Politics of tanning- (a political satire)

I just saw coverage of Romney[ yes, that little Mitt!] on Univision and-- my first reaction was- he has painted himself brown!!!!, i mean if regular Romney saw this brown Romney walking into his house at night-- there might be white flight!

His whole neighborhood might be in white flight.
It was disturbing at one level but really i was laughing until my tummy 
ached ohh for the love of the 47% this man truly is the worst campaigner i have seen.
 

Now, Romney has previously campaigned as the white guy who appeals to voters who really want to see a white male in the Presidency, I speak to many each day who express that view but usually in much more subtle ways than Romney who- as we know- no one ever asks for his birth certificate[ they do ask for his Goddamn tax returns though!!!].

I give Romney his due: he did a great job of picking wealthy parents, who were themselves 47% folks on welfare at one stage of their lives- and like nearly all of the 47% people contributed in vital ways to our nation- military service( oops Romney dint build that one); raising a family despite hardships( Romney dint do that one either, thanks to Dad and Mom and that silver spoon in his....uhh); helped make a family and community strong by paying their fair share of taxes right out of their paychecks( Romney CLEARLY has not done this, he changed his income from INCOME to INTEREST to cut his taxes in half, and paid when he damn well pleased--if ever!!).

Ahh the pale Mitt is a clever one and the tan Mitt tried to cover it up, but the people listening and watching on Univision saw through the make-up...tsk tsk underneath it all is a man who would be President ONLY because the US should be run by people like himself: pale billionaires, MEN who think they are superior because they have earned it all by themselves...by their inheritances( see they don't even thank their Mom's who really did build that!!) They just believe they should rule-- after all, they got rich the old fashioned way, they were born to it...hdm

from delusion to illusion

i watch with a sense of disbelief- that a man as apparently shallow and willing to mislead the public is the nominee of a major party for the highest office.  I then realize that this is clearly not an accident, that the billions of dollars invested in this man is for some reasons- important to someone.  I can only guess since i would not invest the price of an Internet postage stamp i that campaign (that was humor, there is no Internet postage stamp but there should be one- to retire the deficit- 1/10 of a cent on commercial mailings- would also put an end to spam as we know it).  I watched the man- as if it were a bad actor hamming it up on the stage- speaking something about- "you didn't build that"  as an insult to...ahhh so dismaying- the spectacle, lying to the public and living the lies.

If he believes what he is saying then he may be delusional since in most regards he has spoken these same ideas as his own articles of faith.  If he lying then he does it poorly, Ronald Reagan was much better- he would croon " nuclear war" in that sonorous baritone and people supported build 10,00 new nukes when we needed -none.  Reagan's wars were little things- dress rehearsals really.  Romney's war would be big- biggest in history- and would likely exceed the hundreds of thousands lost in Iraq because we may never find such easy pickings in the world anywhere again.  His initial foray was to get the US in a War with Israel against Iran- possibly two nuclear powers.
Ryan as VP means less delusional theories from the ticket, and more illusions- the sleight of hand that convinces people that the rights they have must be sacrificed for the common good, but the common good is defined as helping the rich keep their money, avoid taxes. Speaking as one who would likely benefit, i say this is larceny after thrust-- putting a burden where it least belongs.  There are privileges in this society such as buying and selling derivatives. A market that is early as big as the rest the economy.  One trader recently earned $3 Billion in one year.  There is a great way to raise revenues without taking Grandma's pension-- tax an activity that we limit to a privileged few who are making an un-Godly profit from doing nothing but passing paper back and forth from one friendly bank to another- betting for example that the economy will loose more jobs than it gains this year--or that mortgage failures will increase, housing will fall--then there is my other favorite- the spammer fee.  See-- with a little creative thinking we can increase revenues, educate our children, give food to hungry children,  reduce our deficit and not steal from the most vulnerable-- something we gave them for a lifetime of doing just what we asked of them.

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