Tuesday, July 25, 2006

tick....tick....tick....


Woman in the street:
"So, what kind of country have you given us, Mr. Franklin"?
Ben Franklin:
"A republic, Madam, if you can keep it".

Believe me, I'm not being alarmist when I say what I'm about to say: If the republicans are allowed to retain control of both houses of congress after the mid-term elections this November, you just might as well kiss your republic goodbye. Please don't take this as a ringing endorsement for the democrats (Perish the thought, dear reader!) I left that party over six years ago with damned good reason. The last democratic presidential candidate to actually run as a real, live, honest to goodness democrat was George McGovern in 1972. For the last thirty years, in an effort not to appear "too liberal", they have abandoned their natural constituency to become, as someone once observed, "republican lite". My hope (and hope is all we have) is that, once they have firmly grasped the reigns of power again, they'll return to their wicked liberal ways. You desperately want to believe that they 're still the party of Franklin Delano Roosevelt but it is impossible to tell. With the exception of Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, John Conyers of Michigan, Maurice Hinchey of New York and a handful of others, I hardly recognize them any longer.

So much needs to be done that one hardly knows where to begin. In 1994, when the republican party took back the House of Representatives for the first time in forty years, they promised us "a new way of doing business in Washington". Well, goodness gracious! They certainly delivered on their promise, didn't they? Truth be told, that was probably the only promise they managed to keep. Twelve years have passed and look at what they've done to your country! Hell, Look at what they've done to the entire planet! Have you had a chance to look at the depressing situation in Iraq lately? An average of one-hundred Iraqi citizens are being killed every day and attacks on US soldiers are up by forty percent. And are you ready for their line about our "booming economy"? Does that just make you giggle, or what? Well, yeah, sure! If your lucky enough to be part of the richest two percent, it's booming, alright. But for the rest of the country, particularly the poor and the middle class, it's an entirely different story. Just ask them! And don't forget that they squandered a four trillion dollar surplus on an unnecessary tax cut that has looted this nation's social and economic infrastructure.

For the first six years of their rule in the House, President Bill Clinton (who's looking better and better in hindsight, isn't he?) was able to keep their plunder of the American economy to a minimum. All of that changed on January 20, 2001 when the Supreme Court, after a stolen election, installed a corrupt, hideous, half-witted frat boy named George W. Bush. From that point on it was all down hill.

Do you recall the democrats behaving this irresponsibly when they controlled the congress and the White House? I didn't think so. And now that the GOP senses that the chickens are coming home to roost this November, they'll try to make the destruction permanent. Keep your eyes on the damage that they try to do between now and then.

Although, my political views have always been slightly left-of-center, I was perfectly capable of voting, on a few occasions, for the Grand Old Party. For instance, where I come from, in Orange County, New York (Sixty miles north of Manhattan), we used to have a perfectly fine, incorruptible and much-loved republican congressman named, Ben Gilman. For thirty years, he honorably represented his constituents with purpose and integrity. He wasn't perfect, to be sure. He used to drive me to distraction with his Hamlet-like indecision on which side of a particular issue to take. It wasn't political expediency. It was merely honest contemplation of the complicated problems facing the country. Yet in spite of his very few and mild flaws, I always voted for Ben. And I should tell you for the record that the man he defeated in 1972, the late John Dow, was a friend of my family. There is a tendency among Americans to view all of congress as a den of lying, corrupt thieves "except for MY congressman". Yes we do, indeed, seem to be blind as to the shortcomings of the people we send to Washington. But Ben Gilman was the real deal!

A few (although certainly not most) of my democratic friends used to wonder why I always supported him. My answer was always the same: "As soon as the democrats nominate a better candidate, I'll vote for him". They never did.

Congressman Gilman's splendid and illustrious career came to an abrupt end in 2002 when his district was gerrymandered out of existence by two Georges - Bush and Pataki - and Dick Cheney. You see, Ben, as basically conservative as he was, wasn't quite right-wing (read: stupid) enough for the asses of evil. After he lost the election, the House republican leadership (that would be Tom DeLay) told him that he had to be out of his office by the first of December and they assigned him to a cubicle in the basement of the Capital for the remainder of his term. It was a shameful way to treat a man who was not only a thirty-year veteran, but was also the most decent person in that entire, miserable body. They might never write a four volume biography on the life of Benjamin Gilman but it doesn't really matter, does it? He'll stand like a rock in history.

To get off track for a second, let me say a word or two about George Pataki. He seriously believes that he is going to be our next president. I mean, how jaw-droppingly pathetic is that??? When Eliot Spitzer, the renowned New York District Attorney and our next governor announced his candidacy, Pataki knew that he was finished. So what did he do? He made a statement to the effect that his goals as governor have been successful and that he was going to the mountain top to contemplate the mysteries of affairs of state. He might have been honest and said that the people of New York are sick to death of him but that wouldn't have looked too good as far as his quest for the White House was concerned, would it? He really is a tragic figure, isn't he? I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

But as laughably incompetent and deceitful as George Pataki is, as far as the modern GOP is concerned, he's one of the best of the bunch. That's how far that party has fallen - and they're the ones controlling the destiny of the United States! Please, are you quite possibly able to detect just a smidgen of irony here? Are you even somewhat alarmed? What is now happening to your country can only be defined as the original goal of the so-called "Reagan Revolution" of a quarter of a century ago. It must be understood that everything George W. Bush has done to you, Ronald Reagan tried to do to you and would have done to you had his party had control of both houses of congress. Fortunately that never happened. Remember, Reagan was basically an amiable mask that lulled the masses into a coma. Remove that mask and you have the twisted, disgusting smirk of George W. Bush.

If you're not seriously worried about the future of the United States of America, you should be.... and you will be, very soon.... I promise you that...you will be. Get involved and get organized.

Time is running out.

Pray for peace.

Tom Degan
Goshen, NY
tomdegan@frontiernet.net

9 Comments:

At 2:17 PM, Blogger stoney13 said...

You got "Ronnie Ray Gun" down to a science! How strange is it that the husband of "Just say no!" and the father of the "War on Drugs" probably imported more cocaine (with the aid of the CIA) than the entire Median Cartell!

Bush One didn't go after Noriega because he sent cocaine to the United States! He went after Noriega because he sent cocaine into the United States for RONALD REAGAN!!!

Reagan Administration members, and insiders, Olive North, John Hull, Lewis Tambs, Admiral Poindexter, and General Secord, and several other American darlings of the Right Wing are still under indictment in Costa Rica for running a drug smuggling operation there! Don't believe me? Google it and see what you come up with!

They were defended from extradition by Bush One while he broke international law to put Noriega in a nice "quiet" place where any of the unfortunate truths he knew would be sure to fall on deaf ears!

All of these things were done by Reagan and crew, yet "Liberals" have the bad name! Un-fucking-believable!

 
At 5:47 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Cynthia McKinney Is Getting Robbed And Nobody Is Even Blogging About It

 
At 6:26 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Remember, Reagan was basically an amiable mask that lulled the masses into a coma. Remove that mask and you have the twisted, disgusting smirk of George W. Bush." --couldn't have said it better myself...Regan was the DEVIL! We MUST organize or DIE...bottom line..

Freedom*

vb

 
At 6:27 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

...me again, I LOOOOOVVVVVVVEEEEEE STONEY13'S comment!! great great great

 
At 2:38 AM, Blogger Fenrir said...

Now we agree on something.
I am Republican by tradition, heritage, and nature. But my beliefs tear me apart from my political party altogether.
I'm not so impressed with the Democratic party either.
I'd like to blame the White House, and Congress. And the Supreme Court. And modern-day Republicans. And modern-day Democrats. But I can't. People have become stupider and stupider.

Now how's this suggestion for radical-ness? Our glorified Constitution of the United States of America is showing its greatest shortcomings and FLAWS in recent history.

Political parties are sh!t. They don't work for the common good. They work only for the selfish agendas of congressmen and congresswomen.

Congress does not work. They seek re-election, and so, by nature, they don't work for the common good or well-being of mankind. I once had hope in the Senate, but even the Senate is starting to lose its partially good ("good" is too strong of a word. How about "acceptable"?) nature.

Here is where the Constitution falls short: The Electoral College system of electing the Executive branch sucks. That system alone is broken by nature. It's not an enormous problem, but it is a problem nonetheless.
We'd greatly lower the salaries of congreemen and congresswomen. Instead of seeking re-election for monetary incentives, candidates would seek re-election for the pursuit of their ideals.
Political parties are not even provided for in the Constitution. In fact, George Washington feared a division among the public by way of political agendas. It was through manipulation of political parties that Hitler was able to take power in Germany. It was through manipulation of political parties that Nixon was able to get his way now and again. All political parties should be eliminated. Well... that may be too high of a goal to set. In a perfect system, all political parties may be elimated. But for now... perhaps just divide the political parties apart. Republican party and Democrat party would both split in half based on economic / social / religious / foreign ideals, so that we would have four main political parties, and people would actually vote for what they wanted - and not be forced to vote for the greater of two evils. Or the lesser of two evils. I forgot how that saying goes. But presidential candidates for the past fourteen years have been rather evil.

But that would never happen. The American public is too stupid and uneducated to keep up with even two political parties, let alone four. Nobody cares about politics until it hurts - and even then, a person is too busy building a life to care about who governs them (unless we return to feudalism and nobody is able to have a real life).

Face it. It was not our government that failed. The American public just became stupid. We'd rather vote on American Idol than vote for a presidential candidate. And, unfortunately, the framers of the Constitution never took into account that America would become amongst the world's lowest-ranked educated nations.

 
At 1:41 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Tock!


...and then its all over, in a flash of a second.

And there won't be a miraculous rapture. We are not heroic actors in a great historic play. No, physics and chemistry will play out the greatest game of all and we will turn to dust.

 
At 6:29 AM, Blogger landsker said...

Abbie Hoffman, now there was a good american.
Anyone else remember the "Yippies", and the pig that ran for president?
Are the democrats that different to the Republicans?
It is surely time for a new political party.

There is a country named Iceland, which last year had a per capita military spending of $0.00. No-one attacked them.
Vietnam spent just over $7 per head on defense, no-one would even think of attacking them (again).

America spent almost $1,000 per person, Israel spent more than any other nation on earth, at around $1,500 per person.
There must be some kind of lateral connection. Can anyone see the the republicans OR the democrats calling for a $0 spend on armaments?

 
At 7:48 PM, Blogger Fenrir said...

I hate to resurrect the Cold War... but... if America did $0 per head on defense... there you have it. Russia would do something about it. And have you completely forgotten about North Korea?
And what about or influence over the South American nations? Now, I'm absolutely not defending the actions we've taken in South America. We could have done better. We still can do better. But we need the military advantage that we have in order for them to respect us and not kill all our tourists.
Speaking of tourists... what about Iran?? What's going to stop them from kidnapping Americans again to use as hostages? Are we supposed to just ask them nicely?
Iceland doesn't have a population 300 million, with several millions of its citizens located in other countries. Iceland doesn't have its assets located in South America, Germany, Japan, and Iraq.
And Israel absolutely needs a strong army. Now don't get me wrong here - I am not defending the recent actions taken by Israel. But being the only Jewish nation in the entire world, surrounded by Islamic nations that hate their guts merely by their existence, if they didn't have a strong military, we'd see another Holocaust. HOLOCAUST. HOLOCAUST.
What does that word mean to you? Israel needs to be able to defend itself. Again - I am not defending their recent actions. I'm defending their military spending costs.

 
At 7:52 PM, Blogger landsker said...

"Naturally,the common people don't want war, but after all, it is the leaders of a country who determine the policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag people along whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship.

Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. This is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in every country."

Goering, giving evidence to Nuremburg trial.

 

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