BULLET POINTS ON A CLOUDY DAY

Lie #412: Social Security is Falling Down

Check out this article in the new Rolling Stone in which economist Paul Krugman lays out exactly why Bush's social security privatization plan is more bullshit from the people who brought you WMD's and Enron's "Kenny Boy" Lay. Not only is social security not in any real danger of going broke, it is actually more solvent in many ways than the rest of the federal government's programs. Remember the GOP's greatest desire for the last 50 years people--to strip away all the entitlements the Federal government provides so that more money can be poured into the private sector (read: rich people). Don't believe the hype and turn the heat onto your senators and congresspeople to not let it happen.

40 Acres and A Mule...and the Bank...And Your Insurance Company...and the South...

A GOP congressman from California wanted to tie the payment of social security benefits to the race and gender of the recipients. No one expects this measure to take off, but the fact that it could even be suggested on the open floor of the House as a means of "alleviating" the burden on Social Security is disgusting and infuriating. What if we tied the allocation of resources in this country to the amount of labor and hardship that was contributed by the groups that built this country? White men would have nothing. Black women, followed by black men, white woman, Native Americans of either gender, Chinese-Americans and then on down the list to white men at the bottom would own every thing, control every resource would have this country in the palms of their collective hands lock, stock and barrel. But I'm not suggesting this because it's lunacy and it goes against the very concept of a United States. If you are a citizen you should get what's coming to you based on what you put away while you were working it's just that simple. Are we Americans in the 21st century, or Europeans in almost any century? Let's bury this idea before it even starts to see the light of day.

The R Spot's a'Rockin

Most of the Oscar picks were anticipated by my year end top movie choices, not bad if I do say so myself. (See my blog The R Spot. It's fun!) Check back throughout the week to get my take on the Academy Award nominations, who I thought got unfairly overlooked and why the Oscars have become the 2nd biggest Sunday event in these United States after the Super Bowl.

Super Bowl Pick

And since I brought it up (I know you didn't ask! It can't be all politics, all the time--that makes dissent channel a dull boy!), here's my Super Bowl pick. Don't take it to the bank, or Vegas, or Vinnie on the corner:

New England 20, Philadelphia 17 (OT)

That's right...the first overtime Super Bowl. And no Nipplegate this year, although I hear at halftime Bush and Cheney will be by and Bush will attempt to give a short foreign policy speech as the Veep drinks a glass of water. Should be interesting...

Peace Now.

THE CHECKLIST

My compadre has already eloquently outlined Priority #1 for the next four years: protecting the rights of women in this country to choose what they can and cannot do with their own bodies (that's what Pro-Life really is people). I thought I'd add a few other bullet points for progressives to speak out for in the next four years. Saddle up and mofo's and let's ride...

1) The Environment - Congress has already agreed to let the Department of the Interior open up several hundred thousand acres protected on Alaska's North Slope for oil development. Keep in mind that no matter how much oil may be buried under the frozen tundra of the North Slope, the most it could add to our practical oil reserves is 25 years. Our grandchildren will still need to find alternative fuels for their cars and every piece of plastic, vinyl and petroleum based product that we use had better be recycled or else we won't be able to live in our homes, wear any clothes or package most of our food because petroleum is the basis of all of that. And as we've seen, invading the Middle East to control their oil supply isn't the best answer either. We have to try and protect what's left of our biosphere and our Earth's natural habitat and we won't be able to do it through drilling for more oil and building more roads and pipelines to support those digs. (For more information and ways to proactively support this cause, contact NRDC [National Resources Defense Council], the Sierra Club, Earth First and you may also write letters to your local congressperson, senator or the Department of the Interior).

2) Increasing the regulatory function of the FCC for good causes, instead of morality clauses - Michael Powell (son of Colin) stepping down as chairperson is a good start, but the airwaves belong to the people and are supposed to be managed by the government--not given wholesale to giant media corporations to do with as they please. This is something the FCC, especially under Republican administrations, is loathe to do. I'd like to see restrictions on network ownership of local TV stations (no more than nine per network, and since UPN and CBS are owned by the same parent company, no double-dipping)...less concern about exposed nipples and more concern about making sure local news and programming is covered and treated with respect.

3) Ending the war in Iraq - We at dissent channel have devoted about 2 million words to this subject already, but it goes without saying that the longer we continue to bankrupt ourselves on an endless conflict in Iraq (while preparing for possible future incursions into Iran and Syria) the less money we'll have for social security, public schools, fixing our health care system and protecting the environment. Oh, and by the way, they don't want us there and there were no weapons of mass destruction, no matter how much the Bushies try to spin it.

We'll continue with more action items in the future. Honor the 32nd anniversary of Roe v. Wade. And a shout out to Johnny Carson, R.I.P. to the best late night television host of all time. You've been missed...

Peace.

SECOND VERSE, JUST LIKE THE FIRST

Bush's 2nd Inauguration - thoughts

"The best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom in all the world."
--President George W. Bush in his 2nd inaugural speech

If by "freedom" you realize Dubya means "our best American interests and/or Christianity" and by "peace" he really means "profit", then this rings as one of the most truthful and eloquent things the President has ever said.

Of course, there were the usual allusions to uniting this country, but the sad fact is that America remains as disunited as it has been at any time since the peak of the civil rights movement and it will remain that way as long as those in charge of our country collude either intentionally or unintentionally with the media to exacerbate our differences and use certain points of public policy and personal morality to keep us in our Tiny Little Boxes where we can be more easily controlled.

As dodgy old Chief Justice Rehnquist--there's no way he survives the next four years is there?--gave Bush the oath of office, it mattered not the speech that followed because it has already been made clear through Bush's appointments, his demeanor and his press conferences since the election that his next term will be just like the first, only more so, with more smugness and an even greater sense of righteous enlightenment. ("Don't like the war in Iraq? Fuck you, we're spreading democracy. Did I hear you ask about weapons of mass destruction? What are you, a traitor? Next question...")

It's clear from recent stories and speculations that Iran is next on the neocons next, a challenge for those "democracy spreaders" if ever there was one and the ultimate goal in a thirty-year plan the neocons have been secretly hatching to create an American hegemony in the Middle East. Because that's where the oil is see and everything in their political vision comes down to two things--oil politics and playing "to the conservative base" which means selling out homosexuals, minorities and women to try and approximate some anitquated, never-actually-existed vision of a wholesome, family values America. Everything else either gets shunted aside or is allowed to wither on the vine. Like Social Security. And public school education. So it goes.

If the progressives seem like a defeated lot, well, we are even though every poll and every accounting shows that a majority of Americans share at least some, if not most, progressive values: the protection of a woman's right to choose; a desire for clean air and clean drinking water; safe borders and a desire to avoid foreign conflicts; more money for schools--even public ones--and fewer tax breaks for the rich; despite thirty years of relentless attacks by the right, a slim majority of Americans even still support some kind of affirmative action for minorities. Yet with all of these common virtues, we have an administration in place that supports none of them, except on the rare occasion where one of these values intersects with a political or financial gain that the Right can make. How did this happen?

One, we haven't had a truly uncontested, uncontroversial democratic presidential election in this country since 1996. Just think, the Republic of the Congo and Nigeria, two historically troubled democracies, have had more successful, undisputed elections since then. Clearly, operatives have successfully and systematically subverted the will of the American people in key locations twice over the last four years. Two, the progressive side has suffered from a lack of unity and a perceived "personality deficit" in the last two presidential elections. Either Ralph Nader helps to nibble us to death in 2000 or dynamic, charismatic thinkers like Howard Dean and Dennis Kucinich are viewed as "too high strung" or "too fringe" to make much of an impact within the Democratic party, giving us mediocrities like John Kerry to carry forth the banner of progressivism--something he did remarkably well given his background as a more moderate Democratic senator, but something he never seemed truly comfortable with during the campaign. His discomfort played out in endless parsings and clarifications of his positions, which the GOP then labelled as "flip-flops" to the delight and eager repetition of a lazy and conservatively slanted mass media.

So what do we do for the next four years? Despite what some might suggest, Canada is not a realistic option. We can't bury our heads in the sand, but then no person can fight, fight, fight 24-7-365 with little or no expectation of meaningful result without going as batty as Flavor Flav with a busted clock. The best approach is to raise your voice as often as possible, in a way that makes you feel comfortable to speak out against the lies, distortions and half truths the Bushies and the media spin our way every day. Read alternative media. Pay attention when Bush spokespeople suddenly change rationales and soundbites (e.g."we went to Iraq to rid them of weapons of mass destruction...we went to Iraq to spread democracy and freedom.") Do something every day, or at least every week, that will lay the groundwork to put people in office who will protect what you value most, even if you don't totally subscribe to the progressive agenda. It's called due diligence and it beats losing yourself in the latest reality TV show any day of the week. It's not even that much hard work.

The best thing that can be said about where we stand today is that we don't have to worry about Bush stealing another election. If we're not careful, we could get another damaging conservative fraud like Rudy Guiliani in 2008, but the grassroots organization and the outrage is already in place to prevent another hijacking of the American presidency the next time around. We must whether the storm, not fall into lockstep with the "so-called majority" and know that assuming Bush and his cadre don't find a way to end our world as we know it in the next four years, their time will be up and the pendulum should swing our way for a change. It's not much to hang your hat on I admit, but it beats spending the next four years face down in your beer, wondering what the hell is going on.

Peace...

THIS JUST IN: It Might Not Be So Good To Be Non-White

If the AIDS Don't Get You, The Bureaucrats Might...

From the AP comes more news today that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Dr. Jonathan Fishbein, formerly of the National Institute of Health, testitifed today that a U.S. funded study on AIDS medication in Uganda was so flawed and careless that it may actually have put the lives of hundreds of mothers and their babies at risk. Is the capital of Uganda Tuskegee?

Dr. Jonathan Fishbein said officials at the National Institutes of Health overlooked problems with the way the study was conducted on the drug, nevirapine, which was being used to protect babies in Africa from HIV infection during birth.

Fishbein testified before a panel of scientists at the independent Institute of Medicine NIH, which maintains that the drug is safe in single doses, asked the institute to conduct the review.

Recently, President Bush okayed $500 million worth of funding to use nevirapine throughout Africa.

Fishbein testified that the study was not merely careless, but that it revealed "a callous indifference to the fate of Africans. African life, it would appear, is not to be valued as highly as American life."

If you've never heard of nevirapine or heard of it being used to treat AIDS and HIV here in the States, well, now you know why.

Of course, what are we to expect from a country that historically has knowingly disseminated smallpox laden blankets to Native American tribes, that has knowingly given syphillis to African-American men with no intention of ever curing them, what do we expect from a country that regularly invades and bombs nations of black and brown people, and dropped the deadliest weapon in the world on a nation of "yellow" people?

The irony here, if there is one, is that in a lot of cases, nevirapine seems to help treat the symptoms of AIDS/HIV, especially among infants. One wonders though, if that's just a happy accident...

Peace.

(Click here for the entire AP article on the Uganda field study.)