THE COMFORT OF DISBELIEF

by thebeerdoctor

There is something quite marvelous in modern American television. It allows the viewers to be constantly distracted. A plethora of topics is available to astound. There is a man having a baby, while another baby almost falls off a cliff. A book is returned to the public library after being overdue for fifty years. And what about the bold dress color, worn by the first lady of the President-elect, on their open house visit to what will be their residence for the next four years. Then there is The Economy. An unpleasant topic filled with stories of a Dow Industrial Average continually tanking, and the need for a bailout… no strike that, a rescue plan, that involves showing how much faith the federal government has in big businesses, and the assumed fantasy known as the free market system. This is where the American citizens are told to just surrender unto corporate Caesar what is their monetary (therefore, Divine) right to. And do not fret your precious little head over the details about how this rescue plan is to be implemented. There is no need for oversight. Instead of governance laws, there are not even rules, just simply, guidelines.

Neel Kashkari, the Treasury department Santa in charge of the bailout goody bag, opposed the FDIC proposal of using $24 billion to cut the mortgage payments for homeowners threatened with foreclosure. For these true recipients of the housing crisis, who truly feel the brunt of all of this, there is not even a stocking with a lump of coal.

People who attempt to put a civil face on this mess, will say that the money is being poorly targeted. I do not believe that for a second. The so-called focus of the bailout assumes there is public service altruism involved, and that it is good for the country. No, this is a robbery. Robbery on a grand scale, but robbery nonetheless. A working synopsis would be: the game, known as the free market credit system, has been busted by the ownership class, and now there is a frantic dash to destroy all evidence of their participation, by looting everything in sight, and, in the case of treasury tax law section 382, everything that still remains hidden.
“Poverty is the most urgent crisis facing the world,” says European Development Commissioner, Louis Michel. This is certainly not Job 1 for the rescue plan, where multi-billions have already been put into our financial system, supposedly to unleash lending. But without enforced stipulations on how this money was to be used, much of this went to paying executive bonuses and buying up smaller, and often profitable, banks.

The Congressional Democrats, along with some of their appalled Republican colleagues, found themselves aghast with a toothless give-away piece of legislation, where the only remedy was to compose angry letters to the Chief Executive Officers of the corporations who stand to benefit greatly from this U.S. government largesse. What were once investment banks are now holding banks. What was once a credit card company is now classified as a bank also.

Quite remarkable is the rapidity at which this new mindset of the government existing solely for the corporate elite, has been adopted by the population in general. The television liaisons of the ownership class, such as Oprah and Dr. Phil, comfort their audiences with reassurance, saying we are all in this together. Local news carries features on how to survive on a tightened (and getting tighter) budget. Learn how to turn down the thermostat on the heater, and where to download cost saving coupons from the internet!

The Republicans, in their recently failed election campaign, loved to cite Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as the chief culprits in the housing mortgage crisis. In reality, those two quasi, now owned by, government backed entities account for only 40% of the mortgage system. To get an idea how the other 60% participated in this robbery, former Wall Street analyst Michael Lewis’ article titled The End, speaks volumes about how mortgage backed securities became an instrument for increasing wealth, by betting, therefore shorting, that those instruments would inevitably fail. As Lewis notes: “The juiciest shorts–the bonds ultimately backed by the mortgages most likely to default.”

“The loans would have been made by one of the more dubious mortgage lenders, Long Beach Financial, wholly owned by Washington Mutual, was a great example.”
It turns out: “Long Beach Financial was moving money out the door as fast as it could, few questions asked, in loans built to self destruct. It specialized in asking homeowners with bad credit and no proof of income to put no money down and defer interest payments for as long as possible. In Bakersfield, California, a Mexican strawberry picker with an income of $14,000 and no English was lent every penny he needed to buy a house for $720,000.”

What seems to be the most shocking for Michael Lewis was the extent of the crime. Writing about analyst Steve Eisman he states: “Eisman knew subprime lenders could be scumbags. What he underestimated was the total unabashed complicity of the upper class of American capitalism.”

One time junior accountant, Vince Daniel, saw this up close, while working for the once-upon-a-time Arthur Andersen, during an audit of Solomon Brothers: “I saw how the sausage was made in the economy, and it was really freaky.”

This could easily be applied to Meredith Whitney’s observations, around Halloween 2007, when the Oppenheimer Fund analyst announced that Citigroup would have to cut its dividends in order to remain operating. People were shocked, especially when it turned out to be true. Now, a little over a year later, Citigroup announced it would have to slash ten thousand jobs, for a start, with its stock price falling from $50 to under 10. The robbery that dare not speak its name, has been involved in nearly all of this.

This makes the denials of the participants even more appalling. The people in charge at these firms claim, not unlike much of the political leadership, that they were simply along for the ride and had no idea that the vehicle they were traveling in, was actually stolen.

But then there is always the matter of the corporate image to be considered. Lloyd Blankfein, CEO of Goldman Sachs, it has been announced, will not be receiving any bonus to his $600,000 base salary, partially due to the firm’s participation in the $700 billion bailout. This seems only proper. Lucas van Praag, company spokesman said, “They believe its the right thing to do. We can’t ignore the fact that we are part of an industry that’s directly associated with the ongoing economic distress.”
What a remarkable admission. Never mind that Mr. Blankfein took in just under $70 million last year. The six hundred grand? The bare skin and bones take home pay? It will be tough, but he will manage somehow. It’s the right thing to do, like having a bowl of old fashioned oatmeal in the morning. And yes, they can’t ignore the fact that they are part of an industry… don’t you just love that word, industry? The big glass and steel building that manufactures these mysterious financial instruments, that are not only directly associated with the ongoing economic distress, but bloody near the cause of it all.

“CEO Lloyd Blankfein,” as Bethany McLean wrote in Fortune, “who took over last spring, gets credit for helping steer Goldman away from the most damaging investments. And Goldman which says it has limited exposure to the subprime mess, stands confirmed - for now, anyway - as the smartest bank on the Street.”
Of course these words of confidence were written before Goldman Sachs changed their operation mode (or modus operandi) from an investment bank to a holding bank. Which also makes me wonder if they were so smart in steering clear of the subprime mess, why are they receiving bailout money?

Unreality has its psychic advantages. If only President Bush could look into the Economy’s eyes and see its soul, and know it has a good heart. If only he could just call in an air strike and stop all this bleeding from these collateralized debt obligations. If only…

Late at night, when the other usual voices have gone to bed, you can hear the BBC radio world service, where commentators across the globe, speak of the present situation. There is not much mincing of words. They seem to know that we are in an economic global depression, whether anyone cares to admit or not. The air has been let out of the balloon, and people are genuinely worried.

As this unique winter of discontent approaches, I am strangely reminded of the song Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas, sung by Judy Garland, in the movie Meet Me In St. Louis. It seems that Ms. Garland and her future husband, the director Vincente Minnelli, found the original lyrics too depressing, and decided to change them. So did Chairman of the Board Frank Sinatra, who wanted to “jolly it up a bit” when he recorded the song in the 1950’s. But for myself, the original draft seems much more pertinent to our present situation.

Have yourself a merry little Christmas
It may be your last
Next year we may all be living in the past

No good times like the olden days
Happy golden days of yore
Faithful friends who were dear to us
will be near to us no more

But at least we will all be together
If the Lord allows
From now on we’ll have to muddle through somehow
So have yourself a merry little Christmas now

And that’s what Wall Street is all about Charlie Brown.

AN UNEASY BIRTHDAY

November 6th, 2008 | by thebeerdoctor

The end of October and the beginning of November has always been a special time for me. Being born on All Saints Day, there has always been that morning after tie-in with Halloween. Never was this more acutely felt as in 1963, when on my way to school I saw the jack-o-lanterns set out for Friday’s garbage and became sad, until I realized it was also my birthday.

Years later I became aware of Malcolm Lowry’s novel Under The Volcano, which fictionally takes place on November 1, 1938. Add to that, the Day of the Dead, the Mayan Day of the Dead, Samhain Day, etc., and this period of time becomes rather personally significant. But never has this holiday period been under such pressure as that being generated this presidential election year.

It really does not matter that the Democratic candidate is really a centrist, non-ideological person. The fact that he is a man with a permanent tan… and that sadly, is what all the damn fuss is about.

Republicans especially, but independents also, will not admit that their trouble with Barack Obama is not because he is a radical child of the sixties (he most certainly is not), or that they just do not know him well enough. Which is particularly strange, because many of the people who got on board the runaway train known as George W. Bush, knew very little about him, except he seemed to relish his mandate from the state of Texas to enforce the death penalty. Oh and yes, his daddy is a former President. No, the real problem many have with Senator Obama is the realization that there is going to be a brother in charge. A national civic moment that finally says, it doesn’t matter what a person’s background is, what matters now is can they do the job or not.

Halloween night was unusually different. Senator Hillary Clinton appeared that day at a get-out-the-vote Obama rally, four and a half blocks from my house. The local neighborhood is clearly in the tank for Barry O. A McCain/Palin sign here is considered an aberration, usually posted by someone who is worried about their guns, or their lawn, or both. There is also the occasional right-to-life warrior. An issue driven concern for fetuses that is greater than actual babies being murdered in our far away wars. Folks of this persuasion will not even consider the notion that the best way to prevent abortions is to avoid circumstances which require their consideration. But that would involve sexual education, contraceptives and such. This is the real kicker: many anti-abortion advocates do not want anyone using contraceptives. Consider the Governor of Alaska’s inflexible position on this issue. It is not all surprising that her daughter finds herself with bump.

The uneasiness about the election makes many people nervous. Adding to this are the divisive remarks from Governor Palin, who seems hell bent on convincing the electorate that Senator Obama is a card carrying fellow traveler of terrorists. It quickly becomes apparent what the Republicans are up to. Unable to gloss over the mismanagement and incompetence of the Bush years, they choose to divert attention away by constructing a false, social-cultural war. Of course the McCain/Palin campaign claim nothing of the sort. Despite the fact that Mrs. Palin chose to quote Westbrook Pegler, a bona fide American fascist, during her infamous GOP convention speech. Later, when a few people did notice this, nobody seemed very concerned.
Television, both local and national, decided to broadcast many of the Alaska Governor’s unctuous stump speeches. To put it in her vernacular, they were tight little pointed packages of verbiage, designed to strike fear in the hearts of those with just enough audacity of hope, to actually question her supposed patriotic authority. This was ironic. The advancement of women in the workplace, now included creating an unapologetic demagogue.

Senator McCain for his part seem befuddled. Long before the economic crisis, he seemed off his game the first day he announced his vice- presidential pick. The kind of people that Sarah Palin pals around with (witch doctor, secessionist) added an exotic flare to her biography that was not exactly desirable. When shadow president Dick Cheney endorsed their ticket, a McCain supporter said to me: “we need that like we need a hole in the head.”

Despite it being often reported how much Barack Obama outspent Senator McCain, here in the local market the Republican based fear ads were everywhere. Where money really did make a difference was the boots on the ground, the so-called ground game. Here Obama’s people seemed omnipresent, continuously calling up for support, asking if you need help when going to vote. As late as the last hour before the polls closed, I saw Obama workers still knocking on doors. After witnessing this gargantuan effort, it is not surprising at all that Senator Obama won the state of Ohio. I am sure Indiana experienced similar actions. The McCain crowd, even the third part dreamers, could not match the hard work and tenacity of the Obama campaign. Why should they be surprised at the results?

But there is no way to describe, or simply convey, what happened on election night. This is something I will never experience again, after living over half a century on this earth. It all fell into place around 11pm, eastern standard time. The television news announced that Senator Barack Hussein Obama would be the next United States President.

I look over at my older brother, who says to me, using his Animal House language: “The war is over. Obama dropped the big one.”

I quickly went upstairs, knocked on the bedroom of my 82 year old mother. “Mom, I said, Barack Obama is the next President of the United States.”
There was a quiet joy on her face knowing that she lived long enough to see something occur that only a few years ago was said to be a complete impossibility. To know, to actually know, that destiny is not always predicted, that Providence, if you will, works in very mysterious ways.

I quickly made an exit from my house to the convenience store located a couple of blocks away. Being a beer consultant to non-alcohol drinking, middle eastern Americans, I have always been held in higher regard than I deserve.
“You predicted it.” Nasser said. The fiercely independent shop owner was abundantly happy, making reference to what I said a few days earlier, that Obama would win and it would all be over by midnight.

People in the store were shaking hands and giving hugs. Black people wandered in with a kind of happy shell shock. Damn! There is going to be a black man in the White House!

Nasser, feeling and looking magnanimous said: “What do you think of Barack Obama now?” and then, “The Beer Doctor predicted it.”
Which was all very flattering, but basically besides the point. My so-called analysis was simply based on the assumption that all the polls showed Senator Obama was ahead, and the only way for a McCain victory to happen would be if they were all wrong. The Harry Truman election was brought up briefly, but I said no, that won’t do, John McCain is not a sitting President.

Television, despite all the data, seemed to assume a say it isn’t so mode, right up to the end. This was understandable. TV has products to sell. A foregone conclusion can be a real marketing killer.

The expression tears of joy maybe foreign to many. But on this unforgettable night, I finally understood what that meant. Racism has always been an ugly backdrop growing up in the state of Ohio. My late father, a decent kind, thoughtful man, taught me at a very early age how ridiculous racism always was, even when to advocate this truth, you did so at your own peril. Even when I was only six years old, I thought the only race is the human race.

But considering that notion was difficult and sometimes dangerous. So many of the good people I lived around and their children that I played with, had essentially a racist viewpoint towards other parts of humanity. They justified dehumanizing black folks by claiming they were ignorant nigger monkeys. Wild animals as it were, ready on a moment’s notice , to come up the hill from the valley, to attack them unmercifully.

With such concentrated xenophobia, it is no revelation that my neighbors took comfort in their right to bear arms. After all, is that not what the second amendment is all about: guns to protect you against varmints? One good catholic family in the neighborhood took comfort and pride in knowing that a family member was in the National Guard, and that, in case of a riot, he could shoot niggers legally.

I kept my silence, knowing that the truth was a secret shared by my family only. Besides, our neighbors were good decent people, who happened to be racially insane. How did I know this? Well circumstantial evidence first and foremost. The most intelligent and talented kid at the elementary school I attended was black. For us other kids, he was a kind of oracle.

All of this unfinished business came flooding back that night Senator Obama became the President-elect. What a relief it was! To finally have the vindication that my fellow citizens are exactly that: my fellow citizens.
Perhaps this spells an end to the extreme right and extreme left, of the political spectrum. Those who have been driven by issues to the point of hardened cynicism, will have to reckon with the fact that sometimes justice actually does prevail, that human decency can eventually triumph.

This ship of state, through the unrelenting efforts of a community organizer, has been dragged over what was only recently considered an insurmountable mountain. All peace and blessings for that. These are new waters, in a new time, on which to sail.

GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK

This will be the last thing I post on the 2008 presidential election. If only I could embrace the airbrushed narratives put forward by the candidates and follow them with unquestioning support. Being a writer prevents this from happening. The more the matter is researched, the more you discover the glaring disconnect between what is being purported, and what is actually realized. Such is the nature of the beast. The shadow that falls over the idea.

Much has been made over who said what on all sorts of subjects. A weird language has developed. A lexicon of assumptions. Whether “the surge” has worked is hardly ever questioned, because consensus has decided that it does. What kind of “foreign policy expert” is Senator Joseph Biden? No need to ask. He simply is one, like Senator McCain is a “genuine war hero”.

Senator Barack Obama has a special place in American political history. Win or lose, he has ushered in a new paradigm, simply by not being the same complexion. He has had to go through extraordinary hoops, in order to assure Caucasian voters that he is not scary, or all that much different than them. Of course Senator McCain must, despite all the mumble about honor, proceed to convince those very same voters that Senator Obama is their worst nightmare.

Research makes the disconnect from these candidates very tough. The pundits of television news tell me that Joe Biden has middle class values. Then I discover that the tough Senator with all the foreign policy gravitas, is in fact a head cheerleader for the MNBA corporation, the giant credit-card company, who successfully sought to change the bankruptcy laws, so as to extract even more cash from those who have suffered economic catastrophe… those common folks that Senator Biden claims to champion.

In fact, all the pancakes in this election claim to be championing the needs of the people. Obama/Biden claim to know where the right war is, in Afghanistan and the no-man’s land surrounding it. Supporters of this ticket, who think the junior Senator from Illinois is a peace candidate, should remember that Obama calls for more troops and more military spending, “to finish the job”, as they say with great hubris.
With McCain/Palin you have a ticket that believes American force is the best way to get the rascals to obey. The Governor of Alaska says: “a ship is safe in the harbor, but that’s not why a ship was built”. Both she and the Arizona senator believe fighting is necessary and inevitable, in a world becoming darker everyday. A reader of the “left behind” science-fiction-Christian books, Sarah Palin also believes that abortion is an abomination to God. Her fifth child, her second son, born with down syndrome; will be applauded by those who believe all fetuses should come to term. Her first son, enlisted in the infantry, September 11, 2007, will soon be proudly stationed in Iraq. And yes, I have been told to accept that other assumption that he is over there, “fighting for my freedom”.

If you then look at the alternatives to the Two Party candidates, it becomes a lesson on futility. Ralph Nader, a forthright advocate of speaking truth to power, only offers the possibility of a protest vote, which on the face of it, is quite ridiculous when you consider that those in power are not even listening. The 2006 mid-term election was a referendum on the Iraq occupation which the democratically elected congress refused to address. The Green and Libertarian parties, with Cynthia McKinney and Bob Barr as candidates, offers up little more than congressional retreads.

No one can really be serious about challenging established power because no one has the kind of money needed to get started. As Cecil Taylor once said: “the dry cell of money has locked the minds and cauterized hearts.” Every election cycle, the economic entrance becomes costlier. The Presidential Pageant Election is an indulgence of the very wealthy. The chosen candidates are their well groomed race horses, which the plebeian observers are suppose to care about. The “issues” which are said to be important, lose their significance once the voter makes their highly emotional decision. This decision can be prompted by a candidate’s appeal, or just as easily by an intense desire to vote against the other.

This is the political condition that this country finds itself in. It is not a very pretty sight. Some people will kid themselves into believing that they actually have some say. Others will throw up their hands and cry : what’s the use?
Whether you choose to participate in the pageant or not, one fact remains: the permanent government. It will continue. Good night and good luck.

ELECTION IN A TIME OF UNCERTAINTY

It is coming down to crunch time in the U.S. presidential election, and the nation is in the grasp of incredible uncertainty. The mind numbing occupation of Iraq still continues, and neither of the two leading candidates will say exactly when this insanity will end; only ambiguous time tables , or time horizons, are floated out there, with caveats of “when conditions on the ground make withdrawal possible” or “when the mission is brought to completion”.

For John McCain it is all about winning, or at least not losing. A part of the Arizona Senator believes that with enough fire power, boots on the ground, and bribery of important local militias, the situation can be made manageable.

For Barack Obama, the Illinois Senator tries to assume the moral high ground by saying he was against this war from the start. But as veteran Middle East correspondent Robert Fisk has noted: “what does Obama want to do with his soldiers once he withdraws them from Iraq? He’s going to send the poor devils back to Afghanistan, that graveyard of foreign armies where the Taliban were so utterly defeated in 2001 that they are now stronger than ever.”

Uncertainty has become the lay of the land. The economic troubles, so exacerbated by petrol inflation, has lead to massive job loss, home evictions and bankruptcies. What were once seen as aberrations, have now become standard signs of the spiraling down economy. The main response from Senator McCain to the oil crisis is to drill drill drill! Senator Obama speaks of a windfall profits tax on Big Oil, and even mentioned swift boat funder T. Boone Pickens, who said: “this is a crisis we can not drill our way out of.”

How any of these suggestions will lower the price of gasoline is any body’s guess. The higher the price of gasoline, the more the profits of Big Oil increase. Exxon-Mobil’s recent quarterly earnings were the largest in history. Senator Obama mentions this, but how he would be able to get taxes on Big Oil through the legislature remains to be seen.

Then there is the business of the election itself. The McCain campaign have made it their number one focus to try an impugn Obama’s character as much as possible, by any means necessary, so as to plant xenophobic seeds of doubt that they hope will grow in the minds of the electorate, until they become convinced that the ambitious graduate of Harvard Law is not “one of us” and not ready to lead.

It has also been noted that black Americans are uneasy about Barack Obama’s candidacy. Not because they don’t support him, they do. But there is an uncertainty among plenty of folks, who have difficulty imagining him actually accomplishing this historic task, and fear their hearts will be broken, by hook or crook, or something even worse.

One thing that seems to have disappeared is the idea of any kind of landslide victory. That is why some democrats say that Senator Obama should choose Senator Clinton for the vice presidential ticket. Hard core Obamakins would howl of course, but they may just have to get over it.

Historically it should be remembered that John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson were not good friends, when he was picked as JFK’s running mate. And it should also be remembered, that with Lyndon on the ticket, Kennedy won the state of Texas. Without winning that state, in that very close election, John Kennedy would have never become the President. It just might be that Senator Obama faces a similar dilemma in this election.

It is worth noting that Hillary Clinton won the Ohio and Pennsylvania primaries, among others. She proved to be strong among older white women in those states. These are votes that Barack Obama will certainly need, in the event of a very close election.

This all may seem strange to those who bought into the idea of a new kind of politics. But Senator Obama has proven, with many recent reversals in policy, to be in fact, a flexible, pragmatic politician. Conventional wisdom has it that he will pick for VP a governor or senator from a state that seems to be in play. But many of the people glowingly mentioned by the mainstream news are somewhat unknown to the general public. By contrast, everybody knows Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.

WILL IT EVER END?

It really is all about oil. This is where the neoconservative and neoliberal visions merge. After the hell fire that President Bush ignited by invading Iraq, causing many thousands of unnecessary deaths, now there is talk of bringing in big corporate oil companies, to get those valuable resources under control. Ah yes, the holy blessings of the free market (Barack Obama is a believer, he himself has said it) that will unleash the entrepreneurial spirit (John McCain is also a believer, he himself has said it) of profit and efficiency.

If the truth be told, the United States government did not give a damn about what Saddam Hussein did to his subjects. During the cold war, the Central Intelligence Agency helped him to be a handy anti-communist tool. Not even when Iraq nationalized its oil supply did relations with Washington go sour. It should be remembered that Saddam Hussein defied the OPEC embargo of the 1970’s, and sold oil to the United States. No, that did not stop the love fest. When Iraq attacked Iran, the United States sided with Saddam, because the US government wanted some pay back for the hostage crisis.

No, what tore it , between Saddam Hussein and Washington, was when he demanded euros instead of dollars for the oil. This would never do. And besides, George Bush knew Saddam was a bad man, he tried to kill his daddy.

The current estimate is that the US spends $138 billion annually on protecting the oil supplies, a figure that continues to increase. Despite all the patriotic pandering about bringing democracy to the world, the control of oil is what all this slaughter is truly about. But should it be? The real question is: by what constitutional mandate is the government given the right to interfere with the sovereignty of other nations. Sovereign nations who may have bad governments (don’t we?) and problems, but are what they always are, their own.

That is why the presidential process has become such a disappointment. Neither McCain or Obama are willing to do the proper constitutional mandate of withdrawing our troops from foreign entanglements. Instead they argue over who knows the best way to fiddle. Both want to increase military spending. Both want to keep pushing around the world.

All of this partisan pagaent politics is a huge distraction from realizing this country’s constitutional crisis. Both Republicans and Democrats are evading this, hoping that fear, uncertainty, doubt, will win over the gullible before they realize that the country they live in, the country they have been told, all of their lives, that holds so much promise… that country no longer exists.

Neoliberalism like neoconservatism has delusions of empire. After the guns comes the carpetbaggers. Control of fossil fuels is a brutal industry, whether it is Nigeria or The Baltic States. For many, oil is the only business, and everything must be sacrificed: human rights, environment, the rule of law, in order for the flow to be continuous. If continuous war is a consequence, so be it. A disasterous policy to be sure, but for for those on top of this pyramid, who cares? There is still plenty of money to be made.

I recently found a picture of an Iraqi Muslim family celebrating Christmas. They are wearing their Santa hats and smiling, in front of their Christmas tree.
I look again at the photograph and ask myself: why, with all that is holy, would anyone want to blow these people up? That is of course the problem of this world. Politicians justify savagery and call it being strong.

A BIPARTISAN NEED FOR LIBERTY

By: thebeerdoctor

The reaction was to be expected from those accustomed to the daily cat and mouse game called politics. The experts always know. That is why Representative Dennis Kucinich's articles of impeachment were ridiculed as worthless, "a waste of time" from a "annoying gnat". While the movers and shakers of his own political party have more important matters to attend to than defending the Constitution and the rule of law.

Something ironically similar was happening across the pond, in the United Kingdom.
That is where Gordon Brown's Labour party government is trying to enact a law that enables the government to hold terror suspects, or as they say, persons of interest, for 42 days without any redress. Tory Shadow Home Secretary, David Davis, resigned from the House of Commons in disgust.

"I had always viewed membership of this House as a noble endeavor," said David Davis. "Not least because we and our forebears defended the fundamental freedoms of our citizens. Or we did, up until yesterday."

"This Sunday is the anniversary of Magna Carta --the document that guarantees that most fundamental of British freedoms-- Habeus Corpus."

Here in the United States, I begin to wonder how many people still remember that the Magna Carta is the root document of the United States Constitution. It is where it was officially established that no one is to be above the law. As Winston Churchill said in 1956: "here is a law which is above the King and which even he must not break."

Evidently, this is not the case for President Bush, who attempts to shrug off the Supreme Court ruling on the rights of detainees, simply because it was a 5-4 decision. Senator Barack Obama said the Supreme Court ruling refutes "the Bush Administration's attempt to create a legal black hole in Guantanamo." But that legal black hole most certainly exists, simply by making the false claim that human legal standards do not apply to military tribunals. Yes, it is what it is: a breathtaking argument for legalized torture.

Meanwhile, over in England, David Davis has remarked that the British have "the most intrusive identity card system in the world. A CCTV camera for every 14 citizens, a DNA database bigger than any dictatorship has, with thousands of innocent children and a million innocent citizens on it... the creation of a database state opening our private lives to the prying eyes of official snoopers..."

It is wise to remember that these objections to the Orwellian order, come from a conservative Tory member. That is also why Dennis Kucinich said his articles of impeachment were not about politics, but the rule of Constitutional law. How strange that a few persons in high powerful positions think it is perfectly acceptable to ignore the law upon which all of western civilization is based: the liberty of its citizens. A state sponsored abolition of basic freedoms becomes a final victory for terror. To say you are defending freedom by destroying it, using the cafard of security, is to be sure, very strange indeed.

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

By thebeerdoctor

It is hard for some to imagine, but Senator Barack Obama may turn out to be the perfect candidate for the neo-conservative agenda. His recent speech at the AIPAC conference revealed a harder line than that of Vice President Dick Cheney, when it comes to the Middle East. He offered this caveat: “Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel, and it must remain undivided.”

That is a very dangerous sore to pick if there is going to be any hope for any kind of peace. A complete denial of the Palestinians to East Jerusalem has been a point of contention for decades. Why did Obama say this? Was it to prove to this hawkish Zionist advocate group that he totally gets their agenda?

“Let me be clear, said Senator Obama, “Israel’s security is sacrosanct. It is non negotiable.”

Sacrosanct? Last time I heard that phrase was back in the 1980’s, when General Alexander Haig said that about the defense budget. What a twisted notion our political leaders have about the security of the United States. Both of the main parties think it is perfectly acceptable to tie our destiny to another country, supposedly as a defensive posture, but in reality it is just a means to continue the armaments industries. As Senator Obama said: “As president, I will implement a Memorandum of Understanding that provides $30 billion in assistance to Israel over the next decade–investments to Israel’s security that will not be tied to any other nation.”

$30 billion over a decade? That’s $3 billion dollars a year. An increase in American largese that underlines the fact that the United States government is simply not interested in avoiding foreign entanglements. Exporting more weapons sows the seeds of future conflicts, which alas, is the most hideous cynical reason of all.

Senator Obama claims he wants to end the war in Iraq, but does he really? The plan to build fifty permanent bases there, already in the works, will undoubtedly continue, no matter who is elected president. That iron triangle that John McCain used to speak of, is being embraced in a truly bipartisan way. The privatization of the military will also continue. Senator Obama refuses to endorse H.R. 4102, the Stop Outsourcing Security Act. A brief exchange with Democracy Now’s Amy Goodman, revealed that the junior Senator from Illinois has not only a talent for lofty rhetoric, but also equivocation:

Sen. Barack Obama: Here’s the problem. We have 140,000 private contractors right there, so unless we want to replace all of or a big chunk of these with US troops, we can’t draw down the contractors faster than we can draw down our troops. So what I want to do is draw–I want them out in the same way we make sure that we draw out our own combat troops, alright? I mean, I–

Amy Goodman: Not a ban?

Sen. Barack Obama: Well, I don’t want to replace these contractors with more US troops, because we don’t have them, alright? But this was a speech about the economy.

Amy Goodman: The war is costing $3 trillion, according to Stiglitz.

Sen. Barack Obama: That’s what–I know, which I made a speech about last week. Thank you.

On the Barack Obama web site it states: “Obama will immediately begin to remove our troops from Iraq. He will remove one to two combat brigades each month, and have all of combat brigades out of Iraq within 16 months. Obama will make it clear that we will not build any permanent bases in Iraq.”

This all sounds well and good, until you get to the next sentence: “He will keep some troops in Iraq to protect our embassy and diplomats; if al Qaeda attempts to build a base within Iraq, he will keep troops in Iraq or elsewhere in the region to carry out targeted strikes on al Qaeda.”

Enough is enough. Despite the pageant thrills of electing the first black President, when you examine the double speak on foreign policy, you’ll find that any rumors about correcting the military-industrial-congressional complex are greatly exaggerated, to say the least. How ironic that Senator Obama used the phrase from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the fierce urgency of now, to explain the reason for his presidential campaign. It should always be remembered that Dr. King used those words in a speech denouncing the Vietnam War. It would have been grand if Senator Obama would have applied some of those peace and justice principles, when he addressed the AIPAC conference. But that is asking too much. He looks good. He talks well. But he is really just a politician. If elected, he may bring about some domestic reform and just might restore some our stolen liberties. But his pandering about Iran being a threat to us, even makes that seem dubious. Obama supporters who denounced Senator Clinton before she quit, use to say: She’ll say anything in order to get elected. Senator Obama’s performance at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, proved him to be the same.

FINDING A DIFFERENT WAY

Television misinforms everyday. It is part of the corporate mission to keep the customers (i.e. consumers) in a constant state of agitation. Agitation works. Being dissatisfied is a perfect state to foist upon you new products, or sometimes simply new concepts, that you did not know about until you found that you must have them, no matter what. Movies. I-Phones. Drugs for conditions that you were unaware existed. Restless Consumer Syndrome. Ask your doctor if RCS is right for you.

Sadly, the corporate huckster approach is applied to nearly everything. Politics, militarism, you name it, becomes a package that often has to be repackaged. Media consultants, bloggers, pundits, and celebrities become an essential part of the mix, creating illusions within delusions. Mission Accomplished. Doing a heck of a job. Victory with honor, dead or alive.
Unfortunately, reality has a way of exposing its fangs. There is an energy crisis. It is exacerbated by the Iraq occupation, along with the other missions, as they are called, in Afghanistan and elsewhere. The agitated customers become even more restless when they discover it now costs real money to run their automobiles.

But the corporate state is not interested in any kind of national response. If there was such a thing, you would have the President of The United States declaring a national emergency. Saving and reducing fossil fuel use would be job 1. Natural gas would be nationalized. Extravagant indulgences such as stock car racing would be banned. Other recreational indulgences, such as all terrain vehicles and boats, would have to pay an extra tax for their waste. The automobile as consumer fetish would be seen for what it truly is: an unnecessary marketing gimmick. The use of lawnmowers would be reviewed.

Of course none of this is going to happen. Especially in the "you are going to feel some pressure" form I speak of here. American culture is simply too fond of corporate branding and the way of life it implies. The capitalist cornucopia promised, is what President Bush called "our way of life" that they (the evil ones) hate us for. The freedom to shop till you drop. But even that has become more difficult recently. The rising price of food is partially blowback for the increased use of Biofuels. As Geoffrey Lean of The Independent pointed out: "Just one fill-up of a 4x4's tank with ethanol uses enough grain to feed one person for a year."

The squeeze is on in one form or another, for everyone accept those of the ownership class. The political response to this situation, has so far, been incredibly lame. The so-called economic Darwinism that free marketeers wax poetic about, what the late Hunter Thompson called "the punishment ethic" embraced so readily by the Republican party, has become in fact, a security threat to the stability of this nation. How this country is more secure by a having a substantial segment of the citizenry squeezed to the point of monetary oblivion, is truly incomprehensible.

The same can be said for the invasion and occupation of Iraq. If this was about oil, then the amount of money wasted on this war, could have purchased all the oil needed, without all the loss of life. But if that wasn't the point, then the neocon abstraction of "coercive democracy" as Scott McClellan put it, becomes the cruelest reason of all. Outrage at this stage, is a moot point.

If the United States, which spends more on weapons than nearly the rest of the world combined, would redirect all that energy to constructive purposes, the economic outlook would change, and certainly for the better. The need for infrastructural improvements is like a house literally screaming to be painted. The expansion of intelligent technologies brought about by the mass production of optical components and the improvements wrought from digital measurement... these areas of development are still in their infancy.

Strangely, despite all the information that is easily available, both current and historic, there is an astonishing number of people who are misinformed. Calculated misinformation has been perpetrated by those seeking to further their false agendas. As a result, we have people who believe that Saddam Hussein was behind the September 11 attacks, and that the Muslim faith is out to destroy America. The internet, and especially Google, is what you make use of it for. Obviously it can be a tool for education, probably the greatest in human history. Or, it can be used for games, social netweorking and of course, porn.

When it comes to open source applications for the internet, the majority of American desktop computer users are just not that interested. I once mentioned that most of the problems with electronic voting is caused by using proprietary software. The puzzled response to this was like I had arrived from another planet. Come to think of it, maybe I have.

If the goal is, not only for this country, but the entire planet, a prosperous survival, then finding a different way is not only necessary, it is vital. The old time dishonored responses of ideological violence have become as useless as they are dangerous. This is difficult for some to grasp how many easily accepted notions, were nothing more than unconscious myths. We are certainly in unfamiliar territory. The road maps of the twentieth century are obsolete.

THOUGHTS ON JOHN McCAIN

By; thebeerdoctor

There is an uneasiness about the Senator from Arizona. You see it on his face when a lesbian television host asked him about same sex marriage. Its a kind of whole body nervous laugh that suppresses uncomfortable anger. “My friends, my friends,” he will often say, that is almost his trademark, like Richard Nixon’s let me make one thing perfectly clear.

Identity and clarity have become a problem for the Republican Presidential Candidate. In this hyper-driven media universe, perception has become a constant concern. Not only are there tiny camera phones, microphones etc., but there is the 24/7 internet, ready to swallow it whole. So endorsements from crackpot pastors and former lobbyists with dubious connections, becomes a kind of odd parlor game, to see who is the next in line to be thrown to the curb. This of course is bipartisan.

What is referred to as mainstream media long ago dubbed John McCain as a Maverick. This designation has been kind to the Arizona senator. For those who know the meaning of the word, he is perceived as an independent thinker, a straight shooter as it were, ergo, the straight talk express. For those who do not know the word’s meaning, it invokes a cool riverboat gambler, a young Jim Garner, long before he became a shill for reverse mortgages. Whatever the perception, the label has helped in the past, and even now it is still trying to be applied.

Unfortunately, the archive of time has a way of catching up with you. Difficult transgressions from your past can suddenly resurface. The Keating Five scandal of 1989 was about the perception of corruption. John McCain said: “The appearance of it was wrong. It’s a wrong appearance when a group of senators appear in a meeting with a group of regulators , because it conveys the impression of undue and improper influence. And it was the wrong thing to do.”

It appears that conveying the wrong impression is a top priority to avoid. The recent release of Mrs. McCain’s tax records, despite her desire to keep them private, was done so there is no appearance of trying to hide something. As song writer Leonard Cohen once said: “soon there’ll be a meter on your bed, which will disclose what everybody knows.” Psychologically, presidential politics is a very tough arena, especially with all this, all inclusive, all invasive technology. For a man over seventy years old like John McCain, sometimes it must be bewildering.

So it is not too surprising that in a poll conducted with voters over 65 years of age, over seventy percent thought that John McCain was too old to be president. That is not age discrimination but a more honest assessment of what we are capable of, in different stages of life. This review of the job resume is important.

Senator McCain’s efforts to unite with the Republican party are difficult. Having to pander and subsequently abandon the more toxic extremist elements that usurped the Grand Old Party, has made Senator McCain appear awkward at best. The Middle East gaffe, with Senator Lieberman whispering in his ear, was quickly dismissed by big time media, as simply the Senator was having a moment.

One of the biggest assertions that attempts to make McCain’s biography bullet proof, is the claim that he is a genuine American hero. This is of course based upon his harrowing years as a POW during the Vietnam war. Never mind that he was participating in an illegal war by dropping bombs on a country with mostly agricultural peasants. If he had been put into an American prison for refusing to follow unconstitutional orders, citing the Nuremberg War Crime Trials as precedent, he would be a hero, but not in the Republican party.

Senator McCain often appears to be a thoughtful man, but other times, seems to head in the opposite direction. This is the famous temper that is whispered about, of an angry man with expletives flying out from his mouth. Then of course there is his rather weird sense of humor, that some of his colleagues have commented to not be very funny at all.

On Halloween, 2005, John McCain paid tribute to Rosa Parks from the floor of the Senate. “Rosa Parks was a civil rights icon,” John McCain noted, “who galvanized the American civil rights with her simple act of protest. She will be dearly missed but her legacy will never be forgotten.”

Certainly this was a somber tribute to a historic person. McCain, being a seasoned politician, knows how to wear different hats for different occasions. Ten days before the Halloween elegy, he was all fun and games at the Al Smith Memorial Dinner, with “my good friend, Mike Bloomberg.”

“I’m glad the Mayor, my fellow Republican is here.” The Arizona Senator remarked. “But Mike, I think we’re all relieved that the organizers decided against holding this dinner at the Apollo Theater.”

Some folks say that the straight talk express is a riot.

It will not be surprising if some new archival material, be it audio or video, will emerge to reveal the Senator from Arizona, in a hard to explain, off color moment, designed to betray his strong leadership image. No, it would not be surprising at all. The party that John McCain professes to belong to, does not actually exist any more. To maintain political survival, McCain has had to kiss the blarney stone of Bush. When running against George W. in 2000, he soon discovered he did not have the big steam money of the House of Bush. The very same evangelical knot heads he attempts to embrace now, spread vicious lies about him and his family then, the South Carolina primary being a glowing example. It would be kind if someone close to the Senator said: “John, this is not your father’s republican party.”

But that is not going to happen. The Big Wheels at Republican Central have some problems with some of McCain’s views, but these can be adjusted. He is wealthy, but he is not Big Money, so he is forced to do a dance for contributors. Attempting to pilot the ship of state, after the Cheney-Bush junta, is a formidable task. My friends, John McCain wants you to know, is ready to take on the job.

Back on Top, Back in Business

by thebeerdoctor

First thing, I am no longer banned on The Huffington Post. Why I was, and the speculation, lead to a piece for which I received excellent support from readers of Streetalker.com and Truthdig.com. My speculations over content, may in fact have nothing to do with it. It could have been some technical glitch in their system. Since I never received any feedback from Huffpo, I guess I will never really know. To all who sent me encouragement I say Thank You.

But this blog is not about that. Now that the occupation of Iraq grinds on into its sixth year, I would like to tell a true, personal story, that happened to me on May 2,2003; One day after George W. Bush strutted out his flight suit on the aircraft carrier, under the banner MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.

It is difficult for some to remember what a jackbooted mentality prevailed at that time. The subservient media were all too complicit in going along with whatever nonsense the government threw out as reasons for this insane aggression. It was generally accepted that overwhelming violence (shock and awe) was not only a tactic but a solution.

At the time, then as now, my business is beer. A new Hofbrauhaus had just opened in Newport, Kentucky. At that time, the Hofbrauhaus in Hong Kong had recently closed, so there were only two in the world: Munich, Germany, and Newport, Kentucky. I was going to make my way over there that evening. I knew, being May 2, they would have their marvelous Maibock on tap. For The Beer Doctor, this was a very good thing.
I should also note that I am an “ale and safety” kind of person. I do not believe in drinking and driving. So I took a metro bus downtown and literally walked across from Cincinnati, using the old L&N bridge that had recently been repainted, as a bicycle and pedestrian thoroughfare, known as The Purple People Bridge. This was mostly an initiative on the part of the commonwealth of Kentucky. The Cincinnati entrance side had not been refurbished yet; in fact it was a kind of public works blight, where the remnants of a bicentennial display of printed metal sheets where either torn off, or degraded by graffiti spray paint. There was busted glass, thrown away cans and the smell of ancient urine. It would be months before the city got around to making the Ohio entrance presentable.

I made my way across on foot, wearing a white cotton barn coat without its lining. I also wore a 100% wool brim outdoors hat from California.

When I arrived at the Hofbrauhaus in the early evening, there was already a line formed of people waiting to get in. I went up to the entrance and said: “I am the Beer Doctor, and I am here to review your beers.” I was immediately ushered in.
What followed was a wonderful couple of hours. I ordered a stein liter of their Maibock which lasted me during the entire visit. I ordered some food which was delicious. The patrons were friendly but there was slight uneasiness. I then realized the cause: I was the only one in the hall wearing a hat that was not a baseball cap.

After a wonderful time, I left, and then I remembered Mother’s Day was only nine days away. I knew that the gigantic Party Source, located about 6 blocks east, sold some of the best greeting cards in the entire area. So sauntered my way over there. A long time patron because of their extensive beer collection, I decided to go to the beer department to see what new brews had come in. This is where the trouble began.

A fairly tall, state trooper looking chap suddenly appeared. I said: “How’s it going?” He said: “I want you to leave.”

Robert Ringer once said that when people with guns talk, he listens. I said: “OK” and immediately proceeded to leave. A shuttle from Newport to Cincinnati stops across the main street from The Party Source. I saw one coming, so I hurried across the four lane road to reach the stop. Then I heard: “He’s fleeing!”

It was the local police. Four prowlers appeared at the intersection, with eight cops in tow. They proceeded to drag me back across the road, where they started flailing me with their batons, studiously avoiding my face, but everywhere else on my body was fair game.

Fully aware of Rodney King and other law enforcement horror stories, I thought what a strange way to die. But then my instinct for survival kicked in, I thought I better play possum. Which I did. I closed my eyes and just laid there as they continued to beat me. Finally, a Sargent I later learned, leaned down and started smacking me in the face, saying: “Hey buddy wake up!” I did not respond. One of the younger members of this police posse, a plumb face patrolman fresh out of high school, nervously laughed out loud: “maybe he’s dead!”

Finally realizing I was not resisting arrest, or for that matter, anything else (talk about satyagraha!), they proceeded to pull me up, throw me into the back of a prowler, where I was taken to the Newport jail.

At the Newport jail there was a person in charge ( I am not making this up) named Officer Slocum. I asked Mr. Slocum if I could make a telephone call. He responded by knocking me down on the concrete floor of the holding cell, where I landed on my left forearm, which began to swell. There were six other “prisoners” in that cell. What crime did all of us share? None of us were driving a car. I had heard of places where they consider pedestrians to be criminals, if not terrorists, but this was the first time I saw it in action.

I will spare you dear reader much of the gory details. Suffice to say it took another day and a half to get out of jail, and another week to get the matter settled, several hundred dollars lighter. It seems they had attached the ridiculous charge of “fleeing” to being publicly intoxicated. This was no small matter, since the local legislature had enacted a law that made fleeing a mandatory one year sentence. All of this was because of another drug war horror story, where a man escaping with grass in his pocket, jumped from the road onto a walkway bridge, where an officer in hot pursuit, attempted the same jump but missed. falling and dying into the frigid Ohio river.

Since the only lawyer who can represent you is one you purchase in the commonwealth of Kentucky, I decided to represent myself. I explained what happened to the judge, and the prosecutor immediately dismissed the fleeing charge. I was fined, which, when you get right down to it, was what this was all about: money extraction. It was most certainly traumatic to say the least. I was terrified to go out of my house for nearly half a year. What was the most difficult part was sensing this new gestapo type America was here to stay. Bush was claiming he knew best. The Microsoft corporation were making claims that they owned the content on the internet. The government had decided that anyone that might be Muslim, could be a person of interest. People were (and still are) being detained, tortured, and never charged.
But much good has also happened in the ensuing five years. People, and I mean the vast majority, no longer consider the Bush-Cheney administration to be valid. There have been too many lies exposed: weapons of mass destruction, Pat Tillman’s friendly fire death, etc. There is only so much BS that anyone can stand.

When I think back to that awful year, I was a terrified beaten individual. But no longer. I write this as testament to say, despite everything, things can get better. The internet has all kinds of open source applications created by ingenious folks who believe communication is for everyone, not just the privileged few. People are beginning to find their voices, so very soon, those who advocated compassion and reason and who were unjustly ignored, will be back on top, back in business.
Thank You is my only prayer. Carpe Diem Vita Brevis.

WHEN WRIGHT IS WRONG

By: thebeerdoctor

May 1st, 2008

He wished it hadn’t turned out like this, but there is nothing to negotiate. Jeremiah, Barack is not going to have a sit down with you. You think of yourself as top capo in your Chicago church, but the young skipper has a much bigger crew. Business is business even when it is personal. Jeremiah Wright showed deep disrespect for Obama and his posse.

Maybe all the recent attention went to the 66 year olds’ head. At the National Press Club he clearly was having a good time, no matter who it might trouble. The visual antics during the questions time revealed a I don’t give a damn attitude that was remarkable for also being hilarious. Maybe I have been observing politics too long, but I couldn’t help wonder is there a hidden sponsor for this show?

The Louis Farrakhan question completely tore it. So the good Reverend thinks Farrakhan is one of the important voices of the 20th century. When the Nation of Islam capo speaks, black people listen? I do not know much, if anything, about religious organizations, but I have known jazz musicians from Chicago tell me that the Nation of Islam is a gangster organization, part and or parcel of the prison industrial complex. Their outreach programs help prisoners to lead moral lives free of drugs, but also free of an individual personality. Proof once again, that religion in most of its myriad forms, is actually up to no damn good.

Rev. Wright’s refusal to criticize the most honorable Louis Farrakhan has probably more to do with south side Chicago local politics, than anything else. As one former AACM percussionist told me: “Chicago is a gangster city.”

It was indeed a sad moment when Barack Obama had to call in his marker on his former pastor. He had no choice. The Aids-US Government conspiracy theory is not as crazy as the Illinois Senator thinks. But defense of Farrakhan? That’s a nut that can be certified by Planters. The Obama folks with all their media savvy, should have seen this coming. But they either refused to see the implications or suffered from misplaced loyalty on the part of their candidate. Whatever it was, it was indeed a spectacle to watch Barack Obama having all his hope boiled right out of him.

Barack Obama should have known that if his pastor is friends with Louis Farrakhan there would be trouble. The very same Louis Farrakhan who teaches us “Yacub’s History”. That all the racial problems started 6000 years ago, when a a mad genetic scientist created white people. Surely, Obama had lived in Chicago long enough to have heard these stories. Perhaps he thought it could all be glossed over… is that what community organizers do? John McCain can get a free ride when it comes to certifiable nut jobs such as John Hagee and Rod Parsley because as the media continues to reminds us, the Senator from Arizona is an American hero. Never mind that John Hagee claimed that hurricane Katrina was God’s way of showing his displeasure with homosexuality, or that Parsley wants a holy war (jihad?) against the false, evil religion known as Islam.

The point is, from my observations, politics and religion do not belong in the same house, let alone the same room. John Kennedy, for all of his faults, had one thing correct: religion at best, is a personal private matter, and has no business in statecraft. This was expedient on his part, in order to make clear that the President does not take marching orders from Rome. The same man who did not even use the word God, when addressing the nation on the Cuban missile crisis. What would he have thought of the junior Illinois Senator telling those in attendance at a rally, how he prays to Jesus every night? How far this nation has fallen from its secular strength.

How ironic that this religious belief that our politicians pander to has nothing to do with spirituality. Bush, McCain, Clinton, Obama all claim Jesus as their ally. Rev. Wright stated that the God that the slave owner prays to is not the same as the God the slaves pray to. This may be true, but one thing is true, for every blessed one of them: all are talking to an invisible being. Such irrational moments should be personal, and for God’s sake, private!

I am reminded of Peter O’Toole in The Ruling Class:

“You say that you are God?”

“Yes because every time I pray, I find I’m talking to myself.”

BANNED FROM HUFFINGTON POST

April 22, 2008 was a difficult day. The revelation that Senator Clinton would "obliterate" Iran if they attacked Israel only brought to light how inhuman a candidate can become in their zeal to secure their all important victory. How strange that the news media could continue to rehash the remarks of an angry black minister, as if the Reverend Wright was running for president. But very little was made about the "obliterate" remark. For myself, such a remark proves that Senator Clinton needs psychiatry, not the presidency. But I guess she really is ready from day one, to blow away some people to kingdom come. Was that why I have been banned from The Huffington Post?

I have been blogging comments on Huffington for the last five months. Although I do not use foul language, and have never attacked another blogger, for some strange reason I am now banned. Perhaps one of their moderators got tired of reading my criticisms of the candidates (I am after all, an advocate for peace and justice) and decided to rid their internet salon of my radical rantings. I say radical because the way the ball bounces in main stream media, if you so much as question our holy military policies, with attached armament industries, you must be a radical. The fact of being a peaceful person, who never advocates violence, does not make a bit of difference. To some in this society, thinking independently is considered a subversive act.

Perhaps the real reason I have been banned on The Huffington Post is because my last posting, I criticized the ownership class. Perhaps one of the Hufpo moderators read my remarks and thought: my God, that includes Ms. Stassinopoulos! Somebody better ban the bastard!
Part of what was written said: "The ownership class can play ideological games all they want. Those of us who do not own, have to live with the consequences. The indulgences of the privileged are always with us. This enables public money to be squandered on sports stadiums, bank bailouts, and of course the all time favorite: weapons!"

Is that why I was banned? Hard to believe that a person as insignificant as myself could warrant such a draconian option, but there it is.
I tried to contact Huffington Post to give me an explanation. Their response has been nothing. My comments before being banned can still be found on Google, at thebeerdoctor's huffington post profile. But there will be no more. Luckily, Newscloud, Truthdig and Streetalker.com, still welcome my writing. As one kind friend wrote: "that's their loss, not yours". Thank you.

ONLY WHEN IT IS DARK ENOUGH, CAN YOU SEE THE STARS

BY:Thebeerdoctor

I was twelve years old when Martin Luther King Jr. was killed. A turbulent time to become a teen, made even tougher with the RFK shooting a couple of months later. It was a fiery time, with a certain kind of fire that no water could put out. I wrote this on the Huffington Post:

Whenever I think of Martin Luther King Jr., I also think of John Coltrane. Both men in the final phases of their lives chose to work with difficult, human spiritual matters. The marginalization of Dr. King's work against the Vietnam war and for economic justice, makes those who praise him as a noble symbol, rather than a living force for change, quite uncomfortable. The same can be said of John Coltrane, whose music was considered demanding and difficult, when he decided to literally "play his way over to the other side". Acknowledging the greatness of these endeavors would mean admitting that most of us suffer from a shallow perception of ultimate, metaphysical reality. Great souls help humankind to recognize that we indeed do have a soul. Truly, a remarkable accomplishment.

Which brings me back to April 2008. I received a campaign e-mail from Michelle Obama this morning, reminding me of the MLK legacy etc. Common wisdom has it that because her husband is the hot presidential candidate, who happens to be black, or fifty percent so, his candidacy represents the continuing legacy of Dr. King. Common wisdom has it that if Martin was around today, he would support Barack Obama. But would he? Putting aside the sanitized Martin Luther King; that version of history that embraces the I Have A Dream speech, but ignores his anti Vietnam war stance, which by today's cowardly media, would probably be called hate speech, you would have quite another take on current matters, including politics.

While doing research on Martin Luther King's last public address, the remarkable I See The Promised Land, a strange coincidence occurred when Barack Obama's 2007 AIPAC speech was found listed in Google, two entries down. Comparing the texts provided some insights.

"It is no longer a choice between violence and nonviolence in this world, its nonviolence or nonexistence." It should always be remembered that this was spoken by a man who in less than twenty four hours was about to die a violent death. Compare that with this:

"We can refocus our efforts to critical, yet neglected priorities, such as combating international terrorism and winning the war in Afghanistan. And we can then, more effectively deal with one of the greatest threats to the United States, Israel and world peace: Iran. Iran's President Ahmadinejad's regime is a threat to all of us."

So said Senator Obama to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in 2007, sounding remarkably similar to Vice-President Dick Cheney. Was the Senator from Illinois, pandering to the Israeli lobby?

"a man can't ride your back unless it is bent." That is unadulterated MLK, like John Coltrane on the album AUM. Not for the timid, or those who accept compromise on matters that should never be compromised. As Jeanette Rankin said back in 1929, war "cannot be disciplined into decency or codified into common sense; for war is the slaughter of human beings, temporarily regarded as enemies, on as large a scale as possible." That was and is the vision of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Strangely I thought Barack Obama was a student of Martin Luther King's teachings. But that must be the Martin Luther King Lite I have heard about. I wonder if Senator Obama is a fan of John Coltrane's music. I can imagine him enjoying albums like Blue Train and maybe even A Love Supreme. But records such as Ascension or Live In Seattle? I can almost hear him saying: "you're wearing me out brother."

INSANITY'S HOLY LADDER

By: Thebeerdoctor

First there is the banality of the news: US STEPS UP AIR STRIKES IN BASRA. A glib announcement to be sure, sandwiched between celebrity gossip and the latest political drool pool. It seems so abstract, so distant. President Bush proclaims this to be a defining moment. Everybody is “aiming to make sure that we have enough of a presence to make sure that we’re successful in Iraq.”

What is considered successful in Iraq is something only the commander-in-chief and his handlers can define. But something that needs no further definition is the terror and horror wrought on the Iraqis from these air strikes. Any concern about the moral ambiguities of such actions, becomes simply an argument over whether those found in the smoldering rubble, were civilians or combatants. One thing is certain, whatever their political status, they are all equally dead.

There is something about the inherent vicious cruelty of the Bush occupation doctrine that most people in the United States do not want to comprehend.

“This is a test and moment for the Iraqi government, which strongly has supported Prime Minister Maliki’s actions, ” George Bush instructed. Tell that to the forty or so policemen who surrendered their weapons to Sheik Salman al-Feraiji, representative of Moktada al-Sadr, in exchange for an olive branch and a copy of the Quran. They explained that they could not fight their brothers in the Mahdi army.

“They’re fighting some pretty tough characters,” George Bush noted, while explaining US support of Nuri Kamal al-Maliki’s crackdown on Shia militias. “People who kill innocent people to achieve objectives. And yes, there’s going to be violence, and that’s sad.”

This statement was not as dead pan glib as the vice president’s So? But equally distressing. Here is certified proof that war, or as in this case, occupation, is in itself a form of terrorism. But the people orchestrating this debacle refuse to admit this, they would rather, look at the big picture, where the inhumanity of deliberate deception becomes abstracted to a sound bite blur: Things are getting better in Iraq, I don’t care what anybody says. The surge is working. This is freedom’s defining moment.

Working for whom is the real question here. This is certainly not the case for the ordinary Iraqi who struggles to find clean water and electricity, and avoid becoming collateral damage from some misguided precision air strike. How would an ordinary US citizen feel if our cities were occupied with helicopter gun ships hovering about? One of the chief demands of the fiery radical cleric, as he is referred to here, is for the occupiers to get the hell out of his country. If the roles were reversed, and the United States was occupied, Moktada al-Sadr would be considered a fiery patriot.

“It’s still a dangerous, fragile situation in Iraq, ” President Bush cautioned. Apparently the surge is working, just not quite as well as they thought.

Using military rationalization to justify this horrendous conflict, makes the candidacy of Senator John McCain a precarious choice for president. Despite the news media excusing his foreign policy gaffes, the last thing this country or world needs is an uninformed leader, when attempting to repair the broken hornets nest that is Iraq. But this is pointless to bring up with those who subscribe to the we are not going to cut and run like they did in ‘91 mantra. The ever elusive goal of victory remains the raison d’etre, even if that involves a systematic eradication of empathy. What a peculiar form of Christianity. The holy mission of bringing democracy to the people of the world, is said to be President Bush’s plan from God. He is resolved to bring them liberation, even if it kills them, one or all.

A Truthless Monster

By: Thebeerdoctor

This is going to be tough. It has to be. First the quote: “It is difficult for the ordinary voter to come to grips with the notion that a truly evil man, a truthless monster with the brains of a king rat and the soul of a cockroach, is about to be sworn in as president of the United States for the next four years…”

That was Hunter S. Thompson, writing about George H.W. Bush on September 14, 1987. This could also apply to the wife of a former president, who just happens to be running for the very same office. Why do I say this? Well you only have to look at the manure being shoveled out from the team Clinton barn

“He would not have been my pastor,” Senator Clinton announced, passing judgment on the Reverend Jeremiah Wright. “You don’t choose your family, but you choose what church you want to attend…”

The arrogance that comes out of the Senator’s mouth is astounding. Woe betide anyone who has the temerity to question the authority of the United States government. According to Mrs. Clinton and the media minions, that is treasonous talk. The “chickens coming home to roost” remark about 9/11 that was so shocking, it is now classified as hate speech. I do not know the sphere of the Washington insiders, but I heard the same analysis said by white people, less than a month after the event.

With the advent of the video loop, we can now hear and see, ad nauseam, Reverend Wright saying “God damn America!” Never of course putting this into any kind of context. But why should it? It is doing the job intended. Joseph Goebbels would be proud. Do not think, emotionally react. A gut check, from day one.
Recently the prime minister of Australia made a public apology for the way his country treated the aboriginal people. It is difficult for some of the jingoists to admit, but there is honor in admitting shame. Hillary Clinton has praised Martin Luther King. Was it hate speech when Dr. King said that the U.S. government was one of the great purveyors of violence in the world? To call a black minister’s criticism of the United States government “hate speech”, reveals an intolerance that prevents real change from taking place. Barack Obama attempted to address this in his famous remarks about race. But it does not seem that the whirling dervishes of spin media had a clue to what he was talking about.

John McCain has been given essentially a free pass when it comes to careful examination of his spiritual supporters, John Hagee and Rod Paisley. Perhaps it is alright to be endorsed by religious nut jobs, just as long as they support aid to Israel and want to go to war with Iran. Jeremiah Wright is hateful when he speaks of justice for the Palestinians.

Another remarkable acrobatic trick of team Clinton was to marginalize the vote for the Iraq war resolution. According to their take, the vote was unfortunate, with the had I known then what I know now alibi. But an examination of the record shows that 23 Senators said No to that resolution, including Barbara Boxer of California, Barbara Mikulski of Maryland, and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan. Just what did those ladies understand that the Senator from New York did not?

“President Bush’s speech in Cincinnati and the changes in policy that have come forth since the Administration began broaching this issue some weeks ago have made my vote easier.” So said Senator Clinton from the Senate floor, before casting her yea vote. It is not surprising that she refuses to admit she made a disastrous mistake. That would be admitting participatory shame, which is something a leader, ready from day one (as her inflated resume indicates), can never do.

So this wrenching spectacle continues. Hillary Clinton and her team, including the very snide ex-president, continue to demonstrate that when it comes to seeking power, there is no room for principles.

Since I am not a part of the Obama campaign, I do not have to do a mea culpa, like Samantha Power. I stand by my statement. “Truthless” is a word invented by Hunter Thompson. But it so apt for this situation. I leave you the rest of his prophetic quote: “And he will bring his gang in with him, a mean network of lawyers and salesmen and pimps who will loot the national treasury, warp the laws, mock the rules and stay awake 22 hours a day looking for at least one reason to declare war, officially, on some hapless tribe in the Sahara or heathen fanatic like the Ayatollah Khomeini.”

RIP Hunter S. Thompson.

SO WHAT?

The agony known as Iraq continues no matter what anybody does to try and stop it. The democrats for the most part, have proven to be the media conscious medusoids of legend. For their irresponsible part, they refuse to stop the funding of President Bush’s disaster, while the republicans, as least those in the loop, dismiss the idea of stopping the killing and maiming of their fellow Americans, with claims that the surge is working, and that defeat (i.e. withdrawal) is not an option. Just what exactly is winning, no one can explain.Nor does anybody seem to have an explanation for why suicide attacks occur on a continuous basis. According to The Independent of Great Britain, there have been well over a thousand suicide attacks in the five years of the American occupation. Many of these attacks are not by jihadist battle hardened fighters, but rather young people who for whatever reason, economic or religious, see this as a shortcut to paradise, or immortal fame, or both.


Such blood and sacrifice should not seem too strange, even to the most complacent American. After all, is not George W. Bush often extolling the virtues of ultimate sacrifice: for the good of the team, for the good of the cause? POTUS has no problem with sending thousands of people across the globe, fully armed to do battle with the evil ones. He is ready, he informs us, to smoke them out of their holes, dead or alive. Of course religious insanity has a part to play in this. Like Osama Bin Laden, George Bush believes he is performing God’s will on earth. Delusional righteousness becomes a danger to humankind that can not be exaggerated.


Deadeye Dick Cheney shocked many folks when he said: “So?” When asked about the seventy five percent of the population poll that thought that the Iraq war was not worth it. The arrogance was unsettling, but then, what does the Vice President fear? Judicial Watch can force Hillary Clinton to release her public logs as First Lady, but they could not get Cheney to release the minutes of the infamous Energy Task Force. The public be damned he says, and so it is. There is great difficulty in facing the fact that we have powerful myths that are, quite sadly, accepted to be reality. The commonly held notion that might makes right, helps to enable those supposedly in charge, to spend billions of dollars perpetrating violence. But there is difficulty, at least on a public relations front, when the enemy’s arsenal mainly consists of improvised explosive devices and of course, suicide bombers. While the other side, the good guys as it were, have everything from B-52 bombers to robotically guided drones. Perhaps that is why Mr. Cheney used an odd analogy to the Civil War, as an alibi to all this filth and carnage. With an unfounded belief in the invisible, even the most horrendous activity can be perceived in a noble light.


So the question then is: what is a rational peaceful person to do? It is rather obvious that solutions to these troubles will not be found on television. Jerry Mander once pointed out that the television industry thrives on conflict. It is not surprising, considering the enormous sums of money involved. War is portrayed as noble (never mind those Winter Soldier meetings). National Health Care is impossible (just look at the drug ads on the evening news). And conflict is celebrated, from Obama versus Clinton, to pay per view, ultimate extreme fighting.


It is indeed a corporate culture that demands that the ownership class knows what is best for us all. Democracy, as it is seen, is simply getting the yokels to vote every four years. It is no historical accident that the first people who were allowed to vote in this country, where slave owning white men with land. How strange it is to talk of exporting democracy, when right here, it is one continuous struggle.

CAUGHT UP IN THE CONCEPT

By: Thebeerdoctor

I recently spoke to a friend of mine and said somewhat dramatically that this election may be the last gasp for this country to be a democratic republic founded on human freedom. The signs of a rather dismal future are everywhere. The money is devalued. Oil has become a commodity god that justifies everything from torture to preemptive war. To paraphrase James Baker during Gulf War I, “in a word, it is about oil”. And do not forget greed. The billions being looted by the corporate outsourcing of the military, will continue no matter who gets elected. The main difference between the two political wings is that the republicans would never consider something so regressive as a windfall profits tax. KBR, Blackwater, and Bechtel etc., put out real money to make sure that never happens. The political machine needs grease. Always.So it is quite understandable that the political establishment feels threatened by Senator Barack Obama. For the first time in twenty years, there is a distinct possibility that the pageant government known as the presidency, will not be under the control of the Bush-Clinton crime families. Imagine that! It is no wonder that the Clinton team have resorted to the kitchen sink concept of campaigning. Karl Rove is most likely, very proud.

Add to all of this, the news media’s obsession with creating a story, using ambiguous talk about image, momentum, and of course, who is raising the most money. Suddenly it is time to call in the experts. Folks who will explain that Senator Clinton is stronger than ever, despite an enormous amount of mathematical evidence to the contrary. Pay no attention to that person behind the curtain. Obama they claim, is a light as a feather fairy tale ready to float away. Not exactly the truth, but if it sticks when you throw it up a wall, use it.

All of this helps to explain the alibis given when the election results do not turn out favorably. So if 600,000 more voters went for Obama, it is because the country, as Geraldine Ferraro put it, “is caught up in the concept”. According to the former vice-presidential candidate, Obama’s success is due to affirmative action. That is why he was the first black president of the Harvard Law Review. Who would have known?Racism, sexism, fear mongering and ridicule are useful weapons in the team Clinton toolbox. The disingenuous nature of Mrs. Clinton’s behavior should cause even her most loyal supporters to examine this election more carefully. What exactly is the concept to be caught up in? To maintain the status quo? Unfortunately maintaining things as they are, is very high maintenance indeed. The protection of the wealthy corporate elite is job number one. How else can you explain why national health care remains some abstract point of argument, rather than, as the British would say, a proper public service.

The fact that the United States government embraces the concept that violence and the purveying of it, is now proper global policy, only reveals how far the national character has been corrupted by mindless jingoistic fear. Barack Obama keeps pointing out that fear is not a working model. That not only the Iraq war is bad, but what is worse is the mindset that lead to it taking place. There is genuine empathy on the part of the Illinois candidate, for all of those not connected. People worried about losing their homes. Worried about loved ones being killed in wars no one seems to be able to explain. Worried about their analog televisions. Worried about vehicles that keep demanding more money for gasoline. Worried about jobs to get more money to buy more things, to get deeper in debt. Worried about cell phone coverage and the price of entertainment. Yes, the vast majority of Americans are caught up in the concept of a way of life, that soon, may no longer be possible. In such an atmosphere, it is not all that surprising that many ordinary Americans have said: it is time to try something different.

Dragging the Ship Over the Mountain

By: thebeerdoctor

Recent national political events have reminded me of something I have not considered for awhile. Watching Barack Obama going through the paces of his standard stump speech reminds me of the audacity of repetition. To find out you are genealogically related to someone, you hope that someone is cool. To be more seasoned means that all that hope is boiled out of you... I think you get the idea.

As a lifelong research student I am sometimes enthralled by the political process. A system that enables avarice and naked ambition to be disguised as altruism and public service. This, it has been said, is par for the course. The political professionals, sometimes known as insiders, are hip to this gag. But what about the voters?

Maybe it is just blowback for being a political junkie, but I swear I recently thought I saw Barack Obama looking somewhat like Klaus Kinski. Klaus Kinski? Yes, the late actor who portrayed a vampire in Werner Herzog's remake of Nosferatu. But that is not the movie I am reminded of. Rather, it is the epic movie Fitzcarraldo.Fitzcarraldo, if you have never seen it, is a movie about a man dragging a 200 ton steam ship over a mountain, as part of a commercial enterprise to build an opera house in a South American jungle town. Kinski's magnificent portrayal of Fitzcarraldo is that of a man with a dream obsession, and an indomitable will to make that vision a reality.

What is also quite remarkable about Fitzcarraldo is that the film itself is a record of visual truth. There are no special digital effects. Thus, the movie was indeed shot in the jungle, and that really is a full size ship being dragged over the mountain, and subsequently, bouncing down river rapids. There are no miniatures involved! Which strangely, reminds me of Senator Barack Obama's presidential campaign. His vision obsession, with his background as a community organizer, is to change the discourse of American politics so that real problems can be addressed. But one of the biggest obstacles in realizing this vision is the Democratic Party itself. That is the ship he is trying to drag over the mountain.

Consider this: look at the state of this country, as created by the politics-as-usual crowd. Hillary Clinton still boasts of the good times the country enjoyed when her husband was President, taking exaggerated credit for economic expansion (the dot com bubble) but not the retraction (when the dot com bubble burst) right after team Clinton left the White House. The same can be said about Bill Clinton's cheerleading and implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement. A policy that enabled businesses to exploit labor south of the border (Yes you can in Yucatan!), eliminating thousands of living wage jobs in the United States, simultaneously, causing thousands of undocumented workers to risk life and limb to cross into the U.S., after multi-national agribusiness reaped havoc on local Mexican agriculture. Family farmers found themselves beneath the shadow of the Jolly Green Giant. This would be laughable if it was not so tragic.Empty rhetoric or not, part of the appeal of Barack Obama's speech is that it invokes the idea of a more civilized world. Where free enterprise is not allowed to become the tyrant known as monopolized capitalism, and that human labor with dignity matters.

That may seem vague and unrealistic to some, but considering the delusional mindset in place now, this ship of state is about to head down the rapids, and could very easily smash up against the impending rocks.The movie Fitzcarraldo has a bittersweet ending. Although his commercial enterprise fails, Fitzcarraldo sells his ship and uses the money to bring an opera company to the jungle. His dream was realized, just not the way he imagined.

Thoughts on Obama

By: the beer doctor

The founder's day event in Wisconsin Saturday night presented a format problem for the Clinton campaign. Is it wise that Hillary comes out before Barack Obama? This makes it appear that she is the warm-up act, preparing the crowd for the main event, and I mean the main man, the guy you've heard so much talk about, the junior senator from Illinois!

But there is also a problem if Hillary Clinton appears after Obama. Then there will be these rather awkward comparisons to her "substance speech" with the "hope mongering" of Obama. Either way it is not good for Hillary Clinton. No matter how much the experts belittle so-called empty rhetoric, there is something about an inspiring speech that is so valuable in political theater that it indeed can make all the difference. And this is a juggernaut that the Clinton folks have to deal with: an intelligent candidate with natural rhetorical skills. Add to that the exoticism of his origins and story, it is easier to see why the inevitability of the Clinton nomination is now in doubt.Suffice to say that the Clinton campaign totally underestimated the strength and determination of Barack Obama. Preferring to operate in the delusion that Obama was just another black candidate, like Jesse Jackson, as Bill Clinton put it. Nothing in American politics could be further from the truth.

I remember the first time I saw Barack Obama on television. It was the speech he gave at the 2004 Democratic Convention. I said to my family at that time: "he may one day be the first black American president." I thought: some time in the future, and never would have imagined he would come so far in just four years time. Even last year, when he announced his candidacy, there was talk of a symbolic gesture, and it never seemed to occur to anyone at that time, that no, this was no gesture, he was going after the whole enchilada.

This is where the Clinton campaign made a huge mistake. Secure in the knowledge that they had the big money locked in, they campaigned with the confidence, now seen as hubris, that it will all be over by the first week in February. Meanwhile, the Obama folks were building up a giant small donor data base on the internet, with their candidate and his wife working as hard on the campaign trail as anybody in show business.

It would be best to put aside all the nonsense about Barack Obama being naive, untested and weak. Bill and Hillary have both tried that tactic, but without much success. Yes, it is true that Obama has the same stock speech that he gives day after day, and despite pundit consternations, it is most effective. Why? Well first it gets back to inspiration. As one attendant at an Obama rally told me: "I may not agree with him on all policy matters, but I respect him." This may be the basis for the so-called Obamacans, republicans who shudder at the thought of Senator McCain launching yet another preemptive war against Iran.

The whole race card gets hammered to death by the media. There again, those who know seem to be missing the point. Barack Obama's favorable numbers among white voters has very little, if any, to do with liberal guilt. It is much more likely that the general electorate has become weary of ideological, nonsensical, hot button issues. This divisive climate has made it close to impossible for a reasonable person to be considered. You only have to look at the rantings from both left and right to become conscious of the fact that they will never be satisfied no matter who the candidate is. For this corrosive but very loud minority, everything about the election is just to score some ideological points.

But what about the average voter? Someone who takes their civic responsibility seriously and votes, but does not make a racket and/or career out it. What is he or she to make of candidates who renounce the theory of evolution, say that all answers are in the Bible, and that torture is not only necessary but sometimes good? Or of a woman who claims her thirty five years of experience makes her the most qualified, when in fact the main reason she was able to move to the front of the line was because she was the spouse of an ex-United States President. Suddenly Barack Obama seems like a very resonable person indeed.

Make no mistake I am not a great supporter of Obama. I am too radical for that. As an advocate for universal peace and justice, and a complete end to the insane war on drugs, Senator Obama is too moderate for my personal concerns. But considering the alternatives in this frighteningly high stakes poker game, he is at this time, the best chance for this country.