America No. 45

America's Bagram death march...

     May 2012.  Forget that Bataan Death March thingy! That was so 1940s.  Today is now!
     It just does not stop.  The death.  The waste.  The hollow political speeches and political and re-election theatrics.  The march of folly.  The demagoguery and the counter-demagoguery.  The foul neocons and the foul progressives are as grinning gargoyles, feeding off each other's leavings.  Our Congress, a body of craven and spineless twits and fools, occupy their offices because America’s dumbed down citizenry have not the energy or moral calling to rouse themselves beyond watching dancing with the nitwits.
     On 1 May 2012 President Barack W. O’Bushma spoke to the nation from Bagram airfield in Afghanistan.  He flew that long distance in secret to issue the same stale and self-serving political argot as his predecessor, Geo. “Mission Mangled!” Bush, aka Dubya.  President O’Bushma put on his face of pain and suffering when speaking of those who had fallen, those who were not coming home (Never mind they should have never been there in the first place.).  O’Bushma issued the same drivel about going (and staying in) to Afghanistan for national security reasons.  Lie.  He spoke of “the light of a new day on the horizon.”  He told us the end of al Qaeda was within our grasp, which is as big a lie as the neocon lie that war was required in Iraq. 
     Why President O’Bushma chose now, the first anniversary of bin Laden’s eradication, to make this secret trip is anyone’s guess, however, he was kind enough to let us know America would be hanging on in Afghanistan in the form of an agreement which will have us for years transferring billions more of wasted monies to the corrupt Karzai machine, and whatever corrupt machine(s) follows.
     Meanwhile, the  body bags keep rolling off the C-130s down in Delaware.  Oh, to die for American exceptionalism!

True American conservative or neocon? How to tell the difference.

     May 2012.  It is relatively simple to distinguish between true American conservatives and the fraudulent conservatives, that is, the neoconservatives or neocons.

     One must understand 1.- American conservatism was infiltrated and destroyed from within by the neocons, 2.- Most of those individuals, publications and groups who today identify themselves as “conservative” are in fact neocons, and 3.- Those noxious talk radio and cable TV personalities (Limbaugh, FOX, et al) on whom you foolishly shower publicity and wealth, are in fact demagogues, who care only for self-publicity and their wealth-They are frauds.
     So, how to distinguish between a true conservative and a neocons? It requires only a few simple questions:

1.- Did you support the George “Dubya” Bush regime and its chief puppet master, Dick? If so, then you are a neocon.

2.- Did you support the Iraq War and the phony WMD argument? If so, then you are a neocon (Hint: True conservatives know history and would have never become involved in either Iraq or Af-gaffe-istan.).

3.- Did you support the fraudulent “Afghanistan is the Good War” argument? If so, then you are a neocon.  And do you automatically swallow the “national security” nonsense?

4.- Is your chief country of concern Israel? If so, you are a neocon?

5.- Do you believe the Tea Party represents true American conservatism? If so, you are a neocon (The Tea Party is just as much a phony popular front as is Occupy Wall Street (OWS).
     See, that wasn’t too hard, was it?

Obama v. Romney: The Entitlements v. The Entitled.

“Every time I hear a political speech or I read those of our leaders, I am horrified for having, for years, heard nothing which sounded human. It is always the same words telling the same lies. And the fact that men accept this, that the people's anger has not destroyed these hollow clowns, strikes me as proof that men attribute no importance to the way they are governed; that they gamble -- yes, gamble -- with a whole part of their life and their so-called "vital interests."  - Albert Camus (1913-1960; Notebooks, 1991, Book I

     Finally, the so-called experts on cable TV and on talk radio have figured out that it shall be Romney who opposes President Obama in November.  No, not Newt.  No, not nutty Bachmann.  No, not Sarah “Legs” P. or Donny “Hair Scare” T.  No, not even Napoleon Bloomberg.  It shall be the Entitlements v. the Entitled.  In truth, regardless of which hollow clown’s party wins virtually nothing shall change, as both hollow clowns and their parties are interchangeable and neither has an interest in saving your money or ceasing to spend it, as they just spend within their ideological parameters.
     Please read the above observation from Camus.  And think on it...
    Have you done so? Now consider what we are in for over the next eleven (!!!) months.  Months, weeks and countless hours of election cycle (For election cycles lasting more than one year, please see your spin doctor.).
     And what shall this election cycle comprise? Oh, it shall comprise the usual stupefacient nonsense as issued by the usual suspects. 
     We shall first be struck by the ludicrous length of the election cycle, as it now goes on near year around, 24/7, as to benefit the media windbags and the pollsters.  Too, we shall be struck by the obscene amount of money needed to achieve election, which sort of takes the We the People factor out of the equation.
     We shall be forced to listen to the daily/nightly loony and fevered verbal exertions of the vile demagogues and political hacks disguised as all-knowing pundits, and who populate talk radio and cable TV (See FOX and MSNBC).  This genre has done much to sow the American landscape with seeds of divisiveness and of hate and of ignorance.  They truly are a vile lot.  All of them, neocons and progressives [You do realize, dear reader, the neocons are false conservatives and the progressives are false liberals, don’t you?].
     We shall have forced upon us the almost hourly releases of the never-ending (and always inane) polling industry.  These silly and annoying pollsters and their polls are worshipped by all who have control of a TV screen or of a radio microphone.
     We shall have dumped on us hours of media coverage of sophomoric non-issues.  Pigs with lipstick shall be flying about the ether hither and yon. And dogs tied to roof racks and being served piping hot on China shall be on the nightly menu.
     And we shall be given a menu consisting of pseudo-debate entrees.  And these so-called debates shall consist of panels of grinning pseudo-journalists (all employed by media leviathans driven by their own agendas), who shall ask as many GOTCHA! questions as they can cram into ninety minutes (Substance? Hah!).
     And after and in-between the debates we shall be treated to hours of pundit jabberwocky; experts who are almost rarely right or expert.
     Oh, and let us not forget the celebrity factor, as America has become a celebrity-mad society.  Indeed, America largely considers candidates for positions of gravity based on their celebrity quotient.  Our candidates are now judged by how many appearance they have on the late-night shows, hosted by un-funny media leviathan creations.
     Finally, and at some defined point, there shall be an election, an event which will see millions of gullible proles marching off to do their civic duty, and never realizing the process has (As with the Lockerbie bomber) been dying for quite some time now.
     May the hollow clown candidate with the biggest celebrity upside win!

What did you do in the War on Women, mommy?

[Note: The rampant factionalism of America’s political landscape impels me to include the following disclaimer in all my opinion posts: I am not a Republican.  I am not a Democrat.  I am not of the neocon persuasion, who are but false conservatives.  I am not of the progressive persuasion, who are but false liberals.  I am not of the so-called Tea Party movement.  I do not belong to any organized religion.  I loathe all demagogues, thus disdain talk radio and realize our leviathan-dominated media are corrupted by self-interest, profit and all manner of ideology.].
    
     April 2012.  I fear I must report there is nn “War on Women,” despite what you hear daily on talk radio and nightly on cable TV.  There is no War on Women.  It does not exist.  So, whether you are Anne Romney or Hilary Rosen or one of the many dyspeptic commentators on MSNBC the question should be: How did you react to the contrived War on Women, mommy?
     The Democrats have sought to solidify their base, thus have come up with this War on Women nonsense [Please read the above disclaimer, as I am not a Republican.].
     Contrived? Nonsense? What!?! Don’t you watch MSNBC? Have you never seen the ever-dyspeptic, arrogant, Joan “Ideological Agita” Walsh of Salon.com? Well, yes, thus I know this War on Women is silly and contrived nonsense.
    Allow me to approach this so-called War on Women from a rational perspective and pose a series of questions which, if this be a war, must surely reflect this violent imagery:
1.- Are American women being assassinated in the streets by government hit squads? Hey, it is war, is it not?
2.- Are American women being forcibly interned, as with the Japanese during World War II? Hey, it is war, is it not?
3.- Are American women being forcibly sterilized, you know, as in Uzbekistan?
4.- Are American women being forced out of their work places?
5.- Are American women being told how many children they may have?
6.- Are American women being told when and where they may travel?
7.- Are American women being forced to wear special clothing? Being branded?
8.- Are American women being kept off the media? Certainly not if one watches either FOX or MSNBC, or listens to talk radio.  The aforementioned Joan Walsh, MSNBC’s answer to FOX’s Monica Crowley, does not seem to have been a casualty of this alleged War on Women.
     Well, you get the idea.  There is no War on Women. It is all contrived ideological idiocy, and meant to keep the so-called progressive base in line.
     PLEASE, STOP IT!

Envelop. Embed. Exert. A We the People fantasy in three parts.

     April 2012.  Imagine if We the People actually decided they had been abused enough by their alleged representatives and by the government apparatus.
     Imagine if We the People suddenly realized the wonderful constitutional Republic they had been left by the Framers had been hijacked by special and corporate interests. 
     Imagine if We the People suddenly realized the layers of lobbyists, the unqualified nepotism and the relentless bureaucracy were no longer acceptable.
     Imagine if We the People took drastic-albeit peaceful-means to address and redress such conditions.
     How?
     Imagine if a massive peaceful assault on the Beltway Bog could be realized.
     Imagine if one fine day, and while Congress was in session and the POTUS was lounging about the People’s House, buses began to arrive at all points around the Beltway Bog.  And these buses deposited thousands upon thousands of unarmed and peaceful citizens, you know, We the People types.  All colors, genders, sizes and shapes.
     Imagine if they all began to walk peacefully toward Congress and to the People’s House and enveloped same.
     Imagine if they began entering Congress and peacefully filling up the halls of Congress (You know, much as lobbyists do).  Do you really believe a sitting President would order troops to fire on peaceful and unarmed citizens?...Okay, Dubya under Cheney’s orders...
     Imagine if We the People announced they were going to embed themselves until that time Congress actually enacted some real reforms [SEE “Steal this Amendment!” on this site.]
     Imagine if they, We the People, actually chose to exert their power.
     Imagine that.

A question as regards Bush/Cheney v. Charlie Manson

     April 2012.  I am curious to know: If the Bush/Cheney regime could knowingly arrange a phony war, one prosecuted on the phony threat of "national security," and a phony war which ultimately cost the lives of four thousand plus American military personnel (not to mention countless thousands of others) and walk away with millions of dollars (and a new heart), how is it Charlie Manson keeps having his parole denied?

     Is it not all helter-skelter?

Where is that (alleged) Middle Ground everyone is always talkin' 'bout? Yeah, I thought so...

April 2012

Inconvenient questions.

      March 2012.  For your consideration, a series of questions, posed in no special order and concerning issues askew.

* Has the ability of Americans to think in a cogent and rational manner been reduced to little more than the status of a cheap and tinny APP?
* Is not a dumbed down and distracted citizenry more easily controlled by a collectivized political apparatus?
* Does it not seem many in the younger generations view their worth in terms of “being seen,” that is, how many screens, views, hits, etc. they appear on, receive on Facebook, EweTube...?
* Why do the neocons (false conservatives) detest subsidies for everything save for big oil companies (Are there small oil companies, by the way?)?
* Does the current President, or any of those seeking said office, really deserve to occupy the Oval Office?
* Should not the issue of whether Dick Cheney received a new heart have been weighed against the number of individuals he and his cohorts allowed to be murdered under false pretenses?
* When shall Homer Hussein Obama stop doin’ the “DOH!” in A-Stan and wise up; read a history book?
* Why cannot those Americans who foolishly listen to and watch the demagogues on talk radio and cable TV realize they are being played by a cynical and self-absorbed lot?
* If all the aspects of the Trayvon Martin case remained the same, save the victim’s color were white, would the annoying phony, Al Sharpton, be as exercised as he is now? MSNBC? What if a black man had shot Trayvon Martin under similar circumstances? How have Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson gotten away with it for so long?
* Does it ever strike you American “culture” has been reduced to a collection of laugh track sex and sophomoric below the belt drivel?
* Have you noticed America has been made into a country, which to a frightening degree, lionizes (and makes wealthy) many individuals who are relentless in their shallowness and remorseless in their lack of morals and ethics?
* Aside from the alliterative value of the phrase War on Women you do realize it is patent nonsense, don’t you? Who has declared this war on women? Is the government actively arresting or assassinating women? Are women being forcibly interned? Are women being forcibly sterilized? Being denied education? Being denied contraceptive devices? Being kept off media platforms? I didn’t think so.
* Have you noticed how sporting events in America have been turned into little more than marketing platforms-riddled with commercials and promos; eviscerated.
* Ever notice how it’s almost never Tiger Wood’s fault when he hits an errant shot or makes an offline putt in a crucial situation? (Camera noise, slow playing partner, gallery scream, fart, act of nature...).
* Do you ever ask yourself questions as regards the state of America?

Steal this Amendment! Is it not time We the People took something back from the status quo?

“The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention...” - Article V of the U.S. Constitution.
   
     I hereby propose a clean-up Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.  If ratified, it would be the Twenty-Eighth Amendment, and it would address several areas of society.  I strongly urge you to STEAL this (proposed) Amendment and forward it (by all devices possible) to as many people as possible-especially your (alleged) representatives in Congress, House and Senate.  Why? Simple, so those Americans who forever whine they have no influence may realize if they got off their butts and began investing time in intelligent and adult matters of citizenry they could induce real change.  Yes, you read that correctly-citizenry and not matters of celebrity and not matters of talk radio/cable TV perniciousness.

Note: Please understand this proposed Amendment to the Constitution shall be demeaned, derided and dismissed, largely by those who may be described as status quo power; Beltway Bog insiders.  The status quo shall whine and moan that none of the following may be done or America shall immediately fracture and fly into space.  They shall arrogantly dismiss this proposal as the work of a crackpot, either of the Left or Right, depending on their point of view.  For example, the status quo shall scream the application of term limits will irreparably damage our political system.  It is all nonsense!

 

Amendment XXVIII (proposed):

     Section 1.  Upon ratification of this Amendment, a term limit of twelve years shall be imposed on all members of both houses of the U.S. Congress, the House and the Senate.                                                                  

Furthermore, no member of Congress, having finished their term of service in that body, shall be allowed to enter the business of lobbying until a term of six years has passed.
     Section 2.  The 2005 Supreme Court ruling of “Kelo, et al v. City of New London” (CT) shall be overturned, and the so-called takings clause (aka eminent domain) of this Constitution’s Fifth Amendment (”...nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation.”) shall be strictly defined and limited to address those proposals and projects which serve the national interest, and not narrowly-defined special and corporate and NGO (non-governmental organizations) interests, which as the result of Kelo now seek to use the courts to profit from the acquisition of heretofore private property.
     Section 3.  The “Glass-Steagall Act of 1933,” aka “The Banking Act of 1933,” shall be updated and restored, thus overturning both the “Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999” [aka “Gramm-Leach-Biley”], AND the largely impotent “Dodd-Frank,” aka “Wall Street Reform and Consumer Financial Protection Act” (2010) resulting from the financial crisis of 2008.   The result of this action shall be to ensure the banking, the securities, the investment and the insurance industries shall not be allowed to mingle for the purpose of creating devious financial instruments, thus allowing them to gamble with public monies [See 2008 and mortgage-backed securities; toxic assets; bailouts, etc.].
     Section 4.  America was created by its Framers as a constitutional republic, a bastion against tyranny, THUS the overbearing influence of money (tyranny of the purse) shall be tempered in America’s political process: The lobby industry, the special interest industry, the corporate and union spheres, the PAC/Super PAC industry, et al shall no longer be allowed to exert undue influence on the American political system. Furthermore, both the “Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002” [aka “McCain-Feingold”] and the 2010 Supreme Court ruling of “Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission” shall be overturned, and henceforth a corporation shall no longer be defined as a person.
     Section 5.  The voting format of presidential elections shall hereby be changed to encompass the first contiguous Friday, Saturday and Sunday in the month of November of said election year.  The polling times shall remain dictated by the various election commissions of the fifty states.
     Section 6.  No piece of legislation presented by either the House or the Senate shall exceed forty [40] 8.5” X 11” (inches) pages in length, and all such legislation shall be written in plain and concise English. 

Furthermore, NO individuals outside of those duly elected members of Congress (Examples: lobbyists, special interest members, PACs, et al.) shall have a hand in writing said legislation.                                

Furthermore, all legislation initiated by the House and Senate shall exist as stand-alone legislation-NO riders, or tacked-on devices or hidden legislative artifices.  If a piece of legislation cannot stand on its own merit(s) it should not be presented for consideration
[Note: The Constitution of the United States is 4,543 words in length, and the Declaration of Independence is 1,458 words in length, and both these documents express far greater import than any two thousand plus bill issued by Congress.

Source: www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_q_and_a.html]
    

Barack, the Raj of Afghanistan.

[Please note:  As a genuine American conservative (not a neocon, or false conservative), who respects history,  I never supported our obscene ventures in either Afghanistan or Iraq, as neither venture was ever about national security; was ever “The Good War.”].

“So there remained, on January 13, 1842, only one survivor of the Kabul army-Surgeon Brydon, Army Medical Corps, galloping desperately over the last few miles to Jalalabad, Afghans all around him like flies, throwing stones at him, swinging sabres...And quite suddenly, in the early afternoon, Brydon found himself all alone.” - From James Morris’ “Heaven’s Command.”

     March 2012.  Did you hear the news today? Oh, boy! The Afghanistan war is going badly! Who knew? Well, most everyone should have known,  especially our alleged leaders, who should have known the history (Say, are we winning the hearts and minds of the Afghans yet? You know, as we did in Vietnam.).
     So, in recent weeks and months in Afghanistan, we have had:
* So-called kill teams, that is U.S. soldiers shooting Afghans for sport.  Indeed, one cretin was convicted and sentenced to life.
* Several civilian-killing drone attacks.
* U.S. soldiers urinating on corpses, which now seems as a tame affront.
* The U.S. military mistakenly burning copies of the Koran...
* And now, March 2012, a rogue U.S. soldier allegedly murdered sixteen or so Afghan villagers, mostly women and children.  The horror of this last incident may have been exacerbated by military non-intelligence, in that the soldier allegedly responsible may have had some manner of brain/psychological injury  (He had served in Iraq, as well.) and was sent back for another tour.  Heartless.  Update: The soldier allegedly responsible has been spirited out of Afghanistan and now resides in a minimum-security facility in the U.S.
     Meanwhile, we continue to experience the casualties of U.S. and NATO troops [Six Brits were blown up early March 2012 and P.M. David Cameron praised the corpses for upholding national security.  What rubbish!].  And we keep having forced on us the heartless and painful verbal exertions of Obama and Cameron.  And of course, of the heartless neocons, those cowards who do so love war, but almost always find a way not to fight.
     I am currently reading Edward Girardet’s magnificent “Killing the Cranes, A Reporter’s Journey Through Three Decades of War in Afghanistan.”  I have read James Morris’ “Pax Britannica Trilogy,” which is a wonderfully written treatment of Britain’s Victorian Age.  The first volume of this trilogy, “Heaven’s Command” contains a pointed treatment of Britain’s Afghanistan debacle.  Morris describes the pathos and horror surrounding the British retreat from Kabul in 1842.  Surgeon Brydon was the only one who made it.  How much more evidence (other than the thousands of years of history) does one require to know Afghanistan is not the place to commit war? D’OH!  And yet, on 27 July 2010 the Obama administration, aided by our spineless Congress [102 Dems did vote NO], received an additional $37 BILLION more dollars to flush down the Afghan baksheesh hole. 
     Do you wish to know the brutal truth as regards Afghanistan? It is this: Afghanistan, Iraq, Vietnam, etc., serve as examples of President Eisenhower’s warning as regards the military-industrial complex, they are ventures in which certain select aspects of American society make money.  Today, those casualties in Afghanistan-ours and theirs-are nothing but collateral damage.
     Allow me to UPDATE and rewrite the opening excerpt from Morris:
     So there remained, on March 13, 2012, only one survivor of the Kabul surge-Barack, the Raj of Afghanistan, galloping desperately over the last few miles to Withdrawalbad, the souls and spirits of needlessly dead U.S. military and Afghans all around him like flies, hurling curses and invectives, then, quite suddenly, in the early afternoon, Barack, the Raj of Afghanistan, found himself all alone with what was left of his soul.

Bitchasaurus v. Slutzilla: The hypocrisy and selective "outrage" of media demagogues.

[Note: The rampant factionalism of America’s political landscape impels me to include the following disclaimer in all my opinion posts: I am not a Republican.  I am not a Democrat.  I am not of the neocon persuasion, who are but false conservatives.  I am not of the progressive persuasion, who are but false liberals.  I am not of the so-called Tea Party movement.  I do not belong to any organized religion.  I loathe all demagogues, thus disdain talk radio and realize our leviathan-dominated media are corrupted by self-interest, profit and all manner of ideology.].

Read.  Absorb. Think.  Act!
Be obstreperous, not obsequious.

     March 2012.  Now, early March 2012, there is much blather and outrage over comments by the thuggish talk radio demagogue, Rush Limbaugh,  Limbaugh verbally mugged a Georgetown University student, one Sandra Fluke, over the matter of contraception.  Limbaugh attached such words as “slut” and “prostitute” to Ms. Fluke.  Too, Limbaugh suggested Ms. Fluke post videos of her sexual encounters in payment for society helping to pay for her birth control devices.  Of course, there was immediate huffing and puffing, bluster and ideological outrage from the progressive (false liberal) wing.  The demagogues of MSNBC, and their guests, heaped non-stop abuse on Limbaugh.  Meanwhile on FOX, the attack/smear wing of neoconservatism (false conservatism), Limbaugh’s Slutzilla character was being defended.  The reactions of both MSNBC and FOX should not surprising.
     On MSNBC, the garrulous demagogue, Chris Matthews and his parade of ideologically purified guests swooned with outrage over Limbaugh’s remarks.  They called for Limbaugh to be fired...BUT WAIT!...Return with me now to an earlier time...
     In December 2009, the arrogant, ever publicity-hungry Senator Charles “Chucky” Schumer (D-NY), progressive and hero to the demagogues of MSNBC, called a female flight attendant on a US Air shuttle a “bitch.”  Sitting next to Chucky on the plane was another phony, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), who forever tells us  she is a friend of women.  Senator Gillibrand, Schumer’s sock puppet creation, never uttered a peep of protest, well, none ever heard in public.
     Where were the howls of outrage against Schumer on MSNBC? Where was Chris Matthews? Ed Schultz? (Schultz has had his own internecine slur problem vis-a-vis fellow talk radio/FOX demagogue Laura Ingraham.).  And where was Rachel Maddow as regards Schumer?
     In the wake of the Limbaugh slurs, Matthews had as a guest Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO), who of course exhibited the appropriate progressive outrage at Limbaugh.  One wonders, did Senator McCaskill call for Senator Schumer to step down, to resign? HAH! Surely you jest.
     On 7 March 2012, the noisy phony Rev., Al Sharpton, had on Terry O’Neill, president of NOW (National Org. of Women), and she (Of course!) was likewise in an ideological tizzy over the neo-Neanderthal Limbaugh.  But, Ms. O’Neill, did you speak out against Schumer and Maher (below)?
     And, oh, by the way, where was that great whirlpool of ostracism when one Bill Maher, za media dahlink of za progressive Left, called Sarah Palin a cunt? Of course there was none [Have any of the MSNBC demagogues ever had Maher as a guest? If so, I am sure he was verbally drubbed for his vile remark...yeah, right.].
     The bottom line is that all the demagogues of talk radio and cable TV, are but exploiters of  particular audiences, are phonies, are two-bit media punks and thugs, who use their media platforms to bully and demean all those who do not swear ideological fealty to their point of view.
     Hypocrisy and the double standard are alive and well on talk radio and cable TV.