POST MODERN POLITICS

Dennis comments ♦ July 26, 2021 ♦ Leave a comment

DEBATES?? REALLY!!
WHY DO THEY CONTINUE TO INSULT OUR INTELLIGENCE?
Dennis L. Blewitt, a/k/a Gonzo
I am really starting to believe that I must be really stupid, insane or obtuse. I have followed the political process for years and even ran for office before. But, I just can’t understand what the hell is happening. I remember one campaign where one candidate kept asking, “Where’s the beef?” It got a lot of play and had many voters wondering. But then, I look at the present election and the statements of politicians and press and wonder if I haven’t been transported to either another dimension or a whole other planet. A lot of words are exchanged in a meaningless manner and nothing of substance is discussed. At least nothing that an ordinary citizen cares about. I guess if a person is a trust funder or a one per center, the discussion might be germane to something. But, for the average citizen, everything but bull shit is lacking.
Both candidates talk about taxes, as though that was an issue that really mattered. Most of us pay taxes. Some of us have been harassed by tax authorities and have made the political enemies list. But even then, most people bitch and moan about them, but tax policy is not the great decider in their lives. Most of us remember past tax refunds which was barely enough to go out for an evening, let alone be life changing. The only people that really get exercised about taxes are the selfish rich, who believe that good fortune, luck or circumstances had nothing to do with their wealth. Most of these people don’t even take funny drugs.
Then we have discussions about medical care, jobs, rape abortion, religion, and other bull shit issues about which we have little control or interest. We see commentators talk for hours, analyzing nothing and trying to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear. It is almost like hearing Howard Cassel discuss football, or watching a game on television and the fans cheering the teams on as partisan fans, not discerning decision makers.
But, most importantly, I think about what is NOT being discussed, or even mentioned. We have a President that made several promises which weren’t kept. I think he tried, but he was sabotaged. However, I would expect him to have read the Constitution and be endowed with some scruples. However I see none of that. A prior administration destroyed our constitution and made a political criminal act the cause for endless war and expanding the powers of the Executive Branch. That President repealed Habeas Corpus, Posse Commitatis, murdered people in the name of the People, committed war crimes, and totally changed the land of the free and home of the brave into the land of the subjugated, and home of the paranoid cowards. We have seen due process thrown away and much of the rest of the Constitution. There is no discernible difference between the candidates in this area. It would appear that both parties are in a race to see who can destroy Constitution the fastest. We see a Government primed with repressive laws on the shelf, waiting for an event to foist them upon a fearful, irrational, mad citizenry. I have heard not one word about this situation. We have several citizens indicted for war crimes abroad. What has been mentioned of this? Next we hear talk about jobs. The only really effective way that I know of for Government is something like the WPA that put my father to work in Estes working on trails. So we have one candidate who tells us that he will give a humungous tax break to the voters, especially the rich ones, cut back on Government, increase our armed forces and make jobs. How, I ask, can a government shrink, give away revenues, spend money on our wars such as on crime, in Afghanistan, on drugs, in Iraq, and in spoiling for a fight in Iran. This seems to be off limits for political discussion.
We have no candidate that has a vision, a dream, or even a cogent idea of what the people are concerned about. For instance, What is the purpose of Government? Is it to support monopolistic capitalism or is it to provide for its citizenry? When business become more and more efficient and there are fewer jobs, do we take care of our citizens or kill them as non-productive eaters? Is employment the purpose of government or is it to provide for the health, safety and welfare of its’ people. Does an ethical, sane government protect its citizens from predators, or join in the hunt. Why is no candidate discussing the rendition program and the number of civil servants convicted in other countries for war crimes? And, why is no one talking about the costs and collateral damage of the Drug War?
One candidates falsely claims that a government must be run by a business man, not an elected citizen because it must be efficient. Having been a director and a CEO of some corporations and represented many of them, I will tell you what I constantly remind businessmen of. That is, “every corporation can be efficient of it doesn’t have to answer to a Court system and account to the people. I have told clients that they can control a corporation by having the fealty of the attorney, accountant, the accountant and the public relations firm. If a company is structured that way, it is costly for a group of dissident shareholders to raise hell with management. Additionally, corporations owe their loyalty and organize their activities around profits and return to shareholders. A Government must structure its activities and reason for being around the welfare, health and safety of its people. Neither candidate addresses that issue. Both seem to indicate that there is a magic wand that can bring about substantive change with a magic wand.
The stock market! The religious Tea Partiers and their associates treat the stock market quotes as if were gospel, although it only really measures broker’s and banker’s commissions. One would think that with all the serious problems in the world, politics could deal with a little more than investment bank’s profits. I have yet to hear either candidate tell us what his vision for the Country is and how it would be accomplished. Instead, we get the bread, bath and circus politics of the early Romans.
So, we all optimistically sit around the TVs, hoping to hear something that isn’t an insult to our intelligence. The commentators amuse each other with stupid, utterly inane prattle, while all the good programming is taken away. We read how much influence money is poured into the campaigns and try to limit contributions instead of looking at the cause of the situation and postulate a solution Brokers, bankers and financiers are high-stakes gamblers who have almost succeeded in destroying this country. I couldn’t be done, but for the ignorance, naiveté, venality and gullibility in their worshiping of the rich. We worship them so much, we have become priests and priestesses to their voodoo religion, placing people one the sacrificial alter while engaging in figurative oral sex with their gods as in the early Roman time. The difference is that Rome did not screw its citizenry nearly to the extent that we are being screwed. Modern day politics make Caligula and Nero mere amateurs in comparison.
After the stock market crash of 1929, Congress held hearings about the nature, extent and cause of the crash and the resulting depression. This resulted in drastic changes in both commercial and investment banking. Additionally, new programs were implemented and the Wall Street pirates or robber barons, as the press calls them lost a great deal of status. Commercial and investment banking activities were separated with the Glass-Stengel act. Consumer and investor protection became the cultural more of the day. Because of the regulations, trust of American banking was enhanced, making the economic stability of the Country. The hope was that with the resulting legislation and policy changes, we would be stronger and the people more protected from the Pirates and Robber Barons of Wall Street. Of Course, turning to war production also helped.
Well, the crooks of Wall, chafed at the restrictions, agitating for change, forming front groups, rewriting history, bribing everyone is sight and turning Wall Street into a big casino, where the players get paid for betting other people’s money and are allowed to go back to the trough for continuous seconds. Long and short-term capital gains differential was abolished under Reagan under the rubric of tax reform and de-regulation. Banks pissed and moaned about pesky regulations and got many repealed, but managed to keep depositor insurance underwritten by the same government they have repeatedly denounced and slandered in their claim for being over-regulated.