Democracy Lost

We of such strength, mocked by voices of fear, instilling greater fear.  We are shackled by a changed past, captive like the bound man - stumbled Blind in Gaza- the loss of a vision, an acuity of faith in tomorrow.  We have let ourselves become trapped in the mix of love and hatred, greed and scarifice, wisdom and narrow sight, the melange of America.
Oh America, you were never perfect always though perfectly human.  In an era of unbridled greed you stole lives from Africa made an industry of kidnap and rape, enslaved for no reason except greed- Africa bled into you and you became richer in ways you did not then know.  Then you raised smokestacks and invitations to war- island of freedom born in blood,only to turn to live by blood money; even to this day.
You have helped put the world up to its neck in bullets and watch with subdued curiosity when parts of it begin to drown; we are Godfather of armies of child soldiers, the patron saint of warlord theocracies.  When hurt so badly, when our towers fell; we exorcised a small demon by a great trough of wealth--where the war machine fed until it was glutted; we shook the world because we trembled in fear, and would hear nothing but fear.  Even until the sweet song of freedom re-echoed from the courage we had kept, even as tyrants and terrorists fell to justice.

Now, there is yet the grim reckoning of the skin trades-- "leaders" hatching plots to close the doors to freedom to the Brown and Black south, open doors to a new North Atlantic crossing where the sun kissed its children more gently--so sad. To deny learning and opportunity to our children, to balance the equation of skin-- have we not yet  learned, the life within is the gift not the wrapper...

There is a Democracy found in the turned pages of history, it was not born with America, Founders did not trust their people, their partners in the revolts; Democracy was found in Shay's Rebellion, in the ante-bellum noise of rattled chains and prayers; in the blood given for freedom denied by rich to poor.  Democracy that has now been lost to a culture of dinosaurs, big devour little, strong consume the weak. Wither the America found in the winds of change that came from last breaths of heroes, gone to the auction block in the marketplace of gold and greed.

There is hope against even the most overwhelming enemies- hope despite the obedience of so many to such false prophets as these: a current batch, a plague- disciples of selfishness.  A democracy is a web of reliance, upon self, upon others, upon an innate and shared sense of justice.  A recognition that life is precious and fleeting, in its every part a unique opportunity to expand possibilities into a better world for everyone. That we have lost it is a source of sadness and fuel--for a more determined reach, a more solemn grasp-- for all that we know can be taken from us, if we allow, if we fail to stand for the principle of unity--that in unity we are greater than any can be alone.

The Right Votes

As a child I marched to get rid of State laws that stopped Black and poor people from voting- primarily in Southern States- Virginia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia come to mind .  Now it is Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida  but the idea is the same- take Black and poor voters off the voting rolls and  Republicans  win-- in the case of those States add up to virtual certainty in November for Romney.   I have endured one stolen election in recent years when Bush lost to Gore but the Florida votes were not properly counted and the next thing you know we have 2 wars, hundreds of thousands of deaths, and a few trillion $ wasted in the process-- so these election laws matter.  Romney has this way it seems, to buy the election is bad enough, but to take away the vote from American citizens: including elderly people,  combat veterans, or families that lost their children in our wasteful wars - if they can't produce an official ID-  seems heartless but more to the point reflects a profound unworthiness to lead a Democracy.

Michigan in the Red

There are effectively no more local elections in Michigan, the Governor has seized power to wipe them out, to vitiate them under the illusion of a financial emergency.  Yes, the emergency -- need not even be real, or severe, or even proven- just declared. 

There are essentially no limitations or procedural protections in the law sufficient to withstand the bald and unprincipled use of power. Now, it is true that all localities are legally created by the State or Commonwealth, and in law the principle applies that the power to create is inherently the power to destroy-- however, there is an higher level of Government and it too has the power to create legal relationships with the cities, counties-- the Congress has done so for most of our national existence. Grants, contracts, civil defense- all have more and more obtained federal-to- city status.  These contracts can effectively be changed in fundamental ways by the power grab in Michigan and are completely subject to being undermined by mere political preferences- we have seen the plan for Republican hostility to Federal dollars even when the people NEEEED  the programs and jobs they bring-- such as high speed rail lines in Florida, for that matter light rail lines in Detroit. There is also the weight of time itself, Detroit has been here a long time, longer than the State in a sense,and the people had a contract with the Federal and State government that precious fundamental contract of a Democracy-- that nothing as important as their vote would be taken away without extensive due process-- that there would be some severe reason for doing so.  So let us look, what is so severe that the people of Detroit must be deprived of the government they have chosen-- well it is a "financial emergency"  as a creature of the State, the State has an obligation to  endorse that debt crisis or consider the damage done by a municipal bankruptcy. 

But on a deeper level, some troubling questions arise: 
what is it about the Detroit voters that caused the "emergency"?  
For that matter - what did the elected officials do to cause the emergency?--
did they force the automakers to move overseas?-
did they trigger the housing market collapse?--
or did they cause massive unemployment? 

The remedy of taking over a local government needs to be related in some way to the cause of the problem-- let's say the root cause of the financial problem may be an inequitable distribution of tax and public revenues attributable to the a Detroit area by the State itself, the Governor and the State legislature-- lets say they cut budgets and unfairly redistributed revenue--or just cut the budget because the Koch Brothers said  DO THIS.  Lets say the allow insurance companies to wreck the local economy by harsh and discriminatory policies. Or lets say there is a gross underestimation of the economic value of Detroit as a regional economic hub.

Finally, was the takeover needed even if a financial emergency in some real and legally sound definition  did exist-- is it more than a need for money subsidies or reforms--ahh, there is the bigger prize-- can some group suppress the vote in Detroit enough to put Michigan in Romney's column in the fall-- yes it is possible-- just emergency yourself into forcing the Detroit Department of Elections into a condition of four hour waiting lines for the election in November and you will  

put  the entire State Michigan into the Red

Tell Don't Ask

The so-called Conservative Right, the self described soul of the Republican Party has given the best political issue yet to the Democrats and President Obama- IT IS their social agenda. Instead of Don't ask , don't tell- (that strange deal with being Gay as if being gay was just discovered instead of being as old as people)- this is some Republicans telling the rest of us:  DO AS WE SAY, WE KNOW HOW YOU SHOULD LIVE YOUR LIFE.

They want to tell us to give up sex until we marry, that we must only love someone of the opposite sex and the same race; they want us to accept that white men are often frightened of dark skinned people and should have the right to shoot anyone who frightens them; and they want us to generally accept that women should be subservient to the men in their lives.  They also believe that the federal government is the root of all evils and that war is the solution to any problems that frighten a Nation of White  men.  This is so much like the 50's when the cities experienced White flight- now is White fright, and integration, busing, and Women's Lib showed that the country was truly going to the dogs.  The problem with all of this is simply- who are these jerks who think they ought to tell anyone else how to live the one life we have been given; I mean: when I want to worship someone i get down on my knees and pray.

There is a deeper problem to all of this, the Arizona Syndrome- where Whites feel the shrinking power of their disappearing numerical majority, and the fact that logic and reason have decimated the White voting bloc.  We are no longer a nation of White Men. It is too difficult now to convince women they need a man to control their lives, it is impossible to convince young people that being selfish helps their country, it is totally out of the question to get many normal people to trust big business after they have seen their assault on our jobs( gone overseas to low bidders); home equities ( the housing crisis and credit crisis); wars for Republican profits ( i mean how else can you explain Iraq-- that a group of thugs with box cutters exposed our miserable leadership and therefore we spent 3 Trillion dollars and 8 years at war) They still control the money and have invented a game only they can generally play- trading derivatives-  one Hedge Fund Manager earned $3 Billion one recent year- while we cut schools and teachers, and trash pickups, and healthcare, and food to the hungry, housing for homeless---ahh what would Jesus say..? or Budha? or Muhammed? or Bubba the local homeless Vietnam War vet now begging under a bridge? (probably saying Ohh myyy Jesus!)

We are not the first country to have a weird Right Wing attempt to take over a society, and like the others ( oh, say Germany with Hitler, Brazil during the military dictatorship) there is a corp of deep pocket wackos who are using a political party to advance interest which i think arise straight from their frustrated sex drives--well i am giving a great deal of credit which may not be due-- they may simply be more or less insane or power mad.  The point is that they want to control behavior- who sexes whom, who decides to give birth, who marries whom, what kinds of sex, whether she submits to a man or not.  They are not content to wage wars, destroy lives around the globe, convert mankind's few opportunities for progress into bloody venges and revenges( is "venges" a word?- should be, anyway...how can you have re venge without first having a venge).

We live in a golden age- glad captives of a time when the globe can be easily embraced. It can be further embraced by a global pollution, excess of automobiles, carbon fuel burning, ocean trashing, woman bashing, rule by petty dictators and machine guns every goddamn place! OOOORRRRR it can be embraced by progress such as the incredibly rapid adaptations to computers, the internet, smartphones--technology puts us to the lie when we say we cannot change,  fundamentally change-- we already have, and in record times:  what maybe 10 years for the embrace of the internet and maybe 7 years for the embrace of the smartphone technology.  Wireless communications mean we don't have to wire-grid and pave-over the world in order to industrialize enough to feed and employ our swelling masses.

This is a Golden Age of opportunity for social Greening, progress on the things which deeply trouble our societies- on a global basis- water, food, the safety and equality of women- putting an end to war, creating productive capacity to give business and careers potentials to millions more ...it is in our busy little hands. Hands which can turn palms up in surrender or grab something we all know is true--the moment to realize we are what we do; and we can be so much more than we now do.

Filibuster

  Howard made this comment on an article about the use of filibuster

howard moore • the traditional use of Filibuster was viewed as a rare and an extreme measure. Perhaps the more famous instances involved issues like the moral abyss of slavery some of the incredible political compromises made to destroy millions of human lives and enrich a few others. Hindsight makes that choice clear - not so clear are such contemporary issues as- the so called family values, or a woman's right to control her body and reproductive process. So there may indeed be issues so vital that one Senator would feel compelled to halt all business until a certain result might be achieved. In an era of less flexible calendars, a filibuster could limit the work of a term, and recess powers come into play. The Senate has changed perhaps it is only nostalgia to think it was different, the late Senator Byrd spoke of it often as an article of faith, the comity among colleagues, respect given even to a bitter division. When i worked in the Senate as a young lawyer, i remember Senators Biden, Jacob Javits, Williams, Ted Kennedy, Claiborne Pell, Byrd, Stafford, Sam Nunn...perhaps my nostalgia but they were larger caliber people than those we have in this era-- and that is the difference, too many now simply owe their place to financial downpours from business lobbies and seem to stand for nothing else. In their hands, the filibuster is a way to appoint biased judges, start a war for profits, cut aid to poor and needy to lavish rich contributors. These are smaller people and the ageless tools of a great Democracy become like toys in the hands of mischievous children-- including the filibuster, the Thermopylae of a sometimes great deliberative body. HD Moore

Leaving Baghdad ( Part One)

There may be tears in Baghdad, definitely some in many homes in the U.S. as our troops leave Iraq- a season of homecoming joy hopefully awaits thousands of brave men and women in uniformed service.  I expect there are deep doubts and fears that spur tears that will fall and stay in Baghdad, to the extent that a feeling of safety was connected to the U.S. military presence, it too will be leaving.
There were some moments in this road to and from Baghdad that are remarkable - that stand out in memory.  For me, like the tips of undersea volcanoes that breach the waters- stepping stones to the eye, but in deeper reveal- they are great mountains.  The first was the incredible silence over my City the day after the terror attacks in New York City, the raw feeling in my eyes, and the silence as air traffic and commerce seemed stilled.  How we talked in hushed tones.  Then the revelation that our government had been asleep at the switch, National Security Advisor  specialist in defeating the Soviet Union, might not even have known what Al Qaeda was.  How they featured then dropped the pursuit of Bin Laden.  Then how Bin Laden appeared in Republican reelection campaign ads, the Boogie Man.  No one said hey wait--dint you promise to bring him in?  We paid Pakistan to help hunt him down; turned out he was living large in Pakistan.  A spectacle:  Presidential candidate saying - My opponent would not even have gone to war...ahh, the humanities!

We turned on the war machine as a TV event, shock and awe on Friday night special.  We sent our soldiers on a blind alley rush to Baghdad with reporters looking goofy in military garb- flinching at every remote blast. Sandstorms grounded air support- oh, if there had been an army there to oppose us--such poor, poor leadership.  The glory was vain, Saddam was hanged but it was a big lie that he brought down the Towers--a lie many Americans still believed.
Eight years of war and my country seemed stranger each passing day, a government taught us to fear, the American spirit, crushed underfoot like a spent cigarette because leaders failed and wished us to believe nothing greater was in us.  I remember a disabled war veteran, taking off his artificial leg to pass an airport screening. We spent billions annoying citizens, reinforcing the big scare.
Teaching fear and limitation, but it was merely the first of many such waves-- later we were too broke to make jobs here -the new jobs that fuel the economy and make even more jobs; debt has made us unable to grow--I guess they forget or some never knew- America is tougher than words of doubt.  It was tough enough to fight poverty in the 60's, fly to the moon in the 70's, meet cold war communists in the 80's- somehow, a pile of loans does not seem to equate to nuclear missiles in Cuba.
Again the teacher brings a message of fear, to a creature of hope and determination.  In the animus of our nation, as if the body politic were a human body, the  national skin reacts to the irritations of those repeated doses of fear... a burning sensation.

the real Job Creators

I hear Republicans,  Speaker Boehner in particular, speak of the need to give more resources to "job creators" lower taxes, freedom from necessary rules(my God look at what they have done to our chickens!).  By this they mean major Corporations and medium to large businesses across the U.S.  But they are wrong, these are definitely not the job creators in the U.S. economy.  It is as plain as Pinocchio's nose when he answers hard questions, corporations take far more than they give, it is what they do- the reason or purpose for their existence to create profits.  Corporations use public resources as if they were business lunches.  Privilege after privilege rests in their hands. They get to pretty much determine if, when, and how much they will pay in taxes. Have free reign to arrange books and records, freely send whole industries abroad and still are able to sell those products here as if they were made here with American workers.  No the real job creators are consumers. Those of us who go to stores and Internet and buy things.  We create jobs.  We create demand for products, goods and services which are met by business to a better or worse degree.  Businesses- well they hire people and pay wages from--the money we consumers spend.  They hire as few people as the can- and for some weird reason, most Americans agree with that, even when it means that companies are understaffed, replace full time experienced workers with casual part time employees, and lower wages- which as we all know reduces jobs because we consumers don't have as much money to spend.
So the President has it right, this is the time to spend money on infrastructure, build railroads, fix bridges, as many things as we can to employ people. We should take risks to see if we can ignite a solar energy boom, or spark green products, renewable energy devices.  Big oil drains us- charging more and more for the privilege to poison our air, the oil by the way is free when taken from the ground.  The idea to get the economy moving and sustained is to increase jobs by putting more money in the hands of us-- consumers, savers, new car buyers, home buyers, clothes buyers, electronics buyers-- us, the JOB CREATORS of America.