August 26, 2010

Ignorance rules the right-wing airwaves and so the listeners end up believing and spouting half-truths and whole lies about everything from climate warming to Obama's religion and Michelle's vacation. Worse, they don't know enough about their own Christian religion to know that they are supposed to love their enemies, do good to those who hurt them, love their neighbor as they love themselves, give alms to the poor and care for children and widows. And so on. They mostly ignore all those admonishments taken from the words of Jesus in the book of Matthew and instead go nuts over some Old Testament sheep herder's rules against homosexual activity. It is a wonder that they are not stoning adulterers, as their Old Testament tells them. Anyway, here is what the world sees when it sees the "Christian" America: unforgiving Christians, Christians that hate Muslims, Christians that war against Muslim nations for false reasons. Jesus said "By their fruits you will know them." Someone else said "Garbage in, garbage out."

August 19, 2010

There never would have been:

A Protestant Reformation IF the Catholic Church had practiced Jesus' teachings.
An American Revolution IF King George had treated the colonies fairly.
A Communist Manifesto IF capitalists had paid workers a living wage and provided safe working conditions.
An American Civil War IF Christians had practiced Jesus' teachings.
A terrorist attack on 9/11 IF Israel had not invaded Palestine and stolen the land from the inhabitants.

Almost all of today's problems stem from the Haves not being fair to the Have Nots, upon whom all their enterprises rest. Individualism and capitalism rest upon the backs of workers the world over.

August 16, 2010

The anti-government crowd is getting plenty of publicity as they wave their signs demanding cuts in spending, but not saying where the cuts should come. Where do we start cutting? Schools? Libraries? Roads? Transportation? Medical care? Police and fire protection? If anti-government demonstrators have their way we will soon be paying private companies for fire and police protection. Roads and highways will be in disrepair. Public libraries will be a thing of the past. Public health care will be gone. Only those with money will have any of these former public services. Lost your job after 25 years of good work? It must have been your fault that the company moved overseas for cheaper labor. You asked for more than the minimum wage.

A good education will be available only to those who can afford it, since public schools will have over-crowded classrooms, out-of-date text books (or textbooks that teach the joys of plantation life and Creationism as science). Portland schools have some classrooms with 40 students packed into rooms made for 30, and teachers have to contend with old texts, no supplies, and seating, rather than helping each student learn the lessons. It is short-sighted to skimp on school funding. Flocks of under-educated kids turn 18 every year. Some are headed to a lifetime of incarceration at $30,000- $50,000 a year prisons. The public pays for the prisons, but if we paid the same amount for job training beyond high school, that would be "socialism." How much dumber can we get?

Schools will become holding tanks for crowds of kids who don't learn the basics of the language, and worse, don't know their own history, so that anyone can make erroneous claims about America's past and no one knows to object to the lies. Get ready for government by oligarchy, with bribes instead of taxes. There will no longer be a public anything in this new world of the American Right. National Parks? Sold. National forests? Cut. Public beaches? Private, KEEP OUT. Wilderness Areas? Exploited and mined. Any program that is good for the public will be labeled "socialist" and be killed. Did I say "will be"? I am wrong, it is already happening.

 

July 28, 2010

People who ignore history will ignore history, but with the release of the secret documents about the war in Afghanistan we can at least look at the striking similarities between the way the war is being fought and the way the Vietnam war was fought. When he spoke up, shortly before his death, Robert McNamara said that our big mistake in Vietnam was that we took sides in a civil war, and we were not on the side of the people. Instead, we supported a corrupt central government that had ties to Colonial France.

This, by the way, started back with Harry S. Truman who committed U.S. support to fighting Ho Chi Min in his battle to shake off the French after WW II. To get American public support for this wrong-headed choice it was the task of every U.S. president to couch the war in terms of supporting democracy against communism. This, in spite of the fact that we were really propping up a dictator and not allowing the people to vote, as required by a U.N. resolution. The hypocrisy of this choice was covered with emotional phrases that had nothing to do with reality. We worried about a "Red takeover," the "Domino Theory," and the government claimed we were supporting democracy even as we propped up crooked rulers in South Vietnam. By the time the war was President Nixon's baby we had become mired in a losing cause. There was no way to win the war without bombing North Vietnam into oblivion, something General Curtis LeMay said we could do, bomb them back to the Stone Age. But more bombing, or the use of nuclear weapons was so obviously out of bounds as a response to the threat posed by Ho Chi Min that it was not carried out. There are some who still think we should have done that, however. Meanwhile we are now trading partners with Vietnam and American corporations make money hand over fist with cheap labor there.

In 1971 Daniel Ellsberg released the Pentagon Papers (United States–Vietnam Relations, 1945–1967: A Study Prepared by the Department of Defense) and was called by Sec. of State Kissinger, "the most dangerous man in America." Why? Not because the release told any secrets the enemy needed to know, but mainly because it showed how our presidents and the Pentagon had been lying to the American public about the conduct of the war, the killing of civilians and the reason for the war in the first place. The information was not new to the Pentagon but it was new to the public.

Now we have new papers being released and President Obama claims that there is no new information in the papers and that the release will hurt the conduct of the war. That in itself is a contradiction. If there is no new information then what can be the harm? Unless the real problem is that, like the Pentagon Papers that Ellsberg brought to light, these new papers show that we are warring on the side of a corrupt central government that does not have the support of the people in the countryside, that we are killing civilians at a higher rate than is reported, and that war is not going as well as is being reported. Just as during the Vietnam war, the numbers are being skewed and the reports slanted to show more success towards the stated aims than actually exists.

There is no danger to the United States from the Taliban today. Notice how the war against the few plotters of the 9/11 attack has morphed into a war against the Taliban, our former allies when they were fighting another foreign invader, the Soviets? The similarities to what happened in Vietnam are too close for comfort. Pentagon spokesmen and President Obama are promoting a false version of what is going on in Afghanistan and that is why they are both downplaying and castigating the recent release of secret documents. They are standing there with lies tumbling out of their mouths as we now read what is really happening. Our response to the threat posed by Al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan is out of proportion to their threat, so the government has widened the threat to include the Taliban, and when the Taliban don't prove to be enough, a case is going to be made to include other countries and groups unless we, the people, learn our history and demand that mistakes not be repeated. We have taken sides in a civil war under the guise of going after the 9/11 killers, and that is a mistake being promoted with lies and misinformation. Don't be fooled again.

July 5, 2010

Wade Graham's softball pitch in Monday's The Oregonian makes me wonder if he is ignorant or just does not care that Jefferson's biggest contradiction makes his love of fine things look insipid. What contradiction is this, you ask? How about the fact that he took 13 year old Sally Hemings as a sex partner while she was his slave. Trotted her off to Europe with him, he did. Jefferson spoke of all men being created equal but he did not let that keep him from having children by his slave. Nowadays we get all upset if a mayor has an affair with a boyfriend, or a president gets a sexual treat under a table in the oval office, of a civic leader beds his baby sitter. But why all the silence around Jefferson's biggest contradiction? Is that just too much to accept?

"The weight of all known evidence - from the DNA study, original documents, written and oral historical accounts, and statistical data - indicated a high probability that Thomas Jefferson was the father of Eston Hemings, and that he was perhaps the father of all six of Sally Hemings' children listed in Monticello records."
http://www.monticello.org/plantation/hemingscontro/hemings-jefferson_contro.html

Now that is a real contradiction, giving new meaning to "Founding Father."

June 30, 2010

I awoke this morning to find myself in an insane asylum where the doctors and staff were more unbalanced than the patients. Their cures were worse than the illnesses. Minor problems grew into major disasters under their care. When the staff had problems with the laundry they killed the cook, even though that made no sense to any of the residents. The water supply was shut off because of the director's scheme to make money selling the pipes to a scrap metal man in the big city. The air was contaminated with smoke from burning cigars. The furniture was cut up and burned to heat the boilers as a cost saving measure and the administrators pocked the extra money. The children's ward was full of little ones left behind with no health care or nutritional guidance, victims of the sugar, alcohol and tobacco given by companies to the hospital. Education was turned over to outside contractors who would allow only those with money from savings accounts to attend class. Patient trust accounts were turned over to stock speculators. And worst of all, most of the patients thought this was the way it was supposed to be. I found a few who knew better, but they kept quiet to avoid being lobotomized. Then I awoke once more, conditions were the same but I was no longer in an asylum.

June 18, 2010 (published in The Oregonian, June 27, 2010)

James Masse's letter to the editor (June 18, 2010) tells us how the Jackson community did not whine when their school was closed and he goes on to suggest that the the Jefferson community should quit whining. James misses an important point. Jackson's loss of student numbers was not the result on a concerted effort by the school district to reduce the number of students in attendance. That is the case at Jefferson, however. Federal guidelines demanded desegregated schools, and bussing was a short sighted way to achieve that goal. Instead of making Jefferson more attractive to all students, white and black, they redrew boundaries, allowed student transfers, and bussed kids elsewhere. These policies led to fewer students attending Jefferson. So there is no comparison.

The Jefferson community has witnessed years of neglect and an effort to juggle statistics rather than an effort to improve class offerings and give quality eduction in all areas. Music rooms sit empty. It is amazing that the school as done so well with all the obstacles placed in its way by sometimes well-meaning and sometime ignorant and shortsighted policies. I attended Jefferson during its greatest years. During those years we had the best teachers and a full curriculum. Then came the big push to desegregate the schools. Short sighted responses to that "problem" have led to this impasse today. Every student can be a success at something, and not until that happens will we see graduation rates go back up. Student learning successes are more important than, and independent of, demographic distributions.

June 13, 2010

Imagine a country with no government regulation of private industry, and where free enterprise (no government support or control) was the economic guide. You would have a country where none of the beaches, forests, deserts would be accessible without payment to a private operator. Miles of the Oregon coast, for instance, would be owned privately and guarded with fences. There would be no national parks because all those areas would long ago have been developed by private enterprise and perhaps destroyed with condominiums sprouting from the best scenic views. You would pay a company a toll to drive on the roads and highways. You would rent books from a library, and then only if you could afford the price the operator set. If your house caught on fire you could phone any number of private fire companies to put out the flames. Your neighborhood security would depend upon private and unregulated personnel with guns and maybe very little training. Solving crimes would depend upon private labs working with private investigators. They would work for those who could pay the price. Poor people would not have health care, schools, highways, recreation in parks and all the things a society offers.

So that is the world the no-government people envision. Whenever they get a chance they say the government spends too much, but they never get specific about which public programs to cut or by how much. If they wanted to cut back on government programs and government regulations then they should come up with a way to have private enterprise act prudently and be responsible for the actions of commerce and industry. The Cuyahoga River did not get cleaned up by the companies that were polluting it until the government stepped in (1969). So you don't like government regulation? Then clean up your act before, not after, it is needed. We would not be facing this oil disaster in the Gulf if oil companies had acted responsibly before the accident. BP, for one, was not prepared for this accident. Had they been acting responsibly they never would have begun drilling without planning for such a contingency. Sure, some government agency was supposed to be checking up on stuff like that, but under real free enterprise the government shouldn't have to. You can't be a champion of free enterprise and no government unless you are also able solve the problems created by unregulated industry and commerce. Do you really want companies to be able to sell you shoddy products and you have no recourse in government courts? Is the government run court system part of what you want cut out of the budget? Well, we would not even need a court system if people would treat others fairly and honestly.

It is stupid to say the oil disaster is Obama's fault. That makes no sense at all. It was an accident that BP did not count on and was unprepared for. How is that the government's or Obama's fault? BP did its best, and succeeded, to destroy the effectiveness of what little government regulation that was in place. But we should not have had to depend upon government regulation in the first place. It should have been up to the private company to deal fairly and honestly with the environment and the people who are now destroyed by BP's lack of planning. The Greeks had a god of commerce, Hermes. He was also the god of thieves. Perhaps they understood the nature of business better than do today's Libertarians.

June 1, 2010

Why does anyone expect Obama to condemn the Israeli attack on the ship bringing aid to Gaza? After all, he continues our war on Afghanistan Taliban, who were allies of ours when they were killing Soviet army soldiers. Our stupid support of Israel and our other bad decisions in the Middle East are major reasons why we have enemies who are willing to launch suicide attacks on us at home and abroad.

May 18, 2010

Government regulation of private companies has always had its opponents, and one of the main arguments has been that regulation is bad economics, regulation destroys jobs. Or so they say. Lack of regulation has just cost the Gulf Coast states more jobs than any type of regulation could have. The effects of the leaking oil will be with us for hundreds of years and the economic loss is beyond calculation at this point. It is time for the anti-regulation people to just shut up. That includes the "Drill, Baby Drill" people.

May 10, 2021 Published in The Oregonian May 15, 2010

Less than ten years ago I was discussing the rising housing market with a friend and neither of us could see why a house that recently sold for $150,000 was selling for $225,000 a few months later. The house had not changed, no improvements had been made to warrant the price increase. We agreed, the second buyer was just buying air and the bank was willing to loan money so they could by a house that was overpriced. But now that people are seeing house prices drop back to reasonable levels, they are "underwater" with the mortgage, the inflated prices are gone, the houses are still the same. Banks were partners in the overpricing of homes. They knew what a house was worth and should have backed off from loaning up to $100,000 and more than homes were worth. So I don't blame any "home owner" who is now walking away from the deal with the banks. They were never owners, the banks have always been eager to have surrogate owners willing to put their names and wallets on the line. Time for a little reality to level the playing field. It would be a good business decision to get out of a bad bargain.

April 28, 2010

Medicare and Social Security have been funded by a bit taken out of paychecks. Often I would make so little that I would owe no income tax but my SS tax would still be over $2000. To keep the programs funded all that is needed is to raise the rate when needed. Nothing is free.

Capitalism has a drawback, if unregulated it will eat everything in sight. Robber Barons got that name for good reason. The riches of companies depends upon cheap resources and underpaid workers. The Rockerfellers and Vanderbilts have great wealth, thanks to the sweat of the workers. We did not get an 8 hour day and a chance for a vacation without fighting for it... child labor laws had to be passed to keep companies from exploiting tiny children and force them to think about paying adults enough to work so that they don't have to make the kids work. Earning a living wage is always a problem. There really is enough money in the world for all to have a good life, it is just that some people have more than 1000 times what they need for a good life while others starve.

Libertarians want less government. I, as a liberal, want justice and fairness. Sure, people should ask friends and relatives for help. There are many who have no friends and no relatives, or whose friends and relatives are in the same fix. I am willing to pay a fair share of taxes to provide for wars I don't agree with as long as everyone else is willing to pay taxes to provide good schools, city services, and all the things that make living in a community better than living like a hermit.

April 28, 2010

I really don't think the men and money that we spent of recent wars did anything to "keep America safe." Vietnam was a big waste, as are the current wars. The people who made money off the war time expenditures have blood dripping from their hands. The "Domino Theory" was phony. Russian and China were not about to take over SE Asia. Ho Chi Min asked the US for help in getting free from French rule after we defeated the Japanese in WW II but we turned him down in favor of sick ally, France. Our own mistakes in foreign policy has led to costly wars. Vietnam is just one. Take a look at what has led to the hatred of the US by Islamic countries. It has been our stupid foreign policy. There never would have been any attack on the World Trade Center if we had not been supporting Israel and had not deployed troops to be stationed in Arabia. We brought this mess on ourselves by thinking we are big enough to kick ass on any country. All our fine weapons are useless against a suicide bomber whose only beef is our support of Israel in its theft of land from the Palestinians.

April 26, 2010

It seems impossible that anyone can be against helping the poor get health insurance, or that anyone can be against reining in the Wall Street insiders who brought our economy to the brink of destruction, but that is the position taken by Republicans during the past months. Palin carps against the bailout of GM, just as the debt is being paid off and workers continue to get paychecks. Who could be against that? Personally, when I hear someone take a stand that just does not make a wit of sense I look for the hidden, sometimes unspeakable agenda. With the Republican no-sayers I think that racism is behind all their non-sensical positions. They will do anything, even look like idiots, just to keep Obama from being successful.

April 18, 2010

It is strange that Republicans are now claiming to be the party of fiscal responsibility and finally want to stop spending. I say finally because under Reagan and Bush government spending rose, did not diminish. When Reagan took office the "out of control" deficit was $74 billion and when he left the deficit was $208 billion. By 1988 deficit spending under Reagan made the US debt $2.6 trillion, owed mostly to Asian countries. Bush made matters worse with his spending binge on the war of choice in Iraq, which did nothing to stop terrorism.

Don't believe everything Republicans say now. And you will remember that Clinton handed Bush a balanced budget, which, no matter how it was figured, is better than what Bush handed Obama. So lay off the anti-tax chatter, government spending started with Reagan. If anyone wants to cut taxes just make a list of what we are no longer going to pay for. Would it be cheaper to not pay taxes to build highways? Sure, but where would you drive your car? Would it be cheaper to not pay for public schools?

Sure, but you would more than make up for it in a few years with more prison cells. Go ahead, send me your list of programs to be cut, and then you can go ahead and opt out of society and be a freedom loving loner. When your house catches on fire don't call the public fire department.

March 25, 2010

With most of the doctors and hospitals in America working as private businesses how does having government involved in insuring patients count as socialism? Socialism is the government ownership of the means of production, which certainly is not the case for most doctors and hospitals in America. The government does not run our health care, even with the new bill being passed. The "socialism" bogey man does scare some ignorant people, but certainly not the health care workers and the AMA, who came out in favor of the public option in insurance. The option that was scuttled by the false claims of the right wing. Now we have a health care bill that reduces costs and covers more Americans, so where is the problem? The exaggerated warnings of the Republicans are exposed as lies.

March 24, 2010

Why do people claim socialism is an eminent threat, when in fact we have no chance of real socialism happening in America? Socialism is the government ownership of the means of production. Anything short of that is simply the government providing the people with services that we as a society need and pay for with taxes. We have public schools, public libraries, public police forces, public fire departments, public health departments and so on and so on. Are the anti-socialism protesters claiming that our public highways are socialist and should be turned over to a private highway consortium that would charge us fees to drive on the roads? When people make foolish claims they should be stopped right then and told to defend and define their assertion, or just plain shut up. Whenever a Republican wants to stir the base all that has to be said it that such-and-such is "socialism." Then watch the mouths froth. The funny part is when a crippled war vet complains about how he did not fight for socialism and then goes off to the VA hospital for his medicine. The not so funny part is watching the anti-government crowd use their discussion skills. These people don't know the difference between socialism and government providing for a functioning society. They should get an education before spewing their ignorance.

March 21, 2010

Republican spokespersons keep saying we have best health care system in the world.

Two things about that. We are talking about reforming our insurance coverage, not our health care system. We are not the best in the industrialized world for health insurance coverage. That is a fact. We are way down the list. Many other countries take better care of ALL their citizens, not just those with jobs, government jobs, and inherited wealth.

With hundreds of thousands of deaths happening every year due to medical errors it may also be debatable that our health care system is anything to brag about. The right wing looks absolutely stupid saying things that are not backed by the facts. That is why I don't see how anyone can be on the side of those liars.

If Republicans want to lump health care system in with health care insurance coverage then they are just plain telling a lie about the US having the best. It makes me want to puke.

March 21, 2010

I think the funniest thing is the right wing rabble calling themselves teabaggers. Long before they took that name that term was gay slang for someone who placed his testicles in the open mouth of someone else.

And S. Palin's book, Going Rogue, uses a term that for a long time before has stood for doing anal sex.

March 21, 2010

The right wing of the US political spectrum has "me, mine" attitude that shows a lack of community and support for government. Some of these same people call themselves "Christians." Hah! They don't read their Bible anymore than Muslim terrorists read their Koran.

If the right wing had its way we would be driving on private highways. Going to private forests and private parks. Anyone who could afford to pay could do so. Those who could not pay would be out of luck. I find the right wing sense of community has nothing to do with the reasons that our country was founded. Providing for the common good is central to our way of life.

The right wing would fit right at home in a country run by the crooks with the most money. The right wing thinks that only those who can afford health care should have health care. The for profit health care system and the for profit health insurance program stinks. There are many people who are not part of the capitalistic system. They are not part of the market economy. They have jobs that do not pay a living wage. They are not able to take part in the system. The right wing does not care about these people. There is no compassion and caring in the right wing.

It is time for them to read the Preamble to our constitution:

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

A nation cannot promote the general welfare if the economic system leaves out anyone. It is cheaper to provide kids with a good education than it is to throw them in jail later. It is cheaper to provide subsidized health insurance than it is send everyone without insurance to the emergency rooms.

Most of the poor in America are not poor by choice. Most of the people without jobs are not shiftless, lazy no good job shirkers as the talk show shills would have you believe. Most Americans want a good job and many are working at poor jobs because that is all that the capitalist system offers. The capitalist free enterprise system cannot provide good jobs to everyone. It is therefore incumbent upon the government to take up the slack. It is also cheaper than just ignoring the problems created by unemployed, underemployed.

It is a big disappointment to me to see good people falling for the right wing shuck. Capitalism is a great system as long as it provides good paying jobs for everyone. But when it does not, then we the people have to step up with our government programs. Capitalist businesses won't and can't do it.

There is only so much that can be taken from the earth, there is only so much that can be built and sold. A society dependent upon buying and selling will not be able to sustain itself forever.

February 26, 2010

At the Blair House health summit the Republicans stalled out on praising "the best health care in the world." The Democrats are trying to make that care accessible to all Americans, not just the rich and members of Congress. The two sides are talking about two different things and no one brings that to their attention. Whenever Democrats say they want to make changes in how health insurance is provided, the Republicans switch to touting the health care that we receive. They tell us that foreigners come to the US to get our medical care. Sure, if they can afford it, why not?

No wonder nothing gets done, the subject changes each time a different side speaks. If both sides would concentrate on how the best health care can be accessed by all Americans then we might get somewhere. The next time I hear a Republican talk about how good our health care is I am going to scream. The quality of the care is not the problem. It is the access to that care that is the shame of our system.

February 23, 2010 Published in The Oregonian March 1, 2010

American taxpayers stepped up and bailed out the banks. The banks got money at low rates from the Federal Reserve. By way of thanks those same banks now charge almost 30% on credit card purchases. Is it any wonder that many of us are fleeing banks and switching to local credit unions, many of which have kept lower interest rates for credit cards and loans. There is no limit on interest rates that banks can charge. What can we do to thank them?

February 23, 2010

The major flaw in Obama's war in Afghanistan is that we have invaded a foreign country to fight people who live there. Early on we were told that al-Qaeda was the targeted enemy. Now it is the Taliban. The Taliban live in Afghanistan, it is their country, not ours. Whom do we support? We support a corrupt government that only has power in Kabul. Sure, we don't like the way the Taliban rules its territory, but is the corruption of Kabul better? Karzai is known in Afghanistan as the mayor of Kabul, not the president of Afghanistan. If we are fighting a war to make a central government in Afghanistan then we will lose. Afghanistan has never been ruled by a central government. As invaders, our presence creates more locals who are willing to give their lives fighting for their homeland. We can understand that, it is only natural. What Americans are doing is unnatural. We are killing local fighters and civilians to impose a central government that will never rule the country without massive support from foreign troops. We may think that Afghanistan's problems are opium production, lack of schools and roads. Afghans in the countryside see foreign invaders as the problem. Not until we get out can we begin to negotiate solutions to other problems.

January 11, 2010

American banks and financial institutions made mistakes that led to the meltdown of our economy and they came running to us, the taxpayers, to get a bailout. We did that by giving the banks money from the Federal Reserve for as low as 1%. Now the banks are letting their credit card customers know that the rates on credit debt will be 25% and higher. Instead of hearing that the recession is over I think I hear "bend over."

January 9, 2010

At last week's White House press conference the administration sidestepped a question asked by veteran reporter Helen Thomas. It is one many of us have been asking for years: "Why do they want to harm us?" She was asking why Al Qaeda and people like Abdulmutallab want to blow up our planes. Terrorism expert, John Brennen could only reply with nonsense platitudes and he never answered why. In The Sunday Oregonian, January 3, 2010, Rami G. Khouri tells us that we need to connect the dots that are right in front of us to find out why we are under attack by Al Qaeda. Helen Thomas tried to get Obama to tell us what the root causes of our wars are, tell us why we are making enemies around the Muslim world. Read the stumbling replies to her question: http://www.truthout.org/1091012McGovern. To quote columnist Ray McGovern, "There is almost no discussion about why so many people in the Muslim world object to U.S. policies so strongly that they are inclined to resist violently and even resort to suicide attacks."

How can we continue to fight an enemy when our leaders can't even tell the truth about why they are attacking us? When is The Oregonian going to publish an article that answers Helen Thomas's question?

January 4, 2010

Understanding the root causes of terrorism is key to ending the wars we are fighting. This is pointed out in the Sunday Oregonian, ("A year of Mideast torment" January 3, 2010) and the writer, Rami G. Khouri says we need to start "connecting the dots" between our actions and those of the terrorists. What keeps us from publicly connecting the dots could be the billions upon billions of dollars spent by the defense department on offense. The Department of Defense budget grows even when we don't have war, but during war time many companies are getting fat on spilled blood. Maybe that is why we don't see any presidential or congressional leadership toward solving the root problems.

January 2, 2010

Many reports have come out of Vietnam and Iraq about soldiers wanting to report abuses but have not for fear of peer pressure. Lt. Calley (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Lai_Massacre) was not the only war criminal, just the the big one who got caught. Killing for any reason is always hard on the killer. Killing for phony reasons is hard for a sane person to take.

It has driven many soldiers crazy, thinking about the evil they have done in war time. The high rate of suicides that the DOD is not addressing is due to the horrible fact that we are in wars now that are not justified. On top of that you get civilian deaths and any soldier with a conscience is racked with guilt. There are thugs who make it into the armed forces or work for outfits like KBR and they enjoy killing, but hey are a minority. Most soldiers believe the propaganda that they are fighting for American freedoms. It is not until they get there and see the lie that they face the choices.

Vietnam had hundreds of cases of the Tiger Corps kind of killings of civilians that were never reported up the chain of command. Rapes of women soldiers are not reported. Men come in all kinds and some are really just thugs. Some get to wear a uniform and disgrace themselves and America.

When someone chooses to go to a foreign land to kill they should really do it only after deciding that the killing is justified based on the facts, not on the government say-so. The government has used unthinking soldiers for its stupid policies over and over again. The American government tells lies to get soldiers to obey without thinking. The last thing a commander wants is a soldier thinking. The thinking has to take place before the battle, not during. By the time of battle it is a matter of following orders.

The Russian army overpowered the German army during WWII by shear force of numbers. There were battles where the Germans killed hundreds of attackers who just kept coming until the guns got too hot or they ran out of ammo. Unthinking soldiers crammed themselves into battle and overpowered the German resources. That is what a general wants. Millions upon millions died in WWII without a second thought.

The reasons for the Vietnam war were obviously phony and that is why I and thousands of others refused to become killers for the government. I have had to put up with peer pressure from friends who went to kill for the government, some even calling me names. But not one of those who went can justify the war in Vietnam with truth. We had no business there, just like we have no business in Iraq and Afghanistan. The line of B.S. coming from the government is always the same. We are told that our security depends upon the war effort. That has not been true for 50 years.

A man who fought in Vietnam, says we should have sent more troops, and even bombed Hanoi, eventually using atomic weapons if necessary. Then we would have "won" the war, he says. That line of "thinking" is so stupid it can't be answered. I suspect there are people who think the same about today's wars.

Sure, arguments can be made to show how some wars are justified, hence WWII is The Good War. But in every case the discussion does not go back far enough to talk about the way conditions that led to war were made by the so-called good guys. Hitler would not have come to power if the treaties that ended WWI had been fair. The peace treaty after WWI held the seeds for WWII.

Our support of Israel's stealing land from the occupants of that land is the root cause of the rise of terrorists. The terrorists have nothing to lose because we have been on the side of those who took everything from them. People are not born terrorists. Conditions make them give up hope of having justice and America is seen as one of the biggest supporters of injustice.

We would not have Iran as an enemy today if we had treated Iran justly in 1953. Instead, we supported and implemented the overthrow of a democratically elected government. Americans are all in favor of democracy until the vote goes against us. So when a war with Iran comes the government will tell us that it is for our way of life that we must kill Iranians. They won't tell us that it was our stupid policy that got us in this fix to start with.

Barbara Tuchman's The March of Folly is a book everyone should read before they go to war. She shows how governments make stupid decisions that lead to war and then justify the war with flag waving to cover the stupidity. She goes back to 1776 and comes forward. It is the best book on the subject and her evidence is irrefutable.

January 2, 2010

The US is the only industrial country where you can go bankrupt from medical bills. None of this would be necessary if Americans would treat healthcare as something for all the people, not just something for those who have money and are part of the system. The economic system excludes too many people from earning living wages and they can't buy health insurance.

It is more expensive to care for folks who wait until it is too late for health care than it is to just provide healthcare access to all. Taxes pay for our wars to kill people. Taxes pay for highways. Taxes pay for education. Taxes pay for fire and police protection. The whole point of having government is so that all citizens are treated equally.

How would it be if only those who could afford to build their own highways or buy their own fire protection were the only ones who got those services? When someone goes off and lives on their own and forsakes society, that is up to them, and they take care of themselves. But when people live together they have to pay taxes so that all are given the basic needs. It is more expensive to house a felon in prison than it is to give him a good education. But felons in prison have the best health care.