11 September 2011. Reflections from an Operative Who Left the Cult

Hope

John de Rosier

2010

_____________________________

I got the following link from a well-spoken friend whom I respect, even though we don’t agree all the time… that’s the best kind of friend to have, by the way. DO read:

http://www.truth-out.org/goodbye-all-reflections-gop-operative-who-left-cult/1314907779

Note these:

It should have been evident to clear-eyed observers that the Republican Party is becoming less and less like a traditional political party in a representative democracy and becoming more like an apocalyptic cult, or one of the intensely ideological authoritarian parties of 20th century Europe. This trend has several implications, none of them pleasant. …

John P Judis sums up the modern GOP this way:

“Over the last four decades, the Republican Party has transformed from a loyal opposition into an insurrectionary party that flouts the law when it is in the majority and threatens disorder when it is the minority. It is the party of Watergate and Iran-Contra, but also of the government shutdown in 1995 and the impeachment trial of 1999. If there is an earlier American precedent for today’s Republican Party, it is the antebellum Southern Democrats of John Calhoun who threatened to nullify, or disregard, federal legislation they objected to and who later led the fight to secede from the union over slavery”. …

It was not always thus. It would have been hard to find an uneducated farmer during the depression of the 1890s who did not have a very accurate idea about exactly which economic interests were shafting him. An unemployed worker in a breadline in 1932 would have felt little gratitude to the Rockefellers or the Mellons. But that is not the case in the present economic crisis. After a riot of unbridled greed such as the world has not seen since the conquistadors’ looting expeditions and after an unprecedented broad and rapid transfer of wealth upward by Wall Street and its corporate satellites, where is the popular anger directed, at least as depicted in the media? At “Washington spending”… which has increased primarily to provide unemployment compensation, food stamps and Medicaid to those economically damaged by the previous decade’s corporate saturnalia. Or the popular rage is harmlessly diverted against pseudo-issues: death panels, birtherism, gay marriage, abortion, and so on, none of which stands to dent the corporate bottom line in the slightest. …

As for what they really believe, the Republican Party of 2011 believes in three principal tenets I have laid out below. The rest of their platform one may safely dismiss as window dressing:

1. The GOP cares solely and exclusively about its rich contributors.
2. They worship at the altar of Mars.
3. Give me that old time “religion”. …

It hardly seems conceivable that a Republican could have written the following:

“Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance and eliminate labour laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes you can do these things. Among them are H. L. Hunt (you possibly know his background), a few other Texas oil millionaires and an occasional politician or business man from other areas. Their number is negligible and they are stupid”. That was President Eisenhower, writing to his brother Edgar in 1954.

******

I hope that the snippets above motivate you to read the rest… it’s a good read. I know that God is good… He’s sent me good friends who, often enough, are the spark for more than one of my inspirations.

Thank You…

Barbara-Marie Drezhlo

Sunday 11 September 2011

Albany NY

22 August 2011. A Friend Sent This on to Me…

We’ll Never See This Again

Harry Truman was a different kind of President. He probably made as many, or more, important decisions regarding our nation’s history as any of the other 32 Presidents preceding him. However, a measure of his greatness may rest on what he did after he left the White House. The only asset he had when he died was the house he lived in, which was in Independence MO. His wife had inherited the house from her mother and father and other than their years in the White House, they lived their entire lives there. When he retired from office in 1952, his income was a US Army pension reported to have been 13,507.72 USD (393,000 Roubles. 9,362 Euros. 8,183 UK Pounds) a year. Congress noted that he was paying for his stamps, and personally licking them, so, it granted him an “allowance” and, later, a retroactive pension of 25,000 USD (727,000 Roubles. 17,328 Euros. 15,145 UK Pounds) per year.

After President Eisenhower‘s inauguration, Harry and Bess drove home to Missouri by themselves. There were no Secret Service agents following them. When offered corporate positions at large salaries, he declined, stating, “You don’t want me. You want the office of the President, and that doesn’t belong to me. It belongs to the American people and it’s not for sale”. Even later, on 6 May 1971, when Congress was preparing to award him the Medal of Honour on his 87th birthday, he refused to accept it, writing, “I don’t consider that I have done anything which should be the reason for any award, Congressional or otherwise”.

As president, he paid for all of his own travel expenses and food. Modern politicians have found a new level of success in cashing in on the Presidency, resulting in untold wealth. Today, many in Congress also have found a way to become quite wealthy while enjoying the fruits of their offices. Political offices are now for sale (e.g. Illinois). Good old Harry Truman was correct when he observed, “My choices in life were either to be a piano player in a whorehouse or a politician. To tell the truth, there’s hardly any difference!”

I say that we should dig him up and clone him!

Editor’s Note:

I’ll observe that two men came from Missouri… actually, one man and one worthless putz. Rush Limbaugh isn’t fit to be mentioned in the same sentence as Harry Truman. Rush’s supporters are lobotomised, violent, and mindless. Rush is a vacuous boob, yet, his supporters become physically violent if they’re countered with an intellectual argument. I’ll be blunt; virtually everything on his show is pure fabrication… it’s sheer fantasy, cacophony, and foolishness.

When you compare Harry and Rush, one thing becomes clear… Harry’s selfless service is laudable, Rush’s godless, grasping, and soulless greed isn’t. Harry Truman didn’t take what was his by right, Rush steals everything that’s not nailed down, and calls it “Free Enterprise” (it’s certainly “free”, for it costs him nothing, and it’s “enterprising”, for he’s quite assiduous in his gluttony and voracity). The sooner that we take Rush out, shoot him, and dump his carcass in the ocean, the sooner that the world can breathe a sigh of relief. He’s not simply a simpering shill for the oligarchs (he’s that, to be sure), but he’s a Göbbels… he has a hold upon his listeners in a very demonic and troubling way.

You can admire Harry (even if you don’t agree with him) or you can admire Rush Limbaugh. The two are mutually-exclusive… the first was a good (although flawed) man, the second is an evil charlatan who uses his talents in a demonic way to enrich himself and implant lies in his audience. I prefer Harry… what about you?

BMD

VOR Presents… A Day of Mourning in Hiroshima

On 6 August 1945, the Americans dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima was dropped American atomic bomb. When it exploded in the air about 600 metres from the ground, it killed 140,000 people were killed. On the 66th anniversary of the bombing, in the Peace Memorial Park, activists held a memorial ceremony that culminated in a rally entitled, “Life without Nuclear Power and Nuclear Weapons”.

******

At the memorial service, Japanese Prime Minister Kan Naoto said that Japan has advocated and will continue to advocate with vigour the reduction and non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. {Kan-sama is not from the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party (a group of Neoliberal American lickspittles); he’s from the Minshuto (Liberal Party of Japan), a centre-left Social Market party that’s against “temporary” employment, for raising wages, and for giving family allowances to families with children. Don’t listen to rightwing loudmouths… the Left is NOT on the run: editor}

******

The rally at the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima brought together people from 66 countries and Japan, including residents from radiation-affected Fukushima Prefecture, where there’s an emergency involving a nuclear plant. In the image above, we see the Gembaku Dome in Peace Memorial Park.

******

Annually, Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima hosts a memorial ceremony, involving politicians, public figures, ordinary citizens, and victims of the bombing.

******

The atomic bombing on 6 August 1945 destroyed 90 percent of buildings in the city of Hiroshima. Until 1945, the Gembaku Dome was the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall. The building was 160 metres from the epicentre of the blast, but it wasn’t destroyed. Today, it’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

******

The Flame of Peace in the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima.

******

Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima is at the epicentre of blast of the atomic bomb dropped on the city on 6 August 1945. The park’s area is about 12 hectares (30 acres); it contains a memorial peace museum, a memorial bell, and the Flame of Peace. Japanese students visit the memorial as part of their normal course of studies.

******

After the end of the memorial service marking the 66th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, the park hosted a protest against nuclear energy and weapons.

******

The protesters called on the Japanese government to reconsider its nuclear policy.

******

6 August 2011

Voice of Russia World Service

 http://rus.ruvr.ru/photoalbum/54277841/54277844/index.html

Editor’s Note:

President Dwight D Eisenhower said this concerning the Hiroshima bombing:

I was against it on two counts. First, the Japanese were ready to surrender, and it wasn’t necessary to hit them with that awful thing. Second, I hated to see our country be the first to use such a weapon.

Here are three more quotes from Ike that I’d like you to think over:

Every gun that’s made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and aren’t fed, those who are cold and aren’t clothed. 

If a political party doesn’t have its foundation in the determination to advance a cause that’s right and that’s moral, then, it isn’t a political party; it’s merely a conspiracy to seize power.

Un-American activity can’t be prevented or routed out by employing un-American methods; to preserve freedom, we must use the tools that freedom provides.

These three quotes convict the Tea Party, the New GOP, the rightwing commentariat, and its demented supporters of premeditated evil and greed before the Divine Bar of Truth. It’s why I oppose them without measure, and it’s why you should do the same. Otherwise, the lights WILL go out, maybe not permanently, but certainly for our time…

BMD

27 July 2011. A Red Tory’s Primer of Quotes… REAL Conservatives… REAL Socialists… Red and White Together!

Cooperation is Open to Everyone…

Early Soviet poster

1920s

______________________________

You can tell much about someone by what they find inspirational… the following inspired me… may it, at least, illuminate my thought for you; at best, may it inspire you as well…

BMD

******

My objection to Liberalism (modern “conservatism”) is this… it’s the introduction into the practical business of life of the highest kind… namely, politics… of philosophical ideas instead of political principles.

British PM Benjamin Disraeli

******

If we look at the problems that we need to resolve, one of the biggest is the huge income gap between the people at the top and the bottom of the scale. Combating poverty is obviously one of our top priorities in the immediate term, and we still have to do a lot to improve our pension system, too, because the correlation between pensions and the average wage is still lower here than in Europe. The gap between incomes at the top and bottom end of the scale is still high here… a 15.6 to 15.7-fold difference. This is less than in the United States today (they have a figure of 15.9) but more than in the UK or Italy (where they have 13.6 to 13.7). However, this remains a big gap for us, and fighting poverty is one of our biggest priorities.

Russian PM Vladimir Putin

******

Freedom is the right to be wrong, not the right to do wrong.

Canadian PM John Diefenbaker

******

Democracy is the wholesome and pure air without which a socialist public organisation can’t live a full-blooded life.

Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachyov

******

We wish to control big business so as to secure, amongst other things, good wages for the wage-workers and reasonable prices for the consumers. Wherever in any business the prosperity of the businessman is obtained by lowering the wages of his workmen and charging an excessive price to the consumers we wish to interfere and stop such practises. We won’t submit to that kind of prosperity any more than we’ll submit to prosperity obtained by swindling investors or getting unfair advantages over business rivals.

US President Theodore Roosevelt

******

We’ve never quarrelled with anyone, and we’ve never caused any problems to anyone. Our hearts are always open to those who come with good intent. This year made us more confident that we’ve chosen the right path. Sometimes, I think what an interesting thing history is! Those who once lectured us, now, speak with respect of the Byelorussian development model. Today, as the “infection” in the world economy sparks off a severe crisis, we see that what we’ve been doing all these years was right. Sometimes, we were groping our way forward, relying on intuition. However, the main thing for us has always been that we should live by our own intelligence, by our own labour, and in the interests of our people. Do you remember how harshly we were criticised for subsidising the rural areas? However, when the food crisis occurred, the countries that could provide food for themselves by their own means were the winners. Those included our Byelorussia, for we supported our farmers in every possible way. Many told us, with some urgency, to remodel our economy on the model of the private market. However, we decided not to trust in an often-volatile market. We’re didn’t provoke today’s crisis, which is sending shockwaves all around the world. On the contrary, the crisis came out of an ideology that we’ve always resolutely fought. The coming year will be difficult, but Byelorussians are accustomed to difficulties. We’ve faced harder times. We’ve not only managed not to fall into the abyss; we’ve managed to build a new Byelorussia with a reliable safety net.

Byelorussian President Aleksandr Lukashenko

******

Reconquer the streets, the markets… the public spaces… with the same message of opposition… “We’re devastated, but we won’t give up”. With torches and roses, we deliver this message to the world… “We don’t let fear break us… and we don’t let the fear of fear silence us.

Norwegian PM Jens Stoltenberg

******

You’re all idiots… you believe that you can learn from your own experience; I prefer to learn from the mistakes of others to avoid their mistakes.

German Reichskanzler Otto von Bismarck

******

As I’ve said before, the ever-more sophisticated weapons piling up in the arsenals of the wealthiest and the mightiest can kill the illiterate, the ill, the poor, and the hungry, but they cannot kill ignorance, illnesses, poverty, or hunger.

Cuban President Fidel Castro Ruz

******

Mark my word; if and when these preachers get control of the [Republican] Party, and they’re sure trying to do so, it’s going to be a terrible damn problem. Frankly, these people frighten me. Politics and governing demand compromise. But these Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can’t and won’t compromise. I know; I’ve tried to deal with them.

US Senator Barry Goldwater (R-AZ)

******

A lot of people give out the sob story, “Oh, US imperialism, imperialism, we’re poor because of imperialism …” People don’t realise that arrogant local élites contributed to the detrimental effects of American imperialism. If people were honest and decent, if our élite had stood up for our sovereignty, it wouldn’t have happened. Our élite contributed to it.

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

******

Power isn’t an end in itself. Power’s only a tool that we use to preserve life, peace, and order; therefore, even when we condemn tyranny and despotism in all its forms, we can’t help but conclude that a weak government is a dangerous thing. Don’t forget that a power vacuum leads to anarchy; ergo, the government shouldn’t ever even appear to be weak.

Russian PM Graf Pyotr Stolypin

******

Every day I become more convinced, there’s no doubt in my mind, as many intellectuals have said, that it’s necessary to transcend capitalism. However, we can’t transcend capitalism through capitalism itself; we must do it through socialism, true socialism, with equality and justice. I’m also convinced that it’s possible to do it under democracy, but not under what Washington calls “democracy”. We have to re-invent socialism. It can’t be the kind of socialism that we saw in the Soviet Union, but it’ll emerge as we develop new systems built upon cooperation, not competition.

Venezuelan President Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías

******

Whatever you do, adhere to the Union. We’re a great country, and shall become one of the greatest in the universe if we preserve it; we’ll sink into insignificance and adversity if we suffer it to be broken.

Canadian PM John A MacDonald

******

The time is long overdue for the Federal Reserve, President Bush, and Congress to start making fundamental changes in their economic policies, so that government begins to represent the needs of all Americans, and not just the wealthy and their lobbyists. If we don’t, I fear very much that, for the first time in the modern history of our country, the next generation will have a lower standard of living than their parents, and that would be a real tragedy.

US Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT)

******

A preventive war, to my mind, is an impossibility today. How could you have one if one of its features would be several cities lying in ruins, several cities where many, many thousands of people would be dead, and injured, and mangled, the transportation systems destroyed, sanitation implements and systems all gone? That isn’t preventive war; that’s war. I don’t believe there’s such a thing; and, frankly, I wouldn’t even listen to anyone seriously that came in and talked about such a thing. … It seems to me that when, by definition, a term is just ridiculous in itself, there’s no use in going any further. There are all sorts of reasons, moral, and political, and everything else, against this theory, but it’s so completely unthinkable in today’s conditions that I thought it’s no use to go any further.

US President Dwight D Eisenhower

******