Last evening I watched Brian Williams on NBC News interviewing teachers about the difficulties of their jobs in the public school sector. He polled an audience of teachers to see how many spent money out of their own pockets to do their jobs. A group of approximately 50 shown on camera all raised their hands. He asked how many spent more than 60 hours a week working on their jobs. Again all raised their hands. He asked how many had to take other jobs or more than one other job to make ends meet. Again all raised their hands.
The next segment showed Williams interviewing the Secretary of Education who emphatically stated educators should be more highly respected for their work and salaries should be doubled to recruit better and brighter candidates into the teaching profession. He said the key to a better future was better education.
In the final segment of the report, Williams commented state governors seemed to have different ideas when it came to education in public schools. Then he showed Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper making the comment, "It's not about money. It's about looking at things in a different way".
That's right, Governor Howdy Doody made that inane statement about the plight of public schools.
This is the same governor that as Mayor of Denver pushed heavily to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to build a new city jail near Civic Center Park. Instead of spending money to improve neighborhood schools to prevent drop outs and future incarceration, Hickenlooper chose building a new jail to increase the capacity of the number of inmates that could be incarcerated.
Instead of increasing the amount of funding for mental health and substance abuse treatment programs to divert groups of people who frequently end up in the city jail, Hickenlooper ignored a study he commissioned that found more than five dollars in the jailing of the mentally ill and addicts could be saved in one dollar's worth of treatment programs. He ignored the huge cost of warehousing an individual in jail versus the small cost of early intervention to prevent incarceration.
When I asked the Denver Mayor about the study, Hickenlooper hemmed and hawed before saying the study was only true up to a point. The study was never brought up in debates leading up to the election to fund the jail.
Instead of increased funding to keep recreation centers open longer and building new rec centers in poorer parts of Denver, Hickenlooper lobbied feverishly to get the vote out for building the new multi-million dollar jail.
What wasn't mentioned was a trust fund of Hickenlooper's indicated he had some rights to land where the jail was going to be built. There was never a mention certain real estate interests were lobbying for the new jail to improve land values around the Golden Triangle near Civic Center and the area the new jail would be built.
Instead of attempts to keep schools open in the neighborhoods populated predominately by people of color using some of the millions intended for the new jail, Hickenlooper allowed schools to close on his watch despite promises not to close schools.
The opponents to building a new jail pointed out the huge disparity in the numbers of minority and ethnic inmates in the city and county jails of Denver to Hickenlooper. They pointed out new beds meant more people of color were going to be locked up for lack of bail on minor charges such as traffic offenses and possession of small amounts of street drugs as opposed to those with money who would be able to make bail.
Opponents pointed out the old jail already had problems with staffing to run the day to day operation and questioned how a larger capacity jail could be staffed appropriately. Hickenlooper never wavered in pushing for a new tax on Denver citizens to fund the new jail. When the big economic crash came, Denver budget cuts included sheriffs who staff Denver jails. The new jail is now built but lacks the funds to appropriately staff it.
But now, Governor Hickenlooper tells us we don't need to invest in the education of Colorado children and children across the U.S., we just need to look at things in a different way. When we asked him to look at the issue of preventing incarceration instead of building a new jail he refused to look at things in a different way. He chose to invest in imprisoning humans instead of improving the lives of humans.
He could have pushed for better funding for to hire more teachers to improve the environment to learn but chose instead to invest in locking up people who failed in an educational system that pushed away students having problems in learning.
By his comments to Williams on NBC News Hickenlooper shows his unwillingness to invest in education even though teachers are telling us they spend their own money to facilitate learning in their classes, they spend 60 hours a week to make things better for students but get paid only for forty hours and they have to take second and third jobs to make ends meet for themselves. A beginning teacher barely earns a living wage.
Hickenlooper joins the ranks of governors like Scott Walker and Chris Christie in allowing teachers to be blamed for a failing educational system. He prefers to ignore the truth that teachers are being over-extended and disrespected. He ignores class sizes too large for a good learning environment.
But it isn't that Hickenlooper is stupid. No, Hickenlooper is one more corporate worshipping stooge who would prefer teacher's wages be decreased, their unions be busted and schools be privatized through the bogus charter school concept and other "innovative" ways to move toward corporate interests having control over public schools.
John Hickenlooper tries to pass himself off as a Democrat and people have fallen for his "oh shucks, I'm just a regular guy" PR but the truth is he's a ruthless shill for big business. He fits far better in the category of a Wall Street Democrat or even to some extent just a plain conservative Republican.
The people of Colorado who care about a public school system that competes with the rest of the world in the sciences and arts need to understand politicians whose loyalty is primarily with big business don't want the American child to be educated, questioning and able to think abstractly.
They want children who know how to follow authority, rules and fall for the bogus idea the company has the worker's best interest at heart .....so why should the worker possibly need a union.
John Hickenlooper is part of the corporate hierarchy that wants Americans dumbed down to prevent them from rising up from the enslavement of a debtor class of worker who survives pay check to pay check, dependent on staying in the good graces of the "Boss".
These are people who want the middle class to fail in order to have American workers so worried about keeping their low paying jobs they don't have the energy to object and resist. They prefer American workers anethetized by inane television programs pushing militarism, consumerism and passive acceptance of the status quo.
They prefer we have more passion for our sports teams than our real lives of slavery to debt, poor education, poor government services and little hope for a better future for our children and grandchildren. Ignoring and failing to invest in the public education system is a major symptom of the oligarchy John Hickenlooper and those like him want to fully achieve.
John Hickenlooper is a snake in the grass who comes across like Howdy Doody but is really more like the CEOs of the banksters and Wall Street speculators that caused the crash of the American economy and the demise of the American middle class. His venom comes whenever you turn your back on him.
Tuesday, September 27
Saturday, September 24
Welcome to My Hood, Mr. President
Just found out President Obama will be visiting the high school seven blocks from my home. My two sons went to the school. Back in the 90's when they went to Abraham Lincoln High School, stepping into the school was like stepping into chaos. Students were running up and down the halls, graffiti was on the outside walls and the whole vibe was chaos and loss of control. During that time one of my sons was threatened in one of the smoking areas by a gang member wielding a switchblade. Apparently the gangster didn't like the way my son looked at him. A faculty member happened by and the gang member walked away. The smoking areas no longer exist.
So, this Tuesday Obama is coming to Lincoln. The school is cleaned up now. Too late for my kids and all the kids they went to school with. Still, the graduation rate for Hispanic and Latino males is barely above 50% when the drop out rates are figured from middle school on. Lincoln will tout a higher graduation rate and more college bound students but statistics by Denver Public Schools are skewed like most statistics when it comes to "new and better" schools.
The discouraged students, the behavioral problem and suspended students and the pregnant/married students amongst others are taken off the books. Leaving only the student that would likely succeed anyway.
I'm glad Lincoln has made strides to meet the challenge of educating students from a neighborhood with over half of the population living in poverty. A neighborhood where over half the kids need a breakfast program and a lunch program to stave off hunger. A neighborhood where a majority of the families speak English as a second language. A neighborhood that has families without documentation of citizenship in the US. The vile term "illegal" takes the place of "wetback" and other disparaging slurs.
Paul Lopez is our city councilman. Good man. He and I worked together with a group to keep huge amounts of money from being used to build a new jail instead of using it to prevent incarceration. We lost. Real estate and the prison industry won over the people of Denver. Now the city can't hire new staff for the new jail and has laid off staff in budget cuts. Paul was a union organizer before he was elected. He knows about the poverty here in the neighborhood. Hopefully Obama will talk with him.
Hopefully the man at Jewell and Sheridan, which is a block away from Lincoln, will be there with his young daughter of about six years old. He's been at that corner just recently with a sign begging for help to feed and house his family. Hopefully the disabled guy with his dog will be at the corner of Evans and Sheridan, the corner where the Lincoln athletic fields end. The guy is always there in evening rush begging with a sign asking for help. Often there are homeless people across Federal on the corners with signs asking for help also. The intersection of Federal and Evans is one of the busiest in Denver. A good place to ask for help from the commuters stopped at the traffic lights. And people in this neighborhood are generous. I see people giving money to the people on the corners or at the stores all the time. We're not a rich neighborhood but despite the dangers of gangs and poverty my neighbors understand the need of those brothers and sisters on the corners.
I doubt Obama will see the people I see almost every day on those corners. No doubt police and Secret Service will clear them out like they did the homeless when the DNC was here in 2008. I'm sure the feeling of a police state will return in the neighborhood on Tuesday. Helicopters over head and Denver Police SWAT teams huddled near the school. They'll have all that "neat" stuff bought for them when the DNC came.
Too bad Obama can't go down the street to Newbarry's to have a cup of coffee. He'd hear from the wait staff how tough things have gotten for them. The coffee shop used to be packed with a wide variety of customers. On Sundays we used to wait to get in for breakfast after church. Now, because of demographic changes and the increased poverty in my neighborhood, Newbarry's is seldom crowded. There are fewer wait staff working there.
I wish the President could do a tour of the neighborhood to count the "For Sale" signs. Every block seems to have at least two or three. Most are foreclosures. It would be good if he could go over to the projects at Westwood or down to Sun Valley to listen to the people hurt most by the bipartisan bickering and hatefulness. And the 'banksters" and Wall Street speculators.
Of course the President won't do any of this. He's coming to my "hood" to court the Hispanic and Latino voters. He's losing them in the polls. He's demonstrated he's all show without game. He'll give a fiery speech about putting Americans back to work.
He's done a good job at keeping a lot of our neighbors here employed by extending the wars. It's kids from neighborhoods like mine and my old neighborhood on the Northside of Denver that end up fighting these wars, Mr. President. It's the kids who dropped out and ended up with GEDs who can't afford college without veteran benefits. The average student who can't get a scholarship and doesn't want to go in debt to the rip off merchants shilling education end up enlisting instead.
Nah, President Obama coming to my neighborhood is all about show. I heard Tavis Smiley say his momma always told him words are just words without deeds.Wish his momma had talked to the President.
I'm not hopeful about this President or any other President helping me or my neighbors. We're on our own when it comes to the American government. Like the street people, the homeless and the beggars on the corners we will be forgotten as soon as the last words are spoken and the applause is finished.
Some fell for the eloquence of Obama's words back in '08. I really didn't because he surrounded himself with too many K Street types without a clue of how folks live outside the D.C. beltway. Unfortunately my feeling about him proved to true.
But welcome, President Obama. Wish you could really see my neighborhood. Despite all the poverty and struggles going on here, I like it here. The Lincoln High neighborhood is America. Too bad your entourage will keep you from seeing it.
So, this Tuesday Obama is coming to Lincoln. The school is cleaned up now. Too late for my kids and all the kids they went to school with. Still, the graduation rate for Hispanic and Latino males is barely above 50% when the drop out rates are figured from middle school on. Lincoln will tout a higher graduation rate and more college bound students but statistics by Denver Public Schools are skewed like most statistics when it comes to "new and better" schools.
The discouraged students, the behavioral problem and suspended students and the pregnant/married students amongst others are taken off the books. Leaving only the student that would likely succeed anyway.
I'm glad Lincoln has made strides to meet the challenge of educating students from a neighborhood with over half of the population living in poverty. A neighborhood where over half the kids need a breakfast program and a lunch program to stave off hunger. A neighborhood where a majority of the families speak English as a second language. A neighborhood that has families without documentation of citizenship in the US. The vile term "illegal" takes the place of "wetback" and other disparaging slurs.
Paul Lopez is our city councilman. Good man. He and I worked together with a group to keep huge amounts of money from being used to build a new jail instead of using it to prevent incarceration. We lost. Real estate and the prison industry won over the people of Denver. Now the city can't hire new staff for the new jail and has laid off staff in budget cuts. Paul was a union organizer before he was elected. He knows about the poverty here in the neighborhood. Hopefully Obama will talk with him.
Hopefully the man at Jewell and Sheridan, which is a block away from Lincoln, will be there with his young daughter of about six years old. He's been at that corner just recently with a sign begging for help to feed and house his family. Hopefully the disabled guy with his dog will be at the corner of Evans and Sheridan, the corner where the Lincoln athletic fields end. The guy is always there in evening rush begging with a sign asking for help. Often there are homeless people across Federal on the corners with signs asking for help also. The intersection of Federal and Evans is one of the busiest in Denver. A good place to ask for help from the commuters stopped at the traffic lights. And people in this neighborhood are generous. I see people giving money to the people on the corners or at the stores all the time. We're not a rich neighborhood but despite the dangers of gangs and poverty my neighbors understand the need of those brothers and sisters on the corners.
I doubt Obama will see the people I see almost every day on those corners. No doubt police and Secret Service will clear them out like they did the homeless when the DNC was here in 2008. I'm sure the feeling of a police state will return in the neighborhood on Tuesday. Helicopters over head and Denver Police SWAT teams huddled near the school. They'll have all that "neat" stuff bought for them when the DNC came.
Too bad Obama can't go down the street to Newbarry's to have a cup of coffee. He'd hear from the wait staff how tough things have gotten for them. The coffee shop used to be packed with a wide variety of customers. On Sundays we used to wait to get in for breakfast after church. Now, because of demographic changes and the increased poverty in my neighborhood, Newbarry's is seldom crowded. There are fewer wait staff working there.
I wish the President could do a tour of the neighborhood to count the "For Sale" signs. Every block seems to have at least two or three. Most are foreclosures. It would be good if he could go over to the projects at Westwood or down to Sun Valley to listen to the people hurt most by the bipartisan bickering and hatefulness. And the 'banksters" and Wall Street speculators.
Of course the President won't do any of this. He's coming to my "hood" to court the Hispanic and Latino voters. He's losing them in the polls. He's demonstrated he's all show without game. He'll give a fiery speech about putting Americans back to work.
He's done a good job at keeping a lot of our neighbors here employed by extending the wars. It's kids from neighborhoods like mine and my old neighborhood on the Northside of Denver that end up fighting these wars, Mr. President. It's the kids who dropped out and ended up with GEDs who can't afford college without veteran benefits. The average student who can't get a scholarship and doesn't want to go in debt to the rip off merchants shilling education end up enlisting instead.
Nah, President Obama coming to my neighborhood is all about show. I heard Tavis Smiley say his momma always told him words are just words without deeds.Wish his momma had talked to the President.
I'm not hopeful about this President or any other President helping me or my neighbors. We're on our own when it comes to the American government. Like the street people, the homeless and the beggars on the corners we will be forgotten as soon as the last words are spoken and the applause is finished.
Some fell for the eloquence of Obama's words back in '08. I really didn't because he surrounded himself with too many K Street types without a clue of how folks live outside the D.C. beltway. Unfortunately my feeling about him proved to true.
But welcome, President Obama. Wish you could really see my neighborhood. Despite all the poverty and struggles going on here, I like it here. The Lincoln High neighborhood is America. Too bad your entourage will keep you from seeing it.
Thursday, September 22
American Barbarism - Continued
I'm old enough to remember the same debate about the death penalty going on in the early 60's that's going on today. We never learn! I was in the 6th grade and knew in my heart killing another human in the name of justice was not justice; it was revenge. I knew at age 12 killing another human "officially" was still murder.
I remember when the Supreme Court ruled the death penalty was unconstitutional. I was overjoyed that finally our government got something right. How naive and stupid I was about the concept of justice. I was taught the rulings of the Supreme Court were the final word in law. The things they teach in public schools!
Now it's clear. The Supreme Court is a tool like all the rest of the tools of our government. Thank you Howard Zinn for truly teaching me American history.
I am old enough to remember in those same early 60's the "negroes" in the South were rebelling against Jim Crow. I wondered who the hell Jim Crow was. Then I watched Bull Connor and his goon squad unleash the dogs and fire hoses and I knew. I saw George Wallace block the doors of the University of Alabama. I saw the Freedom Riders getting beaten and bashed in the press. I saw MLK leading marches and boycotts. I saw the bombing of a "negro" church killing children. I saw Medgar Evans being assassinated. And I knew who Jim Crow was.
I've lived long enough to know that the old blues song BLACK, BROWN & WHITE Big Bill Broonzy sang rings as true today as it did back in the days of American apartheid. "If you're black, brother, get back, get back, get back". Or do we fool ourselves into believing the hatred directed toward Obama is simply about his "socialist" agenda? That's why they've had to double or even triple his Secret Service protection. That's why old white rednecks think it's perfectly acceptable to carry around stuffed monkeys with a name placard of Obama on them while waiting to get in to a campaign rally. That's why the good old boy club in Congress has successfully obstructed anything and everything Obama attempted to achieve.
And the thing is, I am not a fan of Obama. I can't understand why the right wing would be upset with him. He's done everything possible to appease the right wing agenda at the expense of the liberal and progressive agenda. He's sold us out....all of us.
Last night at 11:08 p.m. EST in Georgia proved conclusively Obama, Congress and the Supreme Court don't give a damn about justice or ending violence. They all put their own personal stamps of approval on American barbarism by sitting on their hands as Troy Davis was executed by the government of the state of Georgia. They allowed Snookie Williams to die.They will allow Mumia Abu Jamal to eventually die.
In the case of Troy Davis it became clear for all to see the police, prosecutor and judicial system conspired to exact quick revenge for the death of a white cop by a black man. They cooerced, lied and ignored. They had already decided who they wanted to charge, convict and execute. Even when witnesses began to recant their testimony and it was seen the witnesses were biased by the procedures of the police and prosecutor, Georgia refused to admit they might have made a mistake. They refused to admit they should at least have another trial that was fair and impartial...and based on fact.
The American people are Troy Davis. What happened last night in Georgia personifies the American people. We are a people polarized by race, morality and a sense of justice. The same people who often rant about unborn fetuses are the biggest supporters of exacting revenge through the death penalty. Some Americans clearly see the injustice and racist implementation of justice in this nation whether it be the sentencing practices of judges for drug offenses or murder cases. Others feel "those" people are the trouble-makers, the illegals, the offenders.
The case of Troy Davis is further evidence of our failing humanity. From the hunger we allow in impoverished neighborhoods to the wars we allow the sons and daughters of the poor and middle class to die in, Americans have demonstrated time and again we are a culture of violence. We can label ourselves Christian or Judeo-Christian but we are neither. Nor are we true followers of Buddhism, Islam, Mormonism or any other religious cult extolling true justice, true love for one another and true brotherhood. We continue to fall prey to our barbarism. We have crowds calling for the death of a man without insurance in a debate of Presidential candidates one week. And the following week we execute Troy Davis and a white supremacist on the same day. How ironic. Almost like the macabre scenario of both executions on the same day was intended.
The racists will have the perfect answer to those complaining about the death of Davis. Well they also executed the white guy, Lawrence Russell Brewer. White supremacist, Russell Brewer, killed a black man by chaining him to the back of a pickup and dragging him along a backwoods asphalt road in Texas. If we are against the death penalty then we must also say the state sanctioned death of Brewer was also an act of barbaric terrorism. But, there was little doubt in the case of Brewer's guilt while there was great doubt in the Troy Davis case.
When I was young, those opposed to the death penalty used to say all executions should be televised to show Americans the barbarism. Today, I don't think most Americans would give a damn. That's how far down the well of violence and barbarism we've fallen.
I remember when the Supreme Court ruled the death penalty was unconstitutional. I was overjoyed that finally our government got something right. How naive and stupid I was about the concept of justice. I was taught the rulings of the Supreme Court were the final word in law. The things they teach in public schools!
Now it's clear. The Supreme Court is a tool like all the rest of the tools of our government. Thank you Howard Zinn for truly teaching me American history.
I am old enough to remember in those same early 60's the "negroes" in the South were rebelling against Jim Crow. I wondered who the hell Jim Crow was. Then I watched Bull Connor and his goon squad unleash the dogs and fire hoses and I knew. I saw George Wallace block the doors of the University of Alabama. I saw the Freedom Riders getting beaten and bashed in the press. I saw MLK leading marches and boycotts. I saw the bombing of a "negro" church killing children. I saw Medgar Evans being assassinated. And I knew who Jim Crow was.
I've lived long enough to know that the old blues song BLACK, BROWN & WHITE Big Bill Broonzy sang rings as true today as it did back in the days of American apartheid. "If you're black, brother, get back, get back, get back". Or do we fool ourselves into believing the hatred directed toward Obama is simply about his "socialist" agenda? That's why they've had to double or even triple his Secret Service protection. That's why old white rednecks think it's perfectly acceptable to carry around stuffed monkeys with a name placard of Obama on them while waiting to get in to a campaign rally. That's why the good old boy club in Congress has successfully obstructed anything and everything Obama attempted to achieve.
And the thing is, I am not a fan of Obama. I can't understand why the right wing would be upset with him. He's done everything possible to appease the right wing agenda at the expense of the liberal and progressive agenda. He's sold us out....all of us.
Last night at 11:08 p.m. EST in Georgia proved conclusively Obama, Congress and the Supreme Court don't give a damn about justice or ending violence. They all put their own personal stamps of approval on American barbarism by sitting on their hands as Troy Davis was executed by the government of the state of Georgia. They allowed Snookie Williams to die.They will allow Mumia Abu Jamal to eventually die.
In the case of Troy Davis it became clear for all to see the police, prosecutor and judicial system conspired to exact quick revenge for the death of a white cop by a black man. They cooerced, lied and ignored. They had already decided who they wanted to charge, convict and execute. Even when witnesses began to recant their testimony and it was seen the witnesses were biased by the procedures of the police and prosecutor, Georgia refused to admit they might have made a mistake. They refused to admit they should at least have another trial that was fair and impartial...and based on fact.
The American people are Troy Davis. What happened last night in Georgia personifies the American people. We are a people polarized by race, morality and a sense of justice. The same people who often rant about unborn fetuses are the biggest supporters of exacting revenge through the death penalty. Some Americans clearly see the injustice and racist implementation of justice in this nation whether it be the sentencing practices of judges for drug offenses or murder cases. Others feel "those" people are the trouble-makers, the illegals, the offenders.
The case of Troy Davis is further evidence of our failing humanity. From the hunger we allow in impoverished neighborhoods to the wars we allow the sons and daughters of the poor and middle class to die in, Americans have demonstrated time and again we are a culture of violence. We can label ourselves Christian or Judeo-Christian but we are neither. Nor are we true followers of Buddhism, Islam, Mormonism or any other religious cult extolling true justice, true love for one another and true brotherhood. We continue to fall prey to our barbarism. We have crowds calling for the death of a man without insurance in a debate of Presidential candidates one week. And the following week we execute Troy Davis and a white supremacist on the same day. How ironic. Almost like the macabre scenario of both executions on the same day was intended.
The racists will have the perfect answer to those complaining about the death of Davis. Well they also executed the white guy, Lawrence Russell Brewer. White supremacist, Russell Brewer, killed a black man by chaining him to the back of a pickup and dragging him along a backwoods asphalt road in Texas. If we are against the death penalty then we must also say the state sanctioned death of Brewer was also an act of barbaric terrorism. But, there was little doubt in the case of Brewer's guilt while there was great doubt in the Troy Davis case.
When I was young, those opposed to the death penalty used to say all executions should be televised to show Americans the barbarism. Today, I don't think most Americans would give a damn. That's how far down the well of violence and barbarism we've fallen.
Monday, September 19
Damn Right There's Class Warfare!!
Class warfare? Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell would have us believe there's not class warfare in this nation? Are you f'ing kidding me?
These are people we allow to be in Congress. People who think we are so stupid that we don't realize there's been class warfare going on from the first day this country became one nation, under God, indivisible.....blah, blah, blah.
And today there is so much blatant class warfare we've come to accept it, allow it and ignore it. But let's look at the ledger for just a few examples of the class warfare that's happening.
First, the average worker makes 300 plus times less than the average CEO of a multinational corporation based in the U.S.
The gap between the richest 1% who hold over 50% of the wealth has continued to grow even wider with record profits for their corporations while the average worker hasn't had enough in raises to even keep up with the yearly cost of living increases. Wealth gap has blatantly widened in the last 20 years.
If there is no class warfare, why is it the middle class, lower middle class and poor who predominately fight the blood for oil wars of the rich bastards making all the profits from the wars? Why has that been the case in every war this nation has ever been involved in? Why has war been so very profitable to the rich and so disastrous for all other classes of humans? That is class warfare at its very penultimate.
Then let us look at the communities of color in our nation to determine how they're doing. Why are a greater percentage of blacks, Latinos and ethnic groups of color imprisoned than the communities of European descent? Why do people of color have a jobless rate two to three times higher than any other group?
Why have American corporations been allowed to pay little or no taxes consistently while more and more good paying jobs are allowed to be shipped overseas to nations free of collective bargaining and under control of slave masters posing as businessmen. Why does Wal-Mart, the great "American" company, have its biggest distribution center in China, a nation run by a communist dictatorship? Why has the American garment industry died because China's government (and other off-shore nations) allows its industry to pay far less than any other competitor? The corporations utilizing the slave labor camps aren't Chinese or some other nation's. They're American corporations getting tax breaks while they destroy the American workforce.
Why do women in the American workforce still make less than 80 cents on the dollar compared to men when they are capable of doing and doing the same work as men?
Why does the typical American town or city have to fire teachers, firemen and cops when the wealthy are able to send their children to private schools, hire private cops and have priority on fire-fighting for their properties?
Why are parks closing? Why are bridges crumbling? Why are streets in disrepair?
Why do rich Americans get the finest medical care in the world with special suites in hospitals while 45 million or more Americans have no medical care or benefits? Why does the American Congress, President and Judicial branch of government all have great health benefits but all American do not have the same? Why does the family farm get squeezed out while the corporate farm takes over the food supply?
The disparities of the haves and have-nots are so obvious they've been taken for granted but, please, don't take us for stupid that we don't intuitively and objectively know there are not only gaps but huge chasms of disparities in this nation based on class. Don't take us for stupid that we don't know the rich are paying less and less of their fair share to keep this nation's basic services going while they reap bigger and bigger benefits of wealth from this nation. Don't think we're stupid that we don't know the banks and Wall Street have come out of the financial crisis even stronger and wealthier while working people keep falling further behind, keep losing jobs and keep losing health benefits.
Class warfare isn't about the rich finally having to pay a greater share to maintain this nation's daily functioning and support the future, Mr. Ryan and McConnell. Class warfare is letting lobbyists from the nation's biggest corporations determine the governance of the country instead of the people. Class warfare isn't about the poor on welfare draining the wealth from this nation in so-called entitlements. Class warfare is about the entitled rich draining the wealth of this nation through "corporate welfare" which allows the rich to pay little or nothing in taxes. And don't try the lame excuse that taxing the corporations and the rich will be harmful to those who provide jobs. If that were the case, where are the jobs in this nation when corporations and the rich have had the highest growth of income in history?
Class warfare? You're damn right there's class warfare. Class warfare is the attack on the postal carriers union and all other unions that might elevate the wages of all workers. Class warfare is attacks by right wing governors on teachers unions and unions for police and fire-fighters. Class warfare is sabotage and threats from companies like Wal-Mart and others against any employees attempting to bring collective bargaining to the workplace. Class warfare is lowering safety standards on oil derricks near New Orleans resulting in the desecration of the wetlands and wildlife of the area and the destruction of the fishing and shrimping industries. Class warfare is weakening safety standards for coal miners in West Virginia and having miners die underground and above ground from the toxic fumes and substances they must endure.
We are not stupid, Mr.Ryan and Mr. McConnell. At least not all of us. Not all of us will do your bidding like those who are stuck on the talking points created by the Karl Roves of the world. Not all of us are sheep like the members of a group claiming to be about the constitution but failing to include ALL the constitution in their thinking. Yes, we are in class warfare. One which was started by the ideologues of the most rich and powerful to destroy the middle class and make all Americans subservient to the company logo.
How dare you try to come across as the victims of class warfare!
These are people we allow to be in Congress. People who think we are so stupid that we don't realize there's been class warfare going on from the first day this country became one nation, under God, indivisible.....blah, blah, blah.
And today there is so much blatant class warfare we've come to accept it, allow it and ignore it. But let's look at the ledger for just a few examples of the class warfare that's happening.
First, the average worker makes 300 plus times less than the average CEO of a multinational corporation based in the U.S.
The gap between the richest 1% who hold over 50% of the wealth has continued to grow even wider with record profits for their corporations while the average worker hasn't had enough in raises to even keep up with the yearly cost of living increases. Wealth gap has blatantly widened in the last 20 years.
If there is no class warfare, why is it the middle class, lower middle class and poor who predominately fight the blood for oil wars of the rich bastards making all the profits from the wars? Why has that been the case in every war this nation has ever been involved in? Why has war been so very profitable to the rich and so disastrous for all other classes of humans? That is class warfare at its very penultimate.
Then let us look at the communities of color in our nation to determine how they're doing. Why are a greater percentage of blacks, Latinos and ethnic groups of color imprisoned than the communities of European descent? Why do people of color have a jobless rate two to three times higher than any other group?
Why have American corporations been allowed to pay little or no taxes consistently while more and more good paying jobs are allowed to be shipped overseas to nations free of collective bargaining and under control of slave masters posing as businessmen. Why does Wal-Mart, the great "American" company, have its biggest distribution center in China, a nation run by a communist dictatorship? Why has the American garment industry died because China's government (and other off-shore nations) allows its industry to pay far less than any other competitor? The corporations utilizing the slave labor camps aren't Chinese or some other nation's. They're American corporations getting tax breaks while they destroy the American workforce.
Why do women in the American workforce still make less than 80 cents on the dollar compared to men when they are capable of doing and doing the same work as men?
Why does the typical American town or city have to fire teachers, firemen and cops when the wealthy are able to send their children to private schools, hire private cops and have priority on fire-fighting for their properties?
Why are parks closing? Why are bridges crumbling? Why are streets in disrepair?
Why do rich Americans get the finest medical care in the world with special suites in hospitals while 45 million or more Americans have no medical care or benefits? Why does the American Congress, President and Judicial branch of government all have great health benefits but all American do not have the same? Why does the family farm get squeezed out while the corporate farm takes over the food supply?
The disparities of the haves and have-nots are so obvious they've been taken for granted but, please, don't take us for stupid that we don't intuitively and objectively know there are not only gaps but huge chasms of disparities in this nation based on class. Don't take us for stupid that we don't know the rich are paying less and less of their fair share to keep this nation's basic services going while they reap bigger and bigger benefits of wealth from this nation. Don't think we're stupid that we don't know the banks and Wall Street have come out of the financial crisis even stronger and wealthier while working people keep falling further behind, keep losing jobs and keep losing health benefits.
Class warfare isn't about the rich finally having to pay a greater share to maintain this nation's daily functioning and support the future, Mr. Ryan and McConnell. Class warfare is letting lobbyists from the nation's biggest corporations determine the governance of the country instead of the people. Class warfare isn't about the poor on welfare draining the wealth from this nation in so-called entitlements. Class warfare is about the entitled rich draining the wealth of this nation through "corporate welfare" which allows the rich to pay little or nothing in taxes. And don't try the lame excuse that taxing the corporations and the rich will be harmful to those who provide jobs. If that were the case, where are the jobs in this nation when corporations and the rich have had the highest growth of income in history?
Class warfare? You're damn right there's class warfare. Class warfare is the attack on the postal carriers union and all other unions that might elevate the wages of all workers. Class warfare is attacks by right wing governors on teachers unions and unions for police and fire-fighters. Class warfare is sabotage and threats from companies like Wal-Mart and others against any employees attempting to bring collective bargaining to the workplace. Class warfare is lowering safety standards on oil derricks near New Orleans resulting in the desecration of the wetlands and wildlife of the area and the destruction of the fishing and shrimping industries. Class warfare is weakening safety standards for coal miners in West Virginia and having miners die underground and above ground from the toxic fumes and substances they must endure.
We are not stupid, Mr.Ryan and Mr. McConnell. At least not all of us. Not all of us will do your bidding like those who are stuck on the talking points created by the Karl Roves of the world. Not all of us are sheep like the members of a group claiming to be about the constitution but failing to include ALL the constitution in their thinking. Yes, we are in class warfare. One which was started by the ideologues of the most rich and powerful to destroy the middle class and make all Americans subservient to the company logo.
How dare you try to come across as the victims of class warfare!
Wednesday, September 7
The Ashes of Hiroshima Cloud the Skies of 9-11
Howard Zinn wrote about the willingness of Americans and the American media to time and again fall prey to the lies of the government when it came to accepting the call to war. He attributed it to two things. Time and place. The dimension of time, Zinn said, was the inability of Americans to have a historical perspective. We fail to remember the lessons of history and continue to repeat the same insane mistakes. The dimension of place Zinn described as the inability of Americans to think outside of nationalistic boundaries. We Americans think everything outside the borders of the US is inferior to our nation. We still hold on to the concept of a "manifest destiny" despite all evidence that demonstrates this type of thinking is toxic.
This is the week leading up to the tenth anniversary of the 9-11 terrorism attack on the World Trade Center's twin towers in 2001. All week we are bombarded by the media hyperbole of that day when over 3,000 Americans died in the worst case of terrorism on American soil. Unless we count the hundred plus years of slavery from the time of the original Constitution until the Civil War's end. And the Jim Crow laws following that until the 1970s.
There is no doubt we should stop and remember that awful day in 2001. No doubt we should reflect on the meaning of such an attack and where it has led us since that day. We should ask the questions if two wars have made us safer or more hated? We should ask the question if giving up basic freedoms for a sense of security that is very transient in nature is the path we should continue. Would the victims and survivors of the attacks have wanted Americans to live in constant fear and forfeit basic freedoms as a result of their sacrifice?
All across the land there will be tributes and commemorations. The Nationalistic Football League will wave large flags and sing the anthem and God Bless America and mention the sacrifices made to honor America by our military heroes.
Like Dave Zirin said in his blog today, there'll be no mention of Pat Tillman. Nor Camilio Mejia, Pablo Paredes, Kelly Dougherty, Garret Reppenhagen, Cindy Sheehan or all the other heroes who have spoke out against the immorality of the wars. All except Cindy served. Cindy lost her son, Casey.
Noam Chomsky wrote an article today that questioned the way we look at 9-11. I haven't read it yet because I want to put my own thoughts down first.
By chance or some karmic force, I picked up John Hershey's book, HIROSHIMA yesterday. It was written days after the nuclear bomb was dropped on the city of Hiroshima in 1945. It's a hidden masterpiece of the true cost of nationalism and terrorism. American terrorism. Howard Zinn wrote about Hiroshima and the sacrosanct history most Americans choose to hold onto. Again, we have to keep in mind the perspective of time and place. In the first blast of the bomb over 100,000 people were killed in minutes. Tens of thousands more died hours and days after the bomb being dropped. The huge majority of the dead were non-combatants. Hiroshima was far from a military target. It was a psychological target. Days later, another bomb was dropped on Nagasaki with the same type of casualties.
The mushroom clouds of Hiroshima and Nagasaki obscure the cloud of the Twin Towers falling on September 11, 2001. But the dead Japanese weren't Americans, they were non-whites and their government was at war with our government. The dead children and families weren't Americans. The bombed Red Cross Hospital John Hershey writes about didn't have American patients. And besides the American government would tell us all the bombs incinerating Hiroshima and Nagasaki saved upwards of a half million American lives. A fallacy but something they'd like us to believe.
The 6000 plus dead American troops and at least one million dead Iraqis obscure the number of dead at "ground zero" of the 9-11 attacks. And there are still no weapons of mass destruction nor any connection to Iraq and the attack on the World Trade Center. The shock and awe of the first wave of attacks on Iraq killed mostly innocent civilians. Thousands of them children. Our democratic reform has been a sham and what has happened is an American occupation leading to sectarian hatred and violence. And increased hatred for Americans in the Muslim world and around the world. What victory have we gained in our vengeance? The same scenario has taken place in Afghanistan. A corrupt regime like the regimes put in power by the American government in Vietnam and Central America has brought only shame to the thought of bringing democracy to that nation.
Of course, the end game was always dictated by big businesses like Halliburton, KBR, Blackwater and the multinational oil companies.
What we have done in the wake of the attack of 9-11 brings only shame to the memory of those who died. From the immoral and illegal wars to the fear mongering, renditions, water boarding torture, profiteering of huge coporations to the waste of American youth and innocent civilians, we have failed to bring honor to the victims of 9-11. We have not protected freedom in their names. We have stripped freedoms promised to all Americans out of fear that is fanned by the rhetoric and hatred of our government and the media acting as the megaphone for our government.
And we speak of terrorism like we are the greatest victims of it. And we fail to acknowledge our terroristic acts in Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Baghdad, Fallujah and Afghanistan.
This Sunday I won't watch the hypocrisy of the NFL waving the flags of militarism in phony honor of those who have served and paid the ultimate sacrifice. Not when their jingoism blinds them to all the victims of terror by all the masters of war.
This is the week leading up to the tenth anniversary of the 9-11 terrorism attack on the World Trade Center's twin towers in 2001. All week we are bombarded by the media hyperbole of that day when over 3,000 Americans died in the worst case of terrorism on American soil. Unless we count the hundred plus years of slavery from the time of the original Constitution until the Civil War's end. And the Jim Crow laws following that until the 1970s.
There is no doubt we should stop and remember that awful day in 2001. No doubt we should reflect on the meaning of such an attack and where it has led us since that day. We should ask the questions if two wars have made us safer or more hated? We should ask the question if giving up basic freedoms for a sense of security that is very transient in nature is the path we should continue. Would the victims and survivors of the attacks have wanted Americans to live in constant fear and forfeit basic freedoms as a result of their sacrifice?
All across the land there will be tributes and commemorations. The Nationalistic Football League will wave large flags and sing the anthem and God Bless America and mention the sacrifices made to honor America by our military heroes.
Like Dave Zirin said in his blog today, there'll be no mention of Pat Tillman. Nor Camilio Mejia, Pablo Paredes, Kelly Dougherty, Garret Reppenhagen, Cindy Sheehan or all the other heroes who have spoke out against the immorality of the wars. All except Cindy served. Cindy lost her son, Casey.
Noam Chomsky wrote an article today that questioned the way we look at 9-11. I haven't read it yet because I want to put my own thoughts down first.
By chance or some karmic force, I picked up John Hershey's book, HIROSHIMA yesterday. It was written days after the nuclear bomb was dropped on the city of Hiroshima in 1945. It's a hidden masterpiece of the true cost of nationalism and terrorism. American terrorism. Howard Zinn wrote about Hiroshima and the sacrosanct history most Americans choose to hold onto. Again, we have to keep in mind the perspective of time and place. In the first blast of the bomb over 100,000 people were killed in minutes. Tens of thousands more died hours and days after the bomb being dropped. The huge majority of the dead were non-combatants. Hiroshima was far from a military target. It was a psychological target. Days later, another bomb was dropped on Nagasaki with the same type of casualties.
The mushroom clouds of Hiroshima and Nagasaki obscure the cloud of the Twin Towers falling on September 11, 2001. But the dead Japanese weren't Americans, they were non-whites and their government was at war with our government. The dead children and families weren't Americans. The bombed Red Cross Hospital John Hershey writes about didn't have American patients. And besides the American government would tell us all the bombs incinerating Hiroshima and Nagasaki saved upwards of a half million American lives. A fallacy but something they'd like us to believe.
The 6000 plus dead American troops and at least one million dead Iraqis obscure the number of dead at "ground zero" of the 9-11 attacks. And there are still no weapons of mass destruction nor any connection to Iraq and the attack on the World Trade Center. The shock and awe of the first wave of attacks on Iraq killed mostly innocent civilians. Thousands of them children. Our democratic reform has been a sham and what has happened is an American occupation leading to sectarian hatred and violence. And increased hatred for Americans in the Muslim world and around the world. What victory have we gained in our vengeance? The same scenario has taken place in Afghanistan. A corrupt regime like the regimes put in power by the American government in Vietnam and Central America has brought only shame to the thought of bringing democracy to that nation.
Of course, the end game was always dictated by big businesses like Halliburton, KBR, Blackwater and the multinational oil companies.
What we have done in the wake of the attack of 9-11 brings only shame to the memory of those who died. From the immoral and illegal wars to the fear mongering, renditions, water boarding torture, profiteering of huge coporations to the waste of American youth and innocent civilians, we have failed to bring honor to the victims of 9-11. We have not protected freedom in their names. We have stripped freedoms promised to all Americans out of fear that is fanned by the rhetoric and hatred of our government and the media acting as the megaphone for our government.
And we speak of terrorism like we are the greatest victims of it. And we fail to acknowledge our terroristic acts in Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Baghdad, Fallujah and Afghanistan.
This Sunday I won't watch the hypocrisy of the NFL waving the flags of militarism in phony honor of those who have served and paid the ultimate sacrifice. Not when their jingoism blinds them to all the victims of terror by all the masters of war.
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