Spitball Politics

 

With my new book An Unlikely Truth coming out, I've had a few interesting days recently.

Among several interviews I did last week, I ended up on a right wing radio
talk show. We only had a few minutes but the host immediately challenged
me with . . . "Well, since money is free speech, how can you get the
money out of politics? And why would you want to?"

For one of the few times in my life, I was speechless.

Of course, you and I know the answer to that question. But it's a VERY LONG ANSWER!

It's an answer that goes to the very core of the values each of us hold about
our country, about our system of government, about what democracy means
and how it should function in a free society.

Then something occurred to me.

This guy threw me a spitball.

He fired a pitch covered in slime, lubricated with the mucous of his warped,
partisan, and corporate view of America, meant to slip and slide off any
attempt by me to give it a good smack at least into the outfield, if
not the stands.

Therefore . . . there was no point in even trying to answer it.

If you think that spitballs are not in the spirit of good sportsmanship, not
aligned with the greater good of baseball and fair play, you don't
attempt to discuss it with a pitcher who has just won his last 15 games
throwing the spitball.

You talk to people with some perspective, people who can look at our national
sport, see it as only being fair, competitive, entertaining, and a contribution to 
our culture, when we all recognize that the integrity of the sport is more 
important than winning a particular game.

As a result, it was long ago decided by fair-minded, concerned members of 
the baseball community:

Spitballs are the unsavory choice of slime balls.

And the guys who insisted on throwing them were given an ultimatum:

Stop throwing spitballs or you can't play the game.

It's the same with politics. We can't expect Congress or any of our national
leaders to do the right thing about Citizens United or the corruption
of our system with truckloads of corporate money, when these are the
very people who are benefiting from this heinous mutilation of American
democracy.

If the current crop of lackluster elected officials don't want to play the game
with honesty, distinction, respect for the American people, and
reverence for representative democracy, they shouldn't be allowed to
play the game.

Spitball politics in the form of legalized bribery by lobbyists, play-for-pay
politicians, and corruption of our political system by deep-pocketed
oligarchs, is destroying America, or at bare minimum turning it into
something we barely recognize.

No more spitball politics, I say.

If our current crop of weak-kneed elected officials don't have the courage and
integrity to adopt sportsmanlike rules by legislatively ending Citizens
United immediately, they don't belong in the game.

If a politician can't embrace and play by sportsmanlike rules, one strike and he's out!

______________________________________________________________

I am doing what I can to address the destruction of our democratic system.

Without taking back our government, nothing will change.

In my new book, An Unlikely Truth, I offer an electoral strategy which I believe 
can effectively remove the crooks and liars from office, and begin to restore 
representative democracy to America.

An Unlikely Truth (Literary Vagabond Books) will be released worldwide on March 24th.



[ This originated at the author's personal blog site . . . http://jdrachel.com ]

VIDEO BLOG: Trust No Incumbent

______________________________________________________________

I am doing what I can to address the destruction of democracy in America._Without taking back our government, nothing will change.

In my new book, An Unlikely Truth, I offer an electoral strategy which I believe can effectively remove the crooks and liars from office, and begin to restore representative democracy to America.

An Unlikely Truth (Literary Vagabond Books) will be released worldwide on March 24th. But by special arrangement with Amazon, early-release copies are immediately available. Get a copy of An Unlikely Truth . . .

As a Kindle ebook.
 
As a deluxe paperback.

An Unlikely Truth is a critical read for anyone who shares the progressive vision of a more peaceful, more humane, more democratic America.


[ This originated at the author's personal web site . . . http://jdrachel.com ]

Throw the bums out!

 

72% of American voters are for raising taxes on the wealthy.

That equates to 108 million people.

76% of American voters want to cut back on military spending.

That's 114 million people.

72% of American voters want a federal minimum wage of $10.00 or more.

108 million people.

74% of American voters are for ending oil subsidies.

111 million people.

79% of American voters want no cuts in Social Security and Medicare.

Over 118 million people.

93% of American voters want labeling of GMOs in their food.

That's nearly 140 million people!!

But none of this gets done!

The simpleand insulting truth is that a mere 500 or so men defy the will of
millions, that the very people we elect and send to Washington to create
laws that protect our interests, refuse to represent us, ignore our
clearly stated will on these crucial issues and many more.

They ignore "we the people" and do the bidding of "we the rich". Until 
we confront these play-for-pay lapdogs, they will continue to serve a tiny
elite minority of rich and powerful oligarchs and America will continue
its slow but certain decline. You and I will live like beggars and
America will become a Third World country.

We've all been appalled by recent events. We've watched as our government 
was shutdown. We've been horrified by the fight over the debt limit. We've 
seen the systematic destruction of our democratic way of life.

So what can we do? With millions of dollars of fat cat money floating
around, the voice of the regular guy has been drowned out. There has been 
no way to get rid of the crooks and liars. But I believe now there is.

How did that old expression go?

"Throw the bums out!"

We do this using a new, unique and powerful strategy
for taking on the corrupting cancer of money in politics __ an end run
around the iron grip which Wall Street, big banks and corporate
oligarchs now have on our political system. This sledgehammer approach
gives the 500 corporate toadies in Congress, who arrogantly sit inside
the Washington DC bubble and ignore the very people who voted them into
office, a simple straightforward ultimatum: Do your job and start
representing "we the people" or collect your pink slip.

It's a no-nonsense, take-no-prisoners method for cleaning up the corruption
among our elected officials and putting people in office who will do our
bidding. It forces the men and women we choose on election day to start
taking their orders from us, instead of the deep-pocketed puppet
masters who have effectively stolen our government by buying off our
senators, congressmen, even our president, with huge campaign donations.

This is an election year and people are frustrated and angry. Congress 
started the new year at a historically low 13% approval rating.

I say we channel that frustration and anger into a unified and constructive
effort to restore true representative democracy to our country.

It's up tous. But something has to happen immediately. We are fast 
approaching a point of no return, beyond which the specter of a
rigid totalitarian state looms. Either we replace our current legislators 
or they will replace our country with one we don't recognize.

Look around. It's already happening.

So either we rise up now in a bloodless coup at the polls or we rise up 
later in the streets. Revolution in the streets will not be bloodless and I 
suspect it won't end well. The blatant and ruthless dismemberment of OWS 
was a warning.

Time to unite and act decisively.

Hopefully it's not too late.

Sometimes truth comes from an unexpected place and from an
unlikely messenger.

It doesn't matter the source. It's still the truth.


[ This originated at the author's personal web site . . . http://jdrachel.com ]

Change We Can Believe In

 

According to recent polls . . .

Approval of Congress stands at an all time low. Only 13% think they're 
doing their job.

Almost half of American voters "think their own member of Congress 
does not deserve reelection" while only 25% thought they did.

This is an election year __ perhaps the most important election year in 
recent history __ meaning we have a choice to make.

Will it be more of the same?

Are we going to be obedient little robots again and pull the lever for the 
guy with the clever campaign ads and teeth-whitened smile?

Or is it time to take this seriously?

Our situation is certainly serious. Despite the massaged statistics we are
fed and the latest Wall Street bubble courtesy of our Federal Reserve,
our economy is in shambles. Popular and highly successful programs 
like Social Security and Medicare are still under attack by the viciously
selfish 1%. The rich still don't pay anywhere near their fair share of
taxes, and they seem bent on starving the most vulnerable among us by
cutting food stamps, heating oil subsidies, unemployment benefits, child
care, school lunch programs. Jobs continue to be shipped to slave wage
countries in Asia and profits bankrolled in tax havens around the world.
Corporations get the royal treatment and we regular citizens get the
shaft.

Had enough of this?

It's time for some major change in this country.

It starts November 4th.

Here are some related blogs:

Trust No Incumbent
It's Nothing Personal
VIDEO BLOG: It's too complicated
VIDEO BLOG: "Take me to your leader!"
Guillotine or Exile?
Real News
The Day That Changed The World



[ This originated at the author's personal web site . . . http://jdrachel.com ]

Ship of State

Our ship of state cannot find a new, better direction by rearranging the deck
chairs, hiring a new trumpet player for the band in the Captain's
Lounge, or repainting the life boats.


It really comes down to setting an entirely new course, even turning the ship 180º
around if it's heading entirely in the wrong direction. Nothing less will get the job done.


Yet, our often bitter national conversation __ sometimes a shrill shouting match
__ is always focused on the tiniest details, irrelevant details which
serves both to distract us and obscure the larger issues which are the
real source of our national conundrum and chronic paralysis. Whether
this is intentional or not, it has poisoned all of the air in the room
and killed progress on the many critical __ as in life-or-death __
challenges confronting us.


We argue about capping student loan percentages and whether bankruptcy 
should be allowed for individuals who can't pay for their student loans. 
Public funding for advanced education has been coming up short both at 
the national and local level. Public universities facing insolvency are
either depending more on private __ as in corporate __ funding, or being
completely privatized. Tuition is shooting through the roof. To assure
profitability, institutions of learning are becoming more beholden to
private industry. The disturbing upshot of these trends is that higher
education is becoming unaffordable for the majority of young people, 
at a time when employers are demanding even more education of their
prospective employees. Nevertheless, all we seem capable of doing is
nitpicking away about the burgeoning student debt problem.


The real question is what kind of country doesn't educate its population?
Conservatives say the money isn't there. Yet we spend in the upwards of
$1 trillion a year __ that's trillion with a 't' __ on our military. We
really need to ask: Books or bombs?


We argue about the upsides and downsides of Obamacare, wrangle over
the exemptions and loopholes in the program, condemn governors who
are opting out certain aspects of the Affordable Healthcare Act. These 
are certainly genuine issues but not the problem.


The real problem is twofold: There is nothing keeping the cost of health care
under control __ we spend 17.7% of our GDP on health care, next closest
are Holland at 11.9%, France at 11.6%, Germany at 11.3%, Canada at
11.2%,  __ and much of what we spend on services is turned into
corporate profits. You get sick, corporations make money. The sicker you
get, the more money they make. Am I off here but isn't there something
bizarre or even cruel about turning human misery into an ATM machine?


So forget the details of this sub-clause and that policy rider. We need to 
address a very fundamental question about what kind of society we want. 
Is America a country where the proper care and health of its citizens is a
fundamental and integral part of "the general welfare" __ is a basic
right __ or is it a service commodity like getting your car tuned or
your house painted? There is no other modern industrialized nation 
which does not lean toward seeing health care as a right, like voting, free
speech, freedom of religion, and so on. America distinguishes itself by
ignoring this most fundamental aspect of life, liberty, and the pursuit
of happiness. Only in America will you be left to die just because your
insurance doesn't cover your problem or like 40 million others you have
no health insurance.


We talk about whether we should go to war with Syria or Iran, whether 
we should continue to use drones, what we can do about North Korea. 
Yes, this is a dangerous world. But we ignore a simple fact. We are the 
ones making the world a more dangerous place. We are now viewed by 
the rest of the world as the greatest threat to peace and stability on the planet. 
With maybe a few obvious exceptions, we are the problem, not those we are 
constantly demonizing. We are becoming a pariah in the world community.


Because of the wholesale takeover by the military-industrial complex of our
foreign policy apparatus, meaning wholesale embracing of a 
neocon imperialistic world view, we don't even consider peace as an option. 
We don't work for peace. We don't think about peace. We rarely mention peace. 
The military option, from targeted drone bombing to full-scale war is apparently 
the only option. We have a one-size-fits-all strategy: Bomb, kill, destroy.


The real question is:  Do most American citizens want America to rule the
world by force?  Do the imperial ambitions and delusions of global hegemony
of our leaders truly reflect the values of the majority of our citizens?
What insanity is Washington DC championing here on our behalf?


Who's version of America arms the world __ we are the biggest arms supplier
on the planet __ antagonizes every other world power, bullies its friends and foes 
alike, never takes 'yes' for an answer unless it's a 'yes' for armed confrontation, 
and expects to survive?


This is a survival issue. Because if any significant number of the countries
becoming increasingly fed up with America's my-way-or-the-highway
tactics unite, no amount of bombs and bullets will rescue us. Think
about this: America hasn't won a war since WWII. Oh right . . . forgot. 
There was Grenada. A country of with less than 1/4 million people with 
no standing army. We trounced them.


Then as we spend about as much on the rest of the world combined on our 
vast military machine, we scream and yell __ perhaps rightfully so __ about
our national debt, about both our personal and public indebtedness,
about home mortgages, foreclosures, credit card debt, of course, again
student loan debt, how much we owe China and Japan, etc. Sure these are
important matters. But they are only the dirty wine glasses on the
Titanic.


Because the real question is:  Why doesn't the nation we pay our hard-earned
taxes to have control of its own currency? Why don't we as Americans
have any say whatever in the way the money of the richest country in the
world is handled by its central banking institution, the Federal Reserve? 
The Federal Reserve is not federal __ meaning a part of the federal 
government __ any more than Federal Express. It is a privately
owned-and-operated corporation! Our currency is not issued by Uncle
Sam. It's issued by Uncle Ben, as in Ben Bernanke! How can we get our
budget priorities in line when we don't have any control over the very
currency we use? This sounds on the surface like some abstract question
but it is fundamental to creating a sound economic system. He who
controls the purse strings controls the world.


And now is the really big one, which spawns all of the others. This is the 
big daddy sitting at the top of this shit pile of self-deception causing all
of the yelling, blather, incoherence, gridlock, confusion, frustration,
helplessness __ the ultimate bargain with the Devil.


We argue about Republican vs. Democrat, conservative vs. liberal, we 
have our standing jokes about Libertarians and spoiler candidates from 
the Green Party, and we point at the ultimate lepers of our time, socialists!


But the simple truth is that it's not about Democrat vs. Republican. It's about
tyranny. The tyranny we have invited by our apathy and our self-invoked
declaration of surrender. The tyranny that marches in when hope is
replaced by hopelessness and toughness traded out for submission and 
compliance. It's the tyranny of the power elite that fills the vacuum of 
citizen engagement and self-rule. It's the tyranny of rule by a tiny core 
of elite oligarchs when voting becomes an exercise in futility, if not a 
complete joke.


All of this contentiousness, bickering, in-fighting, out-fighting,
cage-fighting is irrelevant. Because we don't have representative
government anymore.


DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA IS DEAD!


Now that's the real issue.


And until we address that issue, nothing else will get done. Politics will be
a board game, about as relevant to governing our nation as Monopoly is to
the real economy.


The evidence for this is clear.


No matter who is in power, Democrat or Republican, most everything 
just gets worse.


Ralph Nader made the controversial claim in his 2000 campaign for 
president that the two parties were Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum. That 
was both perceptive and prescient. Now in the coming mid-term and 2016 
elections, it is even more the case than ever. Real choice within the two-party
system is an illusion. Third party and other independent candidates are
almost totally shut out, shouted down, or mocked by those who benefit
from having a two-party system beholden to the corporate aristocracy.


So the questions we need to address here are not the hot issues of the day. 
The questions are practically never what is being discussed in the 24/7/365
tsunami of scandal, rumor, manufactured crisis, and drama queen reporting
that passes for news these days.


The most important question is whether we can become a functioning 
democracy again.


Whether a Democrat or a Republican supports gay marriage or gun control
or legalization of marijuana may seem like life-or-death issues. This is
what we constantly hear from both media pundits and politicians alike.
But these issues __ these "details" __ pale against the real question,
the big question.


Do these men and women in suits __ Democrats and Republicans __ 
support America?


Do they support America, or is their true loyalty to the huge transnational
corporations which are looting our treasury via corporate welfare and
off-shoring their profits, turning our country in a big wasteland devoid
of real opportunities for real Americans, trashing the environment, and
bankrupting our political system by buying our elected representatives?


So what's the point of all of this?


It's very simple . . .


We can wring our hands, fret and ponder about the minutiae. But until we 
fix the big problems, nothing will get resolved. Our educational system is
rigged. Our health care system is rigged. Our foreign policy is rigged.
Our tax system is rigged. Our monetary system is rigged. Our democracy 
is rigged. So . . .


We can sweat the small stuff but all we will end up doing is standing in a puddle
of sweat.


I talked about this problem of scale __ the big fundamental systemic issues vs.
the narrow typically charged and highly divisive ones __ quite some time
ago in a previous blog called "You Don't Use A Microscope To Find The Cow
You Don't Use A Microscope To Find The Cow That Left The Barn".
I also discussed the epic levels of exaggeration which issues from our
government institutions supported by the talking puppets in the media,
essentially propaganda designed to convince the public that the dysfunctional 
blowhards we elect to public office are actually getting something done. 
That blog was called "Differences That Don't Make A Difference".


Back then __ respectively April and March 2011 __ neither seemed to make 
much of an impression. But considering it's been almost three years now and 
things are just getting worse, maybe this would be a good time to revisit them.


As to the important business of steering the ship of state . . .


Maybe it's time for a mutiny.





[ This originated at the author's personal web site . . . http://jdrachel.com ]

Why feed the beast that feeds us nonsense?

 

I recognize that television is fun.

But it's more than that . . . and less.

The late cultural critic, educator, social scientist, and futurist Neil Postman,
a renowned professor in the Department of Culture and Communication at
NYU, wrote a book in 1985 that changed my life. This truly groundbreaking 
work, Amusing Ourselves To Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business 
I read  in 2000. I was so inspired, moved, appalled and frightened, that I turned off 
my TV. For good!

Postman argues that television presents us information as graphic-based
montages, as opposed to hierarchical conceptual ordering. Hierarchical
organization is the basis for language and literature, and has been
responsible for what we credit the progress of many centuries, producing
civilization, industrialization, modernity. Juxtaposition of imagery on
TV and computer screens is not necessarily a bad thing. Just different,
one offering not only a different world view but creating a totally new
untested mental environment for solving problems. We don't know what
kind of future associative image-based "reasoning" will produce, if it
becomes the prevalent vehicle for shaping our social and political
interactions, our economic relationships, our future. It's easy to be
pessimistic, considering how "uncritical" thinking is and how impotent
we as individuals seem to be now, in the deluge of pre-packaged
information and propagandistic blather.

But the more frightening prospects comes from a more sinister aspect of the medium.

Postman argues very persuasively __ enough to get me to turn my TV off forever
__ that television doesn't just feed the brain with a different menu of
highly delectable treats. It actually REWIRES the brain. Excessive
television changes the neurology of the human mind __ the way we process
ALL information, not just what we're viewing.

I don't want to carry on for another 800,000 words going into all of the
research that backs this up. I will say, this sure goes a long way
toward explaining why I can't carry on the most basic conversation with a
lot __ maybe the vast majority __ of people these days.

And by theway, his thesis would appear to apply to much of what is being weaved
into our lives as convenience, then necessity. Smart phone, iPads, Google Glasses, 
smart tablets __ note that these are all image-based technologies.

So it's not just television. But TV is the gateway drug. It is more addictive
than heroin, and if Dr. Postman is correct, more onerous.

By the way, I'm not a Luddite. I am not writing this blog on the back of a
shovel with a chunk of coal. I own three computers, sophisticated
electronic recording technology, and living in Japan am surrounded by
more gadgets and remotes than I know what to do with. And I truly love
the wondrous things that complex and powerful software applications are
capable of.

So I too have to fight it. This stuff can suck you in more thoroughly, more
bewitchingly than watching Angelina's lips on the big screen. I catch
myself checking my email too often, looking at the stat calculator on
this website more frequently than is necessary or healthy, just taking a
"quick peek" at FB way too much, scanning the news aggregator websites
with serious intentions but being subjected to a lot of celebrity gossip
and salacious pseudo-journalism, and generally tending to be more OCD
about all this marvelous gadgetry than I prefer. It's really really addictive 
stuff!

This hypnotic enslavement is a predictable side effect for all of this
flashing, dazzling junk. It's what is termed "contraindications" on
prescription drugs. I think they should print on the side of most of
these devices something to the effect of: May cause obsessive behavior
and other forms of neurosis, enslave unsuspecting individuals to living
life inside the tiny confines of a high-resolution screen, break up
relationships, decimate entire generations of families, encourage
delusional fantasies of epic escape into totally non-existent and
unproductive artificial worlds, and produce numbness in anterior parts
of the human anatomy and critical areas of the cerebral cortex.

Truth in advertising, even if the print is very very small.

So . . .


Turn off your television now!

Get out a sledgehammer!

You know what to do.




[ This originated at the author's personal web site . . . http://jdrachel.com ]

“You wanna fight about it?”

 

To listen to the politicians and pundits, you'd think we can't agree on anything. This is a self-fulfilling and very dangerous fabrication, completely contrary to the energy and spirit of everyone who came before us and built this amazing country.

It's become increasingly clear __ at least to someone who is outside the constant barrage of 24/7 bullshit that passes for news and a national conversation __ that all of the fighting and bickering is intentional. We have the war on terror, the war on Christmas, the war on free speech, the war on marriage, the war on free trade, the war on capitalism, the war on the uterus, the war on voting. What else?

The war on twerking?

What's the point of all of this?

Well, in terms of accomplishing ANYTHING constructive at all, there is no point. Except maybe . . . to keep us from accomplishing anything constructive at all.

AHA! Could it be?

I'm not a conspiracist. I'm a realist. And I know this. The best way to control people is to frighten them, confuse them, divide them, set them against one another. The rest is easy. You can just lean back and let people destroy any sense of civility, community, decency, caring, sharing. And when the exhausted masses are lying in a heap, you can take their wallets, maybe pass around some stale crumbs and chicken bones, explain that's all they get but thank god they aren't living under the crushing thumb of socialism, then tell them how incredibly good they have it just being an American and living in a country where they're free to bicker and fight and self-destruct.

Perhaps this all sounds abstract and you think I have my head in the clouds __ or maybe inserted in a dark anatomical posterior tube. So let me offer a somewhat tongue-in-cheek example of what I'm talking about.

Let’s say the only thing a person could see or read about for an extended period of time was whether fire-breathing dragons should be regulated by the federal government or locally by the states. As the heat of debate is steadily cranked up and the pros and cons are bandied about, the ridiculous underlying premise becomes further reinforced, and woe be anyone who has the audacity and courage to point out that there is no such thing as fire-breathing dragons.

The public would be polled:

“Is the proposed regulation of fire-breathing dragons good for America?
Do you feel safer?”

Politicians and pundits would grandstand:

“Again we see the tax-and-spend liberals in another example of overreach,
as they impose their socialist world view not only on fire-breathing
dragons but on the rest of us who have to foot the bill.”

A huge divide would open up as opinion became more polarized and attacks more vicious. The media would dazzle their viewers with graphics!

“This map shows where things stand. The red states are the ones who believe
they themselves have their fire-breathing dragon situation under
control, the blue believe that the crisis requires greater
oversight from Washington DC.”

In the meantime, the myriad of real problems would be ignored. No time to discuss the unsustainably high unemployment rate, the loss of manufacturing jobs in America, the illegal foreclosures on homeowners, the continuing abuse of money in politics, the increase of unnecessary surveillance on American citizens and their loss of constitutionally guaranteed rights, the bleeding of the U.S. Treasury by big investment banks, the pursuit of unnecessary wars and building more military bases throughout the world, the declining safety of food in the country, the bankrupting escalation of health care costs and the tens of millions of people who still could not afford private health insurance, the strangling of the economy by the ballooning national debt, the absurd and anti-constitutional surrender of control of the nation’s money supply to private banks, the debilitating dependence of America on foreign suppliers for its addiction to oil and the lack of a comprehensive national energy policy, on and on and on.

But at least we would inch closer to getting those pesky fire-breathing dragons under control!

Think about it.

Or maybe you'd rather fight about it.


[ This originated at the author's personal web site . . . http://jdrachel.com ]