The Jackass, the Albino Jackass, and the Plutocracy

Below is my reply to a dear friend's email.  Her email was a forwarded political joke which stated that the Dem Party had adopted a new symbol for their organization--- the condom.  According to the joke, the condom was adopted because it allows for inflation, halts production, destroys the next generation, gives a sense of security while you're being screwed, etc., etc.  The original sender of that joke quipped something to the effect of: it couldn't be a more accurate description of the Democrats.

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That's good!  What's unfortunate is:  Repubs (just like Dems) are so propagandized they don't realize that description also applies to their Party & its top Plutocrats.  It fits both Parties to a tee.  It easily could be argued that it fits the Repubs better than the Dems... much better.

No matter which major Party is in control in DC, our country is run by Plutocrats or their puppets.  For the most part, they are all serial liars, elitist violators of the Constitution, con artists, empire builders, violators of International Law, and holier-than-thou warmongers.  

Example:  both Parties have supported the Saudi Coalition War in Yemen with major U.S. logistical & intelligence aid.  Including hospitals, water works, & schools, civilian infrastructure has been bombed, resulting in:  the largest cholera epidemic in modern history, millions of people starving, and the death of a large number of children...all because of an Islamic Sunni-Shia conflict, a proxy war between Saudi Arabia & Iran.  Our involvement in killing children and starving people is being sold as "fighting terrorism".  What a sad, tragic joke.  One of the main reasons the Fed Gov't is involved is to fulfill its role as the world's largest Arms Dealer.  Trump brags about that label.

Example:  While each major Party (at different times) has been in control in DC, laws & policies have been implemented that promote the largest transfer of wealth to the Upper Crust in human history.  This has been going on since at least the 1970's.  As We the People are thrown a few crumbs now & again, the incomes of the Rich Plutocrats have increased 700%.  At the same time, wages/salaries (adjusted for inflation) have remained essentially flat.  The Middle Class now comprises less than 50% of the population.  All that has happened under both Repub and Dem Administrations.  It's painfully obvious that we live in a plutocratic system.  All the propaganda to the contrary is nothing but "Reality Show" hype.  That's especially true now that we have a President who barely can read a prepared text from a sheet of paper, and who says one thing one day, and the exact opposite the next day.  He does it on purpose; he's gaslighting, trying to distract us from the plutocratic agenda... which he fully supports.  Instead of reporting in depth on significant issues, the Corporate Media report mainly on Trump's bizarre, buffoon-like behavior.

The Dems should stick with the jackass (male donkey) symbol, and the Repubs should adopt an albino jackass as their symbol.  

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Not only my opinion.  Be Well

Problems with Obama's War Actions, and War Propaganda from the State-Corporate Complex

1.  The White House (via their Press Secretary) declared war on ISIS; this despite the fact that the Executive Branch has no Constitutional authority to do so.

2.  As in the period leading up to the Second Iraq War (2003), the public essentially is presented with two choices:  do nothing, or go to war.  Diplomatic proposals---involving Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, even Russia and others---are almost nonexistent.  Cutting off funding to ISIS (coming mostly from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Kuwait) is nowhere to be found.  Sanctions...nonexistent.  Kerry's efforts appear to be gauged toward military coalitions only.  Perpetual War grinds on.

3.  Obama now claims "authority" (to [illegally] bomb inside Syria) from two War "Resolutions":  the "War on Terror" and the Iraq War Resolutions of 10+ yrs ago.  Those are derived from the War Powers Resolution Act---aka, the War Powers Act---of 1973.  It's a Legislative Act that contradicts the Constitution.  As I've pointed out many times, laws do not supercede the United States Constitution.  Oligarchs, both in and out of our Gov't, use the War Powers Act to bypass the constraints of the Constitution; that's been going on for decades.  This all means that Obama's "authority", just like Bush's "authority" was, is illegal and unconstitutional.  Unfortunately, apparently We the People (aided by Propaganda from the Oligarchy) have come to believe that a "good end" justifies any means.

4.  James Foley's mother has decried Obama's use of her son's death as an excuse for launching yet another war in the region.  Furthermore, though the murders of both Foley and Sotloff were brutal, barbaric, and tragic, they posed no threat to the United States.  The FBI has gone overseas in the past to investigate the murders of American citizens, and should do so now.  It's a Law Enforcement issue.

5.  The Free Syrian Army, a "moderate" group opposing Assad, recently beheaded six people they had captured.  This is the rebel group that Obama and Kerry claim we need to support.  The point:  there are atrocities on both sides.  In addition, I recently pointed out that the Gov't of Saudi Arabia executed 113 criminals in the last couple months by beheading them.  In that area of the world, apparently beheading is considered an acceptable means of execution.

6.  The average, nonmilitary Sunni in Iraq has seen Sunnis arrested, tortured, displaced, fired from jobs for no good reason, etc., etc. by the U.S.-backed, former Gov't of al-Maliki.  Though the Iraqi Sunnis may abhor the tactics of ISIS, they tend to be drawn to them because of the post-war history of Shiites and Sunnis in Iraq.  Now they see the U.S. Gov't bombing more Sunnis (ISIS).  The point:  it's a civil and sectarian war...and none of our business.  [That's not Isolationism, it's Non-Interventionism...the difference between the two is important.]

7.  The pro-war pundits on cable networks such as Fox, CNN, and MSNBC are presented as former Generals, military experts, etc. (which is true).  What's left out is the fact that they currently work for various Defense contractors who stand to benefit greatly from the Third Iraq War.  Examples:  General Jack Keene and General Anthony Zinni.

8.  Common sense should tell anyone that fighting ISIS inside Syria helps the brutal Assad regime.  [This is not rocket science, people...it's simple logic.]

9.  It's important to recognize that Obama and the State-Corporate Complex know precisely what they are doing.  They know they are violating the Constitution.  They know they have no business in a civil war.  They know innocent people are being and will be killed.  They know that the American public mind must be molded to accept yet another stupid war.  They know who will benefit---mega transnational corporations.

10.  None of this is a "conspiracy".  For crying out loud, it's in plain sight.  War is BIG Business--- just ask General Dynamics, General Electric, the Carlyle Group, Halliburton, Exxon-Mobile, CACI, the former Blackwater (now under a new name), McDonnell-Douglas, etc., ad infinitum.  Follow the money.

Partly just my opinion.  Be Well

Part III: The Bush-Obama Doctrines

1.  Give countries that in any way support fanatical Islamists a hard time... unless, of course, that country is Saudi Arabia.  The Wahhabi Sect, a radical offshoot of the Sunnis, is a State-sponsored religion in the Saudi Kingdom.  The majority of the 9-11 hijackers were from the Kingdom.  Osama bin Laden was a Saudi.  There are numerous other suggestions (not proof) that the soft dictators in Saudi Arabia don't really oppose fanatical Islamists.  The House of Saud has been bound to the House of Bush in a business sense for years and years.  When Obama met the "King" of the Kingdom, he bowed deeply to him.  Such deference coming from a President is a bit much... not especially significant, but still, a bit much.  Obama, like Bush and every other President in my long memory, ignores the downside of Saudi Arabia--- for one, the fact that it's a dictatorship... for another, the fact that it supports what is essentially a fanatical cult.  Wahhabis have zero tolerance for Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Shiite Islam, even some Sunnis, and democracy.  [A couple of Arab political analysts have proposed that what's currently going on in Iraq is a proxy war between Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shiite Iran.]

2.  Continue the over-half-century, outdated, vindictive U.S. Policy toward Cuba... a land where, about a hundred years ago or more, our Fed Gov't stole at gunpoint Guantanamo Bay; a land where our Fed Gov't supported the brutal dictator Batista; a land where for years & years, the CIA tried to assassinate Castro; a land where for years and years, our Govt's NeoImperialism reigned supreme.  Yes, the Castro Gov't once was a threat to us; no reasonable person thinks that now.

3.  Continue the policy of letting the Fed Reserve Board of Governors arbitrarily set interest rates... rates that should be determined by a Free Market.  The only people being served well by the Fed are the Hedge Funds and other speculators on Wall Street.  The Middle Class suffers... and those at the very bottom of the economic ladder are completely screwed.

4.  Similar to number 3, continue the policy of unsound money.

5.  Continue to allow mega banks to use depositors' money for risky, often shady so-called "investments"... instead of requiring them to raise their own capital for such activity.

6.  Continue on with the antiquated, underfunded, understaffed SEC, which cannot possibly oversee the automated, algorithm-driven, split-second, computerized Wall Street "trading" of today.

7.  Continue to promote and support the window-dressing "reform" laws relative to the out-of-control Financial Sector.  That will assure large, future campaign contributions from white-collar thieves.

8.  Continue the myth that the President can write "Executive Orders" on just about any subject he/she pleases... and that such actions are "implied" by the Constitution and have the full force and effect of Congressional Legislation, even if Congress opposes those "Orders".  That is complete nonsense and utter claptrap.  There is no such implication in the Constitution.  Again, We the People are being played for chumps. [To see exactly which Orders are permitted, go to Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution.  Only two are enumerated... no others are listed, or implied.  The first is that the President may require in writing the opinion of each Executive Department Head on any subject relating to their duties.  The second is that the President may order pardons for offenses against the U.S. (except in cases of Impeachment).  The Constitution enumerates powers, it does not imply them.  If the power isn't listed, the Feds don't have it.  To get a new, unlisted power, they must Amend the Supreme Law of the Land.  To believe that the document implies this, that, or the other is to accept the idea that it can mean pretty much anything that anyone wants it to mean.  That makes it worthless.]
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The point of this three-piece series on the Bush-Obama Doctrines is simple:  when it comes to significant and substantial matters, there is little to no difference between (at the highest levels) modern-day Republicans and Democrats.  They're merely two branches of the same (and only) major political Party in the USA.  Furthermore, it's obvious that they no longer serve the best interests of We the People.  "Voting" doesn't necessarily guarantee a representative government, especially when 99.9% of all candidates at the national level are selected, groomed, and financed by an Oligarchy of the super-rich... while the very few honest politicians are completely ignored, or smeared, or otherwise marginalized.  There is a better way, but first we must stop drinking the Edward Bernays style Propaganda Kool Aid.  That's essential if we are to generate a fair, just, prosperous, and free society.

Be Well