Category Archives: Culture

Why the recession is our own damn fault.

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Sure, it was the greed of mortgage-lenders and Wall Street that led to our recession.  But it’s consumers that are perpetuating it.  Most economists will tell you that recessions are mostly in the consumers’ minds.  If consumers are worried and reduce spending, our economy drops.  When consumers start spending, our economy rises.

Now, I understand that there are several overriding issues that led to this particular recession, not the least of which is the redistribution of wealth upward (10 percent of Americans now control nearly 71 percent of all U.S. assets).  Nevertheless, we have the power to fix it.

For one, we can vote for political candidates who are more concerned about ordinary citizens than the wealthy and the corporations that finance their political campaigns.

When possible, we can purchase American-made products.  Not just products with American brands, but products that actually say “made in America” on the product or the packaging.  I understand that it’s increasingly difficult to find American-made products, and that they sometimes cost more than those made elsewhere, but there is no better way to create or ensure American jobs.  For example, a Chevrolet or Ford is not only assembled in the U.S. by American workers, many of the parts are made in the U.S. and the profits go to American-based companies that pay taxes in the U.S.   This isn’t protectionism.  It’s simply common sense.

Finally, we can individually and collectively boycott corporations that don’t operate in our best interests.  Given their recent behavior, why would anyone continue to patronize the too-big-to-fail banks when there are so many other alternatives?  So even if you feel that voting for political candidates doesn’t change anything.  Voting with your purchases most definitely can.

The real scandal surrounding Tiger Woods.

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For days we’ve been treated to “news” stories speculating about Woods’ infidelity and the consequences of his alleged indiscretions.  Why?  Personally, I could care less if Woods had one affair or a hundred.  He’s human.  And like all humans he has flaws. 

Instead of wondering about Woods’ future, we should be wondering why the news media has devoted endless hours to this story when the same media could not devote a few hours to investigate the Bush administration’s claims that led to the ill-advised invasion and occupation of Iraq.  We should wonder why the news media spends more time covering the personal indiscretions of political candidates than the issues they espouse.  We should wonder why the news media gives equal access to representatives of the far right and far left without examining the accuracy of their claims.

Following the death of Walter Cronkite, many journalists reported Cronkite’s philosophy that a news organization’s responsibility is to tell people what they need to know.  Not what they want to know.  Too bad none of them seem to share that philosophy.

Corporate loan sharking.

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Having read that credit card companies are increasing interest rates, I began to wonder: What separates our financial institutions from the Sicilian Mafia, the Chinese Tongs or anyone else imprisoned for loan-sharking? They all charge outrageous interest rates on loans. They all have aggressive collection tactics. And many of them have politicians in their pockets.

The main difference, of course, is that the banks have incorporated as financial institutions. This allows the banks and credit card companies to borrow money from the Federal Reserve at a discount rate that’s currently .05 percent. Then they lend it at interest rates ranging from 20 to more than 45 percent! Not even casinos enjoy that kind of return. But, then, casinos are regulated.

For those of you under age of 50, you might be interested to learn that all financial institutions used to be governed by usury laws designed to prevent the lending of money at unreasonably high interest rates. State banks still are. Unfortunately, usury laws no longer apply to banks that label themselves “national”. The result is that large banks such as Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Chase can charge pretty much any interest rate they want.

And they want a lot.

Of course, they justify their rates by claiming that consumer default is on the rise.

There are several problems with that claim. One, the managers of these companies pay themselves 6- or 7-figure bonuses. Two, it was their greed that led to an economy that has forced consumer defaults. And three, it was the government, financed by you and I, that kept these companies from going bankrupt.

If our Congress ever decides to put the interests of taxpayers above corporations, the corporate officers that run national banks might have even more in common with the Mafia and the Tongs – a prison cell.

How tea-baggers can eliminate the national debt.

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Since President Obama’s inauguration, the so-called tea-baggers have demonstrated, yelled at and threatened the administration. They claim the President is not a citizen. They believe he is trying to implement a socialist, or even communist, agenda. And they seem most angry over increases in the national debt. Never mind that the increases are the result of the previous administration’s policies. Never mind that much of the money allocated through TARP funds has been repaid. Never mind that GM seems on the road to recovery. And ignore the fact that, according to the CBO, the stimulus has saved or created 1.6 million jobs.

However, I think we can channel all that anger and energy to help pay off the national debt. Since the tea-baggers have driven up sales of guns and ammo following Obama’s election, they’re certainly well-enough armed to defend our shores. That would permit us to eliminate most of our national defense budget.

Just think, without a large military force, the tea-baggers would no longer have to fear that our government will take away their freedoms. Of course, we could keep a small professional military to operate, maintain and defend our enormous arsenal of nuclear tipped missiles. That would ensure that no foreign government would attack us. We’d bring home our troops from Afghanistan, Iraq, Germany, Japan and South Korea. Without an enormous military and all of its ships, planes, tanks and troop carriers, we would have less need for oil, so we would no longer need to project American power around the globe. And since most of our large, multi-national corporations have already exported most of our jobs, we should feel no obligation to protect corporate interests on foreign soil. Besides, those companies can afford to hire their own protection such as the likes of Blackwater, aka Xe.

What’s not to like? No more war. No more nation-building (other than on our own soil). No more national debt. All made possible by putting the tea-baggers’ guns and anger to better use.

Who’s really at fault for our nation’s predicament?

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Who is more at fault for the problems that face our nation?  Republican candidates?  Or the voters who are deceived into voting for them?  During campaigns, Republican candidates take a populist tone.  They talk about the issues that are important to ordinary Americans such as opportunity and personal freedom.  But when they are elected, they tend to focus almost exclusively on issues designed to benefit the elite. 

Despite promises of fiscal responsibility, Reagan and George W. Bush dramatically increase the deficit and national debt.  Despite promises of small government, Bush created the huge bureaucracy that is Homeland Defense.  And the Republican mantra of lower taxes has really proven to be nonsense.  They may occasionally offer a token tax cut for the middle and lower class, but the real cuts are reserved for the wealthy.   Republicans talk about creating jobs then make it easier for corporations to eliminate collective bargaining and ship jobs oversees.  They talk about getting government regulations out of the way then watch corporations create new scams to abscond with more of their consumers’ money. 

Why, then, do voters fall for these false promises over and over?  Often it’s because they aren’t curious enough to really examine the party’s platform and hold the candidates accountable.  And all too often it’s because they focus on a variety of wedge issues such as abortion, terrorism and same-sex marriage.  They fall victim to a sort of 3 card monte.  They’re mesmorized by the Republican distractions of fear, anger and religion.

How many lower and middle class voters actually benefited from Reaganomics?  How many benefited from George W. Bush’s “compassionate conservatism?”  I submit that instead of jobs, increased salaries and tax cuts, they were rewarded for their votes with war, massive deficits and decreased prosperity.  But the real Republican constituency consisting of CEOs, bankers, investors, oil executives and defense contractors is doing just fine, thank you.

Psalm 109:8 – a call for Christian jihadists.

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It appears that demonstrating with signs showing President Obama with a Hitleresque moustache and calling him a Nazi, a Socialist, and a Communist are not enough.  Indeed, for some, packing guns at Presidential speeches hasn’t sufficiently delivered a strong enough message.  Now we have opportunistic religious conservatives selling t-shirts, bumper stickers, even teddy bears with the slogan “Pray for Obama, Psalm 109:8.”

That seems innocent enough – until you read the verse from the Bible.  Psalm 109:08 says “May his days be few; may another take his place of leadership.”  Okay, you say, but isn’t that the conservatives’ way of saying that they hope Obama isn’t re-elected?  You might make a case for that, until you read the verse that follows:  Psalm 109:09 says “May his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow.”  In other words, the t-shirts are more likely a coded message calling for the assassination of our president. 

That should surprise no one.  From the time Obama began his campaign for President, there has been an attempt by a percentage of our population to dismiss, demean, and demonize him beginning with questions about his place of birth. 

These tactics aren’t new.  For centuries, political movements have used adversity to further their interests and create irrational fear.  They attempt to assign blame for our problems – in this case, the recession and burgeoning national debt.  By fomenting distrust and anger toward those accused of being responsible, these political movements hope to make themselves look good.  So the religious right has portrayed Obama as a Kenyan, Muslim, Socialist radical bent on bankrupting our nation, destroying our Constitution and our way of life.  In their view, he’s “an elitist, an internationalist and, most importantly, not one of us.”

So, since the inauguration, there have been angry demonstrations, outrageous attacks by radio and TV hosts, dozens of vicious chain emails containing fraudulent accusations, large increases in gun and ammunition sales, and (according to the Secret Service) a 400 percent increase in death threats to our President. 

Given the items now being offered by the wingnut otherwise known as “Crusader Patriot”, it would seem that the religious right is just getting started. 

Going Rogue with the truth.

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I haven’t purchased Sarah Palin’s best-selling rant and I won’t.  I don’t need to.  Before it was dissected by the Associated Press and others, I already knew it would be filled with hate and lies.   

How did I know?

During last year’s presidential campaign, no one was more sarcastic, mean-spirited and uninformed than Sarah Palin.  And no one told more lies.  In fact, I vowed to send an email to Senator John McNasty every time I found his campaign to be less than truthful.  Unfortunately for me, my vow resulted in writing an email virtually every day of the campaign.  Some days, I sent 3, 4 or more.  Many of those emails were in response to Ellie Mae Clampett’s, er, Sarah Palin’s speeches.  From her constant refrain that Obama was “palin’ around with terrorists” to her attacks on his having been a community organizer to her rants about the media (the disaster that was her CBS interview wasn’t her fault, it was Katie Couric’s) Palin revealed virtually every character flaw known to man.  Or woman.

It seems that Palin is such a rogue that she refuses to rely on traditional sources for her information.  Instead, she draws her political wisdom from Joe the Plumber (who’s neither a plumber nor named Joe), Rush Limbaugh and Glenn “crocodile tears” Beck. 

In Sarah’s mavericky mind, not even her running mate or his campaign staff grasped the real issues.  After all, her running mate was merely a U.S. Senator while she was the former mayor of Wasilla and a hockey mom.  If only they wouldn’t have held her back, the country would be much better off today with her at the helm after she had disposed of that wrinkly old bald guy who dared to put his name in front of hers on the ballot.

For me, the real question regarding Palin is why anyone would buy her book or bother to fact check it – unless they enjoy fantasy and fiction. 

Christian paranoia and Internet myths

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I recently received a chain email from multiple independent sources.  The email states that the ACLU – deemed to be a bunch of radical commies by so many conservative and religious groups – had filed a lawsuit to have all cross-shaped headstones removed from military cemeteries. 

Sounds terrible, doesn’t it?  And it would be if there was even a shred of truth to it. 

The same email also tells of another lawsuit that would end prayer in the military.  “Navy chaplains can no longer mention Jesus’ name in prayer thanks to the wretched ACLU and our new administration,” it warns.  Again, this is a fiction of someone’s imagination. 

To ensure that as many people as possible circulate these falsehoods, the email continues by asking recipients to “please pass this on after a short prayer.  Don’t break it.”  And like sheep, thousands, perhaps millions, of people have added their contacts to the email and passed it on without checking the facts. 

In this case, the email is likely intended as payback to the ACLU for its past actions in protecting the civil rights of minorities.  Politically conservative Christians are still seething that the ACLU blocked them from surrounding us all with Christian prayer and sayings.  They are furious that they have been prevented from striking down the Constitution’s establishment clause in order to declare this a Christian nation.  They are frustrated that they are not permitted to abridge the freedom and rights of non-Christians. And they believe that Christianity is under attack. 

None of this justifies their attempts to spread political and religious paranoia. 

Indeed, such emails are beyond reprehensible.  And by making false and unsubstantiated accusations, they are decidedly un-Christian.  Worse yet, they rely upon the good and caring nature of individuals to unsuspectingly circulate and perpetuate the accusations.

That said, the people who unwittingly pass along such false and misleading information must also be held culpable.  They are guilty of assuming the worst and not taking the time to check for the truth.  In the case of the aforementioned email, it took me less than 30 seconds of research to determine that it was false.

Michelle Bachmann’s great big Washington adventure.

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Last week, Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann orchestrated a “press conference” on the steps of the U.S. Capitol to show the outrage of ordinary citizens toward health care reform.  She wanted her followers to express their anger and “see the whites of lawmaker’s eyes.”  Dozens attended – all white, angry and stupid.  These people displayed their character by holding signs likening health care reform to the holocaust and to 9/11.  They held signs that were blatantly racist.  And of course, there were lots of signs picturing guns or talking about guns.

Do these people, as Bachmann and Fox News would have you believe, represent a cross-section of ordinary Americans?  Let’s hope not.  I suspect that they more closely resemble a cross-section of the Aryan Nation.

Whoever or whatever they represent, it’s apparent that these people simply are not capable of grasping complicated issues such as health care reform.  And it’s obvious that all that thinking is creating some mental distress.  I understand Michelle and her husband own some sort of mental health facility in Minnesota.  (Isn’t that just deliciously ironic?)  Perhaps she should consider holding her next event there.  It seems like she and her followers could all use some counseling and a time out. 

A politician who is unafraid to tell the truth.

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On Wednesday, Congressman Alan Grayson (D Fla.) took the floor in Congress to read the death toll of those who lacked health insurance in the districts of Republican Representatives.  “Is it really asking too much of us that we keep people alive?” he asked.  Of course, the Republicans tried to cut him off and asked the clerk to take down his words.  But Congressman Grayson did not waiver.  When the session reconvened, he continued to read the list. 

Grayson is somewhat unique in Washington political circles.  For one thing, he is a Democrat with a spine.  For another, he seems to tell the truth no matter how embarrassing or discomforting the truth is.  For example, he famously (and correctly) summarized the Republican health care plan by saying “The Republican health care plan is this: ‘Don’t get sick, and if you do get sick, die quickly.’”   

Grayson is one of the few Representatives who have embraced and discussed the real tragedy of our broken health care system – that approximately 45,000 people die each year because they do not have or cannot afford access to health care.  That’s like having 15 9/11s each year!  Yet rather than try to fix the system, Republicans are doing everything in their power to kill health reform.   Senator Jim DeMint publicly stated “If we can stop Obama on this, it will be his Waterloo.”  More recently, Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann called for protestors to “scare” lawmakers into killing health care reform.  She may as well be calling for them to kill the uninsured. 

If Republicans are successful, they will be responsible for another 45,000 deaths next year and each year until we have universal health care coverage for American citizens.