Fed Gov't and Corporate Media Propaganda + Lies by Omission Accelerate

I say this often, but it's true in every case:  if this situation weren't so tragic, it would be comical.  The highest levels of the Fed Gov't and Corporate Media keep pushing this narrative:  our intelligence agencies have proof that the Russian Gov't (now including Putin personally) have hacked our cyber infrastructure and interfered with the recent election.  This claim apparently refers to the hacking of emails and subsequent release of same, not the hacking of voting machines.  Let's examine the two parts of this distraction from what's really important---the content of those emails.

Hacking Our Cyber Infrastructure---
Even if true (& it probably is), here's what our Powers-That-Be are leaving out--- our intelligence agencies hack any institution or person they so desire, at will.  WikiLeaks, The Intercept, The Guardian, the Washington Post, the New York Times, Der Spiegel, and a few others have revealed that (via the Snowden documents) over and over.  Our Gov't even has hacked our allies.  They've even hacked Angela Merkel's cell phone.  Do you think for one minute our Gov't has not hacked Russia, Iran, and China?  Please.  The implied self-righteousness and holier-than-thou attitude of our high-ranking politicians is downright sickening.

Interfering With Our Election---
IF it did "interfere with" or "influence" the recent election, how?  Was it by revealing scurrilous, hidden truths about the Democratic Party Machine and/or Hillary Clinton?  If so, I have no problem with that.  Here's what I do have a problem with:  the hypocrisy and lies-by-omission of the highest levels of the USA Gov't and the Corporate Media.  Over and over in our history, the Fed Gov't has not only interfered with elections in country after country, but also has covertly and overtly overthrown governments... some of those governments were democratically elected.  Let's not forget what our Gov't did in Guatemala, Iran, and Iraq in the 1950's... and what it did at other times in Italy (1948), Laos ('57-'73), Haiti (1959), Cuba (1902-04 & 1961), Ecuador (1961), Congo/Zaire (1961), Dominican Republic (1963), Brazil (1964), Indonesia (1965), Greece (1965 & 1967), Uruguay (1969), Cambodia (1970), Bolivia (1971), Chile (1973), Australia (1975), El Salvador (1979), Haiti (1986 & 1993), and after 9-11, Afghanistan and Iraq.  The previous list represents cases where our Fed Gov't interfered with elections and/or overthrew governments, most of which were democratically elected.  The list is incomplete.  The holier-than-thou attitude of our politicians does nothing but make enemies around the world.  The hypocrisy of our high-ranking representatives surely must be legendary in foreign countries.

I love this Land with great fervor, but despise the (in general) hypocrisy displayed by too many Higher-Ups in our Gov't... both Republicans and Democrats.

Not only my opinion.  Be Well

Electoral College and a Popular Vote Lead of Over 2.6 Million

Below is my response to an email which stated that the Electoral College system in the USA "makes sense" as evidenced by the fact that of the total number of Counties in our Land, the overwhelming majority voted for Trump.  That email was written when Clinton's popular vote lead was 1.1 million less than it is now.  [My piece below is edited very, very little.]
..................................

The email below apparently was written when Clinton's lead in the popular vote was only 1.5 million.  [It's now over 2.6 million...and still counting.]  It follows, then, that it was a bit premature to say with certainty how many counties voted this way or that way... because the vote count wasn't over.  It still isn't.

But all that aside---

Yes, of course the Electoral College system makes sense... as long as---

1.  You don't believe in democracy, i.e., every vote is equal, every vote is counted, and whoever gets the most votes... wins.  The College always has been weighted in favor of less populous areas; thus, every vote is not equal.  If you're fine with that, then yes, it all makes sense.

2.  You believe a winner in Presidential races should be determined before all the votes are counted.  If you're fine with that, then yes, it makes sense.

3.  You don't believe in the concept that the winner must get the most votes.  If you're fine with that, then yes, it all makes sense.

4.  You accept the fact that when College Electors vote in the actual Presidential election (this time it's on December 19th), they don't have to vote according to the pledges determined when we voted.  They can, instead, vote according to their "consciences"... even if that's the opposite of the pledges.  If you're fine with that, then yes, the Electoral College makes sense.

"Luckily" (so to speak, but not really), except for social hot-button issues, it makes very little to no difference who gets elected President.  Nowadays, they're all Neoliberals... that is, all of them at the highest levels in the two major Parties.  [Any exceptions are fairly quickly marginalized.]  They all have similar beliefs when it comes to significant issues like war, economic policy, monetary policy, the corrupt Fed Reserve, Global business, too-big-to-fail-or-jail Mega Banks, the broken Fed Justice System, the war on the Fourth Amendment, the war on the First Amendment, the war on cash (part of the war on privacy), Corporatism/Crony Capitalism, & a few others.  Plus, Trump shortly will discover that it's high-level, lifelong bureaucrats who run the Gov't, not Presidents.  Especially in the case of Trump v. Clinton, we were shafted no matter who won.

To refer to those who opposed Trump as "whiners" really is hilarious.  Today, the biggest whiner in politics is the Don... he's still whining even after he was elected.

Finally, in case anyone doesn't know, 58% of the electorate opposed Trump AND CLINTON.  [That includes me.]

p.s.  The Don, like all politicians, already has started going back on his campaign promises... even before he takes office.  Example:  he railed against Wall Street insiders, but now is appointing Wall St. insiders to his Admin.  Example:  he said he'd deport the "illegals" (11 million of them); now it's down to about 3 million--- those who are "criminals".  Example:  he said he would launch an investigation into the criminality of Hillary; now that's off the table.  Example:  he said he would register all Muslims; now that's gone as well.  [It's a good thing; such a registry would be blatantly unconstitutional AND unAmerican.]

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

Not only my opinion.  Be Well

The Plutocracy and Politics in the USA

Below is an edited version of my email response to a friend.  He had written that our economic and social ills overwhelmingly were caused by the Republicans.  [Parts of this piece didn't copy/paste properly, and I don't have time to correct them.  It's all readable.]
...................................................

You'll never convince me that somehow Repubs are bad and Dems are much, much better.  Neither will anyone convince me of the reverse of that.  At the highest levels, those old labels don't matter anymore... they all (at the very top) subscribe to the Neoliberal agenda.  In developed countries, that agenda is sweeping the world with its Corporatist, Globalist "vision".

Pard, you appear to be completely misunderstanding what I've been saying.  Apparently, I haven't made it clear.  [All that is no surprise to me because humans are the worst communicators of all species on the planet.  We jump to conclusions, assume things not in evidence, fail to fully describe things, etc., etc.  Even honeybees communicate better than we do:]

I agree with your "facts" about certain people in politics.  What I'm trying to tell you is that, at the highest levels, it doesn't matter anymore if they are Repubs, or Dems, or Druids.  The Powers-That-Be don't care if Schumer is a Democrat, or if Ryan is a Republican... all they care about is whether or not those Corporatists support/promote the Neoliberal/Neoconservative, Corporatist, Globalization, Oligarchical agenda.  Anyone who doesn't support that agenda either never makes it to the top of the Power Pyramid, or if they do, they are completely marginalized.  [Ron Paul & Dennis Kucinich are good examples.]  That means, at the highest levels, Parties don't matter anymore.  At the top, they're all on the same team.  At the level of Main Street, Parties simply are used to distract, divide, & conquer us... and make us think that at the top there are significant differences on issues other than hot-button topics such as gay marriage or abortion.  There aren't.

There are little to no differences (at the highest levels) regarding war, the economy/jobs, High Finance and Monetary Policy, privacy & the Surveillance State, free speech, the Fed Reserve, the Police State, socialism for Mega Banks & Mega Insurance Corporations but no one else, USA Hegemony, and Corporatist Globalization.

Those of you who keep working in the old political paradigm are playing right into the hands of the Plutocracy.  They want us to fight with each 

other.  They want us to think "it's the other side's fault".

And that's working great for the Powers (public & private) at the top.

Trump isn't a "Conservative" OR a Republican; he's an apolitical opportunist.  He's nothing but a Corporatist.  So is Obama, who became 

a multi-millionaire while in office.  They're both Crony Capitalists.

Neither one of them cares one whit about any political Party.

The Powers-That-Be, regardless of political affiliation, are in a whole 

different world than we are...and they don't care about political Parties.  

They only care about power, position, money, and their own security.  

That's why young, relatively poor men are sent off to war in order to protect the lives & property of the rich old men who started the war for 

economic/financial reasons.  Parties have nothing to do with it.  

While not all Plutocrats are bad apples, their group/Class is ruining this country... primarily via Crony Capitalism.  In the first full year after the 2008 Crash, 93% of all wealth in the USA went to the upper one one-hundredth of a percent of our population.  That's not Free Market Capitalism, or a Republic, or a Democracy... that's a Plutocracy enabled by Crony Capitalism.  Russia has the same system--- the merging of State and Private Power.  It's the result of what one author called The Conservative Nanny State.  That's welfare for the Super-Rich... at the expense of the rest of us.  So far, it has amounted to trillions & trillions of dollars.

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

Not only my opinion.  Be Well 

The Actual Presidential Election is on December 19th

Below is a slightly edited email I sent to a few friends and family members today.  Not that I want her (or Trump) to, and though it's not likely, Clinton still could win the election.  It's certainly not probable, but it is possible under the Electoral College system.
...................................

1.  Technically, the Presidential election is not yet over.

2.  Electors are not bound by the Constitution to vote according to electoral pledges of the election we just had.  Many, but not all, States and/or Parties have rules stating the electors should vote that way...but the fine for noncompliance is below $1,000.

3.  President-Elect Trump is the least popular "winner" (of the pledges) we've had since 1824.

4.  The Electoral College system was set up to favor the less populous States. 

5.  Clinton's lead in the popular vote is now over 2.2 million.

I'm surprised that the Corporate Media are not harping on all this; they clearly favored Clinton during the entire campaign season.  The fact that these two candidates were selected as nominees is a sorry state of political affairs...and in Trump's case, a testament to just how much Americans are (in general) filled with anger & despair because of the policies & actions of the elitist Establishment.  [It's too bad that Trump is, among other things, a rich billionaire Crony Capitalist.]

Boycotting would have sent a more powerful message.

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

Not only my opinion.  Be Well

Anarcho What???

Below is my response to an organic farmer friend who responded to the last blog post here with the statement that our country is a Republic, not a Democracy.  [I did some minor editing...nothing important.]
..............................................................

Precisely.  Too bad 99.99% of politicians keep saying it's a democracy, trying to deceive people...here & abroad.  Telling people that in America every vote counts.  It's plain that's not true. 

I don't know why folks in CA even vote:  Trump was declared the winner long before all the CA votes were counted... fully one-third of those votes had not been counted when the Don was announced as winner... and there were uncounted votes in many other States as well.  Every vote counts, my ass.  Politics & politicians are despicable.  Now ask me what I really think.    [It's a rhetorical statement:]

Despite the propaganda to the contrary regarding Anarchism, what would be better is Anarcho-Syndicalism---an organizational form of direct democracy... and have it go all the way up to the national gov't level.  Then every vote would count.  Of course, we'll never see that in our lifetime.  [Oligarchs would be the big losers, even though property rights still could be protected.]  The majority of Main Street Americans probably don't even know what Anarchism really is; I'm not criticizing them, just stating a fact.  All they know is the propaganda saying it's chaos & destruction.  Not true at all.

Apparently, we'd rather stick with the "Meritocracy" concept.  When that term first was coined, it was in a negative, disparaging way... as it should be.  It bespeaks elitism loud and clear.  At that time, it meant not only selection of rulers based on merit, but also based on membership in the aristocratic class.

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

Not only my opinion.  Be Well

Clinton's Lead is Now Over Two Million

Though the election is over and Trump is the President-Elect, Clinton now has over two million more votes than the Don... and there still are uncounted votes.  We have quite an unusual "democracy", eh?  I suggest our leaders stop the hypocrisy, and stop calling our form of gov't a democracy.  Obviously, it isn't.

[I'm in favor of a genuine democracy, but not in favor of either Clinton or Trump.]

Not only my opinion.  Be Well

Clinton's Lead Grows, & the Evil of Two Lessers

As of 11-19-16, Clinton leads Trump by about 1.5 million more votes.  The tally continues.  Because of 240 years of relentless propaganda and indoctrination, we still think we live in a true, participatory democracy.  To those who disagree with that assessment, I suggest watching this series:  Oliver Stone's Untold History of the United States... and this documentary as well, Requiem for the American Dream.  Both can be found on Netflix and elsewhere online.

Finally, it's not about Left v. Right anymore.

Not only my opinion.  Be Well
p.s.  Reminder:  58% of us (including me) were not in favor of either major candidate.  We never should vote for the evil of two lessers.  When will we ever learn?