Buffy Anne Summers, aka

Archive for the ‘politics’ Category

When I began this post, I had various titles in mind.

One was, ‘World Government, Inc.: 100, US Citizen: 0.’

Another was, ‘USA 1776 – 2010, R.I.P.’

Or simply, ‘Kiss Your Ass Goodbye.’

But ‘Kiss It Goodbye?’ seems to say it well enough, because whatever you may think ‘It’ is, whether it be your privacy, your right to own a small business that competes with the big boys, independent media, US sovereignty, or freedom itself, it just may be time to kiss it goodbye.

Because the same madmen in the Supreme Court that gave us George W. Bush back in 2000 gave away your country today to wealthy international investors.

On the off chance you haven’t heard by now — by a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court removed all restrictions on corporate spending on political campaigns, exactly the opposite of the kind of reform that is truly needed.

The potential consequences of this decision cannot be overstated. Imagine the worst case scenario from the most oppressive science fiction movie society you’ve ever seen. Okay? Now imagine worse.

Our founders (and the overwhelming majority of our leaders ever since) believed in regulating corporations — especially in the political realm — they believed in common sense definitions of common words and certainly could not have expected such insanity as this:  that a corporation is a person and that any regulation of its expenditures on political campaigns is an abridgment of that person‘s free speech.

In a society of increasing ignorance, lack of engagement, apathy… perhaps this was inevitable, but to say a corporation is a person… well, we might as well say a dog is a person and that any laws that govern where and when that dog poops, or any law that requires that such poop subsequently be removed, is a clear violation of that person‘s speech.

And yes, I’m comparing a corporation’s free speech to dog poop, although I admit it probably does do an injustice to poop.

A corporation is not (even remotely) a person. Any small child of average intelligence can tell you that. It has no friends, relatives or children who must live (or suffer and die) in whatever kind of future it creates. And it has no spiritual aspirations, no moral code, and no conscience. A corporation’s sole purpose is to maximize return on investment for its investors, who are by the way, international.

The fact that so many Republican “leaders” applauded this decision is incontrovertible proof, as if we needed it, that they and their party no longer represent US interests, but World Government, Inc.

So… if you’re not ready yet to kiss it goodbye, and if you’re not quite yet ready to grab your guns and head into the streets for a bloody revolution either, then call, yell, and scream at your Congress:  it’s way past time to impeach these madmen in our Supreme Court; it’s way past time for we the people to reassert ourselves and take this country back.

What happened in Haiti was simply an act of God, or an act of Nature, right?

Sort of.

But not entirely. What our mass media isn't telling you is that some of our "leaders" helped create this appalling situation.

Yes, this is what the pundits always call politicizing a news story, and what our mass media generally decline to do.

I could and probably should go into more detail, but as Max Blumenthal has done such a good job of that already, I'll merely point you in his direction:

http://maxblumenthal.com/2010/01/how-washingtons-plot-against-haiti-worsened-the-disaster/

http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2004/07/16/haiti_coup/print.html

http://i2.democracynow.org/2004/7/20/did_the_bush_administration_allow_a

And can you believe Obama asked George W. to join in a bipartisan effort for Haitian relief? Really? After what happened (and is still happening in many respects) to New Orleans? Almost anyone, even John McCain, would have been a better choice. I guess in most ways Barack's just another politician, and the only reason I can continue to support him is that the alternatives all look to be much, much worse.

Well… heads up guys. Hope to be back in posting mode sometime soon. Have just been so busy lately… y'know?

Dear Mr. President, I would like to tell you how disappointed I am in your presidency so far. I would like to, but I don’t think I have the words to express it adequately.

You promised. You promised the beginning of a new era, a new way. And you told us not to expect you to do it alone, not to go home but to stay involved, to keep up the fight, in short, to help you.

And then you took office. What happened? When since have you inspired us and led us and asked us to help? You began by leaving many of the various and Constitutionally questionable policies of the previous administration untouched, and asked us to be patient. You said it wasn’t time yet to close Gitmo, and asked us to be patient. You have so far refused to pursue any significant prosecutions of the previous administration in spite of mounting evidence that such prosecutions are sorely needed, and asked us not to look back.

None of that has been very inspiring, Mr. President, but most of us have continued to give you the benefit of a doubt.

Yet now, most recently, on health care and climate change, you have refused to draw a line in the proverbial sand and state unequivocally what is and is not acceptable — and even while failing to fight for a public option in a health care “reform” legislative battle (that now appears to be the war-time equivalent of providing free armaments and ammunition to the enemy), you pronounced an abysmally inadequate agreement in Copenhagen a great success.

During all of this, when did you inspire us? When did you ask us for our help? When did you take a stand, a specific stand, a real and unequivocal stand, and say to us, I will not turn, but I cannot do this alone, I need your help, I need you to come forth with the passion you had during the campaign and make your will known in terms that our detractors cannot mistake, and cannot deny, and cannot overwhelm with mere propaganda?

The sad fact is that that moment never came.

Yes, you have had a very full plate. Your predecessor left you with a daunting job, and I don’t mean to be ungrateful or harsh. But I and my friends have put ourselves on the line, and some of us may have endangered the future of our own careers, our own health care options, and otherwise, by taking a stand, publicly and honestly and dangerously. Because we believed in the cause and because we believed in you. Should we have just stayed silent?

Maybe you remember, or maybe you don’t, but I told you one time, several months ago, that if you wanted things to be easy, especially now, at this extraordinary time in history, then you’d had no business running for president, even less persuading us to believe in you, and even less actually being president.

If these were ordinary times, and if you were an ordinary politician, I very likely would chalk up all that has transpired this year to “politics as usual.” But these are not ordinary times and you are not an ordinary president. You encouraged a whole new generation to be involved, and you inspired many more to believe in possibility one more time. You promised change we could believe in.

Yet having begun with the potential to be one of this country’s great leaders and one of the best things to ever happen to this country, you are now at risk of becoming one of the worst. Not just because you never drew a line and stood your ground, not just because your fine words and speeches seem so much more empty of substance today than they did a year ago, but because your apparent inability to draw that line and stand that ground risks poisoning a whole new generation with the cynicism and apathy that has plagued this nation, and this world, for far too long.

I am still hoping that you are smarter and more clever and more courageous and more committed than I am giving you credit for, that somehow, like a magician, you will pull rabbits out of a hat, or better, cause elephants to disappear before our eyes, and we will ooh and ahh and be amazed at your strategy and gape in wonder at the change that has finally come, the change we really can believe in.

But it is beginning to feel as if the hour already is getting very late, and any and all evidence of that hypothetical, brilliant strategy has yet to show itself.

Mr. President, you are clearly a very intelligent man, clearly a very thoughtful man; you are charming almost to a fault, you speak well and have your way with words, often deliver your oratory almost without flaw, and are understandably concerned about your legacy.

But Mr. President, throughout the various battles this year, we didn’t need just your intelligence, and your thoughtful consideration, and your charm, or just your beautiful words, and we are very selfishly more concerned about our own futures and the future of our country and the world than we are about your legacy. We didn’t need talk. We needed walk.

What we needed was for you to take a stand and fight and refuse to turn even in the face of defeat. That would’ve inspired us. We would’ve stood with you and together we probably would’ve won, but if necessary, gone down in defeat with you, and come back again to fight again, knowing that the battles were right.

What we needed was — what we still need is — your leadership.

After a little thought I realized my last post wrongly blamed just Republicans. I even lowered myself to using their tactics by calling them names, i.e. collectively 'Repugs,' and in the specific cases of Prejean and Palin, 'morons.'

I suppose my first instinct was correct, that you guys probably don't want to read all about my wonder and shock and disgust in the first place, but I can't say I'll never do it again because I care, and I do get disgusted sometimes and let things slip; but I should've been at least fair enough to acknowledge that conservative (faux) Democrats are much of the problem, too, when it comes to getting anything worthwhile out of this health care "reform" effort.

I guess I just don't believe in it. I want to, but I just don't. To me, after having voted for Obama, after having promoted health care reform in various ways, what has happened merely clarifies just how corrupted and corporatized our system has become. It looks to me like the will of the people is not even a contender in the contest to run this country anymore, and when so many seem incapable of separating fact from fiction, and allow so many of the decisions that affect all our lives to be made in the dark, or behind closed doors, and so rarely hold the liars and criminals and corrupted political leaders to account even when they are caught red handed, well, maybe the people's will shouldn't be influential.

I suppose we all can hope that we can somehow continue to escape into fantasy indefinitely… but in actuality, I think we all know we can't, and if this means we'll have the corporations in charge from now on… well, let's just say Anya's altered reality of Cordelia's world without Buffy may actually look attractive one day by comparison.

That's right. I'm saying, if this is how things are going to be from now on, sooner or later, it will end badly. Very. For all of us.

But hopefully I'm just being way too negative. If you haven't figured it out yet, let me clue you in: I'm kind of a moody guy.

Back to the original intent of this post — mea culpa folks. Next time out, I'll try to talk more about Buffy.

With everything going on, I know I should have posted ere now. I've certainly had things to say, but short things, tiny little bursts, mostly of wonder and shock, with a little disgust for seasoning, and you guys don't want to read all that, do you?

I mean, I could say something about Prejean and Palin. I could say to them, it isn't some left wing media conspiracy, it isn't anyone trying to silence you or shut you up or what McCain and his folk did to you, it isn't about being beauty queens or speaking out against gay marriage or because you're women or any other notion that may come to mind.

You're just deluded morons. That's all it is. You represent the exact opposite of female empowerment, the exact opposite of anything that could be remotely associated with a blog devoted to Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Now Sarah, Carrie, don't give us that look. You know it's true. Er, well, being deluded morons, I guess maybe you don't.

And I could say that it was mostly idiots and sociopaths that took the reins of power as the Roman Empire fell, and that anyone in this country could seriously suggest Palin or Carrie (or George W. Bush, for that matter) for any political office — at least any national political office — ought to give us all pause about what lesson we might want to learn from that ancient empire.

And I could say I'm none too sure about how this health care reform is shaping up. It looks like the standard Republican playbook, i.e., if you can't kill it, maim it in the hope that it won't work once implemented; and then you can go home to your constituents and say, 'see, I told you that dog won't run,' without ever mentioning to their ignorant faces that it might've run, and even howled at the moon, if you and your party hadn't insisted on maiming it first.

And then I could mention that that is essentially what happened to the stimulus, isn't it? The Repugs maimed it as it moved through the Congress, and now their pundits come on the TV and post on their blogs that it didn't work? And then I could ask out loud, 'how many times are the Demos gonna fall for this? Will the Demos never learn?'

Or I could say that, y'know, maybe I don't know what's happening. That's very possible. Maybe it is worthy reform, or will become worthy before the end, and not just a give-away to the insurance industry, and maybe it's gonna work, and maybe if it doesn't work too well, the voters will still give the Demos another chance or two to improve it.

Yeah? I could say that. Maybe so.

Or maybe I could just forget all attempts at political relevance and just blog about Buffy. Yeah. Maybe I could.

Well that's coming soon.

I hope.