Threat Alert - Level Orange

Well, the elections are over. And the alleged winner was installed into the White House last month. And in the first few weeks, his support of oligarchy is clear and driven hard with 570 executive actions in January alone,  with very little viable resistance from the democratic party. Maybe resistance is futile. Or maybe it is their lack of resolve. The legality of those actions are up in the air. But if you throw enough bull poop up on the ceiling, some will eventually stick.

I think the orange one appeals to some individuals primarily who think they deserve more, and it must be somebody else's fault that they are not getting their just due (because after all, they know they deserve to be filthy rich like the person they look up to, and it doesn't matter to them how they get it).

If you feel content with your life, all you see is the predatory ugly self-serving actions of a mean-spirited, desperate, uncaring, loudmouthed sociopath with a bullhorn. 

You realize that society is set up to reward that toxic behavior. The predatory actions are accepted (by individuals in awe of the money and power), but also systemically supported by the corrupted political system that protects such predatory and illegal behavior. Time and time again, the legal system intentionally fails to hold politician's accountable for their criminal behavior. Which is why there is always a new crop of maroons stepping up trying to get more than their fair share, and minions who protect them.

Lets be clear, he does not have a mandate, he did not get the majority of the vote (as Get Smart says, missed it by that much). Close but no cigar, no majority, no mandate.

Which leads us to this question - what is the true nature of humans, and a more complex question - what is the true nature of society? Are we a just society, or an unjust society? How much injustice can you have and still consider yourself to be a just society?

William Golding in response to a publicity questionnaire from the American publishers of Lord of the Flies. “The theme is an attempt to trace the defects of society back to the defects of human nature.  The moral is that the shape of a society must depend on the ethical nature of the individual and not on any political system however apparently logical or respectable.”   (Golding’s original title for Lord of the Flies was  'Strangers from Within')

Mark Twain said this about reading. "A person who won't read has no advantage over one who can't read." Changing it to the key of justice, a society that won't have justice is no different than a society that is incapable of justice. 

We have at least 6,000 years of human society, and the question is how much have we advanced towards being a just society. An argument can be made that we are a more just society, I just don't think that we can call ourselves a just society.  

A poet I know wore a button that said "Subvert the Dominant Paradigm" 

As Tom Robbins (who recently passed) said, 

The message I wish to impart to the children goes something like this:

The world is a wonderfully weird place, consensual reality is significantly flawed, no institution can be trusted, certainty is a mirage, security a delusion, and the tyranny of the dull mind forever threatens -- but our lives are not as limited as we think they are, all things are possible, laughter is holier than piety, freedom is sweeter than fame, and in the end it's love and love alone that really matters.

  ~ Tom Robbins, May 25, 2007  (SeattlePI.com)

 

I hope there is hope.

 Signing off but not beaten,

It seems like we have to wait a little bit longer for 'not one more injustice', but we keep going...

 The King has no clothes on, his actions are clear, we see through his lies...

 

 

King and Queen of Fools

 

You will never be the one

You will never be the way

You’re full of broken promises

Push hate and fear each day

 

Though your followers still listen

And think that you’re on top

Some people are now waking up

You will eventually stop

 

You will be never be the one

You will never be the way

Your tarnished gold won’t save you

No matter who you pay

 

Your enemy is kindness

And compassion is the tool

That will shine the light to show

You’re an ordinary fool

 

You think if you divide the world

Into us and them

That people will not realize

You’re a fox guarding the hen

 

You think that with your money

You can make up rules

But it will only make your king (or queen)

King of the fools

 

You’re a selfish greedy person

You will never be the way

You’re a Grinch who’s never learned

That kindness is the way

 

That is why you won’t be the one

You will never be the way

 

Is it Time?

Is it time to resurrect this blog? 

It is October 2019, the upcoming presidential election is on. We have had tRump for the last few years, after having Obama for 8 years. And where are we as a nation, as a planet?

Some people say that things are okay, some people are saying things are improving, others say that this is the best it can get. 

And some people are warning that 'The House is on Fire.' 

Under republican and democratic administrations since Reagan, we have seen continuous wars; the environmental crisis expanding; weekly mass shootings; violations of human rights; animals going extinct; plastic in the ocean; increasing military budgets; lack of universal healthcare, corporate and political corruption (and the list continues). 

The democrats blame the republicans. The republicans blame the democrats. Meanwhile both parties work together to ensure that government policies benefit corporate profit, while ignoring the harm those policies have on people and planet. We still don't have 'liberty and justice for all.'

 If somebody thinks that the status quo is acceptable, they certainly don't want change.

This blog is for people who think that the status quo is not acceptable, that we have to do better if we are to survive. And we don't just want to just survive, we want to thrive.

What is it going to take if are going to thrive as a society? This discussion is to be continued at a later date.

Mr. Nader's Parting Words

I have always enjoyed Mr. Nader's words. They are to the point, and illuminate issues and their solutions. This is an excerpt.

To staff, volunteers, supporters, donors, and voters

Authoritative public sentiments have always been there, have they not? From the Declaration of Independence’s majestic prose to the preamble of our Constitution which begins with "We the People of the United States …" to Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address "toward a new birth of freedom … for a government of the people, by the people and for the people" to the last words of the pledge of allegiance — "with liberty and justice for all."

Sentiments remain mere words; heralding hopes, wishes and poignant nods. Unless they are grounded in reality, behavior, respect, attitude, and renewal, they become the words of controlling processes, pacifying the resigned, fortifying the concentrators of abusive power, and ever manipulating the trusting populace by the latest politicians climbing up the electoral hills.

The Nader/Gonzalez independent ticket set standards for presidential campaigns that were authentic, honest, factual, far-seeing, and committed to a deliberate, deep democracy that creates high expectations and dedicated actions from the people themselves. Democracy is revered all over the world because it brings the best out of people. But the people have to want it, to work for it, and to use it daily in its many splendid varieties.

Elections are a temptation for abstraction, soaring rhetoric without roots in the daily experience of those who are impoverished, ailing, defrauded, and indebted. The vast majority of citizens are marginalized and excluded from the freedom to participate in power — to paraphrase Marcus Cicero.

Our campaign started with the realities of our country on the ground where the people live, work, and raise their families. Politics must never be an abstraction. For if allowed to be such, it will be a mirage that stokes the hopeful emotions while detaching people from a critical recognition that they and only they — individually and organized — can make their representatives truly their representatives, dutifully producing more leaders. Leaders who cannot betray the trust of the people, and that of their children and grandchildren, know from whence they came.

It is with these thoughts that all of us at the Nader/Gonzalez campaign headquarters tender our gratitude to all who stood with us. We thank your enlightened self-interest, your awareness of the necessity for enlightened communities from the neighborhoods and workplaces all the way to our national government. We must make this government a tribune of peace, justice and freedom throughout this tormented world of ours.

While I was campaigning in Syracuse, New York this October in a city beset with hard times, a middle-aged blue-collar worker with calloused hands approached me after our discussion and said, "I’m voting for myself, which is why I’m voting for you." I took that declaration as a serious trusteeship and later on the campaign trail turned it into a basic question: "Isn’t it about time that we all voted for ourselves?" Isn’t it about time that we planned our futures rather than ceding that essential function of citizenship to giant rootless corporations?

What follows is a summary of what we achieved together through the Presidential campaign of 2008, despite being obstructed by the Democrats’ and Republicans’ ballot access hurdles and traps, despite being excluded from speaking to tens of millions of Americans through the Presidential debates (polls repeatedly showed the people wanted us — by name — included), and despite being willfully ignored by the national television and national newspaper/magazine media. These achievements represent persistence, stamina, and the willpower to penetrate this political bigotry so as to give choice to those voters who knew we were running.

Read the whole article at: http://www.votenader.org/blog/2008/11/11/what-we-accomplished-together/

ELECTION OVER, but is it over?

Have to admit that the better outcome for this election (realistically speaking) would have been with Obama winning, but with 10-20% of the vote going to third party candidates like Nader or the Green Party. But people voted out of fear again, and we'll have to see if there will be fundamental change in the balance that the corporate elite hold over public interests.

While no one ever said that Obama is as bad as McCain, what some of us felt is that Obama didn't meet the minimum requirements of a just and fair candidate that would put the public's concerns first and foremost, over the interests of the corporate elite.

One hope is that the 'progressives' who supported Obama without demanding critical changes in his policies (universal health care, expanding militarism, corporate bailouts etc) will somehow manage to have influence over him in the coming weeks and years. It is doubtful, but we will leave that up to the democratic party. However, that is unlikely. Historically, change has never come without demanding it.

Maybe the answer is in the Green Party though they would have to make significant changes in their organization and structure to become a consideration in the next election.

This election was not going to provide all the answers to the problems that we face. Unfortunately it may be a step back as the democratic supporters have now been put into a position that they can't really complain when Obama carries out many of the same policies that Bush did in terms of the war and protecting the corporate elite's interests.

As Vonnegut stated, be careful of what you wish for, it may come true. With the election of Obama, many voters have hope that he will change from his previous voting record, and move the country forward. But most will think that their civic duty ended when they pulled the lever to vote. That is not how it works. Now the real work begins, but most won't be there until the next election comes around and they are again forced to vote for the lesser of two evils.

Please read Mr. Nader's post election statement - http://www.votenader.org/blog/2008/11/11/what-we-accomplished-together/

There is no peace without justice, and no justice if it is based on lies.

Still Time to reconsider...

You can either cut to the chase and vote for Nader; or you can beat around the bush (or Bush?) and assure yourself that if your top issues are: War in Iraq (and a military based foreign policy), Universal Health Care, Corporation corruption (which means protecting the corporate elite assets), that your concerns won't be addressed with Obama.

If the above statement seems to be too far 'left' to support, then you are rightfully voting for Obama. But if you believe in the importance of those concerns, then this could be the year that you stop giving your tacit support to the corporate democratic party.

It seems that a fundamental shift in social consciousness may not happen this year, but it could with your vote. All it means is that if you have disdain Clinton and Bush, a path to consider is NOT voting for the lesser of two evils, and vote for a third Party candidate.

You need to remove your power that you are giving to the corporate elite every time you are voting for the lesser of two evils.

Give money to Nader, Cynthia McKinney, Cindy Sheehan. Show your support with your money.

www.voteNader.org

Third Party Debate Sunday October 23rd - Update

NEWS Flash: Third Party Debate

UPDATE - The Debate was rescheduled to Thursday, October 23rd.

The Free and Equal Elections Coalition (FREE) and the Columbia Political Union are pleased to announce that a Presidential debate (originally scheduled Sunday, October 19th, 2008) will be held October 23rd. Details will be announced Tuesday, October 21.

ALL SIX of the Presidential candidates who appear on enough state ballots to acquire the 270 Electoral Votes needed to become President are invited. They are as follows (listed in alphabetical order by affiliation):

Constitution Party Candidate: Chuck Baldwin

Democratic Party Candidate: Barack Obama

Green Party Candidate: Cynthia McKinney

Independent Candidate: Ralph Nader

Libertarian Party Candidate: Bob Barr

Republican Party Can John McCain

More info at: http://www.freeandequal.org

America’s Political Cannibalism

By Chris Hedges

It is no longer our economy but our democracy that is in peril. It was the economic meltdown of Yugoslavia that gave us Slobodan Milosevic. It was the collapse of the Weimar Republic that vomited up Adolf Hitler. And it was the breakdown in czarist Russia that opened the door for Vladimir Lenin and the Bolsheviks. Financial collapses lead to political extremism. The rage bubbling up from our impoverished and disenfranchised working class, glimpsed at John McCain rallies, presages a looming and dangerous right-wing backlash.

[...]

This is a defining moment in American history. The next few weeks and months will see us stabilize and weather this crisis or descend into a terrifying dystopia. I place no hope in Obama or the Democratic Party. The Democratic Party is a pathetic example of liberal, bourgeois impotence, hypocrisy and complacency. It has been bought off. I will vote, if only as a form of protest against our corporate state and an homage to Polanyi’s brilliance, for Ralph Nader. I would like to offer hope, but it is more important to be a realist. No ethic or act of resistance is worth anything if it is not based on the real. And the real, I am afraid, does not look good.

The complete article is a must read if you find the mainstream corporate candidates unpalatable. To read the whole article go to: http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20081013_americas_political_cannibalism/

Hey, at least 'they' allow someone to say the truth as he sees it, and it gets read by at least a small group of people who are on their path of social enlightenment. And exactly how many of you who agree with Hedges on the issues took notice that he stated he's voting for Nader.