A Rat's Eye View

9/16/2015

How'd That Hopey Changey Stuff Work Out for You?

Yep, I’m quoting the laziest, most corrupt, dumbest ex-politician on the planet, Sarah Palin (the “funniest Palin”). I heard a local dimbulb quote her on the radio this morning and decided I’d had enough. Most of the people whining—on either side of the political spectrum—about what President Obama has not accomplished consider handing their income tax information to a clerk working for H & R Block their most impressive achievement of the year. (The accounting for most of those people don’t require anything more complicated than the usual 1040 short form, so this “accomplishment” is a pretty sad statement of incompetence.)

I’ve managed two manufacturing companies (20 to 140 employees) and at least a half-dozen small to mid-sized departments (3 to 60 employees) from start-up privately held companies to Misfortune 500 disasters and I had big “hopey, changey” goals for everyone of those jobs. I planned on fixing everything I’d seen done poorly by my predecessors or companies I’d done business with in the past. I had BIG plans. Like President Obama, I came to a hard, rough landing within a year or so of taking those jobs. Upper management was usually what shot me down, sort of like the Congressional Teabags, the Fox News propaganda machine, and Obama’s big plans for cooperation between the three branches of our fragile and dysfunctional government.

Outside of unnecessary obstacles, I often discovered industry presented a fair number of unreasoning roadblocks without the assistance of mismanagement. Underwriters Laboratory (Yes, “Underwriters’” should be possessive plural, but only the Canadian offices get that right.), for instance is a large, brain-dead bureaucracy that, like ISO9000 is best negotiated with bribes and luxury accommodations for the “inspectors,” rather than actual product safety or quality improvements and processes. Asking any of these morons “why” their sub-standards are as they are will not get you a useful answer. Again, pretty much like the Koch Congress and Extreme Court.

Then, of course, you have the people who work for you. During the extended economic downturn of the 80’s, the company whose manufacturing facility I managed had a couple of mediocre years followed by one bad one. Management decided to take a 20% salary cut (off of some very reasonable salaries) to prevent layoffs for the first year and a half. The economy didn’t get better and we were forced to cut back on manufacturing salary expenses. People were just standing around or we were building inventory we couldn’t hope to sell. We gave the assembly crew a choice: cut back to 4-days-a-week, 8-hour-a-days (and the associated 20% decrease in income) or we’d have to layoff 20% of the manufacturing crew. The crew voted to have their fellow workers (they hoped) laid off. This would be the national equivalent of conservatives voting to limit the effectiveness of the President who saved their economic asses from the full brunt of the Bush/Cheney Depression in 2010 and 2014.

As for the jackasses who whine that President Obama hasn’t been an effective “leader” because he can’t get Fox and the Koch Congress on his side, fuck you, you ignorant morons. Did Roosevelt get Hitler or Tojo on his side? While I’d stop short of calling Republicans “fascists,” they are traitors to the nation while being focused on their loyalty to the people who would love to trash the country and turn it into a dictatorship. Mostly, they’re fools who don’t realize how quickly their usefulness will expire. Some are spectacularly corrupt and amoral psychopaths. You can not lead people who refuse to be led and you can not educate people who are proud of their ignorance.
Here’s a fair list of President Barak Obama’s accomplishments, borrowed from http://PleaseCuttheCrap.com/obama-accomplishments/:

Within his first week, he signed an Executive Order ordering an audit of government contracts, and combating waste and abuse. http://1.usa.gov/dUvbu5
Created the post of Chief Performance Officer, whose job it is to make operations more efficient to save the federal government money. http://n.pr/hcgBn1
On his first full day, he froze White House salaries. http://on.msnbc.com/ewJUIx
He appointed the first Federal Chief Information Officer to oversee federal IT spending.http://www.cio.gov
He committed to phasing out unnecessary and outdated weapons systems. To that end, he also signed the Democratic-sponsored Weapons Systems Acquisition Reform Act, which attempted to put a stop to waste, fraud and abuse in the defense procurement and contracting system. http://bit.ly/hOw1t1 http://bit.ly/fz8GAd
Through an executive order, he created the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform. http://bit.ly/hwKhKa
Pushed through and signed the Democratic-sponsored American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, otherwise known as “the stimulus package.” The bill passed, even though only three Republicans voted for it. In a major departure from the previous administration, he launched recovery.gov, a website that allows taxpayers to track spending from the Act. http://1.usa.gov/ibiFSs http://1.usa.gov/e3BJMk
The Bush-led Great Recession was costing the economy nearly 800,000 jobs per month by the time President Obama took office. But by the end of his first year, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act created and sustained 2.1 million jobs and stimulated the economy by 3.5%. http://reut.rs/i46CEE
Not only did he completed the massive TARP financial and banking rescue plan, he also leaned on the banks and others, and recovered virtually all of the bail-out money. http://1.usa.gov/eA5jVS http://bit.ly/eCNrD6
He created the Making Home Affordable home refinancing plan. http://1.usa.gov/goy6zl
Oversaw the creation of more jobs in 2010 alone than Bush did in eight years. http://bit.ly/hrrnjY
Along with Democrats, and almost no Republicans, implemented an auto industry rescue plan, and saved as many as 1 million jobs. http://bit.ly/ibhpxr Many are of the opinion that he saved the entire auto industry, and even the economy of the entire Midwest. http://bit.ly/gj7mt5This resulted in GM returning to its place as the top car company in the world. http://lat.ms/zIJuQx
Doubled funding for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership, which is designed to improve manufacturing efficiency. http://bit.ly/eYD4nf
Signed the Democratic-sponsored Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act giving the federal government more tools to investigate and prosecute fraud in every corner of the financial system, and create a bipartisan Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission to investigate the financial fraud that led to the economic meltdown. http://abcn.ws/g18Fe7
Signed the Democratic-sponsored Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure (CARD) Act, which was designed to to protect consumers from unfair and deceptive credit card practices. http://1.usa.gov/gIaNcS
Increased infrastructure spending after years of neglect. http://bit.ly/f77aOw
Signed the Democratic-sponsored and passed Helping Families Save Their Homes Act, expanding on the Making Home Affordable Program to help millions of Americans avoid preventable foreclosures. The bill also provided $2.2 billion to help combat homelessness, and to stabilize the housing market. http://bit.ly/eEpLFn
Through the Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009, he and Congressional Democrats provided tax credits to first-time home buyers, which helped the U.S. housing market recovery. http://bit.ly/dZgXXw http://bit.ly/gORYfL
Initiated a $15 billion plan designed to encourage increased lending to small businesses. http://1.usa.gov/eu0u0b
Created business.gov, which allows for online collaboration between small businesses and experts re managing a business. (The program has since merged with SBA.gov.) http://www.business.gov
Played a lead role in getting the G-20 Summit to commit to a $1.1 trillion deal to combat the global financial crisis. http://nyti.ms/gHlgp5
Took steps to improve minority access to capital. http://bit.ly/f9xVE7
Signed an Executive Order instructing federal agencies to review all federal regulations and remove any unnecessary and/or burdensome regulations from the books. http://1.usa.gov/Lpo5bd
Through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, saved at least 300,000 education jobs, such as teachers, principals, librarians, and counselors that would have otherwise been lost. http://1.usa.gov/ez30D
Dismantled the Minerals Management Service, thereby cutting ties between energy companies and the government. http://nyti.ms/bw1MLu
Along with Congressional Democrats, provided funding to states and the Department of Homeland Security to save thousands of police and firefighter jobs from being cut during the recession. http://bit.ly/g0IKWR
Used recovered TARP money to fund programs at local housing finance agencies in California, Florida, Nevada, Arizona and Michigan. http://on.msnbc.com/i1i8eV
Crafted and signed an executive order establishing the President’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability to assist in financial education for all Americans. http://bit.ly/eyqsNE
China’s largest manufacturer, Foxconn, is building a large plant in Pennsylvania http://cnnmon.ie/1k7LT4S
Worked with Apple Computer to get them to build more product here, and thecompany is building two large plants to manufacture products here; one in Texas http://zd.net/1nkpt2O and one in Arizona http://bit.ly/1mXY5Vg
Oversaw increase of manufacturing jobs by more than 500,000 since 2010, and created an institute to invest in more manufacturing jobs in the technology fields of the future. http://nyti.ms/1egyXrV
Ordered all federal contractors to pay a minimum wage of $10.10 per hour, leading the way to a national increase. http://wapo.st/1iaU5kd
Ordered the completion of the International Trade Data System, a digital trade record book, by 2016. This move will streamline and simplify the process through which small- and medium-sized businesses set up the export of US goods. http://bit.ly/1nwSRF4
Created a climate in which there have been 55 consecutive months of job growth, totaling more than 10 million jobs, which is roughly 10,000,000 more jobs than Bush created in eight years. http://1.usa.gov/1vBDeyCThis is also the longest stretch of private-sector job growth in US history. http://wapo.st/1w3J8Zy
Led the country to 64 consecutive months of economic expansion, eclipsing Saint Reagan’s record, by far. http://onforb.es/1sxJ2by
Oversaw a reduction in the dollar amount of the federal budget deficit by two-thirds since taking office. http://bit.ly/1xKMmjY
Reduced the federal budget deficit from 9.8% of GDP in Fiscal Year 2009 under Bush, to 2.9% of GDP in FY 2014. http://www.cbo.gov/publication/45653
Under Obama, the stock market has reached record highs, restoring most of the economic losses felt during the Bush Recession, when it reached record lows, adjusted for inflation. http://bit.ly/1z4FAtL
Signed an order banning gifts from lobbyists to anyone in the Executive Branch. http://bit.ly/fsBACN
Signed an order banning anyone from working in an agency they had lobbied in previous years, and put strict limits on lobbyists’ access to the White House. http://nyti.ms/gOrznV
Held the first-ever first online town hall from the White House, and took questions from the public. http://bit.ly/gVNSgX
Became the first to stream every White House event, live. http://1.usa.gov/kAgOP5
Established a central portal for Americans to find service opportunities. http://www.serve.gov
Issued an Executive Order on Presidential Records, which restored the 30-day time frame for former presidents to review records, and eliminated the right for the vice president or family members of former presidents to do the reviews. Provides the public with greater access to historic White House documents, and severely curtails the ability to use executive privilege to shield them. http://1.usa.gov/gUetLb
Improved aspects of the Freedom of Information Act, and issued new guidelines to make FOIA more open and transparent when processing FOIA requests. http://1.usa.gov/gjrnp2
Proposed rules that would streamline the Department of Education’s procurement policies and make them more transparent. http://bit.ly/1r9oQvh
Provided the first voluntary disclosure of the White House Visitors Log in history. http://1.usa.gov/hQ7
Signed a law to completely reform NSA Data Collection program and keep phone records in the hands of the phone company. http://bit.ly/1dG34vD
Ordered 65 executives who took bailout money to cut their own pay until they paid back all bailout money. http://huff.to/eAi9Qq
Along with Congressional Democrats, pushed through and got passed Dodd-Frank, one of the largest and most comprehensive Wall Street reforms since the Great Depression. http://bit.ly/hWCPg0 http://bit.ly/geHpcD
By signing Dodd-Frank legislation, created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau http://1.usa.gov/j5onG
Created rules that reduce the influence of speculators in the oil market. http://bit.ly/MDnA1t
Fashioned rules so that banks can no longer use YOUR money to invest in high-risk financial instruments that work against their own customers’ interests. http://bit.ly/fnTayj
Supported the concept of allowing stockholders to vote on executive compensation. http://bit.ly/fnTayj
Endorsed and supported the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act of 2009 that would close offshore tax avoidance loopholes. http://bit.ly/esOdfB http://bit.ly/eG4DPM
Negotiated a deal with Swiss banks that now permits the US government to gain access to the records of criminals and tax evaders. http://bit.ly/htfDgw
Signed the American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act, which closed many of the loopholes that allowed companies to send jobs overseas, and avoid paying US taxes by moving money offshore.http://1.usa.gov/bd1RTq
Established a Consumer Protection Financial Bureau designed to protect consumers from financial sector excesses. http://bit.ly/fnTayj
Oversaw and then signed a Democratic bill constituting the most sweeping food safety legislation since the Great Depression. http://thedc.com/gxkCtP
Through the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act, extended the False Claims Act to combat fraud by companies and individuals using money from the TARP and Stimulus programs. http://bit.ly/SLTcSa
Set up rules for banks in handling legal marijuana money. http://nyti.ms/1b80o2K
Signed Executive Order to add a number of further protections to consumer financial transactions, to further limit instances of identity theft. http://1.usa.gov/1pjfUFq
Took steps to prevent pirate fishing and protect fish populations, and ordered stricter labeling requirements on labeling of seafood products in stores. http://1.usa.gov/1BYhTUn
Along with Congressional Democrats, advocated for and signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which made it a federal crime to assault anyone based on his or her sexual orientation or gender identity. http://bit.ly/gsMSJ7
Pushed through, signed and demanded the Pentagon enact a repeal of the discriminatory “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy that forced soldiers to lie in order to be eligible to fight for their country, and put our troops at risk by disqualifying many qualified soldiers from helping. http://bit.ly/fdahuH http://bit.ly/mZV4Pz
Extended benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees. http://1.usa.gov/g2RLCj
Appointed more openly gay officials than anyone in history. http://bit.ly/g1lA7D
Appointed first openly transgender Cabinet Official in History. http://bit.ly/58zUp7
Changed HUD rules to prohibit gender and sexual orientation-based discrimination in housing bit.ly/9RxEnP
Changed his mind and publicly expressed support for same-sex marriage. http://bit.ly/JsiFKp
Issued a Presidential Memorandum reaffirming the rights of gay couples to make medical decisions for each other. http://1.usa.gov/aUueGT
Wrote and signed an Executive Order establishing a White House Council on Women and Girls to ensure that all Cabinet and Cabinet-level agencies evaluate the effect of their policies and programs on women and families. http://bit.ly/e1puTk http://1.usa.gov/rFfqMM
Signed the Democratic-sponsored Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which restored basic protections against pay discrimination for women and other workers. This was after the GOP blocked the bill in 2007. Only 5 Republican Senators voted for the bill. http://bit.ly/fT3Cxg
Signed two executive orders that mirror provisions of the Paycheck Fairness Act, because the GOP Congress refuses to pass it. It makes is possible for employees to talk about their salaries without retaliation, and orders salary data collection. These measures will make it harder for employers to pay women less. http://huff.to/1nwVOWf
Expanded funding for the Violence Against Women Act. http://1.usa.gov/dSbI0x
Under his guidance, National Labor Relations Board issued final rules that require all employers to prominently post employees’ rights where all employees or prospective employees can see it, including all websites and intranets. http://1.usa.gov/qu2EhQ
Advocated that United Nations adopt a policy supporting gay rights worldwide. http://lat.ms/pQe1RS
Issued an order requiring hospitals to allow visitation by same-sex couples. http://reut.rs/llNJek
Appointed Kareem Dale as the first ever Special Assistant to the President for Disability Policy. http://1.usa.gov/fi5IY0
Helped Democrats in Congress pass and signed the Civil Rights History Act. http://bit.ly/th0JC8
Established the White House Council of Native American Affairs, to improve government-to-government relations with Native American nations. http://1.usa.gov/1cIEeEv
Formed a commission to examine and make recommendations for fixing the broken voting system. http://wapo.st/16K0D
As soon as the Supreme Court invalidated the Defense of Marriage Act, he moved to extend federal benefits to same-sex couples. http://wapo.st/1avDjue
At a press conference August 9, 2013, gave up a small measure of executive power, promising to create adversarial process in FISA regarding NSA surveillance. http://1.usa.gov/1dQmnyQ
Proposed new HUD rules that would enhance Fair Housing Laws, to give HUD and other enforcement agencies more teeth in enforcing them. http://bit.ly/1qkz4uQ
Shattered another glass ceiling by naming Janet Yellen chair of the Federal Reserve beginning Feb. 1, 2014. http://usat.ly/1gqMBfk
Appointed several prominent gay athletes and others, and plans to show US government’s commitment to gay rights to anti-gay Russia. http://on.cpsj.com/1fckN9h
Ordered a review of capital punishment policies after several botched executions. http://nyti.ms/RDJp58
Obama’s Department of Agriculture propagated new rules designed to better enforce nondiscrimination when it comes to USDA investigations. These rules also extended nondiscrimination to gender identity. http://bit.ly/1yChJhi
Obama’s Equal Employment Opportunity Commission clarified and strengthened rules prohibiting discrimination against pregnant workers. http://alj.am/1mo0kjV
Banned all federal contractors from discriminating against gay workers. http://1.usa.gov/1ok1gfH
Created a requirement in which companies who bid on federal contracts of more than $500,000 must publicly disclose all previous violations of labor law, including unpaid claims for back wages. http://1.usa.gov/V54qY3
Made it illegal for federal contractors with more than $1 million in contracts to force employees into arbitration to settle workplace discrimination accusations. http://1.usa.gov/V54qY3
The Obama Department of Justice made significant reductions in drug sentencing guidelines for current prisoners, thus releasing thousands from US prisons. This is the first step in 30 years toward reducing the US prison population, which is the highest in the world. http://n.pr/1mWBLkM
Thanks to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, inflation in the healthcare sector dropped to its lowest point in 50 years. http://on.wsj.com/1E6cYjF
Through a Presidential Memorandum, changed the rules to concentrate immigration enforcement on those who commit crimes, and voed to stop breaking up families. http://1.usa.gov/1uTZ8gV
Through another Presidential memorandum, President Obama streamlined the visa process, to make it more responsive and humane for those who want to be here legally. http://1.usa.gov/1tgDRti
Took steps to tighten the reins when it comes to providing local law enforcement agencies with military-style equipment and exercising more control over the equipment they receive. http://1.usa.gov/1ATWV3K
Oversaw the first drop in the federal prison population in 32 years. http://bit.ly/1B5h8rW
Vetoed Republican bill that would have blocked new NLRB rules that were designed to speed up the time it takes workers to unionize. http://reut.rs/1agujMO He also added a Memorandum of Disagreement to make his reasons for the veto clear and made a major statement in support of unions. http://1.usa.gov/1NG7RuA
Persevered with his campaign to turn “gay marriage” into “marriage” and won in the Supreme Court. http://cbsloc.al/1M4qLKb
Plans to broaden his use of clemency to release thousands of non-violent drug offenders from prison. http://nyti.ms/1KE8DJG
Created new rules to improve fair housing rules and make more affordable housing available to more people. http://cnn.it/1JcR3qB
Visited more countries and met with more world leaders than any previous president during his first six months in office. http://bit.ly/hZycda
As he promised, he gave a speech at a major Islamic forum in Cairo early in his administration. http://nyti.ms/dKvY4g
Helped to restore America’s reputation around the world as a global leader that does the “right thing” in world affairs, at least according to the rest of the world. http://bit.ly/h743y7 http://bit.ly/ho4TCr
Re-established and reinforced our partnership with NATO and other allies on strategic international issues. http://1.usa.gov/e7QuDj
Closed a number of secret detention facilities. http://nyti.ms/rpUc9l
Improved relations with Middle East countries by appointing special envoys. http://1.usa.gov/tiGAGe
Pushed forward the first realistic Middle East peace strategy in more than a decade, without abandoning the two-state solution. http://wapo.st/1avyste
Pushed for military to emphasize devlopment of foreign language skills. http://bit.ly/AxUCLV
Offered $400 million to the people living in Gaza, called on both Israel and the Palestinians to stop inciting violence. http://bit.ly/9axfWh
Refused to give Israel the green light to attack Iran over their possible nuclear program, and thus avoid another war that Republicans wanted. http://bit.ly/xVmSZK
Ordered the closure of the prison at Guantanamo Bay. It was Republicans (and, unfortunately, progressive Democrats) who prevented follow through. http://bit.ly/eW6CVF
Ordered a review of our detention and interrogation policy, and prohibited the use of torture, or what Bush called “enhanced interrogation.” He ordered interrogators to limit their actions to the Army Field manual. http://bit.ly/g6MTuC
Ordered all secret detention facilities in Eastern Europe and elsewhere to be closed. http://bbc.in/h6N9ax
Released the Bush torture memos. http://bit.ly/hWJ5z0
On his second day in office, he signed a detailed Executive Order that banned torture, reversed all Bush torture policies, and put the United States in compliance with the Geneva Convention. http://1.usa.gov/dL6Zve http://nyti.ms/hzWWys
In response to the emerging “Arab Spring,” he created a Rapid Response fund, to assist emerging democracies with foreign aid, debt relief, technical assistance and investment packages in order to show that the United States stands with them. http://bit.ly/zfmGv9
Ended the F-22 program, saving $4 billion. Though the single-seat, twin-engine, fighter aircraft cost $358 million each, and the military had 187 built, the F-22 never flew a combat mission. http://slate.me/PYzmzT
Passed the Iran Sanctions Act, to prevent war and encourage the Iranian government to give up their nuclear program. http://1.usa.gov/wLtNjb
Ended the Iraq War. http://tgr.ph/ru0tyS
Worked to keep our withdrawal from Afghanistan on track, despite GOP opposition.http://reut.rs/1cIOsF1Reiterated that commitment in 2014. http://nyti.ms/1exnmRF
Authorized and oversaw a secret mission by SEAL Team Six to rescue two hostages held by Somali pirates. http://bit.ly/y8c9Fz
Through United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice, helped negotiate a peaceful split of Sudan into two countries, this allowing for the creation of an independent South Sudan. http://reut.rs/qzE0Tj
Worked with Democratic Congress to make donations to Haiti tax deductible in 2009. http://huff.to/6YkAVY
Established a new U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue. http://1.usa.gov/eX28DP
Issued Executive Order blocking interference and helping to stabilize Somalia. http://1.usa.gov/hxdf8U
Established new, more reasonable policies in our relations with Cuba, such as allowing Cuban-Americans to visit their families and send money to support them. http://n.pr/hY3Kwa http://nyti.ms/emQBde
Negotiated the framework for an agreement with Iran that would end their nuclear weapons program. http://bit.ly/1y5aD97
Became the first US President to visit Jamaica in more than 30 years and worked to restore relations with the country, and signed a natural gas distribution agreement with the country. http://bit.ly/1JtpFqi
Opened the first Embassy in Cuba in more than 55 years. http://abcn.ws/1ghLrEs
Negotiated a deal with Iran that will prevent them from getting a nuclear weapon anytime soon, without firing a shot or invading the country. http://cnn.it/1M3Hpvv
Created a comprehensive new strategy for dealing with the international nuclear threat. http://1.usa.gov/gDX1nE
Authorized a $1.4 billion reduction in Star Wars program in 2010. http://1.usa.gov/gLFZl2
Restarted nuclear nonproliferation talks and built up the nuclear inspection infrastructure/protocols to where they had been before Bush. http://lat.ms/gkcl3i
Signed and pushed through ratification a new SALT Treaty. http://bit.ly/f3JVtw
Negotiated and signed a new START Treaty that will lst until at least 2021. http://1.usa.gov/cI1bC4
Through the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), reversed the Bush Administration and committed to no permanent military bases in Iraq. http://bit.ly/hk73OJ
Developed first comprehensive strategy with regard to Afghanistan and Pakistan designed to facilitate the defeat of al Qaeda and the withdrawal of most troops, as well as the rebuilding of Afghanistan. http://wapo.st/ee4Xcs
Returned our focus to Afghanistan, stabilized the country, and began the process of withdrawing our troops from the country. http://bit.ly/lNXUna
Negotiated a deal with Afghan govenment, to withdraw troops and military support, while assisting in rebuilding and modernizing of the country. http://bit.ly/K362an
Took steps to severely weaken al Qaeda and limited their ability to terrorize the world. http://yhoo.it/n5lXs6
Negotiated and signed a nuclear nonproliferation treaty with India. http://1.usa.gov/aHp0Cn
Took decisive action to use NATO to limit the slaughter of innocents in Libya, so that the Libyan people could topple the despotic Khadaffy government and determine their own fate. http://aje.me/qAh4Sj
Got Egyptian President/dictator Mubarak to leave the Egyptian government to the people, to determine their own fate. http://f24.my/efvgNZ
In 2011, reoriented American focus from the Middle East to the Asian-Pacific region by simultaneouly engaging China and crafting new alliances with Asian countries uncomfortable with Chinese behavior. http://bit.ly/RGlMDi
Restored federal agencies such as FEMA to the point that they have been able to manage a huge number of natural disasters successfully. http://bit.ly/h8Xj7z
Authorized Navy SEALS to successfully secure the release of a US captain held by Somali pirates and increased patrols off the Somali coast. http://nyti.ms/efBO7B
Increased border security http://bit.ly/1JQDGz9
Ordered and oversaw the Navy SEALS operation that killed Osama bin Laden. http://bit.ly/jChpgw
Established the Homeland Security Partnership Council, which will attempt to enhance the nation’s ability to “address homeland security priorities, from responding to natural disasters to preventing terrorism, by utilizing diverse perspectives, skills, tools, and resources.” http://1.usa.gov/VJjLXO
Signed agreement with Afghanistan to end war, turn security over to Afghans. http://nyti.ms/1xSjgBd
Breaking with presidential tradition, especially recent tradition, instead of just attacking Syria in the wake of chemical weapons attacks on Syrians, Obama ordered a full report on the decision-making process, should he decide to order one. http://cbsn.ws/184RFgu
Instead of holding hearings and trying to create a political football, quietly captured a suspect who actually committed the Benghazi terrorist attack. http://wapo.st/1jFlmzv He is also getting a lot of useful information from the suspect. http://nyti.ms/UfE2Ka
Signed an executive order allowing sanctions against individuals and groups that threaten national cybersecurity. http://1.usa.gov/1HWcGMG
Limited local police acquisitions of military-style equipment, to reduce the likelihood of overkill. http://n.pr/1NGkBjT
Signed Blue Alert Law, which provides police officers with more information when they are threatened. http://bit.ly/1NGksga
Provided active combat troops with better body armor. http://bit.ly/hzSv2h
Created Joint Virtual Lifetime Electronic Record program for military personnel, in order http://abcn.ws/1ghLrEshttp://abcn.ws/1ghLrEsto improve the quality of their medical care. http://1.usa.gov/f4yaxW
Put an end to the Bush-era stop-loss policy that kept soldiers in Iraq/Afghanistan beyond their enlistment date. http://nyti.ms/e2YQ7Q
Along with Congressional Democrats, supported and signed Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act, which made more money available to enable better medical care for veterans. http://1.usa.gov/fN4ur1
Along with Congressional Democrats, ushered through largest spending increase in 30 years for Department of Veterans Affairs, with money to go to improved medical facilities, and to assist states in acquiring or constructing state nursing homes and extended care facilities. http://1.usa.gov/gY8O3x
Created the Green Vet Initiative, which provided special funding to the Labor Department to provide veterans with training in green jobs. http://bit.ly/epwUQY
Initiated and signed a recruitment and employment plan to get more veterans into government jobs. http://bit.ly/b48coi
Oversaw a $4.6 billion expansion of the Veterans Administration budget to pay for more mental health professionals. http://bit.ly/gjzTxX
Signed the Military Spouses Residency Relief Act, which ensures that spouses of military personnel who are forced to move because their spouse is posted for military duty will be able to avoid state taxes in their temporary residence. http://bit.ly/1Gh0NX
Issued an Executive Order to improve access to mental health care for veterans, military personnel and their families. http://1.usa.gov/TP7PVZ
was able to get Syria to dismantle its chemical weapons without military firing a single shot or dropping a single bomb. http://nyti.ms/1lVEkU7
Along with Congressional Democrats, not only reauthorized families of fallen soldiers to be able to visit when the body arrives at Dover AFB, but also provided funding for it. Ended the media blackout on coverage of the return of fallen soldiers. http://nyti.ms/glqN66 http://bbc.in/gWSSkA
Funded Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) with an extra $1.4 billion to improve veterans’ services. http://1.usa.gov/huhqfo
Signed into law a bill that provides support, counseling, and breastfeeding supplies to military moms who are covered under TRICARE, the health insurance provided to veterans. http://bit.ly/1yNxL8O
Refocused the Federal Government on Education, Made Rational Reforms
Through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, invested heavily in elementary, secondary and post-secondary education. http://1.usa.gov/gGRIAr
Created the Race to the Top program, which encouraged states to come up with effective school reforms and rewards the best of them. http://bit.ly/NHtZ7L
Oversaw major expansion of broadband availability in K-12 schools nationwide. http://bit.ly/fNDcj3
Oversaw major expansion in school construction. http://bit.ly/fYwNrV
Also through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, he put $5 billion into early education, including Head Start. http://1.usa.gov/tzT2Rr
Signed the Democratic-sponsored Post-9/11 GI Bill, also known as GI Bill 2.0 http://bit.ly/hPhG7J
Oversaw expansion of the Pell Grants program, to expand opportunity for low and middle income students to go to college. http://bit.ly/hI6tXz
Along with Democratic Congress, passed and signed Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which provided an extra $12.2 billion in funds. http://1.usa.gov/dQvtUe
Took major new steps to protect students from ineffective for-profit colleges through “gainful employment” measures, whereby schools have to demonstrate that its students actually find work to get federal aid. http://1.usa.gov/jkzQe2
Repeatedly increased funding for student financial aid, and at the same time cut the banks completely out of the process, thus us creating greater accountability. http://bit.ly/gYWd30 http://bit.ly/e9c7Dr http://bit.ly/eEzTNq
Reformed student loan program, to make it possible for students to refinance at a lower rate. http://nyti.ms/dMvHOt
Created a rating system for colleges, so that those applying for student financial aid know better what they’re paying for. http://bit.ly/14Dn7UL
Created a Presidential Memorandum to restore scientific integrity in government decision-making. http://1.usa.gov/g2SDuw
Opened up process for fast-tracking patent approval for green energy projects. http://bit.ly/j0KV2U
Eliminated Bush-era restrictions on embryonic stem cell research, and provided increased federal support for biomedical and stem cell research. http://bit.ly/h36SSO http://ti.me/edezge
Through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, committed more federal funding, about $18 billion, to support non-defense science and research labs. http://nyti.ms/fTs9t7
Signed Democratic-sponsored Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Act, the first comprehensive attempt to improve the lives of Americans living with paralysis. http://bit.ly/fOi2rb
Expanded the Nurse-Family Partnership program, which provides home visits by trained registered nurses to low-income expectant mothers and their families, to cover more first-time mothers.http://bit.ly/jRRRJc
Obama EPA reversed research ethics standards which allowed humans to be used as “guinea pigs” in tests of the effects of chemicals, to comply with numerous codes of medical ethics. http://bit.ly/bKgqdS
Conducted a cyberspace policy review. http://1.usa.gov/gmbdvC
Provided financial support for private sector space programs. http://bit.ly/fn8ucr
Oversaw enhanced earth mapping, to provide valuable data for agricultural, educational, scientific, and government use. http://bit.ly/dNTRyP
Along with Democrats in Congress, ushered through and signed a bill authorizing FDA to regulate tobacco. http://on.msnbc.com/fiKViB As a result, the FDA has Ordered Tobacco Companies to Disclose Cigarette Ingredients and banned sale of cigarettes falsely labeled as “light.”
Through American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, provided $500 million for Health Professions Training Programs. http://bit.ly/ecQSgA
Increased funding for community-based prevention programs. http://bit.ly/frMPG3
Oversaw a 50% decrease in cost of prescription drugs for seniors. http://bit.ly/e5b1iq http://1.usa.gov/fVNkt9
Eliminated the Bush-era practice of forbidding Medicare from negotiating with drug companies on price. http://bit.ly/fOkG5b
Two weeks after taking office, signed Democratic-sponsored Children’s Health Insurance Reauthorization Act, which increased the number of children covered by health insurance by 4 million. http://bit.ly/fDEzGv
Urged Congress to investigate Anthem Blue Cross for raising premiums 39% without explanation. Democratic Rep. Waxman responded by launching a probe, and Anthem Blue Cross put increase on hold for two months. http://yhoo.it/e8Tj9C
Ushered through and signed Affordable Care Act, which expanded health insurance coverage to at least 30 million more people, ended many common insurance company practices that are often detrimental to those with coverage. He also established healthcare.gov, so that taxpayers could keep up with developments. http://www.healthcare.gov/
Through ACA, allowed children to be covered under their parents’ policy until they turned 26. http://nyti.ms/fNB26V
Through the ACA, provided tax breaks to allow 3.5 million small business to provide health insurance to their employees, and 29 million people will receive tax breaks to help them afford health insurance. http://nyti.ms/fNB26V
Through the ACA, expanded Medicaid to those making up to 133% of the federal poverty level. http://nyti.ms/ekMWpo
Through the ACA, health insurance companies now have to disclose how much of your premium actually goes to pay for patient care. http://nyti.ms/fNB26V
Provisions in the ACA have already resulted in Medicare costs actually declining slightly this fiscal year, for the first time in many years, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The increase in 2011 was 4%, which is very low compared to the average 12% annual inflation rate during previous 40 years. http://1.usa.gov/oMxpTh
Since passage of the ACA, health care inflation is at its lowest level since 1960. http://1.usa.gov/1vXR0Ld
Created the HIV Care Continuum Initiative, to strengthen the government’s ability to respond to the continuing domestic HIV epidemic, after years of Republicans weakening the government’s ability to deal with the crisis. http://1.usa.gov/1iLED0t
Expanded space exploration and discovery options to include more players. http://1.usa.gov/13qmZpm
Through the Connect America Fund, pushed through and received FCC approval for a move of $8 billion in subsidies away from telephone landlines to assist lower-income rural families in accessing broadband. http://lat.ms/vhRUEs http://bit.ly/129V3SY
In the wake of the West Fertilizer tragedy, in which an entire small town was devastated by an explosion at a fertilizer plant, in part because Republican negligence let the company do whatever it wanted, formed the Chemical Safety and Security Working Group, to work on measures to prevent another such event. http://1.usa.gov/18kHSlA
By 2014, the Affordable Care Act dropped the number of uninsured Americans by 22.3%, which amounts to more than 10.3 million people with insurance who didn’t have it before. Only 13.9% of Americans are uninsured, a drop from 18.9% in 2013. http://on.msnbc.com/1r4kjGn
The Affordable Care Act has increased the life expectancy of Medicare greatly. http://on.wsj.com/1yuNco6
Established a Cyber Threat Intelligence Integration Center, a recommendation made by the 9/11 Commission, to coordinate efforts to fight cyber-crime and terrorism. http://1.usa.gov/1A0aEoS
The Obama FCC, with his leadership, adopted strong net neutrality rules, to keep the Internet open and equal for everyone. http://fcc.us/1MhTlIA
Signed bill that will provide health insurance premium support to workers who lose their health insurance due to foreign competition. http://bit.ly/1evvVDF
In response to the confusion triggered by the asinine Hobby Lobby decision, which essentially declared that corporations could have “religious rights” and lord them over employees, created new rules to give all women with insurance the right to free birth control. http://on.wsj.com/1O44a1t
Implemented the National HIV/AIDS Strategy for 2015-2020, which is a follow-up to the first such strategy in US history, which he implemented in 2010. http://1.usa.gov/1IXknHm
Set up a National Strategic Computing Initiative, to “maximize benefits of high-performance computing (HPC) research, development, and deployment.” http://1.usa.gov/1IN3FZa
Worked to provide affordable, high-quality child care to working families. http://bit.ly/fNfidS
Cracked down on companies that were previously denying sick pay, vacation and health insurance, and Social Security and Medicare tax payments through abuse of the employee classification of independent contractor. http://nyti.ms/fOGLcj
Through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, cut taxes for 95% of America’s working families. http://bit.ly/eSEI4F
Tax rates for average working families are the lowest since 1950. http://bit.ly/f74pD8
Extended and fully funded the patch for the Alternative Minimum Tax for 10 years. http://bit.ly/eFeSdP
Extended discounted health coverage under the COBRA health insurance law for the unemployed from 9 months to 15 months, and he’s also extended unemployment benefits more than a few times. http://aol.it/evtVxD http://nyti.ms/emrqKJ http://bit.ly/hOtIpg http://bit.ly/fTT7kz
Provided a $20 billion increase for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Food Stamps). http://nyti.ms/gfLqyM
Signed an Executive Order that established the White House Office of Urban Affairs. http://wapo.st/eWECA8
Included the Buffet Rule in his 2014 budget proposal, thus trying to fulfill a campaign promise, to make sure tax rates are fair between the rich and the middle class. http://1.usa.gov/19PkdQo
Used the fiscal cliff negotiations to extend for five additional years the American Opportunity Tax Credit, which provides tax credits to families for college-related expenses, thus saving those families up to $10,000. http://onforb.es/17zYg3u
Increased protections for those who are unemployed and are seeking a government job. http://1.usa.gov/1jgXATu
Updated and modernized overtime regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) http://1.usa.gov/1iGDO8e
With First Lady Michelle Obama, passed the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act, which will improve nutrition in schools and make children healthier. http://1.usa.gov/GAXkSk
In his continuing effort to make college more affordable and accountable, will begin rating colleges with regard to affordability and value. http://bit.ly/14Dn7UL
Initiated a reform of federal job training programs, to make them more relevant to the current economy and the job market. http://1.usa.gov/1kZLQHG
Under Obama, the bottom 95% of taxpayers are paying lower federal income taxes than at any time in the last 50 years, including under Reagan, Bush 41 and Bush 43. http://bit.ly/1w1W8Ns
Signed a presidential memorandum authorizing six weeks paid leave for all federal employees with a new baby, and encouraged Congress to do the same for all workers. http://bit.ly/18613XA
2014 marked the first time since 1984 that unemployment dropped in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. 1.usa.gov/1E25u0C
Took steps to improve workplace safety by creating an Advisory Board to study workers’ exposure to toxic substances. http://1.usa.gov/1M4s8IG
Changed overtime rules to make it far more difficult for employers to avoid paying overtime to workers. http://politi.co/1KHfiBe
Doubling federal spending on clean energy research. http://bit.ly/iN0sCE
Pushed through a tax credit to help people buy plug-in hybrid cars. http://bit.ly/j8UP5Y
Created a program to develop renewable energy projects on the waters of our Outer Continental Shelf that will produce electricity from wind, wave, and ocean currents. http://1.usa.gov/fgfRWq
Reengaged in the climate change and greenhouse gas emissions agreements talks, and proposed one himself. He also addressed the U.N. Climate Change Conference, officially reversing the Bush era stance that climate change was a “hoax.” http://bit.ly/dX6Vj3 http://bit.ly/fE2PxK http://nyti.ms/hfeqvv
Fully supported the initial phase of the creation of a legally-binding treaty to reduce mercury emissions worldwide. http://bit.ly/eJ6QOO
Required states to provide incentives to utilities to reduce their energy consumption. http://bit.ly/lBhk7P
Under Obama, our dependence on foreign oil has dropped to its lowest rate since 1985, and continues to drop. http://1.usa.gov/1p6kTUy Meanwhile, consumption is way down because of reduced driving and higher mileage standards. http://ti.me/1z4HFG8
Improved siting, review and permitting stations for power plants, in an attempt to seriously improve the nation’s electric grid. http://1.usa.gov/1l8zNqn
Following the neglect of Bush’s eight year reign, he reengaged in a number of treaties and agreements designed to protect the Antarctic. http://bit.ly/fzQUFO
Created tax write-offs for purchases of hybrid automobiles, and later he and Democrats morphed that program into one that includes electric cars. http://bit.ly/glCukV
Established a quadrennial review of our energy infrastructure, to encourage a modernization of the grid, and to encourage the transition away from fossil fuel use. http://1.usa.gov/1nx2oMo
Mandated that federal government fleet purchases be for fuel-efficient American vehicles, and encouraged that federal agencies support experimental, fuel-efficient vehicles. http://bit.ly/h5KZqy http://1.usa.gov/fLWq5c http://1.usa.gov/hmUSbk
Got BP to cough up $20 billion to establish Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, to reduce the need for taxpayer funds to be used for compensation and clean up. http://wapo.st/ds2BxT (Note: it took 20 years to get $1.3 billion for the Exxon Valdez spill. )
Oversaw and pushed through an amendment to the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 authorizing advances from Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. http://1.usa.gov/yTRYVo
Actively tried to amend the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 to eliminate the liability limits for those companies responsible for large oil spills. http://nyti.ms/bxjDi3
Became the first President to simply say “Climate Change is a fact,” and set up the first federal government protocols for dealing with the impacts of climate change. http://1.usa.gov/1b7V67B
Initiated Criminal and Civil inquiries into the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. http://nyti.ms/bVuB7a
Asserted federal legal supremacy to bar Texas from authorizing new refinery permits on its own.http://bit.ly/ww8eMd
Set up new, stricter standards limiting power plant emissions. http://1.usa.gov/1mML2M3
Strengthened the Endangered Species Act. http://bit.ly/hscjsH
Strengthened protection for wildlife, and expanded enforcement of laws against wildlife trafficking. http://1.usa.gov/1fce1Ai
Obama EPA improved boiler safety standards to improve air quality, and save 6500 lives per year. http://bit.ly/jYH7nt
Through the EPA, attemped to take steps to severely limit the use of antibiotics in livestock feed, to increase their efficacy in humans. http://bit.ly/fBuWd2
Through new EPA regulations, he created a pretext for closing the dirtiest power plants in the country, by limiting emissions of mercury and other toxic gasses. http://bit.ly/rQCIgA
Increased funding for National Parks and Forests by 10% http://bit.ly/fbJPjY
Announced greatly improved commercial fuel efficiency standards. http://1.usa.gov/oQiC1K
Announced a huge increase in average fuel economy standards from 27.5mpg in 2010 to 35.5mpg starting in 2016 and 54.5 starting in 2025 http://1.usa.gov/qtghsW
Issued an Executive Order to facilitate investments in industrial energy efficiency that will help create jobs, while strengthening US manufacturing. Increased efficiency could save businesses $100 billion over the next decade. http://1.usa.gov/WsIgbx
Through an executive order, set up the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council, which will to oversee Gulf Coast restoration efforts in the wake of the 2010 BP oil splll. The money to fund the restoration efforts comes from fines against BP. http://1.usa.gov/Rxjb29
Through executive actions and bypassing the ineffectual Republican Congress, announced the most comprehensive plan to combat climate change in a generation. http://bit.ly/13lXhET
Ordered energy plants to prepare to produce at least 15% of all energy through renewable resources like wind and solar, by 2021. http://reut.rs/fV155p (Republicans are trying hard to kill it.)
Oversaw the creation of an initiative that converts old factories and manufacturing centers into new clean technology centers. http://bit.ly/mjnq2R
guided the country into a 418% increase in solar power capacity between 2010 and 2014. http://bit.ly/1rHkWJC
Bypassed Republican opposition in Congress and ordered EPA to begin regulating and measuring carbon emissions. http://bit.ly/froaP5
Oversaw a tripling in the use of wind power to generate electricity. For the third year in row, the United States led the world in increased wind power capacity. http://www.worldwatch.org/node/5448
Ordered the federal government to incorporate climate resilience and climate science into all international development in which the United States engages. http://1.usa.gov/YV1EpW
Fast-tracked regulations to allow states to enact fuel efficiency standards that exceeded federal standards. http://nyti.ms/e8e94x
Fast-tracked increased fuel economy standards for vehicles beginning with the 2011 model year. It was the first time such standards had been increased in a decade. http://politi.co/hiaPKM
Oversaw establishment of an Energy Partnership for the Americas, to create more markets for American-made biofuels and green energy technologies. http://bit.ly/lZp73y
Obama EPA reversed a Bush-era decision to allow the largest mountaintop removal project in US history. http://bit.ly/lP3yEL
Ordered the Department of Energy to implement more aggressive efficiency standards for common household appliances. http://1.usa.gov/g3MTbu
Obama EPA ruled that excess CO2 is a pollutant. http://bit.ly/iQTSNN
Closed a deal with China to limit carbon emissions to perhaps slow down climate change. http://nyti.ms/1xzyS8K
Blocked all oil and gas drilling in Bristol Bay, Alaska, one of the most pristine environments in North America http://lat.ms/13xUVFD
Signed an Executive Order to improve environmental efforts in the Arctic region and to combat climate change by better coordinating the efforts of the 23 federal agencies operating in the area. http://usat.ly/ZEzLzE
Vetoed a bill to fast track construction of the parallel Keystone XL pipeline. http://nbcnews.to/1DVDFo7
Expanded clean water regulations to more stringently protect all of the nation’s waterways, even when states fail in their duty. http://bit.ly/1RdQpTc
Signed an Executive Order committing the federal government to lead the way in building a sustainable economy. It’s his fifth doing just that. http://1.usa.gov/1EzO2ne
Banned the use of antibiotics in food served in US Government-run cafeterias and ordered agencies to only use antibiotic-free meat. http://bit.ly/1G1vUxi http://bit.ly/1KHkl4N
Developed new rules to address climate change and to create a significant boost to clean energy. http://bit.ly/1UnQcuR
Nominated Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court. Sotomayor is the first Hispanic Justice in the court’s history, and the women represent only the third and fourth women to serve on the court, out of a total of 112 justices. http://huff.to/eOChg6 http://bit.ly/i02wgP
Appointed the most diverse Cabinet in history, including more women than any other incoming president. http://bit.ly/dX6vNB
Eliminated federal funding for abstinence-only education, and rescinded the global gag rule. http://bit.ly/eCFAI1 http://bit.ly/f92drF
Loosened the rules and allowed the 14 states that legalized medical marijuana to regulate themselves without federal interference. http://huff.to/eQfa7j
Signed national service legislation, increasing funding for national service groups, including triple the size of the Americorps program. http://bit.ly/idgQH5
Signed an Executive Order that will speed up deployment of a more comprehensive broadband infrastructure. http://1.usa.gov/M7rVpe
Signed an Executive Order creating jobs immediately by instructing them to reduce the time needed for review and permitting of infrastructure projects. http://1.usa.gov/GHxaYt
Signed a bill that provided $4.3 billion in additional assistance to 9/11 first responders. http://bit.ly/o7cWYS
Signed an Executive Order pledging support for efforts to end the global problem of violence against women and girls. http://1.usa.gov/MHTRVU
Signed the Claims Resolution Act, which provided $4.6 billion in funding for a legal settlement with black and Native American farmers who had been cheated out of government loans and natural resource royalties in the past. http://1.usa.gov/dGppUa
To help those communities devastated by Hurricane Sandy, issued an executive order setting up the Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force, and asked Congress to approve $60 billion in supplemental assistance to aid in storm recovery. http://1.usa.gov/134L7hl
Produced 23 Executive actions designed to make it easier for law enforcement to identify those who shouldn’t have guns, thus helping them enforce the law. http://on.wsj.com/SX9xaZ
Expanded trade agreements to include stricter labor and environmental agreements such as NAFTA. http://bit.ly/etznpY
Oversaw funding of the design of a new Smithsonian National Museum of African American History, which is scheduled to open on the National Mall in 2015. He protected the funding during the recent budget negotiations. http://on.fb.me/fD0EVO http://bit.ly/ff5Luv
Oversaw and passed increased funding for the National Endowment for the Arts.http://bit.ly/dFb8qF
Despite the characterizations of some, Obama’s success rate in winning congressional votes on issues was an unprecedented 96.7% for his first year in office. Though he is often cited as superior to Obama, President Lyndon Johnson’s success rate in 1965 was only 93%. http://n.pr/i3d7cY

9/15/2015

#127 All Terrorists are . . . (2004)

Abd al-Rahman al-Rashid, the Editor-in-Chief of the Arab Press Review, recently wrote an editorial titled, The Sad Truth Is That All Terrorists Are Muslim. While it is brave of an editor in his position to take that stance, he's letting an awful lot of True Believers off of the hook. The real sad truth is that all terrorists are True Believers. From Osama bin Laden to the Unabomber, Jeffrey Dahlmer, Adolf Hitler, George W. Bush, Attila the Hun, Rush Limbaugh, Timothy McVeigh, neocons, neo-Christers, eco-terrorists, corporate raiders, and the rest of history's long, painful list of viciously scary folks, every one of these nuts is a True Believer in something. Usually something that seems completely idiotic to the rest of us.

If we want to make the world safe from terrorists, we need to spend serious money disproving the fantasies of the world's True Believers. Now that would make a terrific campaign for a Presidential campaign, wouldn't it? "Help stomp out irrational faith, vote for The Brain!" Or, maybe, Pinky would be a more credible candidate behind that platform? Or some completely suicidal politician who has a brain tumor and absolutely nothing to lose?

The fact is, most humans are some whacked out True Believer. At the dawn on this country, a few humans labored under the fantasy that humanity was at the beginning of a new age, the Age of Reason. Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Ben Franklin, and George Washington created a country that would be free of religious interference and irrational fantasies, largely against the prevailing winds of the time. The nasty fact is that only a few of the country's founding fathers were affected by the Age of Reason.

The overwhelming majority of their fellow citizens were just as superstitious as cavemen, or more so because they had been infected by the past 1,000 years of Catholic and Protestant weirdness. You'd think that European expatriates would be a tich nervous about religion in general, after the Inquisition, the witch trials, and the various whacky religious persecution of various whacky religious groups. They supposedly immigrated to the "New World" to get away from all that, but they really came here to turn the tables. Almost every religious colony established its particular fantasy as the delusion of choice. Very few of the refuges provided a lick of tolerance to people of differing faith.

As for different cultures or races, intolerance was the philosophy of choice. The majority of the country's founders were so committed to slavery that Jefferson and Adams had to write limited tolerance for the "institution" into the Constitution to keep the country from breaking into dozens of mini-states even before the United States were united. By the time the Constitution was written, Manifest Destiny was the nutty fantasy of the age. Neo-Americans were dispossessing, shooting, strangling, chasing away, and poisoning with disease Native Americans as if killing the existing residents were a god's law. More True Believers doing more serious damage.

Even science has True Believers who may need a massive dose of veracity. From the global warming advocates and opponents to alternative and conservative energy promoters to evolution vs. "intelligent design" proponents, science is overfull of folks who believe so strongly in their pet fantasies that the unbending rules of science never come into play during their arguments. It's past time for a New Age of Reason. In fact, if humanity wants to survive into the 22^nd Century, it's possible that True Believers may have to cash in their weird fantasies for a tenuous grip on reality.

9/07/2015

#126 A Voting Resolution (2004)

All Rights Reserved © 2004 Thomas W. Day

2004 could be my last election for a long while. I have voted in every election, local and national, since 1968. I have put my mark next to names for Presidents and City Council members, Senators and county judges, and I've found some reason to either write-in a name or select an properly registered name for every position on every ballot that I've been allowed to complete. The 2000 and 2004 elections have proved that exercising that "right" is a pointless waste of time. Republicans have bought, bribed, terrorized, and cheated our election system into a foregone conclusion and I don't want to contribute to the illusion that our democracy is still democratic. We are a corporate communist state, blended with a neocon crackpot theocracy, and justice has gone the way of the dodo. I mean the bird, not the dumbass Texan in the White House.

Citizens were shown that their wimpy little participation in "democracy" was unwanted and unneeded in 2000. After the voter fraud in Florida, the Supreme Republican Court decided the election with the most blatant and vile distain for states' rights, one-man-one-vote, and the concept of representative democracy in general. The Republican Senate refused to exercise its responsibility and allowed the fraudulent "election" to stand, in spite of irrefutable evidence that the Bushies had violated the voter rights of thousands of Florida citizens and, after all that, had still lost the Florida election.
In 2004, the Republicans were even more blatant. They put up thousands of fake electronic voting machines in Ohio and other backward states. They tossed out hundreds of thousands of votes and broke so many civil rights laws that even other countries were astounded at the passivity of United States citizens.

I am disgusted. While whacky neo-Christers are babbling about how the founding fathers would be turning over in their graves at how "liberals" have removed religion from government and education, I know that the men who wrote the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights would be disappointed that there hasn't been a revolution against the corporate commies who arrogantly own the country. Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, Sam and John Adams, George Washington, and Ben Franklin did not risk everything to create a corporate theocracy. Those thoughtful men did not accidentally begin the Bill of Rights with "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." Humans had suffered several hundred years of religious persecution, horrific torture, vicious totalitarian governments, and unbalanced economic systems, all at the hands of governments based on religion. One of the key components of The Enlightenment was the understanding that government and religion should never mix. The fall of the republic of the United States is one more piece of evidence to support that obvious platform of democracy.

The reason I am leaving the polls is that I don't believe my vote will even be counted in the future. Republicans have shown that they will do anything to achieve their goals. Anything. They will destroy this country and all of the good things it stands for to protect the interests of the rich, powerful, and superstitious scumbags they represent. They will invalidate voter rights, abolish the Bill of Rights, terrorize citizens and foreign nations, wage war against random fictional enemies," and bankrupt the world's natural resources. There have never been more evil people in charge of weapons of mass destruction in the history of humanity. Voting is a waste of time in a time and something we don't have to waste.

8/31/2015

#124 We Called Them "Freaks" (2004)

In the early 1970s, the worst of the drug abusers from the 60s often completely lost touch with reality and "turned to Christ." Real hippies called the ex-zombie-doper-burnouts "Jesus freaks." In a culture where anything went and almost any damn idiot idea found some level of acceptance, the "born again" and the "saved" were considered crazy-beyond-redemption. Even Scientologists, those freaky Dianetics self-helpers who still chant "he's not dead yet" whenever a book critic has the gumption to suggest that L. Ronnie Hubbard may not have actually written the latest piece of SF trash bearing his name, got more respect than Jesus freaks. Even Young Republicans, an oxymoron if I ever wrote one, sat further up the credibility totem pole.

Today, Jesus freaks rule the country. The rest of us are scared shitless of the crazies and that's good enough for Jesus and his daddy, according to the current herd of spokesmen and the rare spokeswoman. Like their 1930's German counterparts, the neo-con Jesus freaks can't discriminate fear from respect and don't care to waste time making the distinction. In fact, they'd probably rather generate fear, because respect is something they can't possibly earn with their unusually small intellects and amazing fear-of-everything timidity.

How did Jesus freaks move to the top of the food chain? I think it's because of the down-breeding that occurred during the 1960s and has continued from then till today. The social welfare programs and the extended time of peace of the 1950s allowed far too much cannon fodder to reproduce. Dumbasses who should have died in pointless infantry charges against overwhelming firepower survived the 1950s and bred like rats, producing the dumbest bunch of children ever to populate the planet . In the 1970s and 80s, these stupid-beyond-belief quasi-humans came out of the womb ready to accept nonsense and fantasy as fact.

It didn't help that the country had grown so large that the once-small federal government became Big Mommy and the majority of the citizens accepted and even begged for "help" from the most incompetent civil serpents since the Soviet Union built its governmental monument to human foolishness. It's possible that these idiot children could have been educated, but the federal and state governments had their brainless hands deep into the education system by 1970 and "reading, writing, and 'rithmetic" turned into "baby-sitting, semi-pro sports, and sadistic sensory deprivation experiments."

Without good genes or competent educations, a generation of morons grew into superstitious, timid quasi-adults who desperately yearn for the warmth of Mommy and Daddy's comforting, if deluded, care. They run to churches for fantastic myths of life-after-wasted-life and to politicians for even more fantastic fables of nationalistic or racial superiority. The 70's piss-ants are the most gutless, moronic generation ever to fake being young.

An unusual number of kids who were born from the genetic mistakes of the 1950s came out of the womb conservative. While there were a few Young Republicans in my generation, most of the conservative freaks were non-political rednecks. That's pretty bad, but what came next was really bad. Their kids were really strange abominations, born dumb and political. 250 years after the Age of Reason inspired the founders of this country to firmly and clearly separate government and religion, the fools and the fools bred by fools took 10,000 steps backwards and elected Ronald Reagan, the anti-Washington, President of the United States. Downhill the country traveled, after Reagan, until the idiots search the country for the dumbest, least capable, least ethical person in the entire nation and made him our fearful, incompetent leader. What happens next is anyone's worst guess, but I fully expect the least from the majority of my fellow citizens and I don't expect to be disappointed. P.T. Barnum once said that no one ever went broke under-estimating the intelligence of the American public. Lots of people been elected, however, doing just that.

8/24/2015

#123 Look out Canada! (2004)

Today, December 1st, 2004, G.W. Bush scared the crap out of Canada. He did it under the mask of pretending to thank Canadians for their selfless concern and care of thousands of Americans who were re-routed to a safe country, Canada, after Georgie and CRAP managed to screw up American civil defense on September 11, 2001 and turn the nation's runways into random target delivery systems. For the last 200 years, whenever US citizens need to run to a safe place, the closest place has always been Canada. You'd think it's about time that someone from our insanely dangerous government would thank Canada for years of sanity and security. Why did it have to be the scariest person on the planet?

Bush started well, you have to give his speech writers that. "For days after Sept. 11, Canadians came to the aid of men and women and children who were worried and confused and had nowhere to sleep . . . You opened your homes and your churches to strangers, you brought food, you set up clinics, you arranged for calls to their loved ones, and you asked for nothing in return." If he'd have quit there, Canadians might still be sleeping comfortably.

He went further, still without delivering veiled threats or ominous symbolism with what should have been a final note, "Thank you for your kindness to America in an hour of need." But Bush isn't about making people feel good about themselves or safe in their homes. Bush is one Charlie Chaplin mustache away from being the craziest and unpredictable person ever to head a nation. Being a neighbor to a nutcase has never been a comforting situation.

The words Bush ended his in-person thank you speech put the fear into intuitive and intellectual Canadians, "Beyond the words of politicians and the natural disagreements that nations will have, our two peoples are one family and always will be."

Knowing how likely GeeWiz is to take a liking to whatever you have that he wants, Canadians have to be wondering exactly how Georgie sees this "one family." He used similar words in describing his motivation for invading Iraq. Canada has some oil. Canada has lots of natural resources that the whacky-cons could chop up and sell to China and Japan. Canada has a particularly functional democracy that makes our dysfunctional and corrupt non-representational system look terrible in comparison. Canada has managed to protect its boarders and cities, which are a lot more complicated than ours from illegal immigration, terrorism, and unbalanced trade.

There is nothing worse than having the ugliest house and lawn in the neighborhood and living next door to the perfect neighbor. The simple solution is to toss a Molotov cocktail into the perfect neighbor's window and burn their perfect house to the ground. I suspect some Canadians are staying awake nights watching for any light from the south. "One if by land, two if by air?" Or something like that.

Canada is the 21^st Century's Austria, living next door to 1938 Germany and wondering how long their powerful, insane neighbor will tolerate a peaceful, democratic nation so close to the boarders of the exact opposite conditions. The Bushies, on the other hand, must be worried that a free nation directly across an unprotected boarder might attract citizens not wanting to be the "last Jews across the boarder."

8/17/2015

#122 A "Supreme" Court Decision? (2004)

The UP recently headlined an article with the title "Wary Court Considers Medical Marijuana." The "wary court" is our timid and brain-dead US Supreme Court. The article said that "The Supreme Court appeared hesitant Monday to endorse medical marijuana for patients who have a doctor's recommendation." Even funnier, the case is called "Ashcroft v. Raich, 03-1454." Even when the evil bastard has quit and run to lower ground, Ashcroft is cursing the country with his existence.

It's pretty funny stuff, Pat Clement, Bush's big deal lawyer, pretends that he's concerned that people with terminal diseases, using pot to relieve the symptoms of their godawful therapies or the end stages of their diseases might be exposing themselves to "health dangers." What the hell could be more unhealthy than chemotherapy or dying of cancer?

There hasn't been a lick of evidence that the Bush Administration contains a single person with one iota of concern for the health, safety, or comfort of their fellow citizens. So, let's not fool ourselves into imagining that the government's opposition to legalizing marijuana is about concern for public health. The Bushies have wiped out environmental protections, health care protections, and workplace protections without a moment's concern for the consequences.

The Bushies argue that "Congress has found no accepted medical use of marijuana." Isn't that a laugh? Just when did Congress stock its membership with medical experts. Or any kind of experts in any sort of intellectual endeavor? The Bushies are also arguing that they need to hang on to all of their irrational drug laws to be able to "eradicate drug trafficking and its social harms."

Let's talk about social harms. How about putting more citizens in prison than any other "civilized" nation on the planet? How does warehousing citizens for victimless crimes provide some social good? How does employing thousands of government workers as guards for American citizens who have done no harm to anyone other than themselves, in the rare occasion that they have harmed themselves. Which seems incredibly unlikely in the case of the thousands of citizens who have been imprisoned for marijuana use. At the worst, those people have done almost as much harm to themselves as the average cigarette smoker. Of course, the Bushies love cigarette smokers.

The Republican Congressional dirtbags are chanting their favorite psychobabble in begging the court to imagine that the 20,000 people who supposedly die from drug abuse are in some way connected to medical marijuana use. Even the dumbest conservative has to wonder exactly how someone could die of medical marijuana use, especially when that person is already dying of cancer? One of the beauties of being a conservative, especially one of the religious right, is that reality, common sense, and justice have no effect on your decisions. Delusions of competence, and Viagra, are what make these folks get up in the morning.

Personally, I'd be less offended at the conservative outrage if they were simply honest about their concerns. Of which there are two: pride and money. Way back in the 1930s, the mob traded Congress legal alcohol for illegal drugs, especially cocaine and marijuana. That allowed the federal government to be drunk and to tax drunks while the mob got to hang on to its monopoly of the rest of the recreational drug market. Changing the rules now would be admitting that the rules have been asinine for the last seventy years. They have been, get over it.

Even more important to Congress and the federal and state bureaucracies is the money they will be giving up if they let go of their anti-drug pretense. Cops, from the CIA to local police departments, have been raking in the cash from "the War on Drugs" for seventy years, but they became especially enamored of the phony battle during the Reagan years when they were given special gifts of power and corruption over the average citizen. The feds and state hacks have been hauling in billions of taxpayer dollars to toss into the black hole of prisons, prison guards, and the giant and ineffective apparatus with which they have constructed to play their paintball war on "crime" and they don't want to kill this golden goose.

If they didn't have drugs to pretend to regulate, we might expect them to fight real criminals, especially the super dangerous ones wearing suits and heading the international corporations that do the most damage to the nation's communities and security. Imagine a justice system that actually chased real criminals, instead of inventing crimes and criminals? Nah, not in this country. No money in it.

8/10/2015

#121 A World of Funny Stuff (2004)

Comedians have to feel specially blessed these days. We have Colon Powell claiming that he has "evidence" of yet another oil-rich country possessing dangerous WMDs (wimpy male dandruff?). Citizens in the Ukraine are protesting their rigged Presidential election and the Bushies are babbling about "preserving democracy (for everyplace except America)." Finally, every other newspaper ad is for some sort of male erection enhancement dope or a male pattern baldness treatment. You don't have to be a professional comedian to see the humor in the daily newspaper.

From the perspective of the rest of the world, or any rational human being, let's try to read something into an American newspaper. Starting from the top, literally, what's with the "thinning hair blues" paranoia? Men get bald. Hell, even women lose their hair as they get old. In fact, old, fat, white, bald men have been an object of terror for as long as I have been alive and a lot longer, if you can imagine that. Suddenly, these folks what to moderate their scary image by painting the tops of their heads black? I guess there is some sense in that. They've been trying to convince the rest of us that the scariest people in the country are black men, so maybe they are enhancing their own powerful image by partially painting themselves the color of their favorite demons.

The really cool combination of a comb-over and a painted-black skull is pretty scary, I have to admit. Anyone that intent on disguising himself has to have something serious to hide; murder, robbery, child-abuse, and/or being a member of the NRA or the Republican Party. All truly terrifying character flaws. Even scarier, the ads tell us that the disguised men and women "feel 10 years younger" after painting their heads. There is nothing scarier than young feeling Republicans.

"Boost your stamina and performance" with one of the many recreational drugs now on the potency market, that's the subject of about 90% of today's television ads. My favorite ad is the one for the non-prescription dope, Endurex for Men. They never picture middle aged, fat, bald, white men as their typical customer. Apparently, Endurex is for young twenty-something men who are getting it one with even younger, beautiful women. I'm not bragging here, but when I was twenty-something married to a beautiful 20-something woman, I did not need any sort of endurance or performance dope. If anything, I needed something to take the edge off of my permanent state of horniness. Apparently, twenty years of eating hormone-stuffed beef hasn't been good for the American male. We're going limp much earlier than in any previous generation.

Pretending to be potent is almost as popular among the Whacky Right as pretending to give a damn about democracy every where in the world except in the United States. You have to applaud the Ukrainians for being so brave in the face of the Russian military's attempt to subvert their first democratic election in zillions of years. But what does it say about us when Bush can pretend to be part of "building a democracy" in Asia after he worked so hard to destroy an existing semi-democracy in his own country? It says that we don't know democratic institutions when we are losing them. Fair elections in this country ceased to exist with Bush's first abduction of the federal government. The 2004 "election" cemented the fascists' control of our federal government and moved this country out of the democratic column into the corporate communist column for the foreseeable future. We have as much business telling other countries how to manage their democracies as Donald Trump has in writing a humane business management textbook. This would be a lot funnier subject if it wasn't so disastrous for the rest of the world.

It's an odd fact that even imperialist wars haven't done much for our testosterone levels. And that's sad because Bush has his favorite poodle, Colon Powell, parading more "evidence of WMDs" to the world as a demonstration of how far Cheney has his hand stuffed up Powell's ass. Powell seems to be a little miffed at the world's reaction, "More magical PowerPoint slides, Generalissimo? We can hardly wait." Yes, the leaders of the civilized world are on edge waiting for Mr. Powell to demonstrate the latest piece of evidence that Powell is offering as an excuse to take over a few more square miles of the world's richest oil fields. Whoops, do I sound a little cynical? Gosh, why wouldn't I expect Powell and the rest of CRAP to be just as honest in their presentation of evidence as they have been for the last four years? I guess if my vote actually counted, I might be more inclined to consider even a candidate that I voted against to be a legitimate representative of my country. Since I'm living in the New Soviet Union (thanks for "winning" that war, Mr. Reagan), I'm more interested in regime change than nation building.

Our five-foot-two, Alfred E. Newman look-alike, soft-shouldered, hunchbacked by an oversized-wireless prompter, booze-and-dope-dappled, inbred rich kid, picture-of-impotence President isn't exactly creating an image of power and vitality to the rest of the world. If anything empowers terrorists to believe that we're a nation of helpless wimps, it's our head wimp. The boy looks like a walking advertisement for skull paint and impotency drugs. At least we don't have to worry about GeeWiz getting it on with sexy interns. Bush couldn't get it up with a lifetime supply of Viagra and this year's Playboy pin-ups spread across the White House lawn. What we do have to worry about is terrorists believing that we're all as helpless and cowardly as Bush and his whining neo-cons. The fact is, at least half of the country is made up of exactly those character traits. The fact is, we are weak, spineless, and inclined toward irrational behavior under stress. Osama can blow up a chunk of New York and we'll run away from him and attack a nearly defenseless Iraq. If Iraq fights back, we'll run away and go after Iran. If Iran looks dangerous, maybe Grenada will need another whipping. Cuba seems to be a likely, defenseless, third-world target. Eventually, we'll find a country we can whip and they'll stay whipped long enough for us to declare "a lasting victory" before we're mired down in hand-to-hand-combat in hospitals and nursery schools. Hopefully, Bush won't mistake Canada's generally passive attitude toward our un-neighborly behavior as a sign of "easy pickins'." A nation that can tolerate 10 months of winter would kick our girly-man asses.

8/03/2015

#120 The Top Ten Things I Don't Understand (2004)

When I originally began writing Rat Rants, I called the articles "Things I Don't Understand." That title lasted one article, when a friend reminded me that the list of things I don't understand is infinite while the list of understandables is microscopically short. I was cowed into renaming the website The Rat's Eye View and that's what it's been ever since. But every once in a while I'm forced to return to my original roots and this column is my short list (more or less in order, from least to most incomprehensible) of Ten Things I Really Don't Understand:

Country Western Music. There are far more country fans than there are country folks. No, being a suburban commuter is not in any way similar to being a country folk. Country singers wail their misery in historic, nasal accents that would repel most city folks, but in song the sound appears to be, somehow, compelling. I don't get it. My local city storm siren and almost any country song will set my dog to howling as if he's got a sharp pin stuck in one ear. It affects me the same way.
Urban planners. First, the title is an oxymoron. Anyone who was actually "planning" would do everything possible to avoid creating an urban environment. The definition of "urban" is "characteristic of the city or city life." Why the hell would anyone plan the "characteristics of the city?" Is there a plug-in for violence, isolation, over-crowding, traffic and housing congestion, and and noise pollution? I'd think that real urban planners would be folks whose job it is to alienate as many prospective new citizens to keep the quality of city life from falling much lower than it is currently.
Corporate Vice Presidents. We have one, really nasty, super-powerful Vice President of the United States. Why do piddly-assed corporations have dozens of that useless species?
House Plants. If I'd wanted plants in my house, I wouldn't have bothered to cover the dirt under my roof. Why do women think that plants belong indoors? Between the mold, the the litter of dead leaves, and the creepy feel of plants dangling over my shoulder in the bathtub, I've learned to dislike anything green that lives indoors.
Oldies Radio Stations. When I was a kid, my parents listened to radio stations that played the music of Frank Sinatra, Lawrence Welk, Henry Mancini, Tony Bennett, and Duke Ellington. Those stations weren't playing 1940s hits, though, they were playing the latest releases of those artists. Today, even though Eric Clapton, Sting, Elton John, Todd Rundgren, and almost every other artist who survived the 60s is still cranking out new music, the only place they exist on the airwaves is on oldies stations who are still playing the same song list they used in 1971. Who wants to hear "Journey to Heaven" for the 17,549th time?
Foreign students subsidized by public universities. I only sort of don't understand this phenomena. Universities are mismanaged by the greediest, laziest folks ever to push a pencil. Every year they demand higher salaries, fewer hours, more perks, and bigger pensions. Every year, their in-state student populations decline. The only way they can justify their existence and expense is with a growing student population, regardless of where it comes from. Hence, the concentration on attracting students from other states and countries. Out-of-state tuition is far higher, more profitable, as long the in-state suckers foot the overhead bill. What I don't understand is why the in-state suckers don't ban all state aid to the schools for out-of-state student expenses.
Immigration Policies. The only countries who need immigrants are countries no one wants to immigrate to. The rest of the world ought to be doing its level best to restrict immigration to folks who bring skills and valuable technology to the country. The last thing the US, for example, needs is more leaf blower operators.
Legal drugs and illegal drugs. If you were to look at the list of possible harmful side-effects for legal vs. illegal drugs, you'd be hard-pressed to tell one from the other. Yet, Paxil is being prescribed to children, even when it's well known that this dangerous, harmful drug is likely to create a lifetime physical and psychological addiction that is often incredibly harmful. The old white guy recreational drugs, Viagra and Dr. Porkinheimer's Boner Juice, are about as "safe" as meth, but they are legal and prescribed by "doctors" and advertised on television as if they were the ultimate "happy drug." What's with that? Alcohol is another dope that is well known to be physically and psychologically addicting, but the ads would make you think getting drunk is the short way to Nirvana (not the band, the mythical fantasyland).
Popular Elections. The "most popular elections" are those guessing games we attempt to solve for federal jobs. I'm still waiting to see my first actually popular person make it past the primaries. So far, the winner of every election I've been allowed to select on a national ballot has been about as far from "popular" as Rush Limbaugh. I think these farces should be named, but I can't think of an alternative that doesn't require an expletive that would have to be deleted.
Lower-middle and middle-middle class folks who vote Republican. What's with that economic and social suicide? The Republican Party HATES the middle class, especially those at the bottom of the economic ladder. They always have, they always will. The only humans the Republican Party recognizes have incomes (or trust funds) of more $1,000,000 annually. If you can't contribute at least $10,000 for the opportunity to hear G.W. Bush babble about loving "his base," you aren't on their radar. The Democrats are no great improvement, but at least they acknowledge their union base and a few of those folks actually work for a living.

7/27/2015

#119 Who's Voting Smart? (2004)

I'm pretty sure this isn't a new idea for me. Most likely at least once in the last eight years, I've ranted about fools overpopulating the world and my country. However, this last election sure pointed out how true it's becoming: the dumber are becoming dumber and more prevalent. We've been working at this for 200 years as a country and for at least ten times that long as a species, but it's a little scary how quickly the viciously stupid are taking over the world.

NPR did a series of interviewing various folks from various parts of the country, asking about their political views and Presidential choice for 2004. One stop that particularly entertained me was in western Nebraska. Other than the town's barber and a retired teacher, every person interviewed was a single issue voter with absolutely no intellectual grasp of that lone issue. Most of the reasons for voting were embarrassingly stupid or selfish. I was appalled at the lack of knowledge of the candidates or their real positions on the only issue the small town spud cared about.

My favorite is the sole moral position of the religious right; anti-abortion. Or, as they put it, the Right to Life or, even less consistent, Pro-Life. Outside of this one issue the Right is consistently on the side of immorality and about as anti-life as a group of living beings could be. Take, for instance, their goose-stepping leader, G.W. Bush. While the Governor of Texas , Bush executed 152 people. Does this sound like someone who believes in the "sanctity of life?" Bush even ridiculed the pleas for a stay of execution Betty Beats, mimicking her words ("Please don't kill me!") to a Time reporter and laughing at her doom. That was early in his reign of death. Beats was his 121st victim, but Bush still had work to do. He loved killing people and, given his charge into an unjustified war, still does. The difference between G.W. Bush, the Governor, and GeeWiz, the President, is that he can kill thousands, hundreds of thousands, of people as President. So much for that moral position. The only time Bush turns the other cheek is when he's using the cheek to take aim. The best I can figure is that the right wants more people to grow up in dysfunctional families or orphanages so they can have the pleasure of killing them as adults. That's hardly a moral position.

The other farcical pro-Bush position is a deluded belief that Bush is some kind of defender of capitalism. If there ever was a socialist in the White House, Bush is the man. GeeWiz comes from a state and family history of socialist leeches who have made their fortune feeding on the public blood vein. The Texas economy is based on federal welfare from military installations, oil, and aerospace. Without federal subsidies, Texas would be just another southern state populated by backwards hillbillies, crooked politicians and illiterate fundamentalist preachers.

George, himself, was a total failure at everything he attempted until he hooked up with a pack of corporate socialists who conned Arlington, Texas into condemning a few hundred acres of prime private property and handing over $600 million in public financing for a new stadium. Bush and his co-conspirators still owe Arlington Texas $7.5 million for their piddling share of the stadium costs. Apparently, they have no plans to pay back the debt, tying up the city and citizens in court while the Statute of Limitations runs out on the balance due. The extremes Bush and his buddies have gone to hang on to the largest-ever baseball team sale profits have been very close to criminal. Being good socialists, they've offered absolutely nothing in return to the city that made them millionaires and moved Bush from the "loser" to the "winner" column. Even as President, Bush is taking advantage of rich guy tax breaks, handing federal money to his crooked cronies, and violating national and international laws on a daily basis.

For anyone with a lick of sense, those two inconsistencies ought to be enough to make folks think twice about putting someone like GeeWiz in charge of catching stray dogs. But not small town Americans. So the real question is why are these people so irrational?

Anyone who's lived in a small town knows the real problem facing rural America. The smart kids leave and the dumb ones stay. Even the dumb kids who stay know that they are living in a depressed fools' paradise. Because of the ag economy/ecology, the down-breeding has not just been a passive sport. I moved my family from western Kansas to western Texas to central Nebraska during the 1970s. Part of what chased us across the plains was the runoff of industrial agriculture. Literally.

Agriculture is one of the dirtiest industries in the world. In the mid-1970s, western Nebraska's water was so contaminated with nitrogen from irrigation fertilizers that the EPA was faced with the the decision to cut back industry's productivity or poison children. The government chose the poison and the allowed levels of nitrogen was raised to ten times the previous limit. Exceeding the previous limit was known to cause brain damage in small children and likely would cause unknown/unstudied harm to adults. So, over the last 30 years, just this one source of vicious pollution has been doing a job on the IQ of country folks. There is no shortage of harmful pollutants in the rural environment. Cities often dump their really toxic waste in the country, under the assumption that what the hicks don't know won't hurt them. Which is another reason why the smart kids get out of the country as quickly as possible. If they don't, they won't be smart or healthy for long.

Small towns have been down-breeding since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, but the last 40 years have been incredibly hard on village IQs. For a few short moments, in the 1990s, telecommuting looked like the answer to the shrinking gene pool. When technical folks found that they could live anywhere and get their job done, small towns experienced a short revival in their quality of resident. It didn't last. The economy went bust and many telecommuters became tele-unemployed. When they did find jobs, they had to move back to the office and the city. When they didn't, it was because they were over-employed and under-skilled and that meant that they were the same kind of folks who were already living in the outback. Of course, many of the technical types discovered that rural existence is less than Mayberry-like long before the economy died. They discovered the pollution, the corruption, and the ignorance and learned that these faults are something the locals actively designed into rural life.

The rural economy is so bad that they've been exporting dumb-asses to the city for decades. Now, we have huge populations of inbred hillbillies surrounding urban areas, sticking the cities with the foolishness they've imported from the boondocks. Those areas are politely called suburbs, but the citizens would be more accurately called "urban hicks." They've brought the rural desire to pretend to independence while relying on state and federal handouts for survival. They've brought their provincial dependence on superstition and religion to urban government. Worst of all, they've continued their breeding practices which means that the stupid are having large families while intelligent citizens are having small families or avoiding reproduction altogether.

As if the degeneration of the species wasn't progressing fast enough, our immigration policies have been slanted toward increasing the importation of rural fools from all over the world. With a recession well into its fifth year and real unemployment heading toward the 1980s levels, you'd think that immigration might become a little more selective. You'd be disappointed. We're importing the world's menial laborers in record numbers. The one thing the Republicrats need most of all is a stupid electorate. The Heartland is doing its part to supply all the fools necessary to satisfy this demand.

7/22/2015

Is Bean-Counting A Profession?

Now that the economy is crawling back to life (in spite of the best efforts of the Teabag congress and the hopes of the 1%’ers who’d hoped to totally crush the middle class), people are job hunting and hopping again. (Read the ShouldIQuit test; the questions are important, you don’t need to actually take the test. 7 Reasons Why You Hate Your Job will also give you a fine grip on why so many people hate their jobs. ) The reason most of us hate our work is because management sucks the life out of the job and the people in it. The reason management is so awful is because the skill set they have is insufficient for the job. The only thing MBA clones know is simple data manipulation; bean-counting. As anyone who has ever performed an inventory knows, that ain’t rocket science. Supposedly, the big lesson in a Harvard MBA program is learning the valuable skill of “pushing blame down and pulling credit up.” That is, also, not rocket science, brain surgery, or useful anywhere outside of a spoiled brat’s fraternity or the upper floors of a Misfortune 500 corporation.

While statistics show the American worker has become dramatically more efficient and productive. damn little of that output is due to management. In spite of mismanagement’s general incompetence, engineers, technicians, clerks, sales people, and everyone else are motivated to do a better job with modern tools (tools that are generally beyond management’s capacity to comprehend or use). The simple fact is that people with even the slightest amount of freedom and talent are driven to do a better job. That’s not something management can claim credit for, it’s just human nature.

The tools MBAs acquire for management are intimidation, whining, and the rest of the manipulation skills typical of 13-year-old girls. Accounting is still a valuable skill and a respectable profession. But bean-counting at the remedial level of MBAs is not even worth considering beyond its comedic value.

7/20/2015

#118 A Corporate Republic (2004)

For the last few days, I've been considering the results of this last election. I've wondered why the results, from the beginning of the Presidential campaign two years ago to Tuesday, needed to be as destructive as they were. I've wondered why Florida, New Mexico, and Ohio's elections so desperately needed to be thrown to George Bush, regardless of the choices made by individual voters. I've worried that my country no longer counts individual votes for some secret, evil reason and I've tried to understand that reason.

I think I do understand. It's all been there for me to see for my entire life. As President Rutherford Hayes said a few decades back, the United States is a republic "of the corporation, by the corporation, and for the corporation." We all know this, even if we still hope that it isn't true. In the US, Corporations have more power, rights, and freedom than individual humans. Corporate execs can even contract or mass-produce murder with little fear of prosecution. The politically correct term is "the defense industry," but after Iraq and G.W. Bush nobody outside of this country will ever call it that again. The United States is clearly an aggressor and we have stepped past "offense" well into offensive. Corporations making medical products do it all the time. The military-industrial complex bases its output on murder. Companies that abuse the nation's natural resources and spew toxic pollution into the air and water have happily murdered children and adults for decades. Our current system of government has been specially designed to allow corporations to prosper from the death, dismemberment, and illness of individual citizens.

We are a corporate republic, not a representative democracy. Individuals no longer matter to the government we have allowed to exist. Even worse, we are now trying to export this awful form of government to the rest of the world. Our experiment in "nation building" in Iraq is just an extension of the nation building we've attempted all over the world. All of the "freedom" drivel aside, the purpose of the Iraq invasion was to assume power over their oil assets. It's no more sophisticated than that. South America has suffered, for nearly 100 years, from our attempts to build corporate-oriented nations. We've tossed off South American elected governments when they tried to restrict the "rights" of US agribusiness and dope peddlers.

In the last two decades, Europe and, especially, Asia have succumbed to the US corporate-oriented form of government. In many of those countries, individual humans have become nothing more than slaves to their corporate manufacturing masters. Those same countries are where the United States has shown that it values economic relationships far above human rights.

The Corporation, a film that studied corporate behavior as if it were an individual human, found those organizations to be functionally sociopathic. As its reference, the film used the DSM-IV-TR, the manual psychiatry designed for use in the diagnosis of mental disorders. The characteristics of anti-social personality disorder (aka: sociopathic and psychopathic behaviors) are determined from consistent behavior described in the following:

failure to conform to social norms with respect to lawful behaviors as indicated by repeatedly performing acts that are grounds for arrest
deceitfulness, as indicated by repeated lying, use of aliases, or conning others for personal profit or pleasure
impulsivity or failure to plan ahead
irritability and aggressiveness, as indicated by repeated physical fights or assaults
reckless disregard for safety of self or others
consistent irresponsibility, as indicated by repeated failure to sustain consistent work behavior or honor financial obligations
lack of remorse, as indicated by being indifferent to or rationalizing having hurt, mistreated, or stolen from another

Anyone who spent a moment of time in the belly of a corporation, especially a Fortune 500 corporation knows that most of this list constitutes "performance standards" within those organizations. Personally, I witnessed those exact behaviors within two medical devices corporations, repeatedly, from corporate execs and the actions of the corporation. In fact, any corporation that does not act psychopathically is violating US law by not protecting the interests of its investors above all other considerations. Corporate ethics are very different from human ethics.

Robert Pirsig, in his book Lila, wrote about society being the higher animal: the entity that is the next, massive, step up the food chain from individual humans. One piece of critical information that he missed is that the individual members of US society are corporations, not humans. Individual humans are nothing more than cogs in the wheels of corporations. The society we serve is populated by corporations, not humans. Humans are two steps removed from being at the top of the world's food chain. If individual humans decide to act in their own interests, which will usually be opposed to the interests of corporations, the corporations simply force their governments to ignore that human intervention. That is what happened in this election.

Currently (and for the last 100 years), Republicans are the purest corporate political party, but they are followed closely by the Democrats. Both parties are sponsored and directed by their corporate masters and neither offer a hopeful choice to individual citizens. Without the sponsorship of corporations and their executives, neither party would attract much attention or loyalty from individual citizens. The only intelligent citizens who do pay serious attention to the major parties are CEOs and wanna-be-CEOs.

CEOs are not necessarily evil folks, although they are certainly not the kind of people that you'd invite to your home for dinner with your family. However, acting to serve the needs of the institutions of which they are barely a vital organ, they regularly do evil deeds. The gigantic salaries they receive induce them to do whatever evil tasks their corporate group-mind needs done, even when those acts are obviously harmful to the world, the nation, and their communities. With the assets of the corporation, CEOs have caused an amazing amount of damage to our democracy and the nation.

The politicians who write laws to benefit corporations, at the expense of the lives of the individuals and communities they pretend to represent, are probably not evil. But, the organizations that put them in their offices are absolutely evil by design. So, the laws the politicians write and promote have harmful intent and effect. In this case, the ends and the means are identical.

The corporation has not been a successful organization, from an evolutionary standpoint. Corporations have served to promote overpopulation, world-climate-altering pollution, vanishing natural resources, and heartless social injustice. The corporate social model is self-destructive and it may destroy the species that serves it. It has already destroyed our representative democracy. If the US continues to export this form of government to the world, most of us may live to reap the "rewards." A psychopath, in any form, is a dangerous, irrational being. Allowing psychopathic institutions to direct the nation's political system is suicidal.

7/17/2015

Being Engineered

If there is a phrase that Americans despise more than “social engineering,” I’m not sure I want to know about it. There is a reason, although not a good reason, for so many of us having negative feelings about social engineering: we are no longer the engineers. The things that change society are no long mostly generated by our economy. There are lots of reasons why the United States went from a driver of new ideas and technologies to an unwilling, uneducated, hostile passenger. One big reason has been the country’s unwillingness to make the obvious and, now, insanely expensive, conversion to the metric system. Another is the fact that we have always suffered from an intellectual inferiority complex. All the way back to Alex Tocqueville, in his 1835 book Democracy in America, wrote “I do not know if the people of the United States would vote for superior men if they ran for office, but there can be no doubt that such men do not run.” For the most part, that has been true. Our Presidents, congress critters, governors, mayors, and other elected public servants have been, on average, sub-average men and women. When superior men do run and are elected, they are easily ridiculed for (and often defeated by) being “elites” and “eggheads. Adlai Stephenson and Barak Obama are modern examples.

Social Engineering is a given. We’re doing it, even when we are doing nothing. The range of social engineers runs from incredibly incompetent to scary good, just like real engineering. The social engineering done by the Nixon/Ford/Reagan/Bush I & II crowd was akin to a really incompetent shade tree mechanic. They systematically, but fairly ignorantly, dismantled the middle class, ripped the competence right out of the State Department, the CIA, the EPA, FCC, FDA, FDIC, SEC, and every core competency of the United States government from Washington D.C. to every state capital. Their “plan,” if you can give it that much credit, was to clear a path for their 1%’er owners to gut the nation’s wealth, wreak democracy, and restore a feudal system. Wrong place, wrong time, wrong concept. Still, it was social engineering by a bunch of idiots who wouldn’t know a slide rule from a yardstick.

Clinton’s presidential and political hero was Eisenhower, so there wasn’t much point in expecting great engineering skills from the people Clinton staffed his cabinet. Accidentally, he managed to find a few areas of competence and that’s about all it took to turn around 12 years of borrow-and-spend Republican wastefulness and hand Bush II an almost balanced budget and a diminishing national debt. The Bush II crowd couldn’t build a sandbox without assistance, and it took them no time to reverse-engineer the Reagan economic catastrophe and even go Star Wars and Grenada a good deal worse.

Engineering is manipulating the current status or technology. You can either have it done by professions who are skilled with mathematics, science, and some talent for making things happen or you can let the shade-tree idiots play with tools they don’t understand until the tree falls on them and us. There are no other alternatives.

7/13/2015

#117 Why A Business Exists (2004)

The MBA folks will tell you that a business exists to make money; period. Businesses that operate that way don't succeed for long. Businesses that start out with that simple-minded motivation rarely survive the first year of operation. So much for what MBAs know about business.

Businesses that succeed serve their customers, first, and profit from that service, second. Businesses that succeed really well know their customers really well and know exactly how to meet their expectations. The only way to do that is to set out with the intention of serving a group of customers with a product or service that will meet the needs or desires of those customers. The word that keeps appearing here is "service."

Most execs have absolutely no idea how to provide service. They believe the world was set up to provide services to them, not the other way around. However, many successful business ventures were started by people who were driven to provide a service and wouldn't let anything, including financial or personal hardship, get between them and the people they intended to serve.

Bill Gates and his partner dropped out of college and set up shop in a New Mexico Holiday Inn so that they could be close to their first customer, Altair (a long dead, early computer company that provided as little service as possible to its customers). Their product was a simple version of Basic (a product that Microsquash is still promoting and supporting) that had been specially ported for the Altair's processor and I/O. It's tough to provide much more service than moving into your customer's backyard and developing the product exactly to their application.

A company I worked for, a decade ago, once filled it's assembly lines with musicians and music lovers because the founder/chief engineer and the rest of the execs had absolutely no idea how to design the professional music products they intended to build. They were bright enough to hire people who might use the products and would criticize the products until they were right. Now, that same company has staffed its sales and marketing departments with ex-professional sound engineers who provide the same capability.

Since then I've been employed by, or temporarily contracted to, a variety of companies, in a variety of industries, that have not managed to develop any sort of corporate service attitude. I wish I could say the experience has been enlightening, at least, but it's mostly been depressing.

The fault always lies in the same location; at the top. CEOs who believe they've paid their dues and deserve royal treatment start the attitude disadvantage. CFOs, CMOs, UFOs, Vice-Presidents of Nothing Useful, Directors of Nobody, Managers of Managers, and all of the pointless, overblown titles that amount to folks serving no one but themselves and performing no work that benefits the organization follow down the chain of power. By the time the company's pecking order reaches down to the people who actually perform the function of the business, the business focus is totally blurred.

Generating a business statement is a pointless exercise in a business where the people who stand to profit the most are completely disassociated from the business activities. And that's the way smart companies think; the people who gain the most from the business success should work the hardest and smartest. If the folks at the bottom of the totem pole believe the people at the top are supporting the company's reason to exist, everyone is going in the same direction and the whole can exceed the sum of the parts. When that happens, it's fun to go to work in the morning. When it doesn't, the lion's share of paperwork generated on the company printer is resumes.

7/06/2015

#116 Who Are We to Export Democracy? (2004)

The Bushies are still jabbering about "nation building" and "holy wars." Bush preaches that "we will expect a higher standard of reform and democracy from our friends in the region (Iraq)," while doing everything to repress democracy and reform in the US. More of that "do what I say, not what I do" parenting. Business that can't build quality products find that they can't design them, either. Governments that aren't democratic will be as disabled when it comes to building democracies.

Bush was the first unpopularly un-elected President since 1888. Even worse, Bush is the first appointed President in the history of the nation. Not only did he lose the popular vote, he lost the fair count of the state and, therefore, the electoral vote. He used his daddy's Supreme Court to overrule state and federal Constitution law. The Republican brown shirts revel in this triumph of power over public choice, but the rest of the world wonders "what is next?" for the most powerful country in the world.

The makings of a democratic undoing have been with us since the beginning. This isn't the first time the country's future as a semi-representational democracy has been in doubt. This may be the worst time for it to happen, though. The Electoral College is a decrepit concept that was intended to compensate for pre-electronic communications difficulties and the founding ruling class's distrust of the "unruly masses." Alex Hamilton was one of the big supporters of the Electoral college and he's possibly the least democratic of all of the folks who had anything to do with the authorship of the Constitution. Aaron Burr did the nation a great favor by shooting Hamilton. Burr should have kept going and shot the Electoral College.

Since 1789, barely 20,000 people have elected all of the Presidents in our nation's history. In 2000, a half-million more citizens voted for Gore than Bush, but 271 electors voted for Bush and that's all she wrote for democracy. The rest of us were just exercising our right to put marks on pieces of paper and to waste a few hours on a November Tuesday. This country is as far from a one-man-one-vote nation as was the old Soviet Union. In fact, in the least populous states (like Montana), one man exercises approximately 670,000 votes.

Let's look at this institution that elects our President and Vice President. When we're through, if you still believe your vote counts, I'd like to hear your opinions on the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, informative news outlets, and honest politicians.

First, the electors are selected by the two major parties long before the election takes place. This is to ensure that no third party ever has a chance in hell of winning an election. 48 states have a winner-take-all elector selection system, regardless of how split the state's vote actually was the winner takes all of the electoral votes for the state. This further entrenches the two-party system and, effectively, tosses out the minority voters before their vote leaves the state. One-man-one-vote? Hardly. Only Maine and Nebraska have a proportional system that divides up the state's electoral votes in relation to the actual citizens' vote. The majority of states don't even care who you vote for, as long as you vote Demolican. If you vote for a member of one of the major parties, it's assumed that you voted for the candidate that party has selected. Names don't matter.

In half of the states, the electors are legally committed to vote for the party's candidate, in the rest of the states the electors can vote for anyone they see fit. Electors rarely exercise judgment or ethics, but they do have the right to do so if an actual human ever managed to be in that position. Our system has been so perfect at eliminating humans from the Electoral College that only 12 people in the history of the institution have bucked the Powers That Be. It's a nearly perfect, immoral, mindlessly undemocratic system.

The actual voting for President and Vice President takes place on January 6, most years. The votes are counted by the US Senate in a special, damn-near secret meeting in the chamber of the House of Representatives. If no candidate receives a majority of electoral votes, the 12th Amendment allows the House to pick the president. Of course, they can pick anyone they see fit, regardless of how you and I voted. I wouldn't put it past the birdbrains we've had in the House in the last few years to select their favorite Hollywood actor or the King of England, if there weren't minimal limitations on their options. However, they can only pick from the top three candidates in the general election.

In the 2004 election, 538 electors will decide the Presidency (based on the states' 100 Senators + 435 Representatives + 3 electors from the District of Columbia). A candidate just needs 270 votes to win. Some fools think that the college was founded to protect small states. The fact is only 11 states are necessary to elected a President. For example, if California, Texas, New York, Florida, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Georgia, New Jersey, and North Carolina vote together, the rest of the country can go to hell. If that's a representative democracy, I am a Republican.

It's true that the citizens of smaller states wield greater influence on their state's electoral votes, but the states themselves are less important. States are not the big issue in a democracy, though. States are just border lines between sales tax rates. The real issue in a democracy is citizens' ability to govern themselves. The Electoral College is another example of how corporations have installed themselves in the real power seat of the country. They select the candidates, they control the electors, and they decide who will be mismanaging the country for the foreseeable future. The rest of us are just expendable employees.

The "battleground states" are the states with big Electoral College membership. The first seven, California through Ohio, are the most populous states and they possess 256 of the necessary 270 votes necessary to win the election. This system makes it possible for corrupt politicians to cater their platform to these states, damning the rest of the country to political purgatory. If you still have any questions about why California receives so much federal personal and corporate welfare, the Electoral College is as far as you need to look. Want to do your own math, as the Demolicans have already done? To see how few states are involved in electing a President, here are the numbers for your experimentation pleasure:

The 2004 Electoral Vote

California - 55
Texas - 34
New York - 31
Florida - 27
Illinois - 21
Pennsylvania - 21
Ohio - 20
Michigan - 17
Georgia - 15
New Jersey - 15
North Carolina - 15
Virginia - 13
Massachusetts - 12
Indiana - 11
Missouri - 11
Tennessee - 11
Washington - 11
Arizona - 10
Maryland - 10
Minnesota - 10
Wisconsin - 10
Alabama - 9
Colorado - 9
Louisiana - 9
Kentucky - 8
South Carolina - 8
Connecticut - 7
Iowa - 7
Oklahoma - 7
Oregon - 7
Arkansas - 6
Kansas - 6
Mississippi - 6
Nebraska - 5
Nevada - 5
New Mexico - 5
Utah - 5
West Virginia - 5
Hawaii - 4
Idaho - 4
Maine - 4
New Hampshire - 4
Rhode Island - 4
Alaska - 3
Delaware - 3
D.C. - 3
Montana - 3
North Dakota - 3
South Dakota - 3
Vermont - 3
Wyoming - 3

7/02/2015

Defining Leadership

"There goes my people. I must follow them, for I am their leader." Mahatma Gandhi or "I must follow the people. Am I not their leader?" Benjamin Disraeli

In the last six years, President Obama has been beat up quite a lot for his “lack of leadership.” Most of the beating comes from the Fox News crowd, so it is unclear what their definition of “leadership” might be. Having been a middle manager a few too many times, upper management a couple of times, and being stuck in meetings with people who made far more money than any human could possibly be worth way too many times, I’m not much of a believer in what most pundits and other non-working-and-never-had-a-real-job experts call “leadership.” Stupid people will follow any loud voice off of the nearest cliff, but society, science, or accomplishment is never achieved by stupid people. Practically any piece of human excrement can filter to the top of a military organizational chart and for the less-than-average intelligence sorts a fancy jacket and hat and lots of merit badges qualifies as evidence of leadership. Being anointed with a leadership position does not prove that one is, in fact, a leader. The bankster CEO history has pretty much proved that repeatedly in the last 200 years. Even Forbes Magazine, a leadership worshiping machine if there ever was one, has a list of incompetent CEOs.

I think the modern American myth and value of leadership is mostly about avoiding responsibility, as a society, or intentionally as in convincing the 99% that there is nothing they can do about the rape and pillaging of their country and assets. The fact is that in every moment in history when a “great leader” arose, there were a lot of great (or greater) “followers” involved. You can not lead sheep into battle, but wolves are a whole ‘nother issue. In our country’s past, we’ve been blessed with a few defining moments when the general population was fed up with the status quo and looking for a representative to “lead” the country in a new direction. The two Roosevelt’s were great examples of those times and the population being led. Teddy took over the country in 1901, after the country had suffered for years from the 1893 Great Depression and the following mediocre recovery. Populist and socialist sentiment was high and the ruling class were under constant revolutionary threat, so Roosevelt had the popular support and activist backing to move the country forward several great steps. Franklin Roosevelt took office after several years of Republican mismangement caused the second Great Depression and banksters had destroyed the world economy leading to the rise of Italy, Spain, Japan, and Germany’s fascist political parties. The United States had its equivalent fascist movement, but the populist and socialist movements were stronger (lucky for us) and Roosevelt rode that strong wave to the Presidency (Three times, inspiring Repuglicans to write the 22nd amendment so they’d never be out of power again.) and outside of the really stupid states crushed the Republican party for almost two decades.

"The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it." Theodore Roosevelt

"It is better to lead from behind and to put others in front, especially when you celebrate victory when nice things occur. You take the front line when there is danger. Then people will appreciate your leadership." Nelson Mandela

Traditional leaders knew they were no rare commodity and until modern warfare changed leadership to bureaucracy, leaders led the charge into hazards. There was a reason their soldiers “followed” them. It’s hard to take any modern political leader seriously, since their motto for four generations has been “I’d love to go with you, but they need me here.”

"Leadership is solving problems. The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help or concluded you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership." Colin Powell

Most CEOs think the company and it’s employees are there to serve their whims. They have aids, subordinates, VPs, CFOs, COOs, and a collection of sycophants who don’t contradict the Fearless Leader or offer the slightest contradiction to his most insane “insights” or product or promotional insanities. Not only are they afraid to open their mouths, they’ve been selected to say “yes” and nod approvingly. That’s pretty much it for their business skills. That sort of mismanagement can’t really solve problems, but they can sure create some.

"A great person attracts great people and knows how to hold them together." Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

Creating and maintaining teams is the hardest of all leadership tasks. Most of the people who want to hold the big corner offices wouldn’t recognize a team if one trampled them to death. In my experience, most teams are “built” by accident, not by management’s design. When a group of people with disparate but complimentary skills happen to form, the real leadership skill is finding ways to hold that unlikely combination together. Most management people are jealous of competence in any form, but terrified of group competence since it pretty much eliminates the illusion of leadership necessity. Regardless of the profitability, invention, or strength the team provides the organization, most managers will do almost anything to tear the team apart and return the organization to the dysfunction that appears to require a leader. I’ve lucked into participating in three excellent, productive teams in my career and all three were unintentionally and incompetently or intentionally and jealously destroyed by upper management. Each of those teams were responsible for the products that sustained the companies for several years after the teams dissolved and none of those businesses ever again managed to assemble similar groups or equally successful products.

"All of the great leaders have had one characteristic in common: it was the willingness to confront unequivocally the major anxiety of their people in their time. This, and not much else, is the essence of leadership." John Kenneth Galbraith

In President Obama’s case, Galbraith’s requirement would demand that the country have a couple dozen Presidents because our nation is full of major anxieties. We may be the most fearful, most conservative nation in human history. Likewise, most incompetently managed businesses are overwhelmed with anxiety. Applying Pareto analysis to focus the organization’s attention on the most important anxiety might help, but the organization would have to be functional and sentient enough to comprehend the analysis. 21st Century United States is as terrified of mathematics and logic as it is of its “black” President. The intellectual requirement for citizenship is beyond the capacity of far too many of our citizens. The intellectual requirement for being led is equally unobtainable. Too many Americans do not want a President, they want a king or a dictator. Neither of those are leaders.

"A man who wants to lead the orchestra must turn his back on the crowd." Max Lucado

President Obama has done a fair job of that. All of his administration’s accomplishments have been achieved without the assistance of Congress, the Extreme Court, much of the military, federal and state law enforcement, or popular support. In the eyes of the world, President Obama was a game-changer. In the eyes of his fellow Americans, he is either a hero, a sell-out, or the anti-Christ. However, some of the crowd is treasonous and vicious. That group should be brought down with the full force of the law. Obama does not have the support of too much of the military, law enforcement, or even the federal government. Those groups are completely committed to pursuing the interests of the nation’s ruling class and the last thing they are likely to support would be a democratically elected President. As traitors and carpetbaggers, these groups are completely committed to demolishing what Washington called “our great experiment” in democracy and self-rule.

"Leaders aren’t born, they are made. And they are made just like anything else, through hard work. And that’s the price we’ll have to pay to achieve that goal, or any goal." Vince Lombardi

“Work” is a four letter word and a concept with which our ruling class has no familiarity. Characters like G.W. Bush and his siblings, Willard Romney and his brood, Donny Trump, and the rest of the 2015 Republican clown car have not “worked” a day in their lives. Romney made his money leveraging other people’s money and work. Bush is a “consultant” who gets paid for access and connections. One of his big money clients was the notorious Lehman Brothers “investment” firm, one of the groups responsible for crashing the world’s economy in 2007. If you don’t believe they paid Jeb big money to help them get a bailout from Jeb’s little brother, the President, you are too dumb to be led anywhere but over a cliff. And a leash would be required even for that minor task. People who have never worked at any real task are incapable of providing leadership to people who do work. President Obama’s academic and social work record is open for even the dullest reader to analyze. His accomplishments as a community organizer, author, lawyer, and Senator dwarf those of the entire Republican party. Likewise, the most effective leaders in American business history have been hands-on scientists, engineers, technicians, farmers, doctors, lawyers, skilled tradesmen, and even a few lawyers. The spoiled children of the wealthy elite are only occasionally endowed with a work and service ethic (Teddy Roosevelt, for example) that makes them worthy of leadership roles. Assuming otherwise, is the kind of thinking that creates an inbred royalty class.

7/01/2015

Generational Notes

The constant babble from the Millennial media is the sad story that Millennials are working more for less than their parents. I don’t know who these parents are, but I know the Millennials I know aren’t even in the game with the Boomers I worked beside in the 70s, 80s, and 90s. Obviously, the children of the 1% are the same useless, entitled, lazy, boring brats they’ve been since humans started farming, serving the ruling class in various armies, and working until we can’t and get tossed into the rubbish heap. The working class has put in 60-90 hour work weeks for generations and the most recent batch of working class kids has deluded itself into believing that a degree in social studies, English or some foreign language, history, music, art appreciation, or any of the so-called “liberal arts” qualifies them for a life gazing into the distance from their corner office. Four extra years of studying your navel is not a qualification.

A friend, whose 20-something son still lives in Mom’s basement doing nothing useful, says, “This generation wants to start off where their parents ended up.” I’ve noticed that, too. After working, usually as waiter or boutique store clerk, for a year or two way too many of these over-age children “come home” and stagnate in their parents’ basement until . . . we don’t know what these bozos think they’re going to be doing when the parents die. If they are planning on an inheritance from their X-gen parents, they have been paying no attention at all to popular economic forecasts. With that in mind, the Millennials are really deluding themselves if they think their X-gen parents are going to pass on the inheritance they receive from the Boomer grandparents. Honestly, all of this depressing financial grasshopper “planning” makes me glad that my own life expectancy is fairly limited. I don’t need to be around to watch the sky fall on yours and my goofy grandkids.

And it is going to fall.

American worker income has fallen in all areas since 2000 (Bush-Cheney, if you are historically deficient) and there is nothing on the horizon to indicate that will change anytime soon. In fact, it’s probably likely nothing will change for the better in the country’s near future. All signs point to a gradual-to-rapid decline in American world influence, industrial strength, citizen education levels, wealth, quality of life, and practically every other marker with which we and the rest of the world use to indicate who’s who on the international organizational chart. The chart (at left) pretends to explain why going into debt for college is so important, but it’s not that convincing. Mostly, it demonstrates why kids who live in their parents’ basements are pretty much useless and, to no one’s surprise, incapable of producing an income. The majority of the “less than high school diploma” and “high school diploma” kids are the video game, social network, YouTube obsessed crowd or the usual street bangers who have been off of the economic grid for decades. The are certainly not manual laborers, skilled or semi-skilled. The reason that many of those jobs go to “foreign workers” (In the USofA, that is probably the silliest oxymoron of all.) is that too many young US citizens do not qualify as “workers” in any sense of the word. They barely qualify as warm bodies.

As John Stuart Mill wrote in 1866, "I never meant to say that the Conservatives are generally stupid. I meant to say that stupid people are generally Conservative. I believe that is so obviously and universally admitted a principle that I hardly think any gentleman will deny it."

Or, as Rick Santorum put it, "We will never have the media on our side, ever, in this country. We will never have the elite, smart people on our side." In other words, Republicans only appeal to stupid people or rich people who aren't that bright.