It's Complicated...

OMG!

I  agree with Bill O’Reilly? Say it’s not so!

And I disagree with Dennis Kucinich?

The world has truly gone insane, or shifted more on its axis than originally reported.

It’s not that Dennis is wrong….

Of course he’s right that "US military action against Libya absent imminent threat or Congressional approval is outside the legal scope of the Presidency."

But since when have we insisted on a Congressional Declaration of War before invading another country? There are obviously ways around that little technicality the only Congress can declare war. We have declared War only 5 times in our history, most recently against Bulgaria in 1942!  So all those wars since then? Korea, Vietnam, Grenada, Iraq, Afganistan etc etc….We just attacked and then justified our actions when it’s too late to stop, and Congress didn’t much protest. Until now!

Ever since the Cold War, Defense and military spending has been sacrosanct, and Congress the Pentagon’s rubber stamp. (You’d think we were some kind of Banana Republic run by a military Junta!)

It’s absolutely right that Congress, the press and the people start debating the legality of our almost continuous wars and their cost. But not just now.

This time, it is absolutely clear that had Obama (and the UN and the Arab League) not acted, Kaddafi would have slaughtered the citizens of Benghazi, and anyone else opposed to his rule. No one doubts his ability or willingness to do so. Had we waited another 12 hours before attacking, thousands of people would have been killed.

Knowing how the Repubs in Congress are against Obama himself, (he is black, after all) and are doing everything they possibly can to discredit him, do we think Obama could have gotten an authorization to assist the rebels in Libya in a timely fashion? Not likely. (And then they would have blamed him for allowing a humanitarian disaster to occur.)

He IS black, after all.

If Obama hadn’t acted, he would have signaled other dictators in the Middle East and elsewhere that we DO NOT stand for democratic reforms, that we will support any potentate no matter how hated, to keep our precious petroleum flowing. (And with the nuclear disaster in Japan, petroleum – with it’s very short half-life - is looking relatively good right now.) The NATO countries, our allies in this effort may have acted for humanitarian reasons, or maybe just to protect their economies, since Libya supplies a significant quotient of Europe’s oil.

Ah….Oil

We have been screwing up our relationship with the Middle East for a very long time….all for oil.

Remember the cartoon of a few years ago,

“Why is our oil under your sand?”

A careful study of the Middle East is desperately needed to understand how much havoc Western Industrial countries, most notably the British, French and ourselves, have wrecked on this part of the world to satisfy our thirst for oil.

Just one example: we – meaning Eisenhower and the Dulles brothers– overthrew a democratically elected president of Iran – for oil, earning the deep resentment of the Iranians who had looked to us for support as they tried to overthrow British colonialism….which itself was all about oil. Then, we installed the corrupt Shah who ruthlessly suppressed his people, but kept our oil coming, and to avoid bankrupting us, graciously funneled the money we paid him for his oil back into our defense industry. When the Iranians finally threw him out, we backed Saddam Hussein who invaded them. (This was the meeting Rumsfeld had with Saddam, who in exchange for Saddam giving Bechtel rights to build an oil pipeline, was given helicopters and intelligence with which to attack Iran.  After 9/11, the Iranians were genuinely moved and sympathetic, and there presented itself a moment of rapprochement, but George Bush called them “the Axis of Evil” which truly shocked the Iranian people, and sent relations back into the crapper where they remain today.

Our bunglings and mishandlings and misunderstandings of all things Middle Eastern have cost hundreds of thousands of lives and billions of dollars. Now with the recent expressions of the yearning of the people of the Middle East and Northern Africa for freedom, we have a chance to do it right. Obama is cognizant of history. He knows how delicate this moment is. To be seen as a Western Colonial invader would be disastrous. To be seen as assisting a people attain their freedom sends a signal to all dictators that their days are numbered. Mubarak was right to resign as quickly as he did, as were the rulers of Tunis. Yemen should be next…and then….Sudan.

The situation in each Middle Eastern Country today is different and delicate. Obviously we can’t militarily support the people in every country that rebel against their corrupt rulers, but we were right to do so in Libya. We will pray for the wisdom and restraint of all parties, that the legitimate needs of the people will be respected, their wishes for freedom heeded.

Sorry, Dennis. I know you’re probably worried about our NEXT undeclared war, and the next one after that. And I am too. I hope you get traction on this, I do.  A President Palin or Bachmann or Trump will probably invade Iran in you don’t succeed.  And you are right to be questioning the cost of this military action. We note that Congress gave Bush a blank check for a Bogus war, but now we know the country’s broke and can’t afford to waste a dime, or a missile or a fighter. But we were right to come up with a few million million for this one. (And the teachers weren’t going to get that money anyway!)

This illegal act, for which the precedent has been long in place, was the right one. We hope and pray for a quick and favorable outcome.

.

Forgetting Ronald Reagan

It’s not easy to forget Ronald Reagan, not with all the Freeways, Airports, schools and Libraries – not to mention the nuclear powered aircraft carrier- that now bear his name.

Isn’t it curious that this man who was obviously beginning to lose his memory in the last days of his presidency, who completely lost it by the end of his life, should have bequeathed his ‘forgetfulness’ to the rest of us? If you read the magazines and listen to the right wing pundits in the last few weeks, you’d think that, collectively, we are all suffering from some degree of dementia.

Here’s what I remember about Ronald Reagan:

When he was Governor of California, and environmentalists were trying to save the Redwoods from being turned into ‘board feet,’ Reagan said, “You’ve seen one redwood, you’ve seen them all.” And “Trees cause more pollution than automobiles do.” When cutting funding for school lunches he declared Ketchup a vegetable. (No need for broccoli and carrots.) Then he cut the funding for psychiatric hospitals, turning the mentally ill out into the streets, where they struggle to this day. He was just warming up.

The first thing Reagan did as President was to send Bechtel executives to China. That was his VERY FIRST act as President! I remember it so clearly. He was more interested in his political backers making big money selling nuclear technology to the Chinese than he was concerned that his grandchildren might be confronted with a nuclear- armed China. I remember my outrage.

He went on to do so many other things. Remember

“Iran-Contra?” (In defiance of US law, Reagan sold weapons to Iran in exchange for the release of American hostages. Then, also in defiance of US law, used the profits to arm Nicaraguan death squads.) Remember REAGONOMICS? He de-regulated big business and everything else he possibly could.  Removing economic oversight, he presided over a massive transfer of the wealth in this country.  He cut the taxes of the rich, arguing that their wealth would ‘trickle down.’ It didn’t; the rich got richer, the poor got poorer, and the deficit soared. He cut spending on education, welfare and food stamps, seeming to believe that the poor were poor by choice, or because of their own deficiencies.  While posturing as the champion of ordinary working people, his economic policies set in motion the train wreck from which we are struggling to extricate ourselves.

Do you know where George Bush got the idea to call North Korea, Iran, and Iraq the  “Axis of Evil,” in his State of the Union Address in 2002? (Such an idiotic provocation from our Head of State!) Reagan had famously branded the Soviet Union ‘the Evil Empire,’ – so George had to one- up him. Reagan then launched the Strategic Defense Initiative, derided by critics as magical thinking, and nicknamed  ‘Star Wars.’ The Defense establishment made billions. (Defense was the only area of the budget that Reagan didn’t cut.) Then he invaded Grenada! (Grenada?)

Yes, Reagan DID say, “Mr. Gorbachev, Tear down this wall.” And that was good. And he did eventually make friends with the Evil Empire and reduce nuclear arsenals. (The far right, who now lay claim to his legacy, called him an ‘appeaser’ for that.) And he was affable and genial, and made people who didn’t understand his economic policies feel good – for awhile. But things like the Mortgage Meltdown, and the billionaire ponzi scheme that Wall Street has become had their genesis in the Reagan years.

In Eugene Jarecki’s documentary Reagan, which chronicles Reagan’s evolution from actor to corporate pitchman to politician, we hear the voice of the 40^th President saying, “Someday it might be worthwhile to find out how images are created – and even more worthwhile to learn how false images come into being.”

How prescient that he should so observe!

False images come into being when powerful people want them, or need them, to serve their own political agendas.

Noam Chomsky observes, ‘if you want to control a population, keep them passive…and give them a god to worship.

Reagan was a pitchman for corporate America. Now he’s a demi-god, on his way to full deity status, (a la North Korea?)

The image of Great Leader –however awful or inept he was, is used to unify, pacify and control an ignorant populace. 

I found out today that the hospital at UCLA is now the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. (I flew into Houston recently and found myself  at the George HW Bush Intercontinental Airport. (International wasn’t enough for his sycophants?) Now there are two places I can’t go!

Americans for Tax Reform seeks to name at least one notable public landmark in each U.S. state and in every county in the country after Ronald Reagan, to “ensure that ”future generations will understand the greatness….blah blah.” (I’m quoting from their web site.)

We need to understand WHY they are doing this. What end does it serve to turn Reagan the flawed into Reagan the hero, the saint, the god? Why obscure the lessons of his failures?

If people are bedazzled and confused, seduced by the myth of the ‘family-values’ patriot whose very name makes them proud again to be American, they will not see clearly what is really being done in his name. And to see what is being done, we need

look no farther than today’s headlines…..

LA TIMES 2/18/11.

“In Wisconsin, 20,000 protest a Republican bill targeting labor.”

The bill proposed by the Republican governor, whose major contributors were the Koch brothers, will take away from public service employees (like teachers and policemen) the right of collective bargaining;

(Remember Reagan’s firing the striking air traffic controllers, thus beginning a coordinated assault on organized labor?)

Attempting to balance the budget on the backs of those who can least afford it, while tax cuts to the mega-rich continue, is pernicious, and should be criminal.  But there’s an even more insidious dimension to Union busting. The unions, who generally support liberal candidates, are the only organizations capable of making major contributions to political campaigns other than corporations and their PACs. Destroy the unions, and the conservatives will be able to buy pretty much whatever elective offices they want. Union busting is corporate strategy.

LA TIMES 2/18/11

“Debit card fee limits hit a snag….Proposed limits on the hidden fees behind most debit card purchases – caps designed to bring down prices for consumers- could be changed or delayed after an outcry from the financial industry and lawmakers.”-

(Remember Reagan deregulating the Banks (which lead to the S&L crisis?)

After the nearly catastrophic collapse of our financial system in the final months of the Bush Administration, after all the hand-wringing about the need for financial reform and regulation, we can’t even get a cap on Debit card fees?

The irony is, and has always been, that flag waving (and now the deification of Ronald Reagan) is used to confuse and pacify the very people who are most harmed by the policies his ‘heirs’ espouse. Keep us distracted with Super Bowls, (with military jet flyovers that only the TV audience can see, that cost the tax payers $400 million,) a steady stream of sporting extravaganzas and 24 hour TV and there won’t be a critical thinker left among us to object to the corporate takeover now in full swing in this country.

The right wing-nuts, wrapping themselves in the flag and invoking Reagan’s name, claim to carry on his ‘vision’ and his ‘values, ’ are deliberately creating a myth to serve their own political ambitions, to enrich themselves at our expense.

I was thinking this morning, ‘the next thing they’ll try to do is put Reagan’s face on a dollar bill.’ (Although I’d like to get Andrew Jackson, the Indian -Killer off the $20, replacing him with RR won’t be much of an improvement.) Then I went on line, and low and behold, there is a bill pending to put Reagan’s likeness on the $50 or the $10. And that’s not all!  Already twenty one governors have agreed to proclaim February 6 Ronald Reagan Day!

This is serious stuff, contrived to make sure the next generation has no idea of what RR actually did, and to make the invocation of his image sufficient to justify all kinds of insidious political mischief.

Dementia is sad in a family, dangerous as hell in a county. We don’t need gods. We need awakened intelligence, and political courage to tell the truth and to work for justice.

Remember how they (we) tore down that statue of Saddam Hussein in Bagdad?  There’s a false idol being enshrined in our midst, which must be destroyed before it is cast in bronze and mounted on granite. We have to 'tear down that myth,' Ms. and Mr. America, while we still can.

Egypt/Muslim Brotherhood

As the Muslim Brotherhood is much in the news as our pundits discuss the future of Egypt, I want to take this moment to recommend to everyone an amazing series of documentaries, produced by the BBC, and available on-line. The series is called "The Power of Nightmares." You will not believe where the Muslim Brotherhood began! (hint - Colorado)...or how much the Right Wing in this country depends on it for its very existence. Please check it out....really fascinating!

addendum to previous post

Dear Friends,
Just want to call your attention to the LA Times today, which headlines "Conservative Duo reach seat of power." It states that the billionaire conservative Koch brothers "are now at the center of Republican power," having contributed  over a quarter million dollars to members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. "Nine of the 12 new Republicans on the panel signed a pledge distributed by a Koch founded advocacy group...to oppose the Obama administration's proposal to regulate greenhouse gases." ...A top goal is "restricting the reach of the Environmental Protection Agency which oversees the Kochs' core energy businesses."
Perhaps the demonstration in Rancho Mirage brought some light to this matter, which is obviously of very serious concern. "Our Democracy is not for Sale," or is it?
Thanks for listening!

"RICH PEOPLE HAVE RIGHTS TOO!"

RICH PEOPLE HAVE RIGHTS TOO!

I swear there are more doctors than golf courses here; Hospital this, Medical that, Rehab for this and that; the street names read like a Who’s Who in right wing celebrity politics. Gerald Ford Drive, Frank Sinatra Drive, Gene Autry, Bob Hope. I’m not sure it’s legal to even turn left.

“I’ve been through the desert on a horse with no name….” (Sing along if you remember the tune.)

Bob Hope, old ski nose. Considered funny, lauded for entertaining the troops, a supporter of the politics of empire that brought us the Vietnam War. I wanted the troops to be brought home. He wanted to cheer them up before they went back into battle. For that he has been much honored.

 My parents were friends of the Hopes. I remember Dolores as being genuinely gracious. Bob I remember for being at the Academy Awards, when “Broken Rainbow,” a film Maria Florio and I made about Navajos facing relocation, was up for “Best Documentary Feature.” We’d brought two Navajo elders with us to the Awards ceremony. They who had almost never been off the reservation, whose English was limited, recognized Bob Hope in the crowd. He was the only face they knew and they asked if they could meet him.  I approached Mr. Hope, mentioned my parents’ names, and indicated my guests. He looked them up and down, at their velvet blouses, turquoise necklaces, cotton skirts and moccasins. Where I saw indigenous integrity, he saw ethnic poverty; he put his famous nose up in the air and walked away. They were crestfallen. I was embarrassed.

We won the Oscar, and when one of the elders joined us up on the stage and said “Thank you for helping my people,” there was, I swear, an audible gasp from the audience. She had spoken from a depth of soul that most people had never heard.

The film was about corporate America’s disregard for the rights of indigenous people, about relocating traditional Navajo to make way for coal mining. No congratulatory note arrived from Bob.

Driving down Bob Hope Drive to get to the rally and demonstration against a secret meeting of the Koch brothers and their mega-rich supporters, it makes me feel physically sick to see the deification of people unworthy of honor. The myth- makers clearly know what they’re doing, and that people, in general, have no clue as to what these mischief-makers were up to. Look at the deification of Ronald Reagan- does anyone remember what he actually did?

“I’ve been through the desert on a horse with no name. It was good to be out of the rain….. In the desert you can’t remember your name…Unless the street signs remind you, and your name is Autry, Sinatra or Hope.

It’s raining in LA today.

Here in  Rancho Mirage, it is a beautiful morning, but flashing blue lights on police cruisers are already signifying that something is happening. Police are assembling, preparing to protect the Koch Brothers and their invited guests from demonstrators soon to assemble. Sharp shooters are taking up positions on the roofs, reminding me that we are in the parking lot of a shopping mall, reminding me of recent gun horror in Tucson.

This demonstration is organized by “Common Cause” and “Code Pink” and other groups determined that our democracy will not be bought and sold without protest. The Supreme Court, with its conservative majority, has just ruled that unlimited and undisclosed corporate (and union) funds can go into political campaigns, that corporations are PEOPLE, just exercising their free speech. The implications are staggering.

Justices Scalia and Thomas have attended such meetings. Eric Kantor is at this one. If Bob had lived to see this day, he would have hopped in his golf cart (accompanied by his doctor, no doubt), and puttered on down to join them.

The Koch brothers have given millions of dollars to elect candidates who would gut the EPA, and dismantle the Clean Water Act. Hiding behind Constitutional Rights and Putting America Back to Work, their money and strategy is directed at removing any hindrance to profit, environmental and health consequences be damned. But, as the LA Times editorialized, “Rich People Have Rights Too.”  Don’t we know!

“Our Democracy is Not for Sale,” scream the signs we carry.

(The demonstration and the Koch brothers’ secret meeting has been well documented.  Please look to Alternet, ReaderSupportedNews, and other progressive sources for detailed discussion.)

The desert was a sparkling jewel as the afternoon progressed. Leaving the protestors, I headed for Palm Canyon to pay my respects to the Cahuilla people, the first occupants of this magically beautiful land, who were here long before the restaurants, shopping malls, spas and casinos, before the Lexus and Bentley dealerships. Before the pavement.

 The early people and their descendants have warned us not to take the earth and its bounty for granted. May their words be heard, may greed diminish, and Common sense prevail.

Prayers offered, my eyes reflecting the jewels I have witnessed, of water and rock and palm, I head back up Bob Hope, turning right, inevitably, on Country Club Drive, in search of my favorite golf course. I turn left, at last, onto Desert Willow.  This day is almost too beautiful to bear, and I’m just in time for a ‘twilight’ round.  

John Boehner's Gavel

JOHN BOEHNER’S GAVEL

(with apologies to moles and gophers)

You know that game they have at Chucky Cheese and  amusement parks?  It’s called “Whack -a -Mole.” Little unfortunate critters emerge suddenly from their holes in random sequence as the player, wielding a club of some kind, whacks the offending creature back into it’s hole just as another emerges. WHACK WHACK WHACK – until the dollar is spent and time is up. It’s fun, only slightly brutal, just a homely little rubber gopher getting bludgeoned.

And you remember that John Boehner who, when he was sworn in as the new Speaker of the House of Representatives, opted for a gavel the size of a croquet mallet? Why, we’re not sure. To legislate, punctuate, compensate?

Republicans immediately passed a repeal of the Health Reform Bill, entitled “Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act.” Boehner might have used his very big gavel to pound common sense and dignity into his colleagues, to at least insist on an accurate title to the legislation. WHACK!

And then a much uglier gopher popped up in the meadow of our polity, this one a political machination that crossed the border from insensitivity to heartless.

It is being circulated on a growing number of blogs that Gabrielle Giffords should resign her office because the people of Arizona ‘deserve representation.’

This exemplar of political sanity, this courageous, compassionate, sensitive woman who just survived a heinous attack, who is making miraculous progress in her recovery from massive brain injury, ought to be pushed out of Congress before she has a chance to demonstrate how fully she may recover?  The message that would be sent to the maniacs amongst us is:  ‘All you have to do is wound a politician and Congress will finish them off’!

Boehner, who skipped the shooting victims’ memorial service to attend a Republican cocktail party, can now demonstrate some humanity by wielding the mallet he so desperately wanted. This is one insidious mole that’s gotta be beaten back down into the dark hole from which it came! WHACK!