26 July 2011

Dangerous times

By now most of you have heard or read about the attacks in Norway. While it has now come to be made known that the person who killed his fellow Norwegians is basically a neo-Nazi, the first reports of the killings placed blame on "Muslims" and "al-Qaead" types. Various "news" organization here in the US went with that "story" until the police in Norway made it clear that no, it was not a Muslim who did the killings.


What this shows, again, is that any time there is any terrorist attack any where in the world, some "jihadi" will be blamed and that will be the story until the facts become known and the truth is finally made known to us. This "blame the Muslims" first is very worrying. It is much like the "red scares" of the 1920's here in America. For you history buffs, this was back in the time of the infamous "Palmer raids". Yes, America has come close to being a police state with very limited "free speech" rights for some of the citizens in spite of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.


We are, I fear, headed towards that sort of thing here in the US again. Even the bombing in Oklahoma City by Tim McVeigh was, at first, said to be of "middle Eastern" origin. So, you can see that the US has been quick to blame the "other" first for some long time now. So much easier to blame some foreigner of course. It gets hard to admit that the real killer was just an ordinary, blonde, blue eyed guy next door type. Much better when the bad guy is some dark skinned foreigner. Yeah, that fits the "narrative" much better. 


A question does arise though. Who was behind the anthrax attacks back in the days after 9/11?  Ah yes, now you remember them? Finny how that investigation never went very far, isn't it? Not only was no individual actually accused, no group ever took credit for the anthrax attacks. Yes, one person was a suspect, but he was quietly dropped as the person responsible. As of today, no person or group has been charged, nor has any taken credit for the attacks. I wonder, is the FBI or any other agency even looking into this? Has it all been quietly swept under the proverbial rug? One would tend to think that with the huge, one could even say obscene, budget that our military/intelligence community gets each year from the taxpayers that there should at least be an ongoing investigation. Will the person or persons responsible ever be known? Has the investigation stopped totally? Why? It surely makes one stop and ask what did happen then, who was behind the anthrax attacks? Will we ever know?


As we all face a very uncertain future, the congress critters demand cuts to all the social programs in the US. They also insist that there be NO tax increases, particularly for the very richest among us. Oh dear, no, we cannot ask the very rich to pay a more fair share of the taxes. Why, don't you all know that the rich use their tax breaks to "create jobs"? What a load of bullshit!  How many jobs do the hedge fund managers create? Note that these hedge fund managers pay less in taxes than the street cops or the emergency room nurses. About the only jobs they create are those for undocumneted people who care for their kids, clean their houses/apartments, and cook their food and cut the grass. 
Oh, but this is America of 2011 where ALL the tax cuts go to the richest people and the tax burden is given to the working class and the poor/disabled. That we will have cuts to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are a given. Gobomber has no back bone folks. This guy is not and never was for any sort of real "change". The only "change" we have from Gobomber is the gap between the top of income to the bottom has increased. The rich get ever richer and the poor get ever poorer. This is no way to run a democracy. Hell, it is not a way to run a republic.
The politicians talk of "shared sacrifice", but do not look for those at the top to do any of the "sharing". And they sure as hell will not ever "sacrifice" for the common good of all. Why, that would be against their religion!
Our(??) congress critters recently passed a bill, House Resolution 268, that basically tells the rest of the world(YES, every other country!) to keep out of the Palestine matter. That resolution tells the entire world that the USA will veto ANY attempt to recognize Palestinian statehood! How bloody damn arrogant!  This is what we get with the "full spectrum dominance" that the five sided puzzle palace (Pentagon) and the neo-con clowns want the US to have. It is "America uber ales" and nothing less will do. The US, according to these neo-cons (actually neo-crazies) is to dominate the entire planet. All for the enrichment of the very wealthy and the war industries and of course other "too big to fail" gangasters. This is also the wet dream of the nut balls on the very far right wing who want to impose their vicious, cruel god on us all. These people do not care at all for the supposed "savior" of their own religion. They surely do not accept the "Sermon of the Mount". No, they prefer the cruel tribal god of the Old Testament. Revenge, an eye-for-an-eye is what they crave. This is what America has to look forward to if these clowns remain in power. We will be returned to the times before the "great depression" when there was no Social Security, no unemployment insurance, no social safety net at all.
As the saying goes, no matter how bad things are, they can always get worse. As if things aren't bad enough now. According to various studies, one third of all homeless in America are veterans. How is that for the "support the troops"? Come home wounded, physically and psychologically and the government just tosses you on the scrap heap out back. Hell, you can't fight the damn fool wars any more, you are useless, go away and just die. Yeah, that is how this damned government "saves" monies. Hell, those wounded troops are a drain on the finances don't you know. 


I am very worried about our country. How far will things go until there is a mass backlash? How bad do things have to get before the working class finally wake up to the truth? How do we get government to work FOR the people and not just the very rich? So many questions, so few answers. I wish like hell I had some answers. 
semper fi

8 comments:

Grandpa Ken said...

Hello Charlie,

It's been awhile since you've heard from me. I don't check in daily.

I don't have time to say a whole lot now, but I am encouraged by three people you should know about if you haven't heard:

James K. Galbraith has a lot to say about the fake debate over the phony debt ceiling issue going on in Washington (at the website New Deal 2.0)

Tim DeChristopher is a patriot and citizen hero worth listening to (at the website Peaceful Uprising - but don't be distracted by all the stuff going on there) be sure to read his speech at his post trial sentencing.

And finally, Tim Flannery (at his own website for complete reference of all his stuff) but mostly for his latest book, Here on Earth: A Natural History of the Planet, which I've read and I think gives us all some reason to hope.

Lots of answers from all three of these folks... Maybe even some more from me, later.

Mike Whitney said...

Hi Charlie,

Good article, as always. But I disagree with you on one point. I think the American people have waken up....

They were way ahead of the curve (in a recent Gallup poll) where the majority said they believed we were either in a recession or depression. Also, the vast majority think that congress is worthless and ineffective. And, also, the majority no longer support the Afghanistan war.

Hey, it's a start!

The problem is, we all feel powerless, because the people in power just thumb their noses at us, so the only alternative is to do something that will get their attention.....and who knows what that will be......

charlie ehlen said...

Grandpa Ken,
Hi there. Long time no see.
Thank you for the links. I had not heard of Mr. DeChristopher or Mr. Flannery before your comment.
What gets me with this debt ceiling mess is how it has so many people all stirred up. That may be the goal, get everybody upset and then slide in some nasty bit of screw the public really good. We will see how this plays out soon I suppose.

charlie ehlen said...

Mike,
Thanks for the comments.
I had not been following any of the polls. If they are accurate then this is very good news. More people who wake to the facts the better. Somehow the working class needs to get up and assert itself.
You are 100% correct that most os us do feel powerless. How often do the congress critters actually listen to what any of us say? Oh, sure, I get a "form letter" reply from some of them every time I contact them. Big deal. We almost never get the chance to talk to them directly. The few times they are available to the public, it seems to be tightly controlled. Money talks and we don't have much.

john francis lee said...

On the Blond Haired Blue Eyed Norwegian Terrorist... the approval he's received in Europe... and the lack of the LOUD rebuttal that approval deserves... The West is Brown… and getting browner.

On Tim DeChristopher... a 29 year old wise beyond his years and one whose got his skin the game : the judge actually sentenced him for exercising free speech!

The ocean that shapes the shore
Tim’s official statement at his sentencing hearing
US Judge Dee Benson imprisons Tim DeChristopher for exercising free speech

Thanks Grandpa Ken for bringing Tim up! He is surely among the best, the brightest, and the bravest of the up and coming generation of Americans.

Grace said...

Great post, Charlie, too bad the subject matter is so truly painful and ironic.

".. don't you all know that the rich use their tax breaks to "create jobs"? What a load of bullshit! How many jobs do the hedge fund managers create? Note that these hedge fund managers pay less in taxes than the street cops or the emergency room nurses. ... the only jobs they create are those for undocumneted people who care for their kids, clean their houses/apartments, and cook their food and cut the grass." !! you say it!

Ayn Rand collected SSI in her aging years. Under her husband's name. Our financial undoing is the visionary work of a first class hypocrite. Everybody for themselves; social darwinism. F*U* lady and your Collective of Alan Greenspan; no accountability to the social masses. The Guru they all follow. Atlas shrugged. Indeed.

http://www.alternet.org/teaparty/149721/ayn_rand_railed_against_government_benefits,_but_grabbed_social_security_and_medicare_when_she_needed_them/

I could never make up this stuff or dare to imagine the huge downfall. I am a spectator of blood sport.
Old Rome Redux.

Peace

charlie ehlen said...

Grace,
Thank you for your kind comments on my post.
Yes it is a bit "out of character" for old Ayn isn't it? She rails against the poor folks and extolls the very rich yet she is not above taking SSI.
Her boy Greenspan should tell us all we need to know of her "teaching". How he was allowed to get away with saying he never saw the collapse coming is beyond belief. No that surprising though. His own business that he was running before he went into the Fed was not making any profits as I recall. Way to go, promote a failure to run the Fed. It just proves once again the Peter Principle is true; cream rises until it sours. One could also state it this way' s**t floats.

Grace said...

Times have been too hard; tired, sick broke, heartbroken, disillusioned, angry to be able to even write.

I should think more about kittens.

Thanks Charlie.