The Manifesto Revisited

Since the basic purpose of this blog is to define a document the American people can live with let me restate the premises of the New Manifesto.

1. The government belongs to the people, not the other way around. This is our country. The bureaucrats and politicians guide it by our authority. Remember that when it comes time to vote.

2. Our leaders must not try to appear perfect. We all make mistakes. Admit them. Learn from them and move on.

3. Private ownership of the means of production is the cornerstone of our economic strength. This does NOT mean CORPORATE ownership and does not encourage outsourcing good paying jobs overseas while encouraging marginally paying jobs to be filled by illegal immigrants.

4. This is a land of immigrants. Every time cheaper labor was needed waves of immigrants came to this country, Chinese, Irish, Poles, Germans, Africans. Each group was treated badly when they came (especially the Africans) but ultimately they all became Americans. If people want to come to live in our ghettos, let them do it legally.

5. War is always a last resort, but the object of the war must be of the first agreement between ALL people in the society. Otherwise, no war.

6. Our first response to a threat is to negotiate and determine the cause of the hostility.

7. Our first response to an attack on our soil is a response in kind, but magnified a hundred fold.

8. Peaceful use of nuclear energy is a beautiful thing. But see 7 for our response to a nuclear attack.

9. Energy independence is mandatory. The sun is the source of all energy consumed, excepting nuclear. It shines on all of us.

10. The Constitution of the United States is a darn good document. It mandates the separation of powers and thus we should encourage all branches of government to be separate.

11. The Bill of Rights, as appended to the US Constitution, is a damn fine document itself. No leader has the right to abrogate any of those rights. This is what prevents us from becoming a totalitarian state.

12. Health care is not a right. However, it is a necessity. The purpose of government is to protect the individual and provide those services we can't provide individually. Health care is one of these services. Anything less is un American.

And lastly, What does it mean to be an American?

It means to be a individualist and an individual.
It means to Love your neighbor like your brother.
It means to stand tall and strong in time of threat.
It means to be creative and inventive and productive.
It means to be involved in the creation and re-creation of your government.
It means cherishing this country and its history, with all the flaws and blemishes, mistakes and arrogance. Our history is not perfect, but our ideals are.

Impeach Dubyah?

Last night I saw an internet rumor that Illinois and California legislatures were voting to impeach the president. I've been checking CNN and NPR all day expecting to hear about it but I guess it's just a rumor.

I was afraid they'd really do it. Because, without a doubt, the weak kneed democrats wouldn't charge him with the real charges.

If we were to impeach Dubyah let the charges read: For incompetence, shown be his refusal to actually study the problems before he orders troops in, shown by ignoring white papers on Al_Qaeda plans to attack the US with airplanes.

Let him be impeached for refusing to admit his mistakes, and refusing to see his mistakes.

Let him be impeached for not planning to win the peace in Iraq.

Let him be impeached for making the phrase "Force is a last resort" mean war is imminent.

Let him be impeached for blowing the opportunities of 9/11.

Let him be impeached for the corporate legislation passed on his watch allowing credit card companies to gouge middle income people, big business to profit by off shoring jobs, and shifting the tax burden to the middle class.

Let's not impeach him for lying. We learned that lesson with Clinton and the Blue Dress. If we impeach a president let it be for something meaningful, like the grotesque misuse of power, as illustrated by "warrantless" telephone tapping.

Then again, if we impeached Dubyah and forced him out of office, Dick Cheney would be front and center.

Maybe we should throw out all the bums and start over.

Taking Responsibility

First let me say I'm back.

Life has gotten in the way of my political ranting, but I think I've been quiet too long. The other day I heard a rumor that Dubyah was planning to invade Iraq. All logic of course is against even Himself doing something so incredibly stupid, yet the rumor had some serious legs and came from a serious place.

So I thought for a while, what could generate such a rumor? Well, Dubyah did say that military force would be the last resort if the Iranians wouldn't cease their pursuit of peaceful Nuclear Power. After all Nuclear Power comes from enriched Uranium which can be used to make a Weapon of Mass Destruction. (See Chernobyl..>) I'm sure his gut is telling him that no matter what those stupid physicists say the Axis of Evil will find a way to make WMDs like they did in Iraq.

They didn't have any in Iraq?

Oh.

Well that doesn't matter. At least not to the Commander in Chief.

In fact, it doesn't matter that our military mission in Iraq was never based on winning the peace. We never had enough troops to hold the trouble spots and put out the insurgency before it started. Our troops were supposed to turn over the country to Halliburton and leave. At least that's what the general's were told.

And Dubyah said, today, that he'd do it the same way all over again.

That should be grounds for impeachment. The shear arrogance of the man to say that he's right in the face of the facts and the thousands of brave soldiers who have lost their lives and worse (what's worse than dying? Ask the young GI with no legs or the one with no hands and a new baby he can't hold or support.)

Well Congress can't impeach him because they fell for his line of shit to start with. But if he starts noising around about attacking Iran, I think the impeachment proceedings should be immediate and I think he should be forced to resign or serve his remaining term behind bars along with the rest of the brigands he brought into the administration of our nation.

As for Iran? Let them address the world energy shortage with nuclear power. God love them if they manage to not create a Chernobyl or Three Mile Island. But let them test a nuclear war head and we should offer them several of ours, with delivery systems only used once.

We might not want to take the same approach with North Korea since China would at the very least be offended by the fall out, but then again China might choose to slap the rat biting at her ankle in her own way.

Theory of the Revolution

Education is the cornerstone of a free society. You can not have a free democratic people if they don't understand the consequences of their freedom. History is the study of consequences. It should never be a shroud over the truth. Every despot and successful government wants to teach its people that their government is the best.

This is rarely true.

Today American education takes place in front of a fluorescing tube or liquid crystal display. Agendas and advertisement and blatant bullshit are pushed out to the populace who scan it, ignore and believe it indiscriminately. Since money buys access to the media, the major peddlers of this nonsense are corporations.

So let's take a close look at this. If corporations are corrupting the media that is the primary educational tool in this country to their own ends, and those ends always involve profit for the company, then a revolution to correct the corruption in our system and to return to the concept of a free and democratically lead populace requires gaining control over the corporations.

Can we legislate these monsters out of existence? Can we demand they have morals? Can we elect one leader who isn't bought and paid for? These are the questions, the truths that need to be addressed in the next cycle of elections.

Corporations drive our economy, something like a driver herds cattle, with a whip and a prod. If we aren't willing filling the corporate profits from our own pittance then they invent laws to take our money. Witness the latest legislation on credit card interest rates and bankruptcy. One more example of corporate greed, but I'm getting off topic.

We have to take the long view. The election and support of uncorrupted public officials is the patriotic duty of every American. Screw the parties. Democrats and Republicans are equally corrupt in their own ways. We must set the bar high and demand our elected officials exceed our expectations, instead of allowing them to slither underneath the bar.

So my brothers and sisters. Gather your pens or your keyboards, and strike a blow for the real America.

Hunting with Dick Cheney

All things considered I hope Dick C invites Dubya out to hunt.

The latest bit of arrogance is the President's insistence on overriding a congressional bill, before it is written or passed, that interferes with his corporate brothers. Even if they are Arabs indistinguishable from the masses demonstrating and bombing and raging by any means other than their bank accounts.

We have a corporate oligarchy running our country. That was at least acceptable when the owners of the corporations were Americans. But now the corporations seem to be owned by others. Corporate decisions do not consider the people of this country as anything more than fodder. They suck our blood like vampires and laugh at our efforts to contain them.

Walmart, the quintessential American trading company, forces American companies to close their facilities in the US and open them in China so they can buy the goods cheaper. And it's a good thing they do that. With all the people underemployed in this country there isn't anyplace to stretch a buck like Walmart. Is it in Walmart's best interest to make sure everyone lives in trailer parks? Probably.

Maybe we deserve to be treated like mindless fools, manipulated by the press, told what's best for us by a patriarchal government, watched like mice by the NSA and the FBI, and fed upon by corporate vampires. If we had the guts and the independence of our ancestors, we'd stand up all together and say "No more. This is our country. These are our lives. If we are free, let us be free. While we live, let us live."

Consider the question of capital punishment. The latest fiasco is whether or not lethal injection is a humane enough way to kill somebody. Why do we care? The person in question didn't care when he committed his crime. Let's look at the improvements in execution over the years.

Stoning: A little primitive, very painful and very cruel. Still practiced today in parts of Africa.

Lopping off the criminals head: Another ancient practice made popular by the Hebrew government about the time of Christ (John the Baptist). Usually performed with a sword or ax. Pretty swift and painless form of execution, unless the edge is dull or the blade twists. Apparently the Japanese officers practiced on Chinese prisoners during WWII until they could drop a head with a single blow, instead of hacking the victim's head off like chopping a tree. This method of execution was improved on with the French Guillotine. As long as the edge was sharp the heads were separated so quick they barely knew they were dead.

Hanging was another interesting method of execution. In it's more primitive form (used right up until the KKK lynchings) the culprit is simply left dangling from a rope until he strangled to death. Very nasty. The government improved on this with the advent of the gallows trap. The sudden drop was supposed to break the villain's neck and therefore kill him before he strangled. It worked most of the time.

In recent times certain groups have developed really efficient execution techniques. The Russians in particular would put two small caliber bullets in the back of the victim's head. Probably the most humane method of execution I've heard of. Wouldn't even know you were dead.

So what's the fuss with lethal injection and the gas chamber and old Sparky? Take a lesson from Beria. If a criminal has been convicted by legitimate evidence so there is no doubt he is responsible for a capital crime, put two bullets in his head, drag him out into the woods and let the animals eat him. End of problem.

Or send him hunting with Dick Cheney.