The Existentialist Cowboy

Friday, October 10, 2008

On the Brink of Collapse, Palin-McCain Indulge Smear Jobs and Distractions

McCain-Palin refuse to talk about the fact that the US and the world face the biggest economic collapse since the GOP brought you the Great Depression. McCain Palin want to talk about someone Obama might have met when he was eight years old!

Palin-McCain want the US to repeat the GOP/ideological strategies that brought us to this point: 1) enriching the tiny elite which alone have benfited from GOP tax cuts, bailouts, and preferential treatments; 2) raising the tax burden on everyone else who must take up the slack. In other words, McCain-Palin want to keep on raping the nation and blaming the victim. It's the GOP way. Rather than rewarding this gang of crooks with an election win, I want to round up the Bush administration and put it on trial at the Hague, charge it with war crimes, crimes against the peace, torture and other violations of Geneva and Nuremberg.

To distract you, McCain-Palin resort to tired old GOP tactics --smear jobs and distractions.

McCain’s course correction reflects a growing case of nerves within his high command as the electoral map has shifted significantly in Obama’s favor in the past two weeks.
“It’s a dangerous road, but we have no choice,” a top McCain strategist told the Daily News. “If we keep talking about the economic crisis, we’re going to lose.”
--New York Daily News:

McCain's attitudes about the corporate takeover of the us government dates to the role his played in the Savings and Loan Scandal of the 80s and 90s when McCain was accused of 'improperly aiding his political patron, Charles Keating' who was chairman of the Lincoln Savings and Loan Association at the time. An investigation by the bipartisan Senate Ethics Committee resulted in McCain getting reprimanded for his role. McCain is, in fact, the only major party Presidential nominee in US history to have been "...rebuked, censured or otherwise admonished after a Congressional investigation." [See: Keating Economics: John McCain and hte Making of a Financial Crisis]

Two bailouts in a period of some two weeks or less hasn't worked. Panicked investors withdrew 52 billion from US managed stock and bond funds in a period of a week or less. Investors had already withdrawn $72.3 billion in September --the biggest withdrawal ever in a single month.

Years ago, I wrote in 'The Opinion' that GOP strategy was best summed up: just keep on doing whatever makes you sick! Even then, the numbers were unmistakable: every Democratic president since FDR had outperformed every GOP President in every key economic index, notably, job growth and overall GDP. Moreover, Bill Clinton had reversed a trend begun with Reagan's tax cut for the rich. It was Reagan's tax cut that not only triggered a depression of some two years --the worst since the Great Depression --it triggered a trend that is always worse under GOP regimes: the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. This trend abated in Clinton's second term only to resume with Bush and yet another round of GOP largesse to those who don't need it.

That was not the only trend reversed by Bill Clinton. The ratio of gross national debt to to GDP was at its lowest level since 1931 when Ronald Reagan took office. Under Reagan, it did not last long. Ronald Reagan ran up historically high debt and deficit --a trend that 'skyrocketed' through twelve years of Reagan/Bush. The official charts from every agency prove conclusively that Bill Ciinton had reversed those pernicious trends as well. Another myth is that Reagan was one of the best Presidents for job creation. In reality, he's among the worst:

Job Growth Per Year Under Most Recent Presidents⁸

Johnson 3.8% Carter 3.1 Clinton 2.4 Kennedy 2.3 Nixon 2.3 Reagan 2.1 Bush 0.6

--U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis.

But this week, Larry King let a GOP spinmesiter and paid shill get away with characterizing 'unemployment' under Jimmy Carter as 'immense'. Briefly --that is a BALD FACED LIE and to be expected from the GOP. Check the official numbers above. One should expect a morally bankrupt party like the GOP to attack Carter's record. Carter's record on every issue is far, far superior to the miserable performances turned in by EVERY GOP President since 1900.

The GOP is a party of liars. They will lie to you because they lie to themselves daily. It's the only way they can get through the day. If GOPPERS had ever faced the truth about themselves, they would have shot themselves a long time ago.

It took a return to GOP mismanagement, greed and incompetence to undo the good that had been done in Clinton's eight years in the Oval Office. Now the national debt is the highest it's been since 1955 (53 years ago).

Bush did three things to skyrocket the debt from $5.7 trillion to $10 trillion:
He lowered taxes on the rich (by far the biggest item)

He invaded Iraq instead of winning in Afghan-Pakistan (another $600 B).
He loosened controls on Wall Street.
McCain backed all three policies:
He backed Bush's tax cuts for the rich and now wants to give them bigger tax cuts.
He was gung-ho for the Iraq war from the start.
When Katie Couric asked Sarah Palin to name one time McCain suggested regulating Wall Street, she couldn't—because he never did. He crowed in the Wall Street Journal how he was always against regulation.
Bush did three things to skyrocket the debt from $5.7 trillion to $10 trillion:
1. He lowered taxes on the rich (by far the biggest item).

He invaded Iraq instead of winning in Afghan-Pakistan (another $600 B).
He loosened controls on Wall Street.
As it happens, McCain backed all three policies:
He backed Bush's tax cuts for the rich and now wants to give them bigger tax cuts.

He was gung-ho for the Iraq war from the start.
When Katie Couric asked Sarah Palin to name one time McCain suggested regulating Wall Street, she couldn't—because he never did. He crowed in the Wall Street Journal how he was always against regulation.
--Z facts.com

What if you went to a doctor who told you: 'just keep on eating the greasy foods, lazing around the house, hitting the bottle! Don't take any responsibility for your own health; blame it all on your neighbors!

Bill Clinton's was the ONLY successful presidency since Jimmy Carter left the White House. The GOP would like you to just keep on doing whatever it is that's making the nation sick, bankrupt, deteriorating, collapsing. The GOP has nothing new to offer. At the cost of the republic itself, we have learned the hard way that everything the GOP has ever said has been a lie. Nothing has worked! It's all bullshit!

Addendum: it's not bad enough that the GOP has deliberately bankrupted the nation, Bush worked assiduously to assume dictatorial powers as he put into place a huge federal bureacracy whose only raison d'etre is to spy on you, intimidate you and deny you due process of law. There is a word for this: TYRANNY!

Naomi Wolfe on Tyranny and the US Police State

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Thursday, October 09, 2008

McCain's 'Gaffe' Appeals to Throw-back Base

McCain did not 'gaffe' when he denounced an 'over head projector' at the world famous Adler Planetarium. McCain was, rather, sucking up to the GOP base of Palinesque reactionaries and 'anti-science' types.

McCain won't lose a single vote despite the fact that the Adler never got the money that McCain says it got. This is not about projectors or money. It's about the problem McCain has with 'truth'. The item in question is hardly an 'over head' projector.

Last night, during the presidential debate in Nashville, Tennessee, Senator John McCain made the following statement:

McCain: “While we were working to eliminate these pork barrel earmarks he (Senator Obama) voted for nearly $1 billion in pork barrel earmark projects. Including $3 million for an overhead projector at a planetarium in Chicago, Illinois. My friends, do we need to spend that kind of money?”

To clarify, the Adler Planetarium requested federal support – which was not funded – to replace the projector in its historic Sky Theater, the first planetarium theater in the Western Hemisphere. The Adler’s Zeiss Mark VI projector – not an overhead projector – is the instrument that re-creates the night sky in a dome theater, the quintessential planetarium experience. The Adler’s projector is nearly 40 years old and is no longer supported with parts or service by the manufacturer. It is only the second planetarium projector in the Adler’s 78 years of operation.
Science literacy is an urgent issue in the United States. To remain competitive and ensure national security, it is vital that we educate and inspire the next generation of explorers to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math. Senator McCain’s statements about the Adler Planetarium’s request for federal support do not accurately reflect the museum's legislative history or relationship with Senator Obama.

The Adler has approached the Illinois Congressional delegation the last few years for federal assistance with various initiatives. These have included museum exhibitions, equipment and educational programs we offer to area schools, including the Chicago Public Schools. We have made requests to Senators Durbin and Obama, as well as to 6 area Congressmen from both political parties. We are grateful that all of the Members we have approached, including Senator Obama, have deemed our activities worthy of their support, and have made appropriations requests on our behalf, as they have for many worthy Illinois nonprofit organizations.
As a result of the hard work of our bipartisan congressional delegation, the Adler has been fortunate to receive a few federal appropriations the past couple of years. However, the Adler has never received an earmark as a result of Senator Obama's efforts. This is clearly evidenced by recent transparency laws implemented by the Congress, which have resulted in the names of all requesting Members being listed next to every earmark in the reports that accompany appropriations bills.
--Adler Planetarium, Statement About Sen John McCain's Comments at the Presidential Debate [links to PDF file]

The GOP put together the coalition from hell --anti-intellectuals, gun nuts, bigots, chauvinists, child pornographers, anti porn zealots, fascist oil barons, radical fundamentalists and Palinesque believers in claptrap -- a flat earth and Alley Oops who co-habit with dinosaurs.

The miracle is that when all of them get together in what is called the GOP National Convention, they STILL cannot win the White House unless they steal it!

Monday, October 06, 2008

Vatican Flaunts Gross Hypocrisy, calls Democrats "A Party of Death"

A 'religion' responsible for millions of deaths over hundreds of years labels 'democrats' a 'party of death'. Selective memory or deliberate lie?

The Vatican --of course --has a really 'great' record on 'death'!

I am being sarcastic.

The Prefect of the Vatican's Supreme Court of the Apostolic Signature has accused the U.S. Democratic party of "transforming itself into a party of death”. Raymond Burke, former Archbishop of St. Louis, lashed out at high profile Catholics — vice presidential candidate Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi — for misrepresenting Church teaching on abortion.
--Vatican labels U.S. Democrats ‘party of death’

Was it not Pope Urban who exhorted impoverished Europeans to commit mass murder and atrocities throughout the Middle East in what are now called the 'Crusades? Historical accounts describe knee deep blood rushing like rivers through the streets of Jerusalem.

How many innocent folk were burned because someone in the Catholic Church 'DEEMED' them to be heretics or witches?

The current Pope Benedict XVI, formerly Josef Ratzinger, is accurately described as a hard-line enforcer of Church dogma, responsible for persecuting and suppressing what is called "liberation theology" in Latin America. He worked to ban, censor or excommunicate "liberal clerics" throughout Europe and North America. It earned him some labels including: “Der Panzerkardinal” and “grand inquisitor”.

And what was that spot of bother about how the Vatican supported Hitler and did precious little to prevent a Holocaust?

Isn't it the Vatican that is responsible for the spread of aids in South America and Africa because it forbids the use of condoms?

And, more recently, the Vatican is calling DEMOCRATS the 'party of death' when --in fact --it was the GOP regime of George W. Bush that invaded a sovereign nation upon a pack of lies, committed mass murder and in the process prosecutable war crimes, crimes against humanity and heinous torture in violation of EVERY international prohibition. Where was the Vatican outrage? Where is it now?

Sure --Bush had some Democratic support in the Congress which ought to be dealt with with lots of primary losses and forced resignations.

But to call the 'Democrats' a party of death is just plain stupid --deliberately misleading --when in fact it is the GOP that is no longer a political party, it's a crime syndicate and a kooky cult to boot!

Note to the Vatican: do a fact check! You're NOT infallible and you don't speak for any God that I believe in.

The Vatican would do well to practice what it preaches! The Vatican would do well to address the issue constructively as opposed to throwing around epithets in areas where the church is utterly without credibility.

Given the billions who have either been murdered, killed, maimed tortured or otherwise just trashed in the name of 'God', perhaps the world would be better off without the Catholic church, or, for that matter 'religion' itself. Clearly --religion, rather than being the source of salvation, is invariably the rationalization by which religious, self-righteous bigots rationalize and perpetrate mass murder in the name of 'God'. I don't think 'God' approves. I don't think 'God' approves of 'religion'!

Friday, October 03, 2008

House Bows to Blackmail, Passes Unconstitutional Bailout

The bailout bill is unconstitutional but passed the House under the Bush administration's threat of martial law!

The House rejected the original bill on Monday, sending stocks tumbling around the world.
But lawmakers approved the rescue package, backed by U.S. President George W. Bush and Treasury chiefs, Friday after the U.S. Senate passed it by a large majority on Wednesday.
Congress voted 263 to 171 in favor of the bailout bill, which will now go to President Bush to be signed.
Wall St, after climbing nearly 300 points before the bill was passed, slipped after the successful vote as the market tried to take in the news.
President Bush later said he would sign the bill into law Friday.
--U.S. lawmakers pass $700 billion bailout bill

Section 7. All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments as on other Bills.
--US Constitution

At the time the Constitution was written, it was believed that Senators would be more wealthy than Reps and might, therefore, be willing to spend public money unnecessarily. The larger house was also believed to be a 'better gauge' of the people's wishes. Ummmmm!!!

This bailout bill originated in the Senate.

According to US wealth distribution data compiled by 'The State of Working America', 'Wealth distribution in the U.S. is extremely concentrated at the top --even more so than income.'

These statistics, on the other hand, only hint at the L-Curve phenomenon because the top 1% isn't scrutinized in sufficient detail. Still, compare the net worth of the top half of the top 1% with the bottom half of the top 1%! If you add them together and proportion them out, 3/4 of the wealth in the top 1% is actually in the top 0.5%.
--US Wealth Distribution Data

Only a tiny group of Americans --Bush's 'base' --will benefit from the bailout directly.

The top and bottom halves of the top 0.5% would undoubtedly show even greater disparity if the data were presented with enough resolution. Note that nothing on this page even mentions billionaires. The largest fortunes are in the $100-billion range. The statistics on billionaires are diluted by lumping them in with mere millionaires. --op cit,

This absurd bill bails out the Wall Street house of cards upon the backs of working Americans, those who still have jobs. This is not merely absurd, it's criminal. It's a hold-up, theft under threat of 'martial law'.

The richest man in the world is probably worth more than some $60 billion dollars. If the 'bailout' were pro-rated, he should be expected to pay proportionally or between 10 and 15 percent of the total bailout. Will that happen? Not a chance. In America, the rich are supported by the middle and lower classes.

America was wounded with Bush v Gore. It was finished off with a bailout, in fact, the 'payoff' to the ruling elite that had thrown their support to Bush. He called them his 'base'. This was graft and corruption in broad daylight with an arrogant mass murderer, traitor daring the American people to do anything about it.

People must see clearly the futility of maintaining the fight for social goals within the framework of civil debate. When the forces of oppression come to maintain themselves in power against established law; peace is considered already broken.
--Che Guevara, Principles of Guerilla Warfare

The bailout was unconstitutional but you can bet Scalia's rubber stamp office will give it a big OK!

The current government in Washington is NOT legitimate.

This is, perhaps, a good time to recall an America that no longer exists. Thanks to Bush it may never exist again.

Thursday, October 02, 2008

The Twilight of the GOP on the Eve of Great Depression II

I have blogged for years, much of it spent blasting the endemically crooked GOP to the best of my ability. Now --when even the GOP ponders its own imminent demise --I suspect that the sharpest critiques of gop-ism are coming from the GOP.

This generation of political leaders is confronting a similar situation, and, so far, they have failed utterly and catastrophically to project any sense of authority, to give the world any reason to believe that this country is being governed. Instead, by rejecting the rescue package on Monday, they have made the psychological climate much worse.
George W. Bush is completely out of juice, having squandered his influence with Republicans as well as Democrats. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is a smart moneyman, but an inept legislator. He was told time and time again that House Republicans would not support his bill, and his response was to get down on bended knee before House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
...
Now they [the GOP] have once again confused talk radio with reality. If this economy slides, they will go down in history as the Smoot-Hawleys of the 21st century. With this vote, they’ve taken responsibility for this economy, and they will be held accountable. The short-term blows will fall on John McCain, the long-term stress on the existence of the G.O.P. as we know it.
--David Brooks, Revolt of the Nihilists, New York Times

These are the words of a party on the eve of eclipse and the Great Depression II that they will have helped bring about. Brooks misses the point, however, when it comes to 'free market principles'. The 'bailout' ought to have been rejected. It's probably the only thing the GOP has done right in years.

As for 'market principles', Brooks errs again. He still believes in them as many still believed in them on the eve of the Great Depression. He was willing to 'interfere' with the 'free market', however, when it was thought the bailout would save the fat cats' ass on Wall Street.

I wonder if Brooks' recent chagrin may be due to the fact that Brooks cannot resolve his hypocrisy, that he knows but will not admit that he has been betrayed by the 'free market' ideology. Pssst, David. There is NO 'invisible hand' but the the thinly disguised jerk off we got from the GOP leadership for as long as I've been able to read a newspaper. There were, I am sure, many like David Brooks on the eve of Great Depression I.

Brooks may be right in the sense that the GOP, as a monolith, an institution, as the primary opposition to Democrats, may go the way of T-Rex. The nation might benefit, however, if the GOP were to break up into its natural factions, one of which is correctly described as being to the right of Genghis Khan. The term 'moderate Republican' has been an oxymoron at least since the party tried to pin on Bill Clinton an act that was not even a crime. There are rumors that there were--at one time in the dimming mists of history --'liberal Republicans'! Your chances of finding one are probably less than your chances of finding a beached mermaid or a tamed Chupacabra. There was, of course, a 'libertarian' streak and under the 'leadership' of Ron Paul, it already shows signs of bolting a party that has shown little interest in them.

The upside is this: as Bush runs out of juice, as the GOP limps off to licks its wounds, some sanity might be restored to our relations with the rest of the world. An Obama Presidency must be influenced to roll back Bush's assaults upon the Constitution. In the longer term, it would be hoped that Scalia will retire. GOP dominance since 1980 has resulted in an extremist court typified by Antonin Scalia who hardly bothers to conceal his contempt for the rule of law and the Constitution. He claims to be 'too smart' for the court. That being the case, he should be 'urged' to quit and find a another job more in keeping with his talents, perhaps, 'mafioso'.

In broader terms, there may very well be a window of opportunity in which we may

restore the separation of powers
restore the supremacy of the Constitution as the source of US law
restore Due Process of Law, indeed, the Bill of Rights
restore habeas corpus
restore US treaty commitments --Kyoto, Geneva, the Nuremberg Principles
restore the principle that the 'President' is answerable directly to the people of the United States.

Obama may find himself, like FDR, in the position of having to save America from itself. As was true in Roosevelt's first term, a 'counter-revolution' may be on the agenda.

Government, under Franklin Roosevelt, got serious about regulating financial markets after the first cycle of financial bubble and economic ruin in the 1920s. Then, as now, the abuses were complex in their detail but very simple in their essence. They included the sale of complex securities packaged in deceptive and misleading ways; far too much borrowing to finance speculative investments; and gross conflicts of interest on the part of insiders who stood to profit from flim-flams. When the speculative bubble burst in 1929, sellers overwhelmed buyers, many investors were wiped out, and the system of credit contracted, choking the rest of the economy.
In the 1930s, the Roosevelt administration acted to prevent a repetition of the ruinous 1920s. Commercial banks were separated from investment banks, so that bankers could not prosper by underwriting bogus securities and foisting them on retail customers. Leverage was limited in order to rein in speculation with borrowed money. Investment banks, stock exchanges, and companies that publicly traded stocks were required to disclose more information to investors. Pyramid schemes and conflicts of interest were limited. The system worked very nicely until the 1970s -- when financial innovators devised end-runs around the regulated system, and regulators stopped keeping up with them.
--Only a Roosevelt-Scale Counterrevolution Can Prevent Great Depression II

If FDR had not restored confidence in the White House, there might very well have been a revolution in the US in the 30s. The threat of FEMA camps notwithstanding, millions of people robbed of homes, hope and jobs will find a way to speak. Enriched and compromised power would do well to learn the lessons of history.

Those who do not remember the past are condemned to relive it.
--Georges Santayana, American Philosopher

And there is likewise a warning.

People must see clearly the futility of maintaining the fight for social goals within the framework of civil debate. When the forces of oppression come to maintain themselves in power against established law; peace is considered already broken.
--Ernesto "Che" Guevara, Guerilla Warfare

Homer Tries to Vote for Obama