Political Stuff

Due to the increasing idiocy of our government and the persisting outrages against our liberty and life, and due to the fact that most of my blog readers are family or fiber people, who may want to pass on the crazy making political rants I indulge in now and again, I've decided to revive my first blog, Thus Spake Zac for that particular purpose. I will leave a link on the sidebar for those who might be interested in my political views.

Today's rant is on obscenity. Check it out, if you're so inclined.

Open Mouth, Insert Foot - Politics Rant

Ok, I need to get this off my chest.

Geraldine Ferraro was right.

I can't believe the furor her comments have generated. She was right, and the freak out about her comments proves it.

She never said Barak Obama wasn't qualified. She never said he wouldn't be a good president. She simply pointed out, that just like herself, he is being held up for office simply because of his race, or in her case, gender. The only reason she was a VP candidate was because of her gender. Did that mean she wasn't qualified? No. The timing was right and the mood of the country was rife to choose a non traditional candidate. The same thing here. If he had run eight, or even four years ago, would there have been the same support? If he ran this time, and Hillary hadn't, would he have had a chance?

The huge movement behind Barak Obama seems to me to be fueled on reverse racism. See how progressive we are? Aren't we proud, pat ourselves on the back, we can support a BaaaLack Man for President! Whoo hoo, ain't we terrific? And heaven forbid anyone criticize Saint Obama; they must be racist!

Don't get me wrong; I feel the same about Hillary. If she wasn't a woman, I'm not sure she'd be all that right now either. I think the country is so anti-politician right now that we're looking for the direct opposite of George W, and we just can't decide if that's a white woman, or a black man.

Either Barak or Hillary have the potential to be good presidents. They're both smart, thoughtful, reasonably liberal people. We were blessed this cycle to have MANY excellent candidates from all walks of life to choose from, though the media forced out my own personal first choices. I have yet to make up my mind, since Edwards and Kucinich were trashed. Personally, I loathe the fact that Hillary has decided to take the low road in campaigning. It's completely turning me off and making me lean towards Obama. But for heaven's sake people; are we really so relieved that there's a candidate that can put two words together in a facsimile of a gramatical sentence that all else is forgotten? Does the fact that he's black mean that nothing he says or does can be questioned? Both of them still have a lot to prove to me.

An open letter to ALL Politicians

Wake up.

No, really. I mean it.

You claim to want what’s best for this country. You claim to serve it. YOU ARE LYING.

Stop worrying about the next election. Stop worrying about your legacy, and your war-chest, and your popularity. Wake up and look, really LOOK at what’s happening in this country.

We are losing America.

Every value, every right and freedom and philosophy that the Founding Fathers worked so hard for, that they fought and died for, that they risked everything for; it’s all being trashed by a power hungry greedy corporatist administration. Six years in office and somehow these people have pulled the Constitution right out from under us, and you have allowed it.

You are as responsible as Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney for the condition America finds itself in. You did not do your job. You sat back, Republican and Democrat alike, perhaps for reasons dissimilar, yet sit you did, watching, smiling as the coffers increased, as our rights were eroded, as a three branch co-equal government system was raped, leaving us with a unitary executive whose sole motives are power and greed.

Are you aware of National Security Presidential Directive 51? Where are the challenges to this power grab? Any crisis, anywhere in the world, and Mr. Bush can declare himself dictator, with unlimited, unchecked power, including the power to remain in office past 2008.

Are you aware of the theft of Iraqi oil? We do not steal it to pay for reconstruction of the country, no; it’s merely for the profit of the world cabal of Oil Companies. We, the United States of America, are allowing a group of Oil Companies to literally write laws in Iraq which outright give rights to nearly all current and ALL future oil fields to Exxon and Standard Oil, et al. Oh, a twenty percent share goes to be split between the factions in Iraq, after of course, the Iraqi government gets its cut, which has yet to be determined. The Iraqi reluctance to sign this bill is delaying one of the “benchmarks” that the US has imposed to go forward in Iraq. Is this not extortion? People do not understand the greed. They say that if this war is being fought for oil, why are the prices so high? They must understand that it is for control of oil that it is being fought. They have no interest in bringing prices down. By owning, they can control the price, and controlling the price, control much of the commerce in the world.

I was moved to tears this week, watching the history of our Revolution unfold on TV, in honor of Independence Day. I watched how this group of men decided that the King’s rule was intolerable, that their basic human rights had been violated, and that therefore they had a DUTY to rise up against such oppression. These men did not do this lightly. They placed their lives in jeopardy, their families and their homes at risk. They knew what they were getting into. Their families were tortured and killed, their farms were burned, they were hanged and abused, yet they persisted.
They saw that what they were fighting for was bigger than themselves. They wrangled and fought even amongst their own to found a government that could be an example of freedom and democracy to the world. They fought against all odds and they won.

Read the Federalist Papers, and the correspondences of the Founding Fathers. They explored and shared and dissected every area of Government. Why have a government? Who should the government serve? How can that Government be structured and confined? What are human rights, and how can they be attained? Their party affiliations were chosen by the philosophical bent of the party, not by issues.

Where is our Jefferson? Our Franklin and Adams? Where are those with the courage and conviction to stand against a rogue administration and lead the masses back to the Constitution? There are rare few voices out there, and unfortunately, they are marginalized. Dennis Kucinich pens a Resolution of Impeachment against the most toxic Vice President in our history, and people laugh. Over and over the Democrats give up before they even start, saying “oh, we don’t have the votes.” Well, dammit, make the stand anyway. Let the people, yes, WE the people, know that you tried. Let the world know that the majority of our citizenry does not support the policies of this President.

It is simply incomprehensible to me that even the staunchest of Republicans can support this President. There is nothing about this man that is truly Republican. He has spent the biggest budget surplus in history down to record deficits, and none of that has gone to programs that help mainstream Americans. His record on the environment, on health care and science, on immigration and national security are failures in every possible way.

I know there are protests going on. I’ve been to a few, and I get emails every day from very large groups who are working to reign in this Administration. Why do we not hear about it? When 10,000 protest immigration policies in LA, we hear about it, but when there are nationwide protests organized by Code Pink, or World Can’t Wait, or the Coalition for Peace? Not a word.

To all of you facing re-election in the coming years please know this. All the money you raise is useless. Your fate rests in the hands of millions of others like me. We’re ANGRY. We want leaders who will serve US. We want to believe that the people we support will have a backbone and a basic knowledge of right and wrong. We want someone who will tell us the truth, even if it hurts. We want the Constitution to mean something again, and not be viewed as a “quaint document.” We want honest, thoughtful dialog, where people who disagree can work together for the good of the country, without vitriol, without name calling. We want respect for all Americans.

If you believe in America and what it stands for; if you “defend and uphold the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic”, then you will do anything and everything to preserve it.

Are YOU that person?

Can we please stop with the lies?

Number One. Valerie Plame wasn’t a covert agent.
If the CIA testifies in court that she was covert, which they DID, then SHE WAS. Those who continue to repeat that talking point in an attempt to mislead lie to the American public only look stupid. It’s in the court record. Duh.

Number Two. Scooter Libby’s trial was a farce, he’s innocent, and there was no underlying crime.
At this point, I beg you; at least be consistent. He lied. This was proved once again, in court. That’s what he was charged, convicted, and sentenced for. Do NOT claim it is a trivial matter or that because there was no indictment on the underlying crime it doesn’t count. It sure counted for Clinton. It was a matter of supreme importance that he lied under oath then, despite there being no charges in that underlying alleged crime. The rules are not different for Republicans vs Democrats. Obstruction of Justice is a crime precisely because it keeps the underlying crime from being investigated.

The recent indictment of William Jefferson was a striking juxtaposition to the furor over Scooter Libby, for anyone willing to pay attention. No one denies that there are corrupt politicians in both parties; after all, we all know power corrupts. Look, however, at the difference in how these people were dealt with in their own parties. Not one person in the Democratic Party made excuses for him. No one tried to cover it up, or blame someone else. Instead, as soon as it was made public, the Speaker asked him to resign from his committee positions immediately. If he is convicted, he will leave office. Now consider Tom Delay. Scooter Libby. Duke Cunningham, Jack Abramoff, David Safavian et al.

Number Three. We must win this war.
There is no war. War was never declared. Why is that, one wonders? It’s because there cannot be a war on a tactic. Terrorism is a tactic, not an entity, not a government. (This same rationale applies to the misguided wars on drugs, on crime, and on poverty). If any of this debacle can be called war, it ended with the overthrow of Saddam and the “Mission Accomplished” banner. Our soldiers did what they were asked to do in ousting Saddam. Anything after that is occupation. One can NOT win an occupation. One can manage an occupation, as we did so well after WWII, but it requires a much higher ratio of soldier to civilian than this Administration has been willing to consider. Hence we play “Whack-a-Mole” and more of our soldiers die daily.

Number Four. If you disagree with the President’s policy, you’re a “bad American.”
This is the most divisive, the most subversive, the most heinous attitude I can imagine. It goes against the most basic tenet of our country’s beliefs. Telling me that I hate America because my opinion differs from yours is not only insulting, it’s dangerous. Our country was built on dissent. It’s not a happenstance that freedom of speech is the FIRST amendment to our Constitution. One might posit that someone willing to speak out against abuses by elected officials and fight for the Constitution loves their country more than one giving support to an administration run amok.

This is another case where the attitude of Neo-cons and Progressives show marked differences. As progressives, we fight for your right to disagree with us. We want you to be informed on all issues, from all sides. We want you to speak your mind. We want you to vote. We think that such dialog improves our society. The right wing pundits want you to believe what you’re told. They know what’s good for you. They discourage discourse. They place impediments to voting. They restrict your access to information to keep you focused on what they want you thinking about. Above all, they do not want you to think for yourself.

We who disagree with the President’s Iraq policy do not hate America. We don’t want Al Qaeda to “win.” We do not rejoice when things go badly over there. It’s insulting to be told we are traitors, aiding the enemy. This is a lie that hurts America, as it further divides us, making it harder to find solutions. It’s wrong, and it needs to stop.

Number Five. The Left Wing Media.
This is another Duh moment. All one needs to do here is take a look at who owns the big media conglomerates. Almost exclusively they’re owned by very rich, very white, very male conservatives. Then take a short look at the stories that DON”T get covered. Like Monica mentioning “caging” in her testimony, which has barely even been mentioned in the MSM. Like the focus on the really important issues of our day, Paris Hilton and Britney Spears and Anna Nicole Smith. It has become a full time job to ferret out the information that is vital to really understand what is going on in the United States right now, and one must often turn to external sources such as the BBC get what is being hidden from Americans.

No, I’m not an advocate of the Fairness Doctrine. I do believe in the Free Market approach, but our current system is faulty. The Free Market can’t prevail when all programming is controlled by FIVE people who carefully slant what they allow on the airwaves. If a progressive isn’t given a chance to earn market share, that is not a free market. That amounts to censorship. Welcome to The Third Reich America.

I'm really not done ranting, but my stomach is roiling, so the rest will have to wait. Blech.