. A drawn looking young woman with honey-colored hair opened the door.

"Hello," I said, "I'm Robert Peterson. I missed your little girl today and wondered where she was."

"Oh yes, Mr. Peterson, please come in. Wendy spoke of you so much. I'm afraid I allowed her to bother you. If she was a nuisance, please, accept my apologies."

"Not at all --! she's a delightful child." I said, suddenly realizing that I meant what I had just said.

"Wendy died last week, Mr. Peterson. She had leukemia.

Maybe she didn't tell you."

Struck dumb, I groped for a chair. I had to catch my breath.

"She loved this beach, so when she asked to come, we couldn't say no. She seemed so much better here and had a lot of what she called happy days. But the last few weeks, she declined rapidly..." Her voice faltered, "She left something for you, if only I can find it. Could you wait a moment while I look?"

I nodded stupidly, my mind racing for something to say to this lovely young woman. She handed me a smeared envelope with "MR. P" printed in bold childish letters. Inside was a drawing in bright crayon hues -- a yellow beach, a blue sea, and a brown bird. Underneath was carefully printed:

A SANDPIPER
TO BRING YOU JOY.

Tears welled up in my eyes, and a heart that had almost forgotten to love opened wide. I took Wendy's mother in my arms. "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry," I uttered over and over, and we wept together. The precious little picture is framed now and hangs in my study. Six words -- one for each year of her life -- that speak to me of harmony, courage, and undemanding love.

A gift from a child with sea blue eyes and hair the color of sand -- who taught me the gift of love.


NOTE: This is a true story sent out by Robert Peterson.

It happened over 20 years ago and the incident changed his life forever.

It serves as a reminder to all of us that we need to take time to enjoy living and life and each other.

The price of hating other human beings - is loving oneself less.

Life is so complicated, the hustle and bustle of everyday traumas can make us lose focus about what is truly important or what is only a momentary setback or crisis.

I wish for you, a sandpiper.
____________________________

With thanks to Robert Peterson for reminding me that there are, indeed, greater lessons to be learned from the simple, albeit profound, lessons of everyday life. I especially needed the perspective today.

Cowboy Bob
August 4, 2010

“Let Them Eat Cake!”

I don’t know about anyone else, but I sure as hell have a difficult time making much sense out of anything we do in this country that involves politics and the functions of government. The latest controversy over illegal immigration is but just one more example.

Jimmy Carter, in his best rendition of a Country Preacher hell-bent on saving the world, seemed to have some ingrained need to apologize for the fact that this country had been successful. How could this country have so much when the rest of the world had so little? Because we worked for it and behaved responsibly. So, to assuage those feelings of guilt, he benevolently opened the Social Security Trust Funds to immigrants who had never paid one cent in support of the Fund. There began the erosion of the integrity of what was to be a “safety net” for “Older Americans” who had dutifully paid their dues. It has only gotten worse.

Ronald Reagan was, without doubt, about as intellectually challenged as one could imagine. Any rational thought process was a freak of nature; certainly not a part of his makeup. His assault on organized labor in this country was a milestone in starting the avalanche of reforms that would ultimately bring this country to its knees. In a very short time, he managed to demonize unions as the root of all evil in the U.S., with their hapless victims being all of those honorable and upright barons of big business bathing in the light of self-righteousness. He managed to open a “path to citizenship” for hoards of illegal immigrants from third world countries in order to further dilute the labor pool that might demand a living wage and an honest share in the American Dream, to which they were rightfully entitled. The flood gates were opened. America’s poor would simply get poorer and the rich would get even richer.

George H.W. Bush didn’t do much of public interest, but he managed to rub elbows with the rich and powerful of the world, all members in good standing at The Carlyle Club. It didn’t do much for his stature, but I rather suspect it did a hell of a lot for his bank accounts.

Then there came William Jefferson Clinton. He rode in on a white-washed horse to convince us all that he was the savior of the working American, and that the balance of wealth and power would be restored to the people. When Monica was taking a breather, he managed to get cozy with a few chaps by the names of Phil Gramm, Robert Rubin, Larry Summers, Alan Greenspan and a few other nefarious rogues, and who readily reached consensus (Obama’s gig)that the root of all evil plaguing this great nation was the Glass-Steagal Bill that had served the people of this country extremely well since the days of the Great Depression. All they had to do was consign it to the dust bin and, “voila,” we would find ourselves transformed into the land of milk and honey in a fortnight. Wall Street was immediately intoxicated at the spoils that awaited them. With the rush into globalization and free trade, Big Business was on a fix that would keep them stoned for eons. Unions would be emasculated and illegal cheap foreign labor would enjoy a new Renaissance in this great country.

George “The Dunce” Bush’s entrance into office was engineered by the auspicious Supreme Court. They hadn’t even changed the drapes in the White House when temptation simply got the best of him. He just HAD to give all those surpluses back to impoverished big business and the super-rich before the proletariat became comfortable with the notion that they were on solid financial footing. Sure didn’t take him long, did it folks?

Now, in the span of less than two years, we have had the second rendition of the Great Depression. Every shenanigan imaginable was pulled on the American people in order to commit outright fraud in an effort to “save” the economy. All this at the expense of the taxpayers, aided and abetted by our new President, who championed the causes of the down and out, promised us the moon, labeled “Change We Can Believe In,” as he surreptitiously hosed the average American without benefit of kiss or KY Jelly. His Cabinet was immediately stacked with all of the old Clinton retreads in order to make certain the voices of every reputable economist and financial brain in the country would be muzzled and never have a rat’s ass of a chance of introducing any control over the Barons of Wall Street, the Scions of Health Care and the Defense Establishment. He has held, most tenaciously, to that commitment, all the while blowing smoke up our asses with flowery speeches while what was once a great nation and a beacon to the world thrashes around in the early stages of its death throws.

I think we have finally reached the point where we are no longer shocked by anything. We can do whatever the traffic will bear without any fear of retribution. Government officials aren’t even subtle about what they take under the table, nor are they the least bit ashamed of the largesse they shunt to the wealthy of this country at the expense of all those who used to have the means to work for a living. Those vices, which used to be looked upon with considerable disdain, are now the norm. We just accept the fact that getting screwed by big money and massive power is standard operating procedure.

The political pundits inundate us with an endless stream of political analyses, most of which we believe without question, and blithely accept as gospel. There are endless “issues of the day,” or other diversions offered in order to keep our eyes off of what is really going on, at our individual and collective peril.

The latest headlines grabber is the plight of “undocumented workers, illegal immigrants, etc.” Those who are marginalized by their drain on jobs and having to bear the cost of social, welfare and healthcare services for all these new arrivals to our shores, are demonized as radical racists. The business interests that outsource jobs, ship industries overseas and reap the obscene profits created by a cheap pool of labor pouring into the United States, benefit massively from this newly created pool of slave labor. So far, they have gotten a free pass for their skill in dealing with the slave trade.

Meanwhile, those who pride themselves on being enlightened and the source of all wisdom, simply ignore those aspects of a lawful society they don’t happen to agree with and attack those who do. With pained expressions rather akin to a dying bastard calf in a hailstorm, the pseudo-intellectuals and bleeding hearts pour out from every sector to champion the cause of those who have chosen to violate the laws of the land. Government remains emasculated or simply impervious as the problem intensifies, giving only faint lip service to any meaningful enforcement or reform.

With their heads firmly up their individual and collective asses, the American consumer ignores the growing peril and cost of fossil fuels, revels in the panoply of cheap goods from foreign manufacturers, largely owned by U.S. business interests and staffed by slave labor. In the meantime, the amassing of vast sums of money, willingly provided by the solid supporters of Wal-Mart and other paragons of social justice and economic equality, burgeon into even greater wealth.

The lessons of the early 1970’s were short lived. There was no serious rush to create new industries based on clean energy. The ink had hardly dried on the agreements between big money and foreign oil producers, when it was back to business as usual. Soon there was a plethora of gas guzzling cars, trucks, boats, aircraft, etc. available to satiate our endless appetites for anything materialistic. The American was, once again, as happy as a pig in shit.

The financial and healthcare industries wasted no time in stiffing the people of this country. They gave us a crumb and charged us for a banquet, long term. Dutifully, we took the bait.

Now, the bottom has fallen out of the economy. There are precious few jobs. Homes are being foreclosed on at meteoric speed. Government stimulus is a cruel joke. The Cro-Magnons of our time, euphemistically referred to as “fiscal conservatives,” look out for the interests of the Robber Barons while impugning the legitimate needs of those going without, all the while being helped by a compliant White House and a hopelessly corrupt Congress.

We Americans seem to take an awfully long time before reality sets in. However, the host is about to be fatally consumed by the parasites they have exploited without mercy. The enablers and reapers of great wealth, power, influence and corruption that all the good and decent of this country have been made to suffer - economically, politically, socially and morally - are about to go the way of those who keep feeding the alligators, hoping they will eat them last.

Meanwhile, Chelsea Clinton has become a hedge fund manager on Wall Street. How do you suppose she got that gig? She just married one of her own ilk at a cost of over five million dollars. Ah yes, just one of the joys of an unregulated financial industry.

All of you deadbeats out there, living from hand to mouth and collecting unemployment benefits in order to avoid looking for honest work, take comfort in the famous words of that great wealthy humanitarian and soccer mom of Imperial France who, as she was being led to the guillotine, uttered those poignant words indelibly etched on the souls of all who have coveted great wealth and privilege, totally impervious to the toll their ambitions have taken on the human condition …………

“Let them eat cake!“


Cowboy Bob
August 1, 2010

"Time Is Of The Essence"

PROLOGUE

When I was growing up in Wyoming it was often said that the best among us were those who were closest to the land. In retrospect, there was more truth in those words than I realized. They, as the working class Americans of today, embodied the real character of this land more than the hoards of so-called sophisticates. They are the ones of today who suffer the most at the hands of the rapacious parasites who plunder the treasure of this great country with impunity. Sadly, we now bear witness to an erosion of what I regard as the essence of the American character. Our national fabric is in tatters. We appear to have lost our way, our national purpose and what it means to be a nation that belongs to all the people, and stands as a beacon to all the world. What has happened to that singleness of vision and what it means to say “I am an American?”

We are more akin to a ship without a rudder. We have no leadership. And a ship without a leader at the helm and a rudder to steer the course, is at the mercy of an unpredictable and unforgiving sea. Our national resolve has evolved into whatever the traffic will bear and whatever one can get away with. The essence of character does not come in degrees and it is not situational. It is absolute and stands firmly on principle and singleness of purpose, not compromise. As Martin Luther King, Jr. so aptly stated, “If a man hasn’t found something to die for, he isn’t fit to live.”

Our government is no longer for the people, but is at the beckon call of every vested interest and money monger there is. It is up for sale to the highest bidder. Lying and deception as the means for staying in office in order to plunder the nation is no longer viewed as a terribly egregious pursuit.

The proliferation of radical political groups and philosophies, the penchant for simple solutions to complex problems and a pervasive indifference to the dictates of common decency are frightening but, also, symptomatic of the long-term erosion in our character as a nation and as a people. I often wonder if we really care about anyone else, or is it all about me.

We lack a unified purpose, a common good and a clear direction. We are in dire need of real leadership; a characteristic that is all too rare but so vital to a democracy and a world power. Consensus-building and compromise do not fill the bill in today‘s climate. It lacks the strength, the focus, the direction and the sheer courage to make the tough decisions which this nation so urgently needs. Given our circumstances, bi-partisanship is a cop out. A penchant for that as a governing philosophy defies the seriousness of what we face today. Leadership recognizes the difference and does not hesitate to take control of the ship of state, and set a course on righting the many ills of a country in disarray and desperately in need of hope.

I voted for President Obama and held great promise from him. As of this writing, I am sorely disappointed at the reality of whom and what he is, in reality. He has proven extremely adroit at talking out of both sides of his mouth. Despite the lavish adoration and praise continually heaped upon him by his following of wide-eyed “progressives,“ who have no fear of ever feeling the real sting of his myriad betrayal of the American people, he is not a centrist. He is a corporate elitist and Wall Street shill of the worst kind. His disingenuousness knows no bounds. He may be a skilled politician, but this is no time for politics. At the end of the day, politics is the complete antithesis of true leadership. I see little that is noble in politics, but much in true leadership and statesmanship.

Following is an attempt to codify what I think the President’s First Inaugural Speech should have embodied. As Admiral David Glasgow Farragut, First Senior Officer of the U.S. Navy at the time of the American Civil War, so aptly said, “Damn the torpedoes and full speed ahead.” Time is of the essence.

THE SPEECH

My fellow Americans.

Today we stand on the threshold of one of the greatest calamities to hit this nation since the Great Depression. In the past few months we have witnessed the near collapse of our entire financial system. Because a healthy financial system and a sound economy are at the very bedrock of this country, we cannot afford to treat this matter as anything less than the national emergency it is.

The late President Ronald Reagan intoned his famous quote, “Government is not a solution to our problem, government is the problem.” The veracity of that statement has been proven wrong by our history since he first took office. The fundamental flaw underlying the belief that a free and unfettered market is the great panacea for all that ails us is extremely naïve. Why? Because it is predicated on the false assumption that everyone actively engaged in that market is inherently honest and has the best interests of this country at its core. Not so. We are, by the very frailties of our human nature, imperfect at best. Temptation stalks us all and, more often than not, tends to lead us into making compromises that, although beneficial to our own personal interests, are in fact contrary to the public interest. For that reason, alone, any civilized society must be built on the foundations of a government that will ensure the welfare of its citizens. That single purpose must always be paramount in the economic activities undertaken by the business community. When business and commerce can not or will not act in the public interest then, by definition, regulation is essential. Only a democratically elected government can and should assume that responsibility.

The signs of weaknesses in our financial and banking systems have become increasingly apparent since 2007, reaching the apex in the last few months of 2008. We are still dealing with the ramifications of that calamitous series of events in order to forestall a greater problem.

A fundamentally flawed belief that the country would be better served by an almost complete deregulation of our financial and banking institutions became reality through a bipartisan effort between the Clinton Administration and the Republican leadership in the Congress. The stage was set for the greatest feeding frenzy on a diet of unbridled greed and corruption in the history of this country. That was followed by eight years of the greatest transfer of wealth from Middle Class Americans to the top tier of our society, at the expense of the viability of the traditional ladder of opportunity for those who sought realization of the American Dream.

Make no mistake about it. We face a national emergency of the gravest nature. Time is of the essence in addressing the multi-faceted aspects of what has and is happening to us. We must take immediate steps to re-instate many of the same legal provisions of the previous Glass-Steagall Act, pending a complete re-examination and overhaul of regulations governing our financial and banking systems.

I am taking immediate steps to convene a task force on finance and banking to identify, analyze and address every aspect of what has led us to the peril we face. The task force will be comprised of the finest economic and legal minds in the country. Those who created and benefit from the financial and regulatory failures that led to this crisis have no place at the table. We shall seek the talents of those who are not tainted by prior service in or association with the very institutions that have failed us. I expect them to set themselves to the task with all due haste and provide me with a plan of action that can be implemented with the greatest sense of urgency, and proposed legislation that can be enacted as soon as practicable. In the meantime, they will serve as my chief financial and banking advisors for as long as necessary.

One of the most egregious assaults on the American people and our system of government was the massively unfair and disproportionate tax cuts for the wealthy of this country, enacted by the Bush Administration. The disparity between the average working American and the top one percent of the population is nothing less than obscene. I will undertake an immediate review of our tax structure and the extreme disparities in the tax burden on corporations, business, nonprofit organizations and individuals, with an eye towards restoring fairness in the distribution of wealth among the citizens of this country. It is an inescapable fact of life that you cannot have public services without paying taxes. A complete repeal of the Bush tax cuts will be undertaken as soon as practicable.

During the last twelve years, we have seen our industrial base deliberately dismantled and shipped overseas, and the work of the American Middle Class outsourced to cheap labor markets around the world. We have been seduced into believing that free-trade and globalization are the great panacea for a new utopia of milk and honey for every American. But, I ask you, at what cost to the citizens and indeed the country? Greed, which used to be viewed with disdain and contempt, has now become a noble pursuit and a legitimate means for achieving material success. Again, at what cost to our citizens and our national character? We must do whatever is necessary to restore our economic base and repair the damage that has been done by avaricious business and corporate interests in simply making more and more money at our collective peril. All international and free-trade agreements are open to re- examination. To the extent any of them have created less than a level playing field for American workers and businesses, they will be subject to renegotiation or, if necessary, cancellation.

Blue-collar workers and a healthy workforce made this country the great economic and social powerhouse it once was. They have been the avenue which has provided the socio-economic ladder by which their children and grandchildren could realize the American Dream. For the past several decades, they have been marginalized and demonized for daring to assert a legitimate claim to their share of the economic fruits produced by their talents and their labors. There is something fundamentally wrong when those who control capital make vast fortunes at the expense of those who labor in their service. The time has come to right those wrongs and restore a balance between ownership and service. I fully intend to restore that balance by enacting legislation that legitimizes and honors the same contributions of organized labor to this great country as the private capital that drives the system.

Illegal immigration has been exploited and encouraged by business interests, with the tacit approval of government, for far too long, as a source of cheap labor at the expense of the working American. That will be addressed with the objective of restoring integrity to the immigration system and penalizing industries and organizations who have and continue to benefit from violating our immigration laws.

Healthcare systems and costs are sapping the economic viability of this country, and continue to shunt untold billions of dollars to the very interests that have exploited our political and social systems for monetary gain at the expense of every American. This cannot continue and I will, as one of my top priorities, establish a task force to assess the status of our healthcare system, and develop a viable and universal plan for a comprehensive single-payer system that will serve every citizen of this country. Those who have exploited this issue will have no seat at the table, including the pharmaceutical companies.

If we are to restore integrity to our system of government, we must rout out the pervasive and insidious corruption that dominates and controls every aspect of those institutions put in place to serve all the people. Government should not exist just for the select few who seem to believe that government is there to serve them, primarily, and stand at the ready for purchase at the right price. Let me remind you that ours is “a government of the people, by the people and for the people.” It is not for “those who pay the most that gets the most.” Therefore, I will convene a task force of the best minds available to undertake a comprehensive review of how our government works, focusing on the way our political campaigns are financed, the role played by vested interests on our government, the revolving door between service in government and service to special interests that seek to influence government. There has to be a specific interval of time, mandated by law, before individuals can go from a career in government to one in the private sector and vice versa, in order to maintain an arms-length relationship between the two. I shall ask that every opportunity for self-serving compromise and corruption be identified, and a proposed remedy for every such opportunity, with the ultimate objective being a government that exists to serve all the people, all the time.

I will seek to have the compensation and benefits package for elected officials, codified and published annually, including a complete list of all earmarks garnered for their legislative districts and states. My concern is that self-serving practices may have evolved in order to justify what may be inappropriate and excessive perquisites, all at the expense of the American taxpayer.

I will, also, seek to have favors given to legislators, including amounts in campaign contributions, published for every member of a given committee, whenever legislation is being authored and debated where there is opportunity for conflicts of interest.

I intend to have the entire system for awarding government contracts reviewed by an independent body in order to ascertain the integrity and objectivity of the process, and to rout out existing and potential opportunities for conflicts of interest. I will seek the advice and counsel of the Attorney General and the Justice Department in bringing this about.

For far too long, those at the bottom rungs of the economic ladder have born the burden of serving in our all-volunteer armed forces, often out of economic necessity, while those in the top tiers of our society are spared the obligations and the hazards of such service. I intend to have this situation reviewed with an eye towards reinstating the draft in order to level the playing field on this issue. Further, mercenary armies and contractors will be phased out of government service as soon as possible. That is a luxury and a relationship this country can no longer afford.

This administration will address the issue of education in an effort to ensure that education serves the greatest needs for the greatest numbers. The time has come to refocus on “education” as our primary objective, as opposed to “skill and technical training.” Teaching the youth of this country to ‘think” as their top priority is infinitely more important to being a well-rounded individual and a responsible and fully functioning member of society than is teaching them to “do.” The entire system of education demands a comprehensive review by the best minds available, both in terms of content and structure, including the disparity between private and state-supported institutions of higher learning.

For much too long the budget for national defense has exceeded what should be considered necessary and reasonable, at the expense of more pressing economic and social needs for the people of this country. I expect to see greater discipline and constraint in spending for our military services. We can no longer afford to be the great protector of the world, and have the latest and greatest military hardware at our disposal. Our military spending trumps all other nations of the world combined. That is not only irrational, it is utterly obscene. There is no excuse for continuing along this path by constantly stoking the fires of what at times appear to be dubious fears and threats to our democracy.

There is no longer a global need for an American presence in every corner of the world. We, along with a host of other nations around the world, have at our disposal the capacity to annihilate the entire globe. Why do we need more and better, most of which is never deployed in actual combat? I shall ask for a complete review of every aspect of our defense strategy and the attendant costs to the taxpayers.

The world needs to understand that we Americans are a peace-loving country, governed by the rule of law that expects to be an active and responsible member of the world community. We will no longer start or participate in wars of aggression or pre-emptive assaults on any sovereign nation. However, we will remain vigilant in matters of national defense and the integrity of our borders. Any pre-emptive strike against this country will be met with the full force of our might against the country from which the attack originated, and against those who harbor and provide safe-haven to our adversaries.

The highest priority will be placed on the urgency for shifting to new forms of energy that rely on safe, efficient and environmentally friendly technologies. We are long overdue on phasing out our dependency on fossil fuels and other hazardous forms of energy production. We have the knowledge and the will to move beyond that. It is time to use it.

We must assume our rightful place in the fight against global warming. I am convinced that we can no longer afford to minimize the risks to our planet that is being wrought by the avariciousness of mankind. The knowledge and the will are there to address this matter in an intelligent and decisive manner.

In conclusion, our domestic policy will be focused on creating and maintaining opportunities for the citizens of this country, rooted in an industrial base relevant and appropriate to the 21st Century. Our goal is equal opportunity for all.

Our foreign policy will be to assume and maintain our rightful place in the community of nations, devoted to responsible citizenship, and seeking to further the safety, health and welfare of all peace-loving people around the world.

The United States of America has one of the finest college and university systems in the world. I fully intend to call on that pool of knowledge and talent in brining about the improvements and changes needed to refocus on the future before us. Cronyism and political favors will have no place in this administration.

My goal and that of my Administration is to ensure complete transparency in what we do in the service of this country, issues of national security being the notable exception. There will be no private or secret meetings with those who attempt to subvert the will of the people. The peoples’ business is public business and I intend to preserve that tradition for as long as I am privileged to serve as the President of the United States.

Make no mistake about it. This represents an agenda that will require massive amounts of time, talent, energy, resources and funds to accomplish. However, time is not on our side. If we are to recover from the errors of the past and set a new course for the future, we have no choice but to put our shoulders to the wheel and set the forces of change in motion.

Be warned that the forces of evil are cunning and treacherous. They will stop at nothing to subvert our national priorities in order to satisfy their insatiable appetites for more and more at the expense of the American people. They will commit massive amounts of money, resources, influence and outright deception in order to defeat the will of the people to further enhance their own material gains. They will purchase the darkest and most seductive talents imagined by Madison Avenue, the entertainment industries and corporate news outlets in order to dissuade and discredit the will and the resolve of this great nation. We cannot let that happen. It is up to each and every one of us to remain vigilant, be informed and be strong. Let us join hands in this great endeavor. With your help and the help of Our Creator, we cannot fail.

Thank you, God bless you and God bless America.



On behalf of President Barack Obama

Cowboy Bob
July 16, 2010

"And The Music Plays As The Carousel Goes Round and Round"

I am beginning to conclude that the people of the United States of America are so numbed through years of seduction by all of those who effectively screw them into the ground that they are incapable of discerning right from wrong. They just go with the flow, hope for the best, and seem impervious at the extent to which they are a party to the selling of America to the most skilled crooks among us.

The so-called Financial Reform Bill, among others of this administration, is one of the biggest shams ever perpetrated against the common folk. The “Clinton Mafia” remains intact and are more powerful than ever. They control every key financial position in the Obama White House. They frame the arguments and our illustrious “Change We Can Believe in Boy, “sells them to the most vulnerable among us. He doesn’t even have to bother with a flowery speech anymore. Just a few words to a compliant news media and he is off and running with yet another coup that costs us, the citizens, dearly for years to come. Wall Street is flourishing with our tax dollars. The Federal Reserve is growing in power, influence and secrecy. Chris Dodd has proven himself to be the most consummate whore to ever sit in government, with absolutely no shame whatsoever. However, let us not lose sight of the fact that everything he does is carefully and deliberately orchestrated by the White House.

All of the above against the backdrop of the “Johnny Come Lately” advocates of fiscal conservatism, after having raped the country into a “recession” following their plunder of the country under the perverted inspiration and leadership of such paragons of virtue as Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Dick Cheney. It didn’t bother them one damned bit to cut countless millions of the unemployed off at the ankles by not renewing their unemployment benefits in the midst of the greatest financial calamity to hit this country since the Great Depression. They have accused those unfortunate souls of the same dark motives and unsavory conduct that they seem so accomplished at themselves. As the old saying goes, “A dog smells his own hole first.” They are the most motley bunch of losers to have ever sat in the halls of government. They haven’t had an original idea since Teddy Roosevelt left the White House. They have elevated stealing and self-righteousness to new levels of obscenity. They are a disgrace to everything decent people stand for, and they know it. All of this under the inspired leadership of such towers of intellect and charisma as Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Plain, Glenn Beck, Michael Steele, and others of the same ilk.

Then there is the whole army of “progressives,” that fawn all over our President and his henchmen who are behind every scheme to further plunder the country for the oligarchs and the plutocrats. A goodly number of them are among the pseudo-educated elite that rake in hefty salaries which place them in the higher income brackets. They cap out in their FICA taxes at $100,600 while the average person pays the same tax on virtually every cent he/she earns. When they don’t agree with the law they summarily ignore it, impugn the motives of those who believe in the rule of law, reframe the argument in language that has a lofty and noble ring to it, and champion the cause of all the illegals in this country at the expense of those who pay the taxes for the oligarchs and plutocrats steal. And the music plays as the carousel goes round and round. They skillfully and completely avoid any mention of the fact that we have this problem because of years of collusion between government, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and a business community salivating at the thought of yet more cheap labor from south of the border just waiting to be reduced to indentured servitude so we, the consumers who complain about their numbers can, in turn, further binge on the cheap goods they produce.

But, where is John Q. Public in all this? Those who are still employed and living the good life simply sit back and say “hurray for me and fuck you.” That is so American, don’t you think? Do the bastards even have a soul, much less feel for anyone other than their gluttonous selves? Do they even know what is going on around them, much less care? I rather doubt it. They are utterly revolting to everything decent and good. So, let them pursue all of their wildest dreams rooted in an endless materialistic and hedonistic pursuit in life. But, take note, it won’t last forever and they, too, will have to face reality at some point in their poor wretched lives. I can’t help but wonder if any of them have ever so much as glanced in the mirror and asked themselves “How is the world better by virtue of my having been here?“ Damned few I suspect. It is time they get real and accept the fact that, rather than having been ordained by whatever deity they worship, they are probably not here by design. Rather, they are more likely to have entered this world through a moment of passion (hopefully more than just wanton lust). This is one game, however, where they can’t cram for the finals. They are what they are, and are likely destined to take it all to the grave, reduced to a pile of ashes or a rotting corpse just like the billions who have gone before believing they, too, were something special and unique.

Isn’t it about time we all took stock, sobered up and counted for something before the final bell tolls?

Cowboy Bob
June 25, 2010

“What Do Americans Mean By a Republic?”

As I bear witness to the continued unraveling of our national character, I ask myself in a thousand ways, what has brought this nation to the brink of total disintegration? There is a massive inertia and malaise that seems to have rendered us totally impotent to stop the juggernaut that has the propensity to totally derail the ship of state. In moments of anger and despair over all that we face, it is so easy to play the blame game but, at the end of the day, we all bear some responsibility for where we are at this point in our history.

I, like so many students of history, have a tendency to deify the Framers of the Constitution and their apparent wisdom in all they put together to create this marvel of democracy that, for centuries, has been the envy of the world. I really want to believe that history of perfection in governing a nation is still very much intact and relevant to what is going on today. But is it?

The prevailing social, economic, political and religious systems have had to have changed with the passage of time. Nothing is static. The value systems of those earlier times cannot have been what they are today. Time changes everything.

We like to think of ourselves as a democracy and often, with great pride, refer to ourselves as the greatest democracy in the world, but, are we? As has been rightfully pointed out, the United States of America is a “republic.” How does that differ from a “democracy?” I pondered that question and decided to start by looking for an answer in my trusted dictionary. There are four terms that have been applied to our system of government that warrant examination: a republic, a democracy, an oligarchy and a plutocracy.

A “republic” is defined as “a state in which supreme power is held by the people or their elected representatives or by an elected or nominated president, not by a monarch.

A “democracy” is defined as “a system of government by the whole population, usually through elected representatives. An egalitarian and tolerant form of society.

The common phrase in the two foregoing definitions that struck me was “elected representatives.” Elected by whom? To represent whom? Power is held by either the people or their elected representatives. Is the holding of power absolute or situational?

We could not have arrived at where we are today had there not been an evolution of what was intended by the concept of “representation.”

I have long been suspect of the intent vs. the outcome of the 17th Amendment to the Constitution. I was disturbed by the fact that it appears to have taken a power that was vested with each of the individual states and summarily transferred it to the central government. My concern was that the amendment effectively conferred all power to the federal monolith in Washington, D.C. That did not seem quite cricket to me. However, as I have studied that action, I have come to the conclusion that the intent of passing that amendment was to correct a chronic problem of corruption at the state level in the way senators were appointed to serve and represent their respective states in the United States Senate. Further, who were they serving? The power brokers in state government or the people? I would have to conclude that the only constant with this whole issue is that the senators are “elected” by the people, but they “represent” a vastly different constituency. The element of corruption is still very much a part of the equation. However, it is being carried out for a different constituency and it sure as hell isn’t on behalf of those who elect them to office. So, I would ask, are we any better off today than we were when they were elected by state legislatures?

We have a House of Representatives that represents the citizens of individual congressional districts within each state. They are elected for a term of office of two years. Because of the size of their constituency and the short term in office, I don’t think there is any doubt that they are much more closely tied to those who put and keep them in office. They are far more responsive to the wishes of those who elect them.

We have a President that is elected to serve for a term of 4 years, with a maximum of two terms in office. Since the inception of this nation, the office has progressively evolved into one with increased powers and less accountability to the Congress and to the people who put them there. I regard what we have as being less like the elected titular head of state and more like the anointed divine head of state, much to our peril as a democracy. I see the office progressing further toward less transparency and greater opacity, to the detriment of the electorate. The trappings of that office tend to allow it much greater discretionary authority than what I view as good for the nation as a whole. As of this writing, I see the real constituency of the Presidency as big business, corporations, individual wealth and the military-intelligence apparatus of government. That is cause for grave concern, in my opinion, for those who believe we live in a democracy.

Then, we have the grand and imperious body called the United States Senate. They are by far the most arrogant and independent of those who seduce us into voting for them. With terms of six years in office, they are less beholden to the voters and have a wider margin of individual discretion. Once they are elected, they can comfortably relax, pander to special interests at the expense of those who put them in office, and lace their pockets with what we euphemistically refer to as “campaign contributions,” which is just another term for bribery. Their skullduggery used to be somewhat subtle, but it is so blatant anymore that one would have to be intellectually lazy, or mentally and emotionally deranged not to see it. The ludicrous number and types of rules under which they operate has rendered the body almost totally paralyzed from political inertia. To call them our equivalent to the British “House of Lords,” is not far off the mark.

Lastly, we have the Supreme Court. They profess to be objective, but they aren’t. They say they don’t legislate, but they do. They are reputed to be apolitical, but they aren’t. I am mystified as to what they are all about. What do they do with all that time on their hands? Aren’t lifetime appointments at times miserably boring? Their constituency seems to be defined by the bias of the political majority at any given point in time. At the end of the day, do we really get our money’s worth?

A “democracy” is defined as “a system of government by the whole population, usually through elected representatives.” It is a state so governed or any organization governed on democratic principles. It is defined as an egalitarian and tolerant form of society. Given what we have today, I would say that is a bit off the mark. Sounds nice, but it doesn’t jibe with reality.

Then, there is what is termed an “oligarchy,” which is government by a small group of people; a state governed in this way and the members of such a government. Those who really control the process are part of a small group who hold the real power in our system. We may like to delude ourselves into believing otherwise, but a bit of reflection readily puts the issue into sharp relief. We have institutionalized and legitimized those we have deified in positions of power, influence and fame. Without question, Washington, D.C. is the crown jewel of the elite, who rule the land.

And, finally, there is what is referred to as a “plutocracy,” which is a government by the wealthy; a state government governed in this way, and comprised of a wealthy elite or ruling class. There can be no doubt that is very much the case today. Any clear distinction between oligarchs and plutocrats is not clear. Perhaps the appropriate frame of reference is “individuals” within an oligarchy, and “organizations or corporations” within a plutocracy, might be a better way to think of the two. Or, perhaps, our perception of oligarchs is those who front for those who, in the final analysis, are the rightful owners of their souls and our national destiny.

So, all of this leads us to the question as to what we really are? I don’t see that we stand for much of anything anymore.

Things appeared to have started to unravel in the 1960’s with the advent of the “sexual revolution” and the “drug culture.” The genie came out of the bottle and unleashed the forces of hedonism, with the concomitant sounding of the death knell that would lead to the progressive demise of social conventions as we knew them. Our national focus seems to have shifted from a mindset of “we” to “me.” The pre-eminent rights shifted from those of society to those of the individual. Our kinship as a people was on the wane. We had set ourselves on the slippery slope of decadence; a journey from which we have never recovered. We have finally arrived at the point where all we have sown is now in full bloom. The finer aspects of our human nature have fallen victim to our baser instincts.

The culmination of our spiral downward to progressively more blatant forms of materialism and hedonism is now the norm. We have a population of young people that has never taken a course in civics. They haven’t a clue as to what our government is all about or how it is supposed to function for the common good. Their minds are numbed and their intellectual properties are atrophied by various forms of entertainment, most of which is of dubious value, at best. They stare blankly at computer monitors, blackberries, I-pods, etc., all the while completely oblivious to the potential richness of the people around them. Text messaging has replaced conversation. The output of Hollywood and Madison Avenue has supplanted intellectual discourse and any meaningful debate about the salient issues of the day. All that has been overtaken by cyberspace and all the electronic wizardry that makes it possible.

Today, everyone wants to be rich. Everyone wants to be successful. Everyone wants to have the perfect body. Pleasure is more important than substance. People seem to be obsessed by the desire to get laid, get stoned, and partake in an endless feast of ecstasy provided by all that is considered “fun," whatever that is. We have, in exchange for a panoply of materialism and hedonism, completely abdicated any real obligation to attend to our collective responsibility for making sure government works for all the people, rather than the vast wealth and power that rushed in to fill the vacuum created by our collective apathy and self-imposed ignorance.

We have a schism in the extremes of wealth because we allowed it to happen. We tolerate corruption and greed because we allowed it to thrive and flourish. We sunk to new levels of depravity because we wanted it. We lost control of our government because we permitted it. We are what we are because we allowed ourselves to become the victims. We are an empty people and have only ourselves to thank for having sown the seeds of our own demise.

I am not at all sure we have the means or the will to do what is required in order to restore the integrity of all that was envisioned by those who created this republic of ours.

Through the process of becoming absentee owners, perhaps we have allowed those we elected to represent us to become the representatives of all that seeks to destroy us. Has the corruption of power and money germinated in the fertile soil of an overly complacent citizenry?

I am more inclined to believe the shortest distance between the electorate and the government is more akin to a parliamentary system of government. Perhaps that, more than a republic, is the embodiment of what is meant by a true democracy.


Cowboy Bob
June 2, 2010

“Change We Can Believe In: A Patient Nation Still Waits”

Well, folks, here we go again facing another national crisis.

Now, mind you, I don’t shirk my responsibility for attempting to face reality and dealing with it honestly. But, I see little inclination on the part of our political establishment for engaging in like behavior, nor do I see much interest on the part of the electorate for stepping back from all that numbs their minds in favor of dealing with reality. God forbid they should assume a modicum of responsibility for knowing the sad state of affairs in this country, and being the least bit inclined to do something about it.

The new mantra emanating from our nation’s capitol is the growing deficit and what measures can be taken to re-focus on fiscal responsibility. Everyone in the hallowed halls of government is trying to get on the bandwagon as the next election cycle looms on the horizon. Our illustrious President has given his usual round of great speeches, and has managed to pass legislation that is so compromised it is, at best, a cruel joke at the expense of the American people. The klieg lights on the “issue of the day, “are quickly turned off so he can formulate and peddle yet another set of empty promises. He consistently goes back to the White House and sequesters himself with the corporate thieves who continue to plunder the country. After all, that is where the real money and the real players are who have set us on the path of complete economic ruin: Rubin, Summers, Geithner, Bernanke, Goldman Sachs, Health Care United and the cadre of loyal sycophants who labor in their service.

I am always amused at how transparent our “Raptor in Chief” really is. Bi-partisanship is the alpha and the omega of all that is good and holy in accomplishing the work of Washington. It has become an endless smoke screen for pursuing the agenda of the oligarchs and plutocrats, hell-bent on fleecing all that remains in the pockets of working Americans. Not until their emaciated bodies are reduced to begging for a crumb to sustain life, their eyes have sunk into the skull of what remains of their human form and the land beneath their feet has been laid waste, will those who have sold us down the river hang out the banner, for the second time, “Mission Accomplished.”

His latest ruse is to appoint Alan Simpson as head of a commission to study ways of reigning in the burgeoning national debt. His first targets are rumored to be the entitlement programs that provide a modicum of security against varying degrees of deprivation for a good many of our elderly population, namely Social Security and Medicare. A better whore could not have been found for the job than Alan Simpson. He is, of course, a Republican. His reputation among the elite of Washington is legion. I dare say he could easily qualify as the slimiest slug that ever slid down the hallways of the Senate. But, what the hell, he is one of the good old boys and a member emeritus of the most successful club of consummate thieves in the world. Welcome back, Alan. You have come a long way since your shameless antics in the dining room at the Henning Hotel in Casper. But, I digress. That is ancient history.

What most impresses me in Obama’s first push for fiscal responsibility is his exclusion of defense as a target for economic scrutiny and fiscal restraint. That is big “No, No” number one. The Wall Street Robber Barons remain in tact. Real financial reform is little more than a token gesture. Any genuine repayment of TARP and bailout money will, in all probability, come from money the big banks made by re-investing interest-free government loans from Ben Bernanke’s secret slush fund at the Federal Reserve. Meanwhile, thanks to Obama and his happy band of former Clintonites, he will continue to run interference for them lest there be any serious attempt to account and atone for all they have done (and continue to do) to the taxpayers of the country.

Of course, thanks to his backroom deals, in addition to Wall Street, Obama has ensured the continued financial viability of health insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies. They are destined to reap even more billions through the so-called “Healthcare Reform Bill.” That was the underlying objective of all the hoopla about what a great deal this was supposed to be for all Americans. Another oxymoron peddled by the Washington elite.

If the powers that be really want to save big bucks and maintain the viability of the average American, there are better ways to accomplish those objectives.

Defense spending is the most obvious and should be our first priority on the road to recovery from the fiscal malady that grips the country.

1. The last legitimate war fought by the United States was World War II. The entire world was in peril and we, in the spirit of our finest traditions, rose to the occasion. We not only vanquished the evil plague that enveloped Europe and Asia, we also helped to rebuild the economies of our former enemies.

2. The Korean Conflict was fought to stem the rising tide of communist aggression on to the Korean Peninsula. But that was not deemed to be a real war but, rather, a “police action.”

3. Every subsequent war undertaken by the United States has been based on deceptions of one sort or another, perpetrated by the less than noble intentions and megalomania emanating from the White House, and blindly supported by a corrupt and subservient Congress. Countless millions of lives have been needlessly sacrificed on the altars of political ambition and corporate greed. Trillions of dollars have gone into a sink hole that could have, otherwise, been used to improve the lot of the American people, and to maintain some semblance of national fiscal responsibility.

4. The first “boogey man” to scare the hell out of the populace was the menace of international communism. That was good for years and years of fear mongering that shunted trillions of dollars through the pockets of the military establishment and into the corporate coffers of defense contractors. I cannot believe, given the level of sophistication in our intelligence apparatus, that we could not have known how fragile that house of cards really was, and which could have saved this country massive amounts of money. That was money that could have circulated through the real economy, rather than vanishing into the labyrinths of meaningless folly and the hollow dreams of empire. But we, the citizenry, dutifully bought into the exaggerated threat to our security and approved massive amounts of our national wealth for what? Bull shit wrapped in contrived patriotism?

5. Through all this we poured massive amounts of money into progressively more sophisticated weaponry, aircraft, ships, missiles and the like. Most of that investment was never needed, but it provided the brass an endless supply of new toys, and defense contractors with more money for their swollen piggy banks. Of all that hardware, probably the only cost-effective use of funds was those for nuclear submarines patrolling the oceans of the world, and the B-52 bombers. I don’t see much of a return on our investment in things such as the Osprey airplanes, stealth bombers and fighters, and a whole host of other hi-tech weaponry. We seem to have a penchant for building more and more that has less and less to do with common sense and reality. But, I suppose we have to keep building aircraft carriers so there is something sufficiently grand as to bear the names of prominent and less-than-noble figures that have crossed the stage of the United States political establishment. Except for those few examples of real success, I seriously doubt most were really needed and, ultimately, proved to be cost-effective deterrents. It would be interesting to see a detailed accounting of what the ultimate fate was of all that hardware, and the names of those who profited from what proved to be nothing more than red herrings in the collage of all that was reputed to be absolutely essential to our national defense. I would, also, like to see who bore the brunt of all the cost over-runs and casualties that occurred because of poor design and reliability. Could it, would it, have been the unwitting taxpayers? Not a chance!

6. That the Iraq War was patently illegal is an established and accepted fact. But, that certainly did not retard the White House and the Defense Department from treating it as the real deal, and pouring massive amounts of money into invading a country that never threatened us. But it certainly gave us numerous opportunities to test all sorts of new weaponry, and to cull out the numbers of uneducated and underprivileged slobs who might otherwise end up as civilian workers at home, demanding a living wage, and claiming their right to a share in the American Dream. Afghanistan is only an extension of that madness, but it is serving the same ends for the same people who control and profit from the insatiable appetite of our war machine.

7. The concept of “war on terror,” has caught on at home. The populace extols the loss of human life as somehow noble because, “it is keeping us safe and protects our freedoms.” Safe from what? Protects our freedoms from whom? A radical religion and a deeply ingrained hatred of us because of our foreign policy in the Middle East? What sacrifices are all those naïve champions of freedom making for those who lay down their lives on their behalf in far off places of dubious danger to the United States? This is nothing more than another form of fear mongering, created to serve corporate interests and political ambitions. There may be a modicum of reality to the threat, but the massive response does not warrant the commitment of overwhelming amounts of our national talent and treasure to a cause, the magnitude of which is yet to be proven.

8. I don’t believe one has to be a rocket scientist in order to figure out that these perceived threats are, essentially, little more than guerilla warfare. If we haven’t apprehended Osama bin Laden by now, I doubt we ever will. He and his happy band of religious fanatics are beyond the reach of conventional warfare and the tens of thousands of warriors attempting to destroy them. But it is a great way of squandering massive amounts of money the nation can ill afford in order to feed all the parasites who subsist on the myth of an illusive fear that, in all probability, may never be proven. I am more inclined to think that our first and most sophisticated line of defense should be at the shores of this country, not some far off primitive land whose people don’t even know why in the hell we are there in the first place.

So, what might be done to restore some semblance of national sanity and financial integrity? This is not the time to enable those to whom we have entrusted our future to engage in a game of reverse Robin Hood - taking from the poor and giving to the rich. If the powers that be can keep us focused on the pocket change, what they do with the big bucks will go virtually unnoticed.

1. Reduce the vast numbers of military bases scattered across the world. There is no rational basis for all of those outposts we maintain, given the sophistication of weapons that can incinerate the entire world in a matter of hours. They are nothing but a sink-hole used to flagrantly waste our economic resources. I say restore the real estate to its rightful owners and come home.

2. Stop buying into the fabled notion that we are the wealthiest and most powerful nation in the world. Given our current economic situation, I would have to say those words ring a bit hollow these days. That credo is so shop worn that I think we need to have Madison Avenue coin a new one. When we have no money and an atrophied economy, we are essentially broke.

3. Accept the fact that we, as a nation, face an enemy engaged in guerilla warfare, and deal with it appropriately and in like fashion. Serve notice on the world that any country harboring or providing safe haven to terrorists who launch an attack against the United States from their soil, will suffer the wrath of a retaliatory attack. We have the weapons and military hardware to do the job without invading and occupying any sovereign nation.

4. Tighten up the systems for awarding and evaluating the performance of defense contractors. Hold every single one of them to the letter of the contracts they have entered into with the people of the United States. No more automatic acceptance of cost over-runs, re-negotiation and open-ended agreements. Establish a separate agency that has an arms length relationship with the defense industry solely for the purpose of reviewing and evaluating all government contracts before they are consummated.

5. For starters, and under the auspices of an independent commission beholden to the American people that will withstand the scrutiny of independent auditors.

* Stop backroom deals being made by Senator Dodd and Senator Shelby in order to
water down financial reform legislation so they can pay off the benefactors that
seek to keep them in power.
* Break up all the banks deemed “too big to fail.
* Restore the Glass-Steagall Reform Act
* Stop predatory lending
* Enact strict consumer protection laws against banks, financial institutions and
credit card companies.
* Insist on total transparency by the Federal Reserve. There can be no secrecy
when it comes to what is done with the people’s money.
* Separate the trading of derivative swaps from banks, and impose a
real tax on all investment and speculative financial transactions.

6. Impose a corporate tax rate that is in keeping with prevailing standards throughout the industrialized world. Stop corporate welfare and redirect those funds to the welfare of the country.

7. Follow the lead by many of our world contemporaries and impose a value-added tax on all cheap foreign imports coming into the United States. Level the playing field, restore our industrial base, and provide real opportunities for working Americans.

8. Repeal the Bush tax cuts for the rich and substantially increase the tax rates for that same population.

9. Stop subsidies to oil companies and other forms of national largesse for business interests. If they can’t effectively compete in the marketplace, they have no business playing in the sandbox.

10. Stop the delusion that the recently hailed Health Care Reform Bill is the greatest thing for Americans since sliced bread. It is a sham and most of us know it. Amend it to provide for a single-payer system and abolish the sweetheart deals for industries that have nothing but a parasitic relationship to those they are sworn to serve. They have stolen enough. Go for real reforms that genuinely reduce the cost and improve the quality of healthcare for everyone. The complexity of what we now have only serves to confuse the average person. It merely hides the payback to those who have created yet another form of thievery from those who can least afford it. Return the savings to the national treasury.

11. Adopt a legislative agenda that is as favorable to the working people of the country as it is to corporations and the financial houses that brought us to the brink of financial and social annihilation.

12. Publish, prior to every national election, the names of each political personality running for election or re-election, showing the candidate’s top 50 campaign contributors, the amount given by each, and their relationship to specific special interests. Let that be published on the Internet and cable television, as a public service, once a week for at least 4 months prior to the election.

13. Except in cases where issues of national security are clearly a valid concern, prohibit secret and private meetings with those interests seeking favor from the political establishment, with appropriate penalties for failure to comply.

14. Immediately suspend all the perquisites that elected officials have legislated for themselves and grant them no more than they would command in the marketplace. We deserve an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay, with benefits that are no more or no less than what is reasonable. Any semblance of an imperial government, in any house and at any level should be summarily nullified. It is contrary to every premise upon which this great nation was built.

15. And, lastly, put as much pressure as can be brought to bear on the White House to rout out the rogues that do deals behind our backs on behalf of those who have no concern for the national interest. Some of the more visible are Ben Bernanke, Timothy Geithner, Larry Summers, Rahm Emanuel, Robert Rubin and others of like mind and bent. We have had enough of the dirty, self-serving politics sold to us under the banner of “Change We Can Believe In.” Hogwash. Obama is accountable to the people who put him in office. Contrary to his demeanor, he is not imbued with the divine right of kings.

Don’t you think the time has come to turn a deaf ear to the din of demagoguery with which we are bombarded from the liberal elite, the conservative right and a compliant news media that peddles their invective in order to pit us, one against the other? Let’s stop the rhetoric and insist on definitive, verifiable and enforceable action for the benefit of all the people. Drag from the sewers all the scum whose sole aim in life is to subvert the will of the people, lay waste to all that is good and decent about us, and which rightfully belongs to us all. As long as we continue to hurl epithets and perceive each other as adversaries, we take our eye off the ball and willingly succumb to the merchants of evil whose only goal is to seek the destruction of the American Dream.

None of this can ever come to pass without a firm moral compass to guide us. We must subscribe to a system of beliefs and adopt a code of conduct that speaks to the finer aspects of our human nature. Those are what must guide us in the conduct of our daily lives if we are to reclaim the dignity, decency and honor that made us a respected and revered nation on the world stage. All that keeps us focused must, of necessity, be the standards we insist on from every one of those who seek to govern and serve us. Nothing less will do. At the end of the day, it is we who are granting them a cherished privilege, not the other way around.

Cowboy Bob
May 18, 2010

"You Can't Be a Bystander and Change the World"

I, like so many others, watch the same television network news and news programs. I hear how the economy is starting to turn around. There are reports of a drop in the number of claims for unemployment benefits, and an increase in the number of new orders for goods and services, and a slight increase in the number of new employees. I, too, want to believe that things are getting better. But is an increase in the DOW and the NASDAQ an indication that the lot of the average American is improving? Are these the people with the discretionary income who are the “investors?” I don’t think so. I am more inclined to believe those playing the stock markets are those who have lost little or nothing compared to mainstream America. So, don’t treat us like a bunch of mushrooms, keeping us in the dark and feeding us a steady diet of bull shit. Give people credit for being smarter than that, and stop patronizing them. They have more on the ball than the so-called educated and accomplished are prone to acknowledge. They, also, have a much better grasp of right vs. wrong.

We are, also, treated with television coverage of contrived demonstrations by the Tea Party, who I regard as a bunch of ignorant rabble rousers operating on the lunatic fringe. But that element is balanced by the wide-eyed do-gooders who know their cause is just, which gives them the license to flaunt the law and impugn the motives of those who dare to disagree with them. None of this charade contributes to what ails this country. All it does is reflect to the world a bias that is not very well grounded in fact, or a sense of concern for the real issues affecting the majority of all the good and decent people hurting from what has been done to them, and which will likely only get worse.

I live in a small hamlet on the fringe of a major metropolitan area, populated by good souls that, in many respects. mirror the images of people long forgotten and who did manifest the finer aspects of our human nature. I see a general malaise and bewilderment at what has come down on their heads, and a haunting worry that it is only going to get worse. There is the young man who has one of two small grocery stores in town. He is not in the league with big supermarkets some 10 to 15 miles distant, so his customers are those who buy the bread and butter items that will carry the purchaser over to his/her next trip into town for some serious grocery shopping. He worries about what the “sin tax” is going to do to his sales of candy, beer and cigarettes. He is concerned about the impact on his business, plagued by the increased cost of health insurance for him and a handful of employees. Will he be able to reconcile all of these factors into a profit sufficient to keep him and his family going?

There is the guy who owns and operates a small auto repair service and towing business. He is a retired career Navy man who served his country with distinction. He is active in civic affairs and is proud of his service through the local chapter of the American Legion. His daughter, who recently completed her tour of duty as a Navy enlisted woman, is now trying to get through college. But, the reports we all heard on the evening news of financial assistance have not quite materialized because of bureaucratic encumbrances never anticipated. She is not sure she can pursue her dream and still make ends meet. Her Dad wonders what happened to a yet unfulfilled promise from a country that benefited from his years of dedication to the service of his country. People have deferred routine maintenance and service on their cars in an effort to stretch a dollar just that much further. Money is tight.

The little flower shop and copy center is only a faded memory locked behind a closed door that once held hope and promise for a lady who believed in the American dream. The end came much too soon with nowhere to go.

Such are the vicissitudes of but a few people sharing a common bond in this small community. But they reflect a growing concern as to where all this is taking us. They no longer believe in the promise of upward mobility on the ladder of progress. They no longer believe that the government really gives a tinker’s damn about them and their plight in life. They are suspect of the real motives of the White House, the Congress, the Supreme Court and all those “public servants” who have laid claim to space in those houses under the banner of “serving the people.” More and more, they see them as shills for big money, corporations, defense contractors, corporate news media, etc., in their quest to slowly starve the host they feed on. They raise poignant and valid questions for which there seem to be no answers.

I genuinely believe the roots of all that has befallen us rest in an erosion of the moral values upon which the very fabric of our national character once rested. We seem to have lost sight of the fact that we are both temporal and spiritual beings. Therein lies the classic struggle of man from birth to death. The temporal embodies our kinship with other living creatures, predicated on the need to satisfy our physical needs in order for the species to survive. The spiritual ties us to our Creator and sets the boundaries and limits on the excesses of the temporal. But we can readily identify with all that relates to our temporal existence. The spiritual, or ethereal, is not visible to our mortal perception of things. Rather, at best our spiritual existence can only be conceptualized by a belief or a simple act of faith. It is a tough contest between those two aspects of our human nature.

I think religions and religious institutions have let us down in a great many ways. There are the scandals that are rocking the very foundations of the Catholic Church. But, the incidence of pedophilia and homosexuality seem to be as rampant or worse in other religions. They just aren’t garnering the same scrutiny by the press and tend to be relegated to the shadows. All of them need to reflect on their rightful place as the moral compass for a civilized society. They need to become relevant to life in this complex world of today. Outmoded notions of piety and sacrifice don’t cut it these days. Dogmatic pronouncements on how to ensure a path to hell and admonitions to repent simply don’t play well in Peoria. We need a strong moral compass we can support and believe in, and religious institutions that have that as their raison d’etre. That is why they exist; not to fill sports arenas, preaching that God wants all of us to be rich, and raking in millions of dollars so the anointed head of the firm can live in opulent splendor. Celibacy does not work, never has worked and has only reaped centuries of a hypocrisy that has fostered aberrant behavior. Authenticity demands that celibacy should be out and the conjugal bed very much in. It would probably bring us all together in a bond between clergy and parishioners that would give new vitality and relevance to institutions that have, for far too long, been lacking in the conduct of our daily lives.

However, we must assume complete responsibility for allowing ourselves to be seduced by materialistic and hedonistic pleasures that are only relevant to our physical being. We can touch them, feel them, smell them, taste them, ad nauseam. That has led us to buy, buy, buy and enjoy, enjoy, enjoy. Consequently, we came to live in more house that we could comfortably occupy, with marble and granite counter tops, sumptuous wood finishes, etc., all indicative of a “faux” mansion that would be the envy of those we were seeking to impress. There was a Mercedes, BMW, Lexus, you name it, in the garage only because of the easy credit and long-term contracts that made it all possible.

Athletic clubs and gyms were bursting at the seams while we worked up our daily sweat that would lead to the perfect body and sexual pleasures never imagined in days gone by. All for the asking, easy money and a payment plan to suit all occasions. Women ceased to wear clothes. Rather, they resorted to what appears to be the upper half of a slip or a nightgown for a top, skin-tight designer blue jeans, capped with a generous display of cleavage. Modes of address totally inappropriate for teenage girls and matronly women. The end result is the appearance of refugees of all ages from a house of ill repute or a sleazy, pole-dancing strip joint. Now, I grant you, under the right circumstances and in privacy, few men would be averse to having a good look, but not in public or polite company. After a while, the old notion that once you have seen one set you have seen them all sets in. I wonder what all those stylish women would do if every man they passed openly complimented them on a splendid set of “jugs?” There would be righteous indignation and the suits for sexual harassment would clog the court systems. I wonder how women hooked into that perverted concept of being “in” would react to that bare-chested man with washboard abs if fashion dictated that his hairy scrotum discreetly hang through a hole sewn into the crotch of his pants. I rest my case.

But, those who convinced us that materialism and hedonism were the only roads to the good life are the same ones that impoverished us by money we couldn‘t afford, credit we couldn’t pay back and, eventually, the loss of the economic system that made all these things possible. What happened to all that we were promised would come to us through our newfound decadence? The unbridled greed of those who peddled that trash and led us down the primrose path now take away our jobs, our homes, and the social safety nets we once took for granted. It is gone and those we assumed would be looking out for our interests are, instead, in the hip pockets of the predators who have reduced us to an impoverished existence fraught with bewilderment and dismay. They are all getting richer and their tastes are getting more lavish, while what was once our Shangri La is now laid waste with nothing to take its place but hopelessness and utter defeat.

If we are to survive and rebound as the people we once were, and restore the character passed on from a rich heritage that made us great, I think it is absolutely imperative that we reassess the merits of a sound base of moral and ethical principles to guide us through this one and only earthy journey we are all destined to take. It is time to give new meaning to dignity and honor in the way we live our lives and treat each other. We must remember that it was not what and how much we consumed that made us the envy of the world, but what and how much we gave back to the world and those less fortunate than we. We need to value less what we have and more what we are. We need to be less the takers and more the givers. We must seek to judge less and tolerate more. We need to seek a new understanding of what love is, in all its forms and manifestations. Lust is fleeting and saps the vitality of our humanity. Love nourishes that same humanity, both physical and spiritual, and it is the bond that holds us all together in a common journey to make our world and ourselves better in every respect.

Vast wealth and power can never get enough. They will suck the very life-blood out of those who create the wealth and support the institutions of power, with an avarice and appetite that can never be satisfied. We must put in a system of regulations and oversight that works for the benefit of the people and keeps those sworn to serve us honest. We can no longer take a ho-hum attitude at the blatant corruption of a government created by the people, and government officials who are put in office by the vote of the people. They must be held to account by a system of checks and balances that seek to keep government working for all of us. They must conduct the peoples business in the open. The massive influence of lobbyists and what we euphemistically refer to as “campaign” contributions have no place in our democracy. The influence of money must be routed from the system, despite what has been wrought by the infinite wisdom of those swathed in black robes, and who go through the motions of rendering legal opinions based on the rule of law and, ostensibly, for the welfare of the people. Politics should be an honorable pursuit and not conducted behind closed doors or in secret meetings. There is much to be said for transparency in all our government affairs.

We must maintain a level playing field with our economic partners in the world community. We must first look out for our own. That means a healthy society that offers the promise of upward mobility to all. We must stop our national obsession with the pursuit of empire and concentrate more on a national pursuit of excellence in all that we are and all that we do. Return the monies squandered in the pits of foreign conquest to the people of the United States. Restore the integrity of all the systems that serve us, an economy that will sustain us and a society that will value us.

Of all the institutions that have taken a heavy hit in this so-called “recession,” I regard the assault on education as the most egregious by the predators who have reduced us to a beggar society. Education, more than anything else, is what lifts us up to greater heights and a healthier society. Education is there to develop and hone the latent talent and intellect in us all, be it a vocational or an academic pursuit. Wealth can lavishly endow and support the private schools that serve and indoctrinate their progeny. While they prosper and flourish in this current milieu, public education is losing ground at meteoric speed because of budget cuts wrought by governments that no longer have the means to fulfill all their responsibilities to their citizens. That simply cannot continue. For, if the monstrous evil of vast wealth, unlimited power, and all the influence it can command triumphs over the majority, they will reduce us to a two-class society characterized by a class of bottom feeders, and locked into abject poverty that has no other purpose than to eek out an existence of various forms of indentured servitude that will slowly and mercilessly starve and deprive us of all that lifts us up and restores our human dignity.

Time to get angry, informed and involved. Washington needs to be purged of the common whores, in all their manifestation, restored to that “shining city on a hill,” and its place as a government of, for and by the people, supported by all the regulation and oversight necessary to ensure it will remain there for all of us common folk, Not just the few who live in a persistent delusional state that, somehow, they have been endowed by some evil deity as materially superior. That they enjoy even a modicum, much less a divine endowment of spiritual superiority is nothing but a myth that is readily apparent to us all.

I would rather put my feet under the kitchen table of those proudly known as the “salt of the earth,” sharing a good helping of ham hocks, beans and cornbread, than I would by a bounty the likes of which most of us can only imagine; a vulgar display in opulent dining halls created for the cockroaches of privilege to indulge their gluttonous appetites, all at the expense of the poorest of the poor. Cramming for the finals at the end of life won’t change their destiny. If there is a God in heaven, they have already ensured their place in hell.

Cowboy Bob
May 5, 2010