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The Ransom of Uncle Sam

Submitted by BuzzFlash on Fri, 07/17/2009 - 9:58am.

MS. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON

"Many people consider the things which government does for them to be social progress, but they consider the things government does for others as socialism." Earl Warren (1891-1971) U.S. Lawyer. Peter's Quotations (Lawrence J. Peter)

How many times have we heard from the Bush GOP politicians that healthcare and education, which should be free, climate change, science, jobs, whatever the people want at the time, would be the equivalent of (gasp) socialism. Poppycock! Who have the citizens of the U.S. bailed out in recent months? Wall Street plus their bonuses, banks, and more money allocated for killing in Iraq and Afghanistan, while many American citizens are left without employment, homes, and even our military can be found living on our streets, while millionaires make these decisions in U.S. government.

All under the label of "patriotism." But when we Americans want our government to work for us, such as jobs, healthcare, money for a dangerous infrastructure, which happened this month in Illinois as I was writing about the very thing in this article, a bridge failure . . . what do we hear when the people want a government to work for us? Socialism. That's right, this from those in Congress, the Bush GOP, who still refuse to give our government back to the people, unless we pay for their mistakes. We have no guarantee that we will get Uncle Sam back, and in good health. How can we tell if Uncle Sam is in good health? This is how . . . a poll taken for the happiest nation, and the United States makes the list at 114th spot.

There are those in U.S. government, given the opportunity, who could turn things around in Costa Rica. How many democratically elected governments has our Bush GOP government interfered with over the last 30 years? And, the SOA is still open for business. Can anyone tell us Americans why a democratic country would have such a school? Money comes too easily in U.S. government for those who want to use it for death and destruction. Yet, we Americans have citizens who are suffering today, who don't rate the attention, yet our government is willing to keep paying for 800 military bases around the world instead of taking care of our own people. Why would a country that brags about being a democracy use most of its budget for military warfare?

Remember the towns that were suffering large losses when our military bases were closed down in the U.S.? How different was that from allowing U.S. corporations to leave this country and start up their businesses overseas with no thought as to the workers in this country, only the sweatshop, low paid employees in other countries. At our expense (American citizens), these companies chose to turn their backs on the people of their own country. How is that putting America first and why was it allowed to happen by members of our Congress?

In essence, they make cheap products, with the idea of selling them back to American citizens at a larger profit, except those Americans are now without good jobs. Thirty years of this and what are we, the people of the U.S. left with? Four branches of government . . . Executive, Congress, Corporate, and Judicial, which, I might add, a Judicial branch that should have been dismantled for breaking the law and putting Bush number two into the White House. It seems that the only jobs safe in this country are those behind the Beltway in DC, regardless of what they do or don't do. Obey U.S. law or break it. It doesn't matter. That has to change. The next time someone mentions the word socialism, walk away, turn off the channel, refuse to buy their goods and services, refuse to vote for them ever again. Why? Because socialism is what they are protecting for themselves.

"Law and arbitrary power are in eternal enmity." Edmund Burke, Impeachment of Warren Hastings, 16, Feb. 1788."

Who were those members of Congress representing when they supported the Bush GOP regime and their invasion/occupation of Iraq? They voted with the idea that it's okay to invade any country that might have WMD, when the U.S. is known around the world to have the largest cache of WMD? Wouldn't that mean that it's okay to invade us with that kind of thinking or non-thinking?

Furthermore, those e-mails and faxes that we citizens send our representatives, do any of us really think they get read, when we hear of reports that many of those in Congress don't even read the bills they vote on? Speaking of bills, do we Americans really think they (our members of Congress) are doing their jobs when they use a good bill to tack on a junk bill in order to get it passed, when it would not pass on its own?

Trains, Planes, and Automobiles . . . Dams, Bridges, Roads, Sewage Systems, Fireman, Police, Healthcare, Jobs, Climate Change . . . are there any more things we can add to this list of possible tragedies in our future? If anyone has visited the History Channel lately, they would have seen about three programs on the above and told of years and years of the lack of inspections on dams and bridges and the lack of inspectors for those jobs. Is this doing the work of the people? Why, when we have States and U.S. government of elected officials, do we citizens of the U.S. have to wait until there is a tragedy before our infrastructure gets the money to be repaired? And, whose lives are at risk? Not those who make the decisions. Private planes, limousines, healthcare, perks . . . no worry there.

Again, we haven't lost enough jobs and lives these past few years it seems. Why is this being allowed?

When I read such items as the above, I feel strongly that every member of Congress and the Judicial group should be forced to have the same advantages as the rest of this country . . . commercial flights, our healthcare or the lack of it, and salaries based on what they have done for this country, instead of being allowed to vote for their own raises.

We've seen these reports on the possible failings of our infrastructure as far back as four to five years ago, and still nothing has been done. A good example was the tragedy in New Orleans by hurricane Katrina. The Bush GOP were warned before that disaster. FEMA was also reported to have stopped rescue efforts after the tragedy, stockpiling relief items and giving them away or destroying them rather than giving them to those in need in New Orleans. And, Bush, in public without any shame, or fear of being held responsible, told Brownie the horse trainer, he did a good job. Obviously, Bush and his cohorts don't give a damn about the lives of American citizens, whether in this country, or those in our National Guard, who, at the time they were needed in New Orleans, were out of the country in Iraq.

Maybe this is the way our government procedures are done, but that doesn't mean they are the correct procedures for this country. For instance, one of the most outdated ideas in U.S. government, it would seem, is that a resident of the White House, such as both George Bushes, should have the power to pardon those who would be able to testify against them. As we've seen so far, when U.S. law is broken by government officials, nothing gets done about it, yet, the smallest crime can be prosecuted out in the motherland and people go to jail for years.
This country is still so "Victorian" in many ways . . . is it fair to say, something we still maintain, leftover history from the Brits and their Queen, bringing about the prudish and willful ignorance in our national leadership that funnels down into the populace and distributes or contributes to prejudices such as . . . gays having to hide who they are, even in our military, while putting their life on the line for this country . . . which isn't the "really big problem" in our military.

The standards have been lowered to the point that we have rapes and reports of women who died rather than taking the chance of being raped while going to the latrine in Iraq, and killings dressed up as suicides, PTS that goes untreated, suicides of military who have served and have returned home, murders of their families in some cases, and many vets found living on our streets . . . but, we don't hear too much about those problems . . . no, just don't tell anyone you are gay, now that's a real problem . . . unless the real problem just might be the fact that we Americans still have such ignorance and stupidity in a society that considers itself ahead of the rest of the world.

Then we come to the ethics of those who serve in government for the people. Personally, I don't give a damn about the sex lives of anyone in or out of Congress, and usually, the Republicans couldn't care less unless it's the sexual dalliances of a Democrat, then they vote to impeach, as that did to President Clinton, however, they can't bring themselves to vote to impeach a resident of the White House who is responsible for the deaths of millions of innocent human beings because they supported those decisions.
Governor Sanford and his bunny rabbit habits; for instance . . . what should be important is that he had a job of importance, as governor, a job of trust, and he treats his position and those under him, along with his family, with no more respect or care than that of a teenager failing to deliver a newspaper. Just leaves town like a school boy.

How many Americans think, that if they suddenly took off from their jobs for a week, told no one, not even their family members . . . would have that same job when they returned to work? If you think so . . . try it. Even responsible entrepreneurs or CEOs don't do this. Then there's the latest media explosion with Palin, which always sounds more like a soap opera . . .  sorta, kinda like we'd find in "The problems of Pauline" . . . Palin indicated on a social networking site that she would take on a larger, national role, citing a "higher calling"


I could almost agree with her after watching her and listening to her . . . she sure came across as being "high-per," but that's not the real problem here either . . . the real problem is how low qualifications have sunk for jobs in U.S. government.  A clear indication of the ethics of this woman was when she spent over a hundred thousand dollars of her campaign money for clothes for her family. On the other hand, she fits right in with the type of politician that is a "loyal" member of the Bush GOP today. Oh yeah, she is a star among those who prosper with a seriously dysfunctional government.

Many states have, in the past, put out report cards on their infrastructure . . . here's one from 2008, Texas.

The Texas Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) today released its 2008 Texas Infrastructure Report Card Update, which assigned the state’s infrastructure a cumulative grade of C- in 13 infrastructure areas – roads and highways, bridges, transit, aviation, schools, drinking water, wastewater, dams, solid waste, hazardous waste, navigable waterways, flood control and energy.

Here's a similar report found on the Internet from Oregon . . .
He tells us no seismic upgrades are happening to Oregon dams, and money is being diverted away from even evaluating these dams. "Inundation maps for a disaster are secret," he adds, and the secrecy is heightened since 9/11.
What's happening in Ohio?

In all, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources hasn't inspected more than 1,200 state-regulated dams since 2002. The state's own recommendations say these dams must be inspected every five years. The state oversees 1,625 dams. Most are privately owned, and about half of those need repair or don't have plans in place in case of breaches.

With these reports that are easily found down through the years . . . where in the hell was Congress? We need jobs out there . . . why were they cut in the first place? Every state needs work and has needed it for years. Where's U.S. government?

We hear so much blustering coming from our employees, the members of Congress, regarding healthcare, when we American citizens have to envy Canada, France, and Great Britain because of their healthcare, when we are supposed to be a country of leadership around the world, however, the only leadership we have proved ourselves in, is how to kill better than anyone else. It's been reported for years that over 50 million people in this nation do not have healthcare. That is a Black Plague waiting to happen.
Yet, today, the latest is the cowardly bombing in Pakistan by robotic control and the excuse that they are killing "terrorists," . . . where's the proof, or do we Americans, in this democracy, feel that killing anybody is okay as long as somebody in our military says it's okay or that, that somebody is in our government . . . it's not okay. With this kind of laxity in U.S. government . . . we Americans, might someday find ourselves in jail, prison, or being killed for the same reasoning (there's hundreds of thousands of names on a so-called terrorist list) . . . if anyone has read even a small amount of history . . . please, how is this so different from "Hitler" and his rise to power? Yet, the killings, the destruction of the past eight years go on and without any hint of U.S. law or justice coming from behind the infamous Beltway.

And, now, what do we hear . . . we hear from the people that if nothing gets changed in U.S. government as promised, they will not vote . . . actually, as we witness in the comedy by O'Henry . . . we need more than votes . . . we need to make every person serving this country in all three branches of this government responsible or wish they had never been in DC.

We need investigations. We need justice, and if a person is not doing their job in Congress, do the Bush thing that Bush did for Arnold of California . . . Americans have lost their loved ones, their jobs, their hope for a future, our climate . . . it's time to fight fire with fire. The socialism that we get crammed down our throats at the very mention of a government for the people is in DC and is controlled by the Bush GOP and some Democratic Party (who need to lose their jobs) supporters.

  • "The Ransom of Red Chief", in which two men kidnap a boy of ten. The boy turns out to be so bratty and obnoxious that the desperate men ultimately pay the boy's father $250 to take him back.
    • We need to make those who have been using the American people to pay for their lifestyles, high living, connections, etc., wish they had never seen DC.

    Imagine in a Democracy that has just had eight years of treason, the first was when Bush had been warned three months before 911 and refused to warn America . . . the illegal invasion/occupation of Iraq, the killings at random in Afghanistan, and Pakistan, the secret prisons, the imprisoning of people through buying information from poor people, the withholding of lawyers and courts of law, the war against the American people . . . these are just a few of the things that we cannot allow to keep being shoved under the U.S. governmental, political and magically disappearing carpets, and expect respect from the world or even from our own citizens. We have to have U.S. law in U.S. government or we will lose what small portion of a working democracy that still exists. We are expected to pay those in Congress for what they have done to this government instead of doing their jobs. How crazy is that?

    Unlike the Ransom of Red Chief . . . the kidnapping of the people's government for the last thirty years, where our own government never considers the people until they want money . . . debt, death, and destruction . . . without accountability . . . can't happen in a working democracy . . . if we allow crooked elections, and we have, we will see it in the world.  If we start a war by choice, we will see that too, and dare us to say anything, a democracy is not a pattern for fraud in elections, illegal invasion/occupations/the privatization of what should be owned by the public, and allow our citizenry to be controlled by propaganda, using exaggerated threats and fear. When it has been our own government that has failed us time and time again. When they fail, they cost the lives of innocent people . . . American lives and lives around the world. That should never be allowed without accountability, even if it empties the House, the Senate, and the Supreme Court.

    In the news, for example, is an article about how Iran is treating the journalists, they are disappearing . . . I guess those people who write such articles, think many of us slept through the illegal and treasonous invasion of Iraq when over 70 journalists were killed, and many of those were direct hits by the US . . . with excuses of course. Many journalists who were just trying to report and do their jobs, lost their lives and how much reporting of those innocent lives has this country had with our so-called "free press?" What a joke, and how many of us are laughing? The only people seen laughing would be Bush and his minions. Because they think they got away with their crimes. Remember, there is no limitation for the prosecution of murder in U.S. law.

    "I spent a month there in the early ‘90s during the first Persian Gulf War," he explained. "I had been working for years to get a visa, and I was the only American there at the time … these people who are not friends of the press, they don’t see the point of a free press."

    The next catastrophe that happens, we Americans don't want to hear a word from any member of U.S. Congress, who gave their support to the Bush regime. We don't need less action from American citizens because they are disappointed or unhappy or angry, which they should be, we need more action . . . much, much more organizing . . . targeting those who aren't doing their jobs as Democrats.

    It's years past time for the wealthy Democrats to invest in a strong media. The wealthy are easily out of touch with the other 99% of this country. We need the kind of media that can't be ignored. It's never reported enough, but we have millions of citizens who still do not have computers, access to the Internet and depend on local news, which means they are not given both sides of the issues. It would be a great way to be remembered.

    We don't need to or want to reward a treasonous Bush GOP administration with speaking engagements and jobs in large corporations . . . how many times have we heard people who believe in "you do the crime, you do the time," and yet, the largest, worst crimes in U.S. history . . . and, these people are treated as if they are some kind of royalty.

    The Common Wealth of a country should not to be found in the government, but in its people. And, we Americans have allowed this to be buried alive by a majority of our own representatives, Bush GOP Republicans and "moderate" Democrats. What's a moderate democrat? One who votes and supports the GOP on critical votes. In other words, find a moderate Bush GOP. Never happen, they supported the Republican Party 100 percent of the time, at the same time they also had the support of many of the DLC Democrats and the proud Blue Dogs. Those who call themselves, moderates, are also supported by the Bush GOP in order to keep a real Democrat from that ticket. We are fools to keep Democrats in office who constantly support a Republican Party . . . fools for eight years?

    This debt, the largest ever in U.S. history must be the last ransom that American citizens ever pay to get our government back. We Americans must take pride in ourselves and understand that we deserve good healthcare, we deserve a good education, we deserve a government that actually works for the people. This is not socialism, it is a working, breathing democracy . . . and today, after the last 30 years, the U.S. government has been a lousy example to the world of a working democracy.

    "Whatever America hopes to bring to pass in this world must first come to pass in the heart of America." Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890 - 1969) U.S. general and statesman. Inaugural address 1953.

    President Eisenhower, the last of the real, the great Republican leaders. These last thirty years, it seems that America's heart has skipped a beat, but our convictions and our spirit of what is right for the people of this country will survive in spite of the constant death blows our democracy has suffered by the hands of our own government.  Those kidnappers of Uncle Sam are still at large, and many are, to this day, hibernating in U.S. government.

    Thanks Buzz Flash,
    Shirley Smith

    MS. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON



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    We know what's wrong. Now what are we going to do about it?

    Submitted by Kevin Schmidt S... on Fri, 07/17/2009 - 11:38am.

    When are WE THE PEOPLE going to march on Washington, peaceably of course, call out our treasonous representatives who are bought and paid for by the upper 1% plutocracy, and demand they address our grievances, before we summarily fire them and kick them out of politics for good?

    It just might happen when WE THE PEOPLE stop being wee the sheeple.

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    Change

    Submitted by Alan8 on Fri, 07/17/2009 - 11:39am.
    Good rant, but you're leaving out one important fact:

    THE DEMOCRATS LET IT ALL HAPPEN!!

    Even before the Democrats had majorities in Congress, ONE LONE DEMOCRATIC SENATOR is all it would have taken to filibuster all the insanity. It didn't happen.

    The Democrats, like the Republicans, receive the majority of their funding from corporate sources. This is why they consistently sell out citizens' interests. Continually voting for these treacherous corporate shills, while expecting them to suddenly start behaving differently is insane.

    The Democrats have absolutely no reason to change, while misguided liberals continue to vote for them. They accept corporate campaign "donations" (bribes), gut laws that might threaten corporate profits, and smugly accept the votes of people afraid of the Republicans. It's called the "good cop/bad cop" scam.

    The solution is simple: STOP VOTING FOR CORPORATE SHILLS, AND FOR CORPORATE-SHILL PARTIES. The Green Party doesn't accept any corporate money. By voting Green, you send the Democrats the message that their pro-corporate business-as-usual agenda is unacceptable to the voters.

    It's like housebreaking a puppy. At some point you have to say "No! Bad dog!". Unconditional praise just doesn't work.

    Politics works the same way. If you continue giving them your vote, they'll never change. It's time to say "No! Bad party!".
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    If ever elected, the Greens will also be just more of the same.

    Submitted by Kevin Schmidt S... on Fri, 07/17/2009 - 11:56am.

    Can anyone name even one candidate from the Green Party? They are even more irrelevant than the Republican Party.

    Your juvenile screaming for attention is all wrong. The Democrats did not "let it all happen", and neither did the Republicans. WE THE PEOPLE let it all happen by believing there is a difference between political parties.

    Even if a Green Party candidate, by some miracle, were to be elected to office, what's to stop them from also selling their soul to the K Street lobbyist pimps who represent the upper 1% plutocracy devils? Just because a candidate claims to not accept political contributions (bribes) does not mean they won't accept the money into off shore bank accounts.

    We do not need more of the same shuffling of the political party deck chairs. We need a change in how WE THE PEOPLE govern ourselves through our representatives in Washington. We need a fool proof method to force our representatives to actually represent us and vote the way we tell them to vote in Congress, instead allowing them to be bribed into representing and voting for the upper 1% plutocracy.

    This is the major problem of the day that MUST be solved, and soon, if we are to save democracy in America. How do we take back our country from the plutocrats who now own our representatives in all three branches of the federal government?

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    Green facts

    Submitted by Alan8 on Fri, 07/17/2009 - 2:03pm.
    "Can anyone name even one candidate from the Green Party?"

    An interesting (idiotic) criterion for relevancy. We can name Republican candidates. Does this mean they're relevant?

    The Green Party has a set of Ten Key Values (http://www.gp.org/tenkey.shtml) that are shared by its candidates and its members. When you vote for a Green-Party candidate, you're voting for those Ten Key Values. A Green candidate isn't a "personality" (like Obama) who in reality stands for nothing.

    Democrats voted for the bills that overturned the Constitution, such as the Military Commissions Act of 2006. That goes above and beyond merely letting it happen. The Democrats are openly on the take, and rewarding this behavior has and will allow it to continue.

    As a race between a Democrat and a Republican gets closer and closer, the power of the Greens grows out of proportion to our numbers. A few percentage points could tip an election. It's this threat which will initially influence the Democrats even with single-digit vote totals for the Greens.

    Your comment about "off shore [sic] bank accounts" would apply to any human candidate, and is inane.

    Green-Party candidates have been winning elections at the local level, and now have over 200 officeholders in the US. The corporate media has NEVER (to my knowledge) ever reported ANY Green-Party win, so your ignorance is understandable.

    The next step is to make inroads at the state and Federal levels. Change will not come unless you vote for it.
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    All political parties are polarizing and confrontational

    Submitted by Kevin Schmidt S... on Fri, 07/17/2009 - 4:58pm.

    You and your confrontational and polarizing comments are no different. You have fallen for the illusion just like the Democrats and Republicans. Your "ten key values" are just words, like Obama's, "Change you can believe in," is just words.

    No one knows who anyone is in the Green Party because no one cares. Which means on a national level, the Green Party is in fact... IRRELEVANT!!!

    So what if there are two hundred Green Party office holders out of tens of thousands of local level office holders. That is still a very small fraction of 1%. Get a few dozen elected in the House and maybe a Senator or two, then we can start talking about Green Party relevancy.

    Again, the problem is not with the two party system and insignificant third parties like the Greens. The problem is with private money contributions (bribes) flowing into ALL campaigns, including members of the Green Party, and the inability of WE THE PEOPLE to hold our employees in government accountable for their actions.

    The current system is an illusion because it doesn't matter to the plutocracy who gets elected, including the Greens, when enough politicians can be bought out that will commit mutiny and vote against their constituents. So in reality, the only group that truly has relevancy on a national level is the plutocracy, since they are the ones who control the votes in Congress and control the actions of the president.

    Ideally, it should not matter which party our elected representatives belong to when they perform their duties, just as political affiliation does not matter for our career civil servants.

    What should matter is who our elected representatives truly represent. We need a method to insure they will represent their constituents, WE THE PEOPLE, and enact laws for our benefit, and not for the benefit of the K Street pimps working for the upper 1% plutocracy.

    Democracy should not be for sale to the highest bidder.

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