The Worst of Times

It has been the worst of times as my life dwindles down to precious few years left. The once proud American has become disillusioned, greedy and lacks compassion. The corporations have won not only personhood via a Supreme Court decision but they’ve won the battle of labor by pitting workers against each other. Meanwhile banks and Wall Street investors continue their toxic policies of ripping apart the American economy.


The crash of ’08 has done little to end the fraudulent practices of the robber barons. America’s most wealthy are on their way to making record profits while they dupe the public into believing a tax cut for the wealthiest ten percent will lead to jobs.

This fallacy of job creation by cutting taxes of the richest is accepted by Americans because they only listen and read the information from the media outlets owned by the very same rich.

Meanwhile a new movement of Tea Party Americans foolishly thinks they are a grassroots organization expressing the will of the American people. They refuse to understand or accept their roots stem from the dollars of Karl Rove and his cronies intent on carrying on the PNAC….plan for the new American century.

What’s even more astounding is the call for the end of Medicare and Medicaid, which are actually the most efficient healthcare systems in the nation. Not to mention they are the safety net for the poorest and the elderly. Amazingly the very elderly who will be most affected by such a bogus plan are falling all over themselves to support the actions that will gut these programs.

What the Tea Party really seems to be is a group of predominately white people who come across as people saying "I've got mine and I intend on keeping all of it without sacrificing anything". The TP's seem to be a mixture of racists, libertarians and survivalists who cannot accept a black man was elected President. They speak code that clearly demonstrates their racist ideology and their hatefulness toward the poor and the weakest living in this nation.
I see the same people in the Catholic church I attended. They are affluent and hold the parish hostage with their tithes in exchange for control of the parish dogma. The soothe their consciences by giving money to Catholic charities but look dimly on including the disenfranchised into the parish community. They look dimly on any priest suggesting the long wars in the Middle East are immoral and troops should be withdrawn.
In the rituals of the mass there are prayers for the "peace keepers" protecting American values meaning the troops. Whenever the deacons or priests are reminded there should be a petition for the innocent humans killed by our wars their response is akin to patting a schoolchild on the head and saying they understand. But they seldom petition their God for these innocents or for the end of war.
I've suggested the Church is implicitly supporting the wars because of the insurgents' faith being Muslim. What we are seeing is one more crusade of Christians against what they feel are godless Islamic fanatics. They fail to differientate or suggest the fanatics are a small minority of Muslims just as there is a small minority of fanatical Christians perpetuating the hate.
The hate is pervasive and palpable in this nation. And hate-mongers like Sara Palin, Rush Limbaugh and the Fox network make sure the hate keeps on coming. This hate and divisiveness keeps Americans distracted from the real issues of two wars costing billions upon billions, an unchecked and unregulated banking and investment system which diverts the wealth of Americans to the top ten percent and a government in city, state and federal realms intent on destroying all pretenses of a safety net for the weakest citizens of our nation.
The middle class is cannibalizing itself at the urging of the rich masters of industry and commerce. I can never remember a time of less hope for my country. Obama ran on a platform of hope but instead has led us to despair.