Salty, Salty Tears and Sweat

Salty, Salty Tears and Sweat

By: William Beckett

Wringing hands, grinding teeth and snarling profanity all spew forth from the "liberal blogesphere" in the aftermath of the Congressional acceptance of the Bush endorsed FISA update bill! O' the shame of it all! Our guys acquiesced to the Bush bully yet again without so much as a faint protest, never mind a good fight! Let's sack em' all!
Tears and sweat have a number of things in common, the most significant of which is the strong amount of salt contained in both types of fluids. The other commonality is that both fluids originate in the human body. From our youngest days, we soon discover that it takes much less effort to bring forth tears, than it does to bring forth work induced sweat. However, some of us are mature enough to realize that few things are accomplished by tears, no matter how many flow and how emotionally they are exhibited. Persistent sweat from dedicated hard work generally proves to be the most efficient remedy.
The actual problem facing progressive, liberals, and fair minded people in America is at least FOUR GENERATIONS old. This problem is like a touch of arthritis in the back. The older you get, the worse it gets. The problem is the AM RADIO STATIONS that blanket the good ol' US of A. Most of these small radio stations fought for survival back in the late 1950's. Their principle opponent was the ol' black and white television. People were more interested in watching the Lucky Strike Hit Parade being broadcast live on the network, rather than listen to some local disk jockey play the same old records on the radio. Some stations tried using payola from the record companies in a sleazy attempt to survive. However, slowly but surely station after station across the country went eventually bankrupt. Aside from the local audiences, few people took notice of the failure of these important information channels. The few progressive people that took notice weren't interested in the old AM bands. They were only interested in the FM bands primarily for broadcasting High Fidelity Music. (These stations eventually became components of NPR.) I emphasize this point - no liberal or progressive groups were interested in AM radio during these years.
Rich right wing individuals found these bankrupt radio stations to be cheap enough to buy and operate, so as to be affordable as an personal hobby. These individuals soon discovered that they had platform that presented a large amount of latitude, upon which they could saturate the airwaves with their own personal philosophies and political convictions. At broadcaster conventions, they began to network with other individuals like themselves and soon a plan began to emerge for a vehicle to disseminate right wing propaganda via a new system of networks built out of the wreckage of the old failed AM stations. Time passed, and as these "ultra-right wing" groups purchased more and more of these bankrupt stations, they were noticed but dismissed by the liberals and progressives as "fringe groups" trying to recruit the local hicks.

However, in the late 1980's, it became evident that these right wing networks had not only secured nationwide coverage but they had also begun moving into major markets. The progressives and liberals again dismissed this intrusion into the very heart of liberal country itself as inconsequential, irrelevant, etc. However, these new stations not only stayed in the major media markets, but they flourished. Once again the liberal and progressives shrugged and said, "Everybody is entitled to participate. Isn't that what democracy is all about?" However, right wing media control, with the support of major business conglomerates, soon was buying controlling interests in major television stations and networks. This time the progressives were too shocked to say much of anything, and silence became the unspoken fervent hope that maybe someday it will all go away.
The result of the right wing information expansion is that the control of America's information infrastructure by the Republican/Rightwing/Libertarian coalition is virtually complete. The few remaining news sources that remain unbiased and independent are of no concern to the right wing media group, because they, the right wing media, have control over the information available to virtually all of the American voting public. This group is working specifically under the control of the Republican Party and their tactical directors and political message producers. The Republican Information Machine (RIM) is a textbook Goebbels Propaganda Disseminator in that it hammers the message over and over across the nation, until the public finally comes to believe it and accept it as fact. The RIM was essentially turned off immediately prior to the last Congressional election, and as a result the Democrats were able to make some gains on Capital Hill.
However, the Republicans are back at work stoking up their formidable Information Machine for the 2008 Presidential election. (Just picture every AM radio station across America as just one of the thousands of local loudspeakers onboard this huge nation-wide information disseminator.) An example of the latest test run the Republicans are making with the RIM is the recent sound bite that says, "Public Opinion polls show that job approval rating for Congress is lower than the job approval rating for the President." Those participating in the wide spread broadcast of this sound bite offer no information about the poll and where it came from. Since this bit of misinformation is unchallenged or at best weakly protested by Democratic politicians as they depart for the August vacation, it will eventually be assumed by the general public that this sound bite is a fact. The other reason that the sound bite will continue to be hammered at the American public by the RIM, is that the Republicans expect that no national news coverage will be given to any key Democratic Congressional members during the August recess, thereby allowing no possibility for any formal rebuttal to this widespread lie.

Getting back to the idea of sweat, NO TASK is impossible except thinking makes it so! WE have to work bit by bit to find a way to recapture the media mechanism that feeds America the facts about what is going on at home and in the world. Blogs are not a serious challenge to the continuous output of the RIM across America. Likewise, Air America would not even be a speck on a map showing the thousands of RIM stations across America. Challenging the RIM is a monumental task! The first thing progressives must do is unite across America. We need small action minded groups, who are dedicated to action as a strategy first and not reaction as a secondary reflex. Likeminded progressives must meet as progressives first and maybe as democrats secondly. The progressive agenda can be effectively planned and formulated independent of party label or affiliation. Tears not sweat needs to be in short supply if we are ever to take hold of this effort.

It's Jeremiah Time in America!

Throughout recorded history disastrous events occur which are so horrific as to always raise questions in the minds of those who learn of the catastrophe centuries later. Modern readers reviewing this history bring a sense of the present awareness to the retelling of the old tale. It is from such a current perspective that they struggle to understand why the people of the ancient time did not recognize that this calamity was about to fall upon them? There are several well known modern examples of this blindness among threatened populations, who had warnings but failed to act. The first is the last great eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 1944 which killed hundreds of people. People who lived below this gigantic volcano were all aware of the long history of violent eruptions of this volcano going back to 79 AD. But each time after Vesuvius quieted down, the people returned to farm the rich soil around the bottom of the volcano. The second example, was the slowness of the German Jews to recognize the deadly threat to their collective survival posed by Adolph Hitler. At the time of Hitler's rise to power, German Jews were all too familiar with the many horrific pogroms committed against European Jews during the Crusades, but for various reasons most delayed fleeing Germany until it was too late. It should be understood that this type of blindness to pending threats is not a Jewish failure or an Italian failure, it is a failure that has existed among human being from the very beginning of mankind's presence on earth. It is part of the reason why it is the innocent among humanity that always bear the overwhelming amount suffering that never seems to end in this world.


Every catastrophic event throughout history is unique in that each has its own individual set of circumstances. America in the 21st century, is on the precipice of destruction and is likewise immobilized by a unique state in its social structure. Technology that could never have been imagined by the writers of the American Constitution now has an intractable grip on the infrastructure of the Nation. The Government envisioned by the framers of the Constitution has been arbitraged asunder, by the legalistic erosion caused by the endless barrage of revisionist interpretations spewing forth from duly elected power centers under the hire of myopic, self-centered business interests. The clever use of technologically enabled propaganda by these interest groups over the recent decades has so polluted the psyche of the American public that it has become uncompromisingly schizophrenic, even to the level of personal belief. Most American belief systems are driven by one of the major components that make up the DIF phenomena that is paralyzing the country today.


What is DIF, you may ask? DIF stands for the three major pernicious propaganda forces that together own most of the minds of American voters today. The letter D stands for Demagoguery, and over one third of the voters passionately embrace the "so-called personal" beliefs articulated by some widely publicized Demagogic figure. These people are committed to every line and tilde used in the arguments of the Demagogue and will listen to no other viewpoint. The letter I stands for Ignorance, and another third of the American voting population fall into this category. The ignorant have neither the capability or the will to attempt to understand the complex problems in America today. So they choose an official sounding media outlet, one that removes the complex details from news and provides a simplistic comfortable conclusion that generally includes blaming some group, class or type of people for the problem. The Ignorant absorb this passive form of misinformation and never question its validity. However, if they accidentally stumble into a debate with a knowledgeable person on the subject, they generally wind up making a fool of themselves, because unlike those who follow Demagogues, they don't have a catalogue of specious arguments to defend the lies in their information. The letter F stands for fanatics, and approximately twenty percent of the American voters form this group. The Fanatic group are not only ready to work tirelessly for the cause celebrated by their fanaticism, but in many instances they are ready to turn to violence as a means of relieving the pain and frustration caused by public resistance to their ideology. As far back as the 1960's, those who belonged to fanatical groups were shunned as "fringe groups" by the establishment. However, as of today many of these groups have not only become mainstream, but have entered the political arena with some level of success. Fanatical group membership has exhibited fast growth in this new century due to the power and expanse of the Internet. Therefore, IMO it is of little use and a certain waste of time to attempt to deprogram those DIF American voters. So all appeals must needs be confined to the remaining twenty percent of American voters who are citizens sincerely and deeply concerned about the near term future survival of their homeland, the United States of America. I term the current ideological monopolization of the news and information channels in America as the destruction of the free communication infrastructure. An unfettered free communication infrastructure available to all citizens was visualized by the framers of the Constitution as critical to the preservation of liberty in America.


There are many similarities between the ancient land of Judah of Jeremiah and the situation in present day America. Jeremiah struggled in vain against the complacency and stubbornness of the population of Judah in his time. The popular sentiment in Judah in Jeremiah's time was that Egypt was the most powerful nation on earth and since Egypt had embraced Judah as an friend and ally, what did Judah have to fear? Judah was divided between those who openly gave their support to Egypt and those who advocated that Judah acquiesce to the increasing threats from Babylon. The country was divided over this issue with the Royal Court favoring the alliance with Egypt as policy. However, in Jeremiah's eyes this policy was wrongheaded and certain to bring catastrophe upon the country of Judah. Jeremiah passionately appealed to the king and his court to change their minds using everything at his disposal including a catalog of polemics validated and certified by an accompanying series of frighteningly descriptive prophecies from the God of Israel. But the king and his court "heard" but did not comprehend nor give credence to Jeremiah's words and so it eventually cost Judah its freedom as Nebuchadnezzar's patience waxed thin and his army came took Judah into away into captivity in Babylon.


An "American" Jeremiah would be more outraged at the current behavior of the American people than was the original prophet of ancient Judah. The moral decay of America is keeping stride and pace with the physical decay of America's infrastructure. The wealth of the Nation is being squandered and discarded literally into foreign cesspools for no purpose or useful investment in the future well being of the Country. The treasury is in ruins and the American government continues to function at the pleasure of a group of international creditors and foreign governments. American politicians keep the public anxiety level down by constantly publicly repeating the "mantra" that "America is the Greatest Country in the World". But is the America of Right Now actually the greatest Country in the world? The resounding answer to that question is NO! Americans need to take stock of the current strength and its position of independence in the world.

The balance between the Executive and Congress currently no longer exists. It is not destroyed in respect to the Constitution, but as a instrument controlling the everyday modern operations of the government, it is beyond ineffective. It has actually become nonexistent. The failing lies in the concept of the American army at the time that the Constitution was drawn, and the concept of the "all volunteer" American army at the core of America's current military force. An interesting comparison arises when we compare king George's army in colonial America with the all volunteer American army of today. King George's army was made up of many, many non-English soldiers who volunteered to fight for king George for pay of course. The American colonists fighting against British rule contemptuously called these non-English redcoats "mercenaries". The colonists felt they were righteously vindicated because they were fighting for their own homeland, a noble and just cause. On the other hand, the current American army is composed of all volunteers who enlist in the military for the pay, possible career and other financial incentives. Remove these financial inducements and the "all volunteer" (read mercenary) American army would disappear. The point that I am making here is that the Constitution envisioned that the army would be comprised of all American citizens in the event the Nation was attacked by a military force from another country. The framers never conceived of a paid American military that would be under the capricious whim of one man, the President of the United States. As an additional safeguard and to prevent unforeseen complications in the future, the framers crafted the war making procedures documented in the Constitution to expressly require the full participation of Congress.



However, two things have finally occurred that effectively compromise the protections in the framers design. One, the creation of a massive military machine which serves under the exclusive control of one man, who can order the American military into full engagement anywhere at any time that he/she so desires without the initial approval of Congress. Any such action by the President may be unconstitutional, but its legality can only be examined, argued and adjudicated after the event has occurred. Meanwhile, a full fledged military conflict will been set alight and no belated response from the Congress and the Courts will be able to extinguish it in the immediate future. The era of the framers was decidedly a much, much slower world. In their day, to deliver a message to some location 80 to 100 miles distant from the government seat would require a full days trip by horseback. People of that time had absolutely no concept of ever being able to deploy an army to attack some country overseas in a matter of hours. What is realistic and normal today, was simply unthinkable back in 1776.



The second factor not considered by the framers was the possible vulnerability and corruption in the Congress, which would lead to weakness and disfunction. It is true that the framers spent weeks working out the actual structure between the two houses of Congress; the ultimate goal of which was to provide the required checks and balances to guarantee stable government while continuing to provide the most accessible form of public representation. However, no visualized by the framers is the fantastic cost in modern times to campaign for national office. Today, in the modern era, it costs millions of dollars to get elected to a house seat and hundreds of millions to get elected to the Senate. The nature of potential Congressional candidates in 1776 and those seeking federal office in 2007 are worlds apart. America in 1776 was an agricultural country, and in 2007 America is a financial center with global markets and interests. American business has ascended to the power centers of the American federal government, superseding even the interests of the government itself. Congress is filled with those like minded servants of business interests of all stripes, both domestic and foreign whose allegiance to the Nation is secondary, right behind the needs of American business. There is subtle irony in the fact that many members of Congress spend a large part of their time thinking about their overseas business interests, while the country overflows with the continuing flood of illegal immigrants. Congress is unable to craft any effective procedures because so many business interests in American want this influx of super cheap labor to continue unabated.


The tension between the Executive and the collective will of the American people has been further increased by the actions of the George W. Bush White House team. In the aftermath of the devastating terrorist attack on the World Trade Center on 9/11, the President declared war on an Islamic group of terrorists who were based in Afghanistan. Subsequently the President decided that the Dictator of Iraq was not only in league with the 9/11 terrorists, but Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction (read Nuclear bombs) and was in the process of readying an additional attack on the United States. The President campaigned the urgency of his Iraq attack concern before Congress, mercilessly scaring those more deliberate thinkers in both houses into believing that the Iraqi danger was imminent. The White House bolstered its claim by having the Secretary Of State parade out a whole catalog of supposed intelligence reports from FBI and CIA agencies confirming the "pending attack from Iraq". Congressional resistance quickly faded before this (phony contrived) intelligence data and Congress overwhelmingly gave its support to the President to use force against Iraq.



The President's most audacious public performance in preparation for the unilateral attack on Iraq was delivered with arrogance and swagger to the General Assembly of the UN in New York. During his speech the President threatened the UN Body with the prospect of becoming "Irrelevant" in the political and diplomatic affairs of the world if it failed to join the United States in forcibly stopping Iraq from acquiring "weapons of mass destruction"! In the twilight of the shame caused by this display of Texas style bluff and bluster from the President of the United States, the family of Nations, represented by the General Assembly, quietly ignored George W. Bush and went on about its regular business.



After Congress voted to give the President its approval for his use of force against Iraq, the attack on Iraq commenced with all the media coverage that the networks could summon present. Shortly thereafter, the President in a Hollywood style photo shoot, landed a jet on a specially decorated aircraft carrier and announce to the world (via network and satellite) that the WAR WAS OVER, mission accomplished! However, the war may have ended that day but it initiated a period of unbelievable violence and destruction in Iraq both on the Iraqi people and the occupying American troops. These bombings continue to the present day, with attacks on Sunnis, Kurds, Shia, and Americans.


During the period following the declaration of the end of the Iraq war, the President has sequentially created and signed an large group of Presidential Orders granting the Executive,
namely the President extraordinary special powers to be used in the war on terror. Most of these powers are to become effective in the event of a terrorist attack, the severity of which is to be determined by the President. These powers essentially grant the President dictatorial powers and basically suspend government under the Constitution. Further, as Commander-in-chief the President will have the authority to command the American military to enforce these special powers by writ of his special order. Thus the present situation is such, that at the whim of the President Congress can be dissolved (however temporary the period may be), businesses can be taken over and operated by the Executive, and local city and State governments also taken over by the Executive. This is not a a plot for some spy novel or something ginned up by some conspiracy theory blogger on the Internet. This is information signed as an Executive Order by President George W. Bush and logged on the White House web site. Not hidden, everything in plain view just like his request for the backing of Congress to use force against Saddam in Iraq. The sense I have here may be alluded to by the example of a fanatical suicide bomber with explosives strapped to his body and his finger inside and tightly gripping the detonation ring. Everything is in place, but the haunting question is.....will he pull the ring.... and if so when?



The summary of the current perilous situations that threaten America will be listed more as sub topics with no particular effort to exact quote any associated statistics. As with all accumulated stats, one expects the numbers to be extreme.


1) America's manufacturing capability and its industrial machine base has been effectively destroyed. America does not have the capability of manufacturing one railroad locomotive.


2) The entire operation in Iraq will cost 2 trillion dollars if it ended before September 2007.


3) Class divisions are fractionalizing the country. There are now more than 10 millionaire families in America. The American middle class has become marginalized, either pushed up into the high income class, or down into the low income class. With the disappearance of the middle class come instability in the population. Couple this situation with the additional dynamic of the widespread influx of illegal non-English speaking immigrants across the country, and you have a serious explosive mix. The export of American jobs overseas continues with no end in sight.


4) The American automobile industry, the last bastion of manufacturing in this country is slowly marching toward extinction, driven by the relentless pressure from Toyota and Honda industries. (Incidentally Kawasaki manufactures railroad equipment including locomotives.)


5) China has replaced America as the leader of all the members of ASEAN (all Asian Nations),
and China has been successful in getting all members to sign a mutual defense pact.


6) Japan, China, Saudi, Arab Emirates, and even Iran are holding hundreds of million dollars in American debt. A sudden unexplained fire sale of US treasury notes by ANY ONE of these creditors would spell immediate financial ruin for America.


7) The infrastructure of America is collapsing before the very eyes of the public, such as the recent underground pipe explosion in New York City. More up-to-date is the disastrous bridge collapse in Minneapolis. It has been estimated that it will require 1.6 billion dollars over a 5 year period to fix all of the faulty dangerous bridges in America. Many of the water and sewer systems in most American cities are over 75 years old. Most of the underground sections of the water systems of New York are over 150 years old. In one huge pipe channel, there is a gigantic door that was designed to close off the pipe in the event some sort of break occurs in the line. However, the gate has been left in the open position and left to rust for so many decades that any attempt to close it now would wind up damaging the pipe itself. So New York City is left with the fervent hope that the flooding condition that the gate was designed to address never occurs.


8) States are leasing out their toll roads and parkways to derive steady income and avoid paying the ongoing increasing maintenance costs. Since these are new financial arrangements, liability on the private capital group leasers has not been determined and are subject to non-mature precedents from the American court system. Hence catastrophic failures of bridges, overpasses, and underpasses on these roadways may not offer any personal or property loss redress to the public affected by the event.


9) Many cities and towns are struggling to meet budget due to shrinking tax bases caused by a reduction in the value of real estate, and by the disappearance of manufacturing, scientific, research and small business facilities from their communities.


10) As of August 4, 2007, the National Debt for the United States of America was
$8,948,004,632,252.47. The National Debt has been accumulating at an average rate of $1.43 billion per day since September 2006.


Okay America, this is the picture of your country as it currently exists. Do you still think that its the greatest country in the world?


Peace.