Loughner Declared Sane!

A ruling from the United States Supreme Court this afternoon stated that Mr. Loughner " . . . was not an insane citizen in a normal nation, but rather was a normal product of an insane nation."  

The 9-0 ruling was accompanied by a statement from Chief Justice Roberts who wrote that Mr. Loughner's actions epitomized the spirit of the country, as exemplified by the courageous refusal of the Congress to pass ANY laws concerning the regulation of hand guns or ammunition.  "This,"  he added, "in spite of stupendous and overwhelming allegations that such laws might occasionally save a life or two."

Justice Clarence Thomas wrote that Loughner's dedication to his own personal ideals and deeply-felt needs was an important prelude to the "Cap, Cut and Balance" legislation which passed in the House of Representatives and failed in the Senate by only 5 votes, this despite the understanding that its passage would result in some 700,000 Americans losing their jobs.  “Mr Lougner showed us that we really don’t need to see through the results of the actions we know in our heart that it is the right action to take.”  he concluded.

Justice Scalia pointed out that Mr. Loughner's willingness to do what would "normal people would regard as unthinkable", has been a sustaining inspiration to members of the Republican Party and its Command Center, formally known as the "Tea Party", and which is now more and more often referred to as "THE Party", as they engage in negotiations with the president over the Debt Ceiling.  Probably without Loughner’s display of leadership”, Scalia continued, “ . . . members of The Party would probably have been unwilling to confront the many economic appraisals that refusal to raise that debt ceiling could somehow taint the nation.”  He concluded “Now, The Party is encouraged to just pull that trigger and get it over with!”

Finally, Justice Alito wrote about the effect of “Mr. Loughner’s demonstration that “Any definitive action, especially if it is compelling action, can divert attention from mindless chatter over unimportant issues and show the rest of us how to accomplish those things that really NEED to be done, like our ruling which concerned campaign contributions by corporations.”  Then he smiled and quietly whispered behind his hand, "Bang-bang."

Open Letter to President Obama

Mr. Obama, it is my observation that the Republican Party is now waging a War of Terrorism against the old, the sick and the poor people of America. 

It is threatening to shove the people of America over the cliff of historic prosperity into the abyss of financial misery unless they, the Republican Party, get the American public to give up the Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and many other entitlements they have earned and built – PLUS – agree to never raise taxes on rich people or corporations again.  

The Republican Party is declaring that the American Government is now dead, and they are the rulers of a new American Fascist State.

We have learned the hard way, and many other countries have too, that to give in to terrorists - and that’s what this threat rightly is - only encourages them to continue to demand some other trophy, and then another and then more.  Eventually, we will HAVE to fight them.  

My take on this is to let it happen now.  Let the country fail and lose its “full faith and credit”, let the rest of the world fall with us into another great depression. Even THAT would be better than to remain dangling and twisting, being picked apart, bite by bite, by those who have sold their own souls to corporate greed and who are busy building a purely fascist nation.  Fascism needs leaders and it need workers.  it does not need – indeed, it  cannot tolerate – a middle class.  

We know how to build a country.  We can do it again.  We can build a new world, and we can build one that operates without its “full faith and credit” being devoted to the great corporations that need wars and prisons to increase their profits.  The old industrial world has changed now anyway.  The great age of industry based on oil and coal, nuclear power and big automobiles and endless highways is diminishing, it is clearly ready to transition into a different engine of power.  New industries beckon us to enter into a new economy increasingly powered by solar and wind energies and using information technologies and new advances in medicine.  

We would eventually evolve into such a condition anyway, but not if we are workers in a fascist state making millions and billions for our corporate owners.

Republicans and Obama versus US?

Well, the last act if the great play is ready to begin but we know how it will end now.  And here's what will make the audience scream in agony and tear their hair and rend their garments and smear their faces with ashes:  just before the curtain descends, the main player, Obama, will announce to the world that Social Security and Medicare will take significant hits.  He says they will remain strong, but everyone in the audience will know that is a lie.

The barbarians, played by republicans, will remain at the gate, and continue to shake it and shout, but their tone of despair will be as fake as Obama's ring of endurance.

How do we know the outcome so early?  Some of the key players have tipped off that they know the outcome.  How could they all know it?  That would have to be because they have been briefed.  We're talking now about the Chamber of Commerce, among others.  Also the great players on Wall Street.  These are the people who would be the great big losers if the debt ceiling does not get raised.  If there was a chance that it would not be done, they would by now be conspicuous by their actions on Capitol Hill.

So they know.  And they know more than that.  They also know that it is all a great play so that the tension can be raised so high, that Obama can cave.  He would have to know that too.  And that's where the play comes in.  Because it will all look like Obama navigated a dangerous strait, that he brought his ship in safely and only had to concede a minor amount.  But that amount will bring an end to the "Social Welfare" programs that the republicans hate so much.

That's my hunch.  I hope I am wrong.

Burr, McHenry, Republicans. Treason?

The current problems in the American economy were caused by a) the freeing of the economic markets from regulations by the federal government, 2) the reduction of tax rates on the wealthiest people and great corporations and c) unfunded wars that have dragged on for 10 years and which have funneled enormous amounts of money to certain major corporations that NEED wars to increase their profits.

Now the inequities of that recession are being portioned out to the middle class and the poor people of America by threatening the dismantling of the Social Security and Medicare programs that we have built and paid for, and the destruction of Medicaid.  Meanwhile, the richest people America has ever had are making more money than ever before largely due to the laying off of American workers and the out-sourcing of American jobs to other countries, like Mexico, Korea, China and others so they can continue to reduce their costs of business and increase their profits even more.  AND, they are paying less taxes than any rich class ever has in American history AND they refuse to even talk about paying more.

Meanwhile, the Republican Party now seems to be saying they will NEVER raise taxes EVER, and they won't even talk about it either, because they have taken an oath to Grover Norquist and his Americans for Tax Reform Party that they now appear to be placing ABOVE the oath they took to the American Constitution when they took office.  If this can be proven true, would they be guilty of treason?  

I have called my two republicans, Senator Burr and Congressman McHenry.  Their staff "doesn't know" if Mr. Burr or McHenry have taken any such oath, and they say they don't want to raise taxes on the rich people and corporations during a recession because those people and corporations "provide jobs", even though that not been true over the past 30 years since deregulation took place, or during the lifetime of the people involved.   They are simply telling us that we have bothered them long enough and that our time is up.

John Womack

Response to "Skyscraper of Debt" by Patrick McHenry

First, the debt was run up there by republicans - the debt ceiling was raised 8 times under George Bush. Second, it went up because the great corporations laid off American workers and they out-sourced American jobs to other countries -  including textile and furniture making jobs from right here in the Piedmont of North Carolina.  Third, it went up because great corporations do not pay taxes (instead, they are paid Subsidies (from us!)) AND the richest people in America now pay less taxes percentage-wise than they EVER have - this another legacy of George Bush and the republicans.  Fourth, three wars in the middle east - including one to attack Iraq because of WMD that they HAD - well, Bush thought they had them (probably still does).

Now, if I get this right, you want to fix this debt issue by 1) eliminating or reducing Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid benefits for American citizens. 2) reducing taxes further on the richest people in America and the great American corporations who are now making more profit than any corporation has EVER made before in ALL of history. And 3) by making all the Americans who are getting these "entitlements"  from the government have to, as Orrin Hatch said today "go back to work".

Probably the reason your "Skyscraper of Debt" is being viewed on two programs is because they are laughing at it.  It may well "go viral".   But if Americans who have EARNED Social Security find it being reduced, they will have to spend less money at the grocery stores, drug stores, and gasoline stations - leading those places to lay off a few more people and call their suppliers and tell them to cut back on their orders, and lead hospitals and health care workers to find out they are not needed to treat Medicare and Medicaid patients and they can stay home.  Emergency Rooms will find more and more extremely sick people showing up who have no money and no insurance.  And no hope.

So.  The answer to all this is the Spirit of America.  Remember, our founding fathers pointed out that all people are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights . . . life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  Then they added:  "To SECURE these rights, GOVERNMENTS are instituted among people, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. . ."

Thank you for providing this opportunity to respond to your video.  A great country is always built by those who have been denied opportunity elsewhere, and their struggle is against those who are defending their own personal pleasures.  We need strong, independent people who have not sold their souls for money to represent us.  Show us your soul Mr. McHenry, are you with us?

When I Run for President . . .

I will point out how a couple of historical coincidences, a New Hampshire state law, and tradition have decreed that only a tiny handfull of states fire off the first presidential primary contests each election cycle.  These first four events have too often shaped the commitments of the candidates and eventually the platforms of their parties. But these four states, Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina, are not representative of the United States! They are rural, small, self-sufficient entities that have no appreciation of the problems that haunt New York, California, Illinois, Pennsylvania for example, or of the problems peculiar to Florida and Texas, or the big cities or the great mass of Americans.   These four states contain less than 11,700,000 people, or 3.7% of the total American population.  Yet this 3.7% ALWAYS have a large say in the choice of the person who will be the next president of the United States and the commitments made by both parties. 

Perhaps at one time, the contests of these four states were significant because they indicated the comparative strengths of the candidates and showed how they dealt with issues that were important to these small rural states.  But in today’s world, all politics is universal.  Every word uttered by any candidate in Iowa is broadcast across the world, every mistake made by any contestant is repeated again and again.  

So.  The remedy is simple.  When I run for president I will campaign in these four states, like everybody else,  but I will not cater to the “local” vote, being determined to get my viewpoint out to the entire country.  Whether I do well in Iowa or New Hampshire, or those other two places matter not in the full swing of things.  I will happily finish dead last in those four states as long as I can make clear my intention concerning matters of concern to the other 97% of the people of the United States.

I just hope that I am not the only one who understands this.