Here's the only reasonable choice at the ballot box

Below is an email I recently sent my son, his family, and a few others.  It's slightly edited---

Sorry to hear you're under a heat dome.  It's a tragedy that as things worsen, most people appear to still continue with the belief that our society can hang onto biz as usual in terms of our way of living.

Within 10 years, 120 degrees will not be uncommon.  It may be worse than that if we don't start treating the situation as a genuine emergency.  The world's best scientists know what needs to be done (a couple hundred of them were cited in the References section of my first book), & close to none of it is being done.

Everything must change...ASAP.  Such is politically unacceptable, so politicians engage in Greenwashing, and tout their actions...

which are almost totally inadequate.

The best thing every voter could do in the political realm would be to vote for the Green Party.  Because of rampant propaganda (and the control the Republicrats/Demopublicans have over ballot-access Laws AND debates), that won't happen.

         In terms of policies & a Party Platform, the Green Party is head & shoulders above both the Repubs AND the Dems.  That's particularly true in the areas of environmental protection, economics, and foreign policy.  Be sure to watch this clip... (it's short) 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6pN6x6pGwA

Dr. Cornel West (a brilliant philosopher & class struggle activist) describes the Dem Party to a tee, back then & still true today.  The Dem Party is a corporatist disaster.

[It's looking like West will be the Green Party's nominee to run for Pres. next year.  His political philosophy is equal to, or maybe even better than, that of Bernie Sanders.  Plus, he understands neoliberalism better than most national politicians.] 

Hang in There

......................... 

Not only my opinion.  Be Well

The Two-Party Political System in the USA was Founded by Plutocrats

 Here's only a tiny part of the current state of American politics.  Each description at each link is extremely brief---

 https://www.democracynow.org/2023/2/3/headlines/house_denounces_horrors_of_socialism_in_bipartisan_resolution

[Here are some of the "horrors of socialism" in the USA:  national parks, public roads, public libraries, public health clinics, social security retirement, & anything else not privatized.]

https://www.democracynow.org/2023/2/3/headlines/1_000_children_are_yet_to_be_reunited_with_families_after_separation_at_us_mexico_border

[This borders on criminality perpetrated by Repub AND Dem elected officials & appointed bureaucrats.  Perhaps arguably, it's child abuse.]

https://www.democracynow.org/2023/2/3/headlines/guantanamo_prisoner_majid_khan_freed_and_resettled_after_2_decades_of_detention_years_of_torture

["The U.S. continues to hold 34 prisoners at Guantánamo. Only 11 of them have been charged in military tribunals."  What an egregious shame on American national politicians.  ALL humans have certain rights, including criminals, terrorists, SUSPECTS, & the like.]

HISTORY MATTERS---

The first political Parties in the USA were the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans (AKA, the Anti-Federalists).  They were formed by the first political "bosses" about twenty years after the founding of our country.  Alexander Hamilton was the Head of the Federalists, and they were in favor of a strong central government.  When the USA was forming in the mid-1770's, Hamilton favored a monarchy for our type of government; he believed we should have a King.  Thomas Jefferson was the Head of the Democratic-Republicans, and they favored strong States' Rights.

These first American political Parties were formed by the members of the social elite, the rich plutocrats of that time.  Almost all of them "owned" hundreds of slaves, and believed only the aristocracy should rule a country.  Twenty years prior to the formal organization of the two Parties, these same men formed our government.  They did not favor a democracy, and often described same as "two wolves and a sheep deciding what's for dinner".

They finally settled on a Constitutional Republic in which "all men are created equal", except of course, for slaves.  Women couldn't vote, and members of the Senate were not elected; instead, they were appointed to office.

Time passed, and things changed.  Now we're the "land of the free and the home of the brave".  I agree we're brave.  One has to be when putting up with politicians who favor mega banks, perpetual war, fossil fuels, policing the world, the American Empire, the rich & powerful, and Edward Bernays style propaganda.  But, are you "free" - from debt, from job insecurity, from the rat-race, from pollution (e.g., the "forever chemicals" and the nano-plastics in your body), from a fractured and atomized society, from the super high cost of living, from a government too large to be managed properly, from "food deserts" scattered all across the country, from weather extremes which could have been mitigated on the macro-scale, from inflation (the hidden tax)?  If not, then place much of the blame on a broken TWO-PARTY system which is largely run by Oligarchs and/or their influence.

Don't jump to conclusions.  No one loves this country more than I do.  It's a false myth which says if you love your country, then you must support the scoundrels who are running it.  Plutocrats promote that baloney.  The aristocracy wants you to believe such nonsense.  As Warren Buffett once stated fairly recently:  "There's a Class War going on in this country, and my side is winning.".  So true, Mr. Buffett.

It doesn't have to be that way.  Stop drinking the propaganda kool-aid coming from Repubs AND Dems.  Overwhelmingly, they are on the same Team (except for a few social hot-button issues), and it's not yours.  They are on Team Oligarchy.

So, what's to be done?

1.  If you're a Democrat, don't ever vote for one of your "centrist/moderate" candidates (unless he/she is running against someone like Trump).  They are NOT centrists; they are corporatists.  They are part of the Big Business Establishment.  Instead, support Progressives.  They have their flaws, but they're the closest thing to being democratic (with a small letter "d") in the Corporatist Dem Party.  The Dem Party of the past is long-gone, replaced by neoliberalism.

After Sanders was completely shafted by the DNC, it's amazing to me that any Progressives remained in the so-called Dem Party.  They all should have dumped it.  I'm guessing they believe they'll change it from the inside.  That's highly unlikely.  It's a rigged game, rigged by billions of dollars.

2.  If you're a Republican, be aware that the Repub Party also is long-gone; it has been co-opted first by Neoconservatives, and then by Neoliberals.  They support Big Biz over Small Biz.  They egregiously promulgate Corporate Globalization and monopolies.  The only thing they want to conserve is Rule by Plutocrats.  They favor industrial farming over smaller family farms.  They abhor competition in the marketplace.  They don't give a damn about your religion, your ethics, or your belief in conservatism.  In short, you've been bamboozled.

Your best hope is to dump the so-called Repub Party, and become an Independent or perhaps a Libertarian (although, you probably won't care for the liberal side of libertarianism).  You're fairly well shafted, partly because most likely you don't know much at all about Russell Kirk, the Founder of Modern Day Conservatism.  Without knowing it, you allowed genuine conservatism to be replaced by neoliberalism.

................

Not only my opinion.  Be Well

"...a clear and present danger to American democracy", AND MORE - REDUX

 I first published this piece about four months ago.  It applies today as much, or perhaps more, as it did then.  [It's slightly edited - our median income is added near the very end of the essay.]

........................

The title above is how retired Judge Michael Luttig described Donald J. Trump and his followers.  The kicker is this:  Judge Luttig is one of the most respected conservative judges in the USA.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jun/16/trump-clear-present-danger-to-us-democracy-conservative-judge-warns

This should mean all Main Street people still in the Trump Cult will re-evaluate their mistaken beliefs, but I'm not holding my breath.  Cult members rarely ever are rational in any sense of the word.

It also should mean the hijacked Republican Party finally will come to its senses and dump Trump.  Politics being as irrational as it is, again I'm not holding my breath.  In general, the two major Parties of the current era appear to care little about honor, principles, ethics, the Law, and especially, the Constitution.  Instead, their number one priority is re-election...at any cost.

.........................

The entire political scene in the USA is an embarrassment to the country.  It's also a danger.  Plus, it has caused most of the world to lose respect for us.  Finally, it's not really much of a stretch to say our political scene is an existential threat not only to us, but to all life on Earth as well.  Why?  Simply put, the actions or lack of action on the following "fronts" are a threat to the existence of our species & all others:  nuclear weapons & nuke waste; unprecedented ecological damage; societal disintegration; economic chaos; perpetual war; a belief in unlimited economic growth; corporatism; corporate globalization; and politics lacking common sense & ethics.  We must get off that path if Life is to survive and thrive.

p.s.  Biden touted the new jobs report yesterday (10-28-22).  He was gleeful, & said it was "great news".  Perhaps, but this should be added:  the current median income in the USA is $36,080, which means HALF our workers make LESS than that.  Source:  usdebtclock.org  (far right side of the page).

In this day & age - not so great.

.............................

Here's my contribution to a paradigm shift:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-beginning-of-the-path-to-human-extinction-and-how-to-get-off-it-scott-haley/1141364431?ean=2940160947181

or

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09Z4QL6NB

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Not only my opinion.  Be Well

"...a clear and present danger to American democracy", AND MORE

 The title above is how retired Judge Michael Luttig described Donald J. Trump and his followers.  The kicker is this:  Judge Luttig is one of the most respected conservative judges in the USA.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jun/16/trump-clear-present-danger-to-us-democracy-conservative-judge-warns

This should mean all Main Street people still in the Trump Cult will re-evaluate their mistaken beliefs, but I'm not holding my breath.  Cult members rarely ever are rational in any sense of the word.

It also should mean the hijacked Republican Party finally will come to its senses and dump Trump.  Politics being as irrational as it is, again I'm not holding my breath.  In general, the two major Parties of the current era appear to care little about honor, principles, ethics, the Law, and especially, the Constitution.  Instead, their number one priority is re-election...at any cost.

.........................

The entire political scene in the USA is an embarrassment to the country.  It's also a danger.  Plus, it has caused most of the world to lose respect for us.  Finally, it's not really much of a stretch to say our political scene is an existential threat not only to us, but to all life on Earth as well.  Why?  Simply put, the actions or lack of action on the following "fronts" are a threat to the existence of our species & all others:  nuclear weapons & nuke waste; unprecedented ecological damage; societal disintegration; economic chaos; perpetual war; a belief in unlimited economic growth; corporatism; corporate globalization; and politics lacking common sense & ethics.  We must get off that path if Life is to survive and thrive.

Here's my contribution to a paradigm shift:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-beginning-of-the-path-to-human-extinction-and-how-to-get-off-it-scott-haley/1141364431?ean=2940160947181

or

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09Z4QL6NB

Shortly, I'll begin posting excerpts of the work on this venue.

...........................

Not only my opinion.  Be Well

The Following Applies to the Top Tiers of Both Major Political Parties in the USA

"Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedies."
~ Groucho Marx

"An honest politician is one who, when he is bought, will stay bought."
~ Simon Cameron, one of the USA's first political "bosses".  He died in 1889 at the age of 90.

"Politics is the gentle art of getting votes from the poor and campaign funds from the rich by promising to protect each from the other."
~ Oscar Ameringer, known as the Mark Twain of American Socialism.  He lived from 1870 through most of 1943.

"I have the most reliable friend you can have in American politics, and that is ready money."
~ Phil Gramm, a national politician who began as a Democrat and then switched to the Republican Party in 1983.  He sponsored many legislative bills favoring financial deregulation.

"There’s a whiff of the lynch mob or the lemming migration about any overlarge concentration of like-thinking individuals, no matter how virtuous their cause."  [Amen, amen, and amen to that.]
~ P. J. O'Rourke, an American political satirist.
..................................................................
It isn't that all politicians are rotten and despicable; rather, it's that the Two-Party System within which they operate is such.  That system is not required by the U.S. Constitution; neither are political Parties.  Early political bosses invented both.  Perhaps it's time to re-think the entire set-up.  Any unbiased examination of history reveals that set-up has not served us well.  Plus, despite popular opinion to the contrary, the Two-Party System (including "winner-takes-all") is not set in stone.

Not only my opinion.  Be Well

Politicians Are a Lot Like Diapers

They need to be changed often, and for the same reason.  😄

The above is from the movie, Man of the Year, with the late, great Robin Williams...

and it's so true.

In 1975, the "liberal" Think Tank, the Trilateral Commission (founded by David Rockefeller and Zbigniew Brzezinski) published its first book-length report,  The Crisis of Democracy: Report on the Governability of Democracies.  The Report was written by Left-leaning/Liberal authors.  Their conclusion was this:  the crisis is that democracies have too much democracy, and that's what makes it difficult to govern them.  According to the authors, that had to change.

Since 1975, in the USA we've had an increase in the pace of the fairly steady march toward total Oligarchy and Plutocracy, and a fairly steady retreat from genuine, participatory democracy.  One, and only one, of the reasons for that is:  voters don't vote out politicians often enough.  People such as McConnell, Cornyn, Pelosi, Schumer, and the like all should be returned to private life.

Politicians are a lot like diapers.  They need to be changed often...

Not only my opinion.  Be Well

Corporatist Oligarchs Have Bamboozled the People

Knowing how I believe that few, if any, differences exist between Repubs and Dems (at the highest levels of politics), a CA friend sent me an email showing what he believes are some of the differences.  He ended by asking if I knew of any Repub in favor of the $15 minimum wage.  My response (slightly edited) is found below.

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Not 100% sure, but I think Senator Susan Collins is for $15 per hour.  Many other Repubs AND many Dems are for a raise to $10 - $12, rather than $15.  [Side Note:  In only a two-person household in 1992, I was making $15 an hour...

and barely scraping by back then.  $15/hour is almost nothing nowadays.]

But none of that proves anything; it's like not seeing the forest because of individual trees.  In general, & in the larger scope of things, today's major Parties both are dictatorial in their running of each Party and they're both Corporatist in nature.  They both marginalize any truly Populist candidates, and they kow-tow to Wall Street.

In my opinion, the whole current Repub v. Dem thing is a complete sham...a Divide & Conquer strategy by Oligarchs.  That wasn't true in the past, but it is now.  No one ever will convince me otherwise.  The last genuine Populist to run for national office was George McGovern in 1972.  Sanders is better than most, but I think his attitude toward things like Drone Wars & Foreign Policy in general, stinks.  Even Rand Paul, a blatant Corporatist, has a better Foreign Policy view than Sanders.  Paul is much more of a non-interventionist than almost anyone in DC.  He has been marginalized almost totally because of it.  The same thing happened to Dennis Kucinich on the Dem side.  

Both Dems & Repubs in the top slots want American Hegemony to continue forever.  They all believe we should be the world's Police Force.  Forget about the U.S. Constitution and International Law.  According to the Republicrats & the Demopublicans, the U.S. Gov't can order the overthrow of any Gov't, change any regime, place sanctions on any country, and bomb any nation it so chooses.  It's insanity. 

No-Sir, in the big picture, there's hardly any difference at all between Dems & Repubs at the highest levels when it comes to really significant issues.  In the rare cases when there is a difference on a significant issue, it's usually because one or the other has given in to overwhelming popular protest...but their core, Corporatist beliefs have not changed.  Politicians are sleazy & deceitful that way.

That's how I see it, anyway.  Forty years ago, things were different... but not anymore.  The political paradigm has changed completely.  Unfortunately, most Americans seem to be stuck in the old paradigm of Repubs v. Dems, Right v. Left, etc.  That exists in name only... and is a testament to how thoroughly the Oligarchs have bamboozled the People.

As I've said many times, the new political paradigm is:  the Oligarchy v. the rest of us.  In socioeconomic terms, the Lower Class is growing larger, the Middle Class is shrinking, and the Upper class has increased its income by 700% in the last 30 years.  The two major political Parties are no longer relevant... except as Edward Bernays style Propaganda.

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Not only my opinion.  Be Well

Carroll Quigley on the Major Political Parties

"The argument that the two parties should represent opposed ideals and policies, one, perhaps, of the Right and the other of the Left, is a foolish idea acceptable only to doctrinaire and academic thinkers."  Carroll Quigley

Carroll Quigley. BrainyQuote.com, Xplore Inc, 2016. http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/c/carroll_quigley.html, accessed September 18, 2016.

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It's astounding to me that today many people still think there are significant differences between the Democrats and Republicans...especially regarding the economy, finance, mega banking, foreign policy, USA hegemony, Corporatism, Gov't deficit spending, the trashing of the Constitution, Orwellian policies, and war.  American history, particularly in the last 26 years, proves otherwise.

Not only my opinion.  Be Well

The Most Dishonest Profession in the USA

I was going to title this piece, "The Sleaziest Profession..."; however, that might be a bit too harsh...but not by much.  Also, be aware that this is a generalization on my part.  There are usually exceptions to a general rule, but they rarely ever prove a generalization to be false.  What do you think...is it that of a drug dealer?  Nope...a good contender for the title, but that's not it.  How about that of a Mega Bank CEO?  Another good contender, but that's not it either.

The most dishonest profession in the USA is that of a high-level, national politician and/or bureaucrat.  Those at the highest levels.  [I include high-level appointees in the term "bureaucrat".]  I came to my conclusion after keenly observing U.S. politics for well over half a century, and most recently, watching the documentaries Money for Nothing, Silenced, Secrets Politics and Torture, Losing Iraq, United States of Secrets, To Catch a Trader, The Untouchables, and many more.  [The 1st two currently are on Netflix (& probably elsewhere online); the remainder are available at the PBS Frontline website.]

Before I offer evidence for my assertion in the paragraph above (the 1st sentence), let's be clear:  the following people are/were not always dishonest, or even sleazy.  Had they been, it would have been too obvious.  Liars work much in the same way as does Propaganda:  there's always a small element of truth to be found.  That's what makes the person or the idea seem credible.  Finally, I could have made the list below several pages long, but there's really not much use in doing that.  Plus, I don't have the time to spare.

Evidence for the contention or assertion---
0.  J. Edgar Hoover
1.  Richard Nixon, Spiro Agnew, and Henry Kissinger
2.  Alan Greenspan and Ben Bernanke
3.  Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, and Madeleine Albright
4.  Robert Rubin and Larry Summers
5.  Dubya Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, Karl Rove, Douglas Feith, John Bolton, John Yoo, Hank Paulson, Michael Hayden, Scooter Libby, Richard Armitage, & others too numerous to mention
6.  Barack Obama, Tim Geithner, Eric Holder, Susan Rice, Robert Gates, John Kerry, James Clapper, John Brennan, & others too numerous to mention
7.  Rahm Emanuel
8.  Donald Trump
9.  Ted Cruz
10.  Chuck Schumer
11.  Harry Reid
12.  Nancy Pelosi
13.  Jim Inhofe
14.  Tom Delay
15.  Jim Traficant
16.  James G. Watt (Secretary of the Interior under Reagan)

All the above is my opinion...and presently, all the high-ranking politicians that promulgate the anachronistic Repubs v. Dems paradigm in American politics should be included.  They essentially are all on the same Team...that of Neoliberalism.  We the People have been snookered by Edward Bernays style Propaganda into ignoring the real political paradigm in this country:  the Rich & Powerful versus the rest of us.

Be Well

More: Class War and Politics

Once again, I offer my response to an email from a "Conservative" friend.  He asked me about political "sides" (e.g., Right v. Left, Conservatives v. Liberals, etc.), and also whether or not I thought our economic system might collapse...and what I thought might come after that, specifically, would it be a leaner, more conservative system.

My response---

Here's what I believe in terms of "sides". I came to this after about 5 yrs of serious consideration---

There is no longer any choice between so-called Liberals and so-called Conservatives; that's all an Oligarchical distraction - a Divide & Conquer strategy. It certainly wasn't always that way; maybe 10 to 20 yrs ago the choice was genuine...no longer. To illustrate, take Kennedy & Obama as examples. I believe that JFK was a genuine Liberal/Progressive...and I think he truly loved this country. I didn't agree with most of his politics, but I thought he was sincere in his beliefs. Obama is a snake. Those smitten with Obama-worship appear to believe that he's a Liberal; those opposing him appear to believe that he's a Socialist. I firmly believe he's neither...OBAMA IS A CORPORATIST through and through. I've detailed my reasons for that belief in various Blog posts.

Here's what John Pilger, a self-admitted Socialist (and an investigative journalist), had to say about O---
"He's a product of Madison Ave. propaganda---Brand Obama... and it's all fake. Don't believe what he says; watch what he does.".

"Conservatives" point to ObamaCare as an example of socialism; what a joke. The ACA was a bailout of the health insurance industry; it should have been called the Affordable Insurance Act. It did nothing for health care; it basically gave $$$ to mega insurance companies. It's "affordable" because many customers now have higher premiums than before, and because many people are now forced to buy coverage they don't need (such as maternity care for single men). The extra money supposedly is diverted to subsidize poorer customers. In any case, it's PRIVATE companies that benefit. That's fascism, not socialism; it's the power of the State married to the power of Big Biz. Despite their phony bitching & moaning about OCare, I firmly believe that the health insurance industry loves it. It's a windfall for them. It's also a windfall for PRIVATE doctors, PRIVATE clinics, PRIVATE hospitals, etc. Why? More business.

So, as to "sides" in the current political climate, I see only two real choices--- the Oligarchy, and the rest of us. Unfortunately, that means the now phony Conservative-Liberal and Repub-Dem splits have to be ignored or dismantled, or both. People will think that's ridiculous, impossible, unimaginable. I say, look at History; something very similar has happened over & over, not only around the world, but also in the short span of this country. For example, the Republican Party was not around for decades earlier in our political history. Our Founders were all "Liberals", but later "liberal" no longer meant "for freedom". NeoCons are called Neoliberals everywhere but in the USA. Reagan & Thatcher were proponents of Neoliberalism to everyone but Americans...and that was a bad thing to most foreigners. The current political state of things is not carved in concrete. It's not even unusual for such things to totally change. But the Oligarchs would like us to believe otherwise...because the current setup is a perfect Divide & Conquer strategy for them. And please, it's not any kind of "conspiracy"; it's simply good business to them.

As to the Tea Partiers, it's very hard to assess them...they're of various beliefs and decentralized to a large degree. They are not, despite what the Corporate Media calls them, only ultra-conservatives. If I were to guess, I'd say they're near the right track, but not on it. Of course, my "right track" may not be yours. [It does bother me that I've seen some evidence that most likely their "grassroots" movement really was started and funded by Oligarchs such as the Koch brothers. The evidence is not definitive, but it's there. In my mind, that taints the whole movement to some unknown degree. They may be a good thing...or not. It's too hard to tell right now.]
....................................................

I don't know for sure whether or not your excellent questions were rhetorical, but I'll give my opinion regardless. :) [Many more Americans should be giving serious thought to these things; instead, they seem to be distracted by Bread & Circuses.]

Naturally, all of the following is pure guesswork on my part. I've learned that the older I get, the less I really know for sure. That said, I believe our current system is doomed...probably not within my lifetime, or maybe even yours, but doomed nonetheless. All the signs are there. The national debt will continue to grow until the collapse; that will come shortly after the world no longer accepts the dollar as the world's reserve currency. People in positions of power didn't say much when an unprecedented event happened fairly recently---for the 1st time ever, a major country (China) called for a discontinuation of the dollar as the world's reserve currency. That's monumental; it's the first crack in our worldwide financial dike.

Before the dike bursts, however, I believe that the Oligarchs (with the aid of their Cronies in DC...just like before) will pull off one or two more great heists...bailouts and trillions in loans (like before) at less than 1% interest. Everything's pretty much in place for that to happen again. The biggest things in the financial markets STILL are derivatives...they're still being sold hand over fist...and they're STILL backed by zero reserves. It's the biggest scam in the history of humankind...all for the benefit of Oligarchs, and all facilitated by their Cronies in DC---Repubs and Dems. The One Percenters appear to be very short-term thinkers. They will get more billions to secure their immediate families, and the rest of us can go to hell and/or the poorhouse.

As to emerging from the ashes with a leaner, more conservative theme, I hope not...because today's "Conservatism", based on what I've seen from Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Bill O'Reilly, the anchor on Fox (name escapes me), Bill Kristol, etc. appears to be a cross between Attila the Hun and Trotskyism. I'm serious...it barely resembles Conservatism at all. It's NEO-conservatism, through and through. They don't believe in Peace through Strength; rather, they believe in Peace through WAR... pre-emptive war...in other words, naked aggression. That's very UNconservative. In the financial/economic arena, they believe in working with Cronies in DC in order to rig the game in their favor, making them richer & richer. Supposedly, according to the propaganda, that's so they can "create jobs". What a joke and a scam. Instead they destroy jobs, eliminate jobs, ship jobs offshore, cut costs by eliminating benefits, hire part-time workers, fire those about to retire, and in general, play the Enron Game. All very UNconservative.

I believe some millionaires/billionaires have made it honestly, but in general, I think one has to be unethical or crooked, or both, in order to get to that level. Very UNconservative.

So, my preference (coming from the ashes) would be the Capitalist version of Anarcho-Syndicalism. [There is a Socialist version, but I don't advocate that one.] As viewed today, "Conservatism" simply isn't lean enough. Today's "Conservatism" is way too Statist in nature. Just my opinion.

Be Well, Pard

"A Fool's Game for the Masses"

It's really gratifying to see that I'm not the only one who writes about the two major political parties in this country being a fraud:
http://blog.independent.org/2009/10/12/partisan-politics-%e2%80%93-a-fools-game-for-the-masses/

I couldn't have said it better.

So, some ask, what's to be done? There are those who advocate the violent overthrow of the central government. We have that Right under the conditions expressed in the Declaration of Independence, and those conditions seem to exist presently (and for quite a number of years). I am NOT suggesting that course of action, for the simple reason that most likely it would not succeed. Peaceful revolution is a much better option.

Elsewhere on this Blog I've encouraged boycott of the Federal Government. Unfortunately, that course is problematic not because it wouldn't succeed, but rather because most likely it will never get started.

Here's another option; this one could materialize AND succeed. Pressure Congress to live up to its duty to call an Article V Convention. More than two-thirds of the State Legislatures have applied for such a Convention, but Congress has ignored its Constitutional mandate to call the Convention. http://foavc.org/

Before you buy into the completely lame excuses for Congress failing to do its duty in that regard, be sure to read this---
http://www.article-5.org/mod/resource/view.php?id=60
If the above link does not work, go to http://foavc.org/ and click on "F.A.Q", on the left side of the Home page (scroll down).

An Article V Convention seems to me to be the best available first step in bringing about a much needed, peaceful Revolution in this country. The next step would be to launch a blitz ad campaign aimed at our so-called "representatives" in DC, the purpose of which would be to make it clear that certain proposed Amendments (an Article V Convention only can propose Amendments) are the will of We the People...and if they're not ratified, heads will roll (so to speak). Although there is NO same-subject requirement in Article V, well over two-thirds of the State Legislatures already have applied for a Convention in order to propose a Federal Balanced Budget Amendment. Congress has ignored their applications.

It's time to force the DC politicos to adhere to the U.S. Constitution.