Rules

There are two kinds of people in the world, those who think rules are what should govern everything and who have inordinate respect for them. And those who think rules are negotiable in most circumstances, because circumstances change things. And the thought struck me when I thought about religious rules. All of the monotheistic religions have a bunch of rules. Why is it these religions are the ones freighted down with rules? And is it coincidental that they're the ones who seem to be the most concerned with sin, reward, and punishment? Heaven, hell, eternal reward, eternal punishment, and all the behaviors one must practice and avoid to gain one or the other. These concepts make no sense to Buddhists, Taoists, Hindus.

The baseline question I'm thinking about is what kind of religion would Christianity be if it could be separated from its rules long enough to contemplate exactly what Jesus meant? The more I think about it, the less I think he had to do with rules of any kind. .

Socialism is Not the Problem

Bill Maher is a really funny guy. So funny sometimes that you might overlook just how smart he is. It's impossible to overlook what a committed and outspoken progressive he is. What Maher does is the best cutting edge political satire around, and he doesn't spare anyone or mince words. Take this piece, for example. How true is this:

"How about this for a New Rule: Not everything in America has to make a profit. It used to be that there were some services and institutions so vital to our nation that they were exempt from market pressures. Some things we just didn't do for money. The United States always defined capitalism, but it didn't used to define us. But now it's becoming all that we are."

Exactly. How many times have you found yourself saying, "It's all about money"? Or some variation on the theme we all know so well.  Maher is just putting it starkly and humorously. Everything's for sale. Everything is measured by money. It's a truly vacant way to live. Contractors we pay billions to do the same thing the military used to do for itself: like cook and clean. Corporations running prisons. Corporations running health care.

Maher doesn't have much  use for Obama's health plan. Like many of us, he's disgusted with what the corporations are getting out it.

"When did the profit motive become the only reason to do anything? When did that become the new patriotism? Ask not what you could do for your country, ask what's in it for Blue Cross/Blue Shield. If conservatives get to call universal health care 'socialized medicine,' I get to call private health care 'soulless vampires making money off human pain.' The problem with President Obama's health care plan isn't socialism, it's capitalism.

Amen, brother.

Only Reverent Silence Suffices

War . . . it's the same everywhere and at all times. What's the difference between a British infantryman in the trenches at the Somme, a Japanese draftee in a cave on Iwo Jima or a U.S. Marine humping 70 pounds in Afghanistan? Not a thing if you're dead. 

Prelude: The Troops 

 

Dim, gradual thinning of the shapeless gloom
Shudders to drizzling daybreak that reveals
Disconsolate men who stamp their sodden boots
And turn dulled, sunken faces to the sky
Haggard and hopeless. They, who have beaten down
The stale despair of night, must now renew
Their desolation in the truce of dawn,
Murdering the livid hours that grope for peace.

Yet these, who cling to life with stubborn hands,
Can grin through storms of death and find a gap
In the clawed, cruel tangles of his defence.
They march from safety, and the bird-sung joy
Of grass-green thickets, to the land where all
Is ruin, and nothing blossoms but the sky
That hastens over them where they endure
Sad, smoking, flat horizons, reeking woods,
And foundered trench-lines volleying doom for doom.

O my brave brown companions, when your souls
Flock silently away, and the eyeless dead
Shame the wild beast of battle on the ridge,
Death will stand grieving in that field of war
Since your unvanquished hardihood is spent.
And through some mooned Valhalla there will pass
Battalions and battalions, scarred from hell;
The unreturning army that was youth;
The legions who have suffered and are dust.

from Counter-Attack, by Siegfried Sassoon, 1918

Facts We Really Don't Need

Remember yo mama telling you to wear clean drawers, because "suppose you're in an accident"? Well it turns out yo mama knew whereof she spoke. Are you ready for this? Half, that's HALF the Americans who wipe their butts with paper "spend their days with 'fecal contamination'--anything from 'wasp-colored stains' to 'frank massive feces'--in their underpants," according to a piece in the end of August Newsweek. If you'll please pardon the expression, holy shit! Who would have ever thunk it? One out of every two people you see--in your office, church, or school yard--think about it. Some are toting "massive feces."  Boggles my mind this kind of stuff.

As Rachel Maddow would say, "here's another holy mackerel story in today's news." The average American uses  57 sheets of TP a day*, and this, as you might surmise, has serious environmental repercussions. If we didn't use TP at all we'd save: "15 million trees, 17.3 terrawatts of electricity, and more than 473 billion gallons of water."

And what's this all about? Article argues that it's about Americans' refusal to accept the bidet, which, like universal health care, other civilized societies use all the time. You knew it was going to come down to some silly American prejudice, didn't you? Right. No real man would use one of those things. Well, I've got news for you: lots do. I used them in Europe, and so did millions of others. What's not to like about being fresh and clean down there, dude [or dudette]? Yo mama would definitely not want you to be guilty of any kind of fecal contamination, much less the "massive" kind. Bidets are great for washing your feet in as well. Needless to say, their environmental impact is minimal. Plus, they are perfect size for a cat.

*OK, I don't know about you, but I would not go through 57 sheets of toilet paper in 5 days. Really makes me wonder about the "average" American. How in hell does a person use this much toilet paper in a day? (Of course, I have no lab data about females. They, judging by my wife, probably push the average way up. Admittedly, that's a pretty small sample.) And how do the statisticians come up with these numbers? Do they count all those loose sheets of TP you will always find in less-than-savory bathrooms? Or the bunches some halfwit has thrown in the toilet just because he could? I'm not even going to ask how they know that half of us are soiled all the time.

What More Proof Do We Need?

"What more proof do we need?" shouted Caiaphas, as he rent his garments. It's what I feel like shouting when I read that the Mart of Darkness (otherwise known as Wal-mart) has finally won its years long battle with the Forces of Light and will now be able to construct one of their god-awful supercenters of God knows how many square feet on part of the Civil War Wilderness battlefield in Orange County, Virginia. What more proof do we need that this corporation is a soulless animal? What more proof do we need that most Americans are short-sighted blockheads? What more proof do we need that capitalism unrestrained by an imperative for the common good will destroy everything in its path?

The issue is reservation of several hundred acres of hallowed ground. Though not part of the protected Wilderness battlefield, the area where the Wal-Mart is going was part of the actual battlefield,  the initial blood bath between Grant and Lee in early May, 1864. Some 29,000 Americans bled into this ground. It should never be dishonored by concrete, traffic, noise, and mouth-breathing Bubbas bent on bargains. But dishonor it we will. The vote by the county's board of supervisors was overwhelming, 4-1. Tell you the truth, I've been surprised that historians and other sane people have been able to stave off this abomination for as long as they have. I know it's been several years. The worst aspect of the store's location is traffic flows. Traffic this new store will generate promises to be fiercely disruptive, especially along the Orange Turnpike, present day Route 20 which cuts straight through the preserved Wilderness land.

The arguments of over 230 historians and other preservationists against this project were unavailing, not in the face of an enemy this big. Guess what the arguments are in favor of this desecration? Ain't hard. There were three principal ones. In no particular order: money, money, and money, i.e., jobs, tax revenue, and cheap shopping. Oh, yeah. Gotta have those low, low everyday prices. Now, it's not as if Wal-Mart can't find another place to put its damn store. No, it's that these people just don't care, least of all about history. This is another of those things that convince me that we're basically a doomed people just playing out the string. Our god is Mammon,  a hateful, rapacious deity whom will sacrifice anything to.

Goons on the Loose

OK. I've been silent about this long enough. Just what in the hell is up with these morons coming to health care meetings and presidential town hall meetings packing weapons? My first impression when I saw this on TV was: what the hell are these idiots doing? What are they trying to prove? That's been over a week ago, well over a week, and I still don't get it. I have the same questions.

Let's think about this for a minute. Seriously. Just why would somebody go out in public with an assault rifle slung across his shoulder or either alternatively or additionally with a holstered weapon on their thigh? Is it to make a statement about the 2nd Amendment? Dudes, we already know the Supreme Court in its folly has blessed the notion of individual gun ownership as a constitutional right. Are you trying to scare somebody? Well, you might just be succeeding there. It causes me to reflect upon the fact that there are hundreds of thousands of similar idiots as yourselves out there, armed to the teeth. This indeed is scary. Is it to make a statement that if political decisions don't comport with your ideas,  you gonna start shooting? Well, maybe. And that would simply confirm that you need psychiatric care.

Turns out these clowns--at least the ones spotted in Arizona and New Hampshire--are members of a far-right militia called We The People. We've been down this road before. Remember the crazies in the '90s running around in cami's out in the woods? Same, same. These guys. And what are they all about? Freedom, of course. Aren't they all? We The People exists to fight a government that "continues to systematically plunder our People's wealth, ignore constitutional checks and balances and destroy the last vestiges of Freedom."

It's difficult for me to believe that people can think Obama is ignoring the Constitution after eight years of the vile little pretender formerly in the White House. But these sentiments, brothers and sisters, are what have the goons all stirred up. Makes you wonder just what degree of separation exists between them and the screechers and screamers in the town hall meetings.

WWJD? Not What We Do, That's for Sure

I read today that the Evangelical Lutheran church (the largest in the denomiation) has relaxed its previous policy to now allow openly gay men and women serve as clergy. The resolution declared that people in “publicly accountable, lifelong, monogamous same-gender relationships” could now be official ministers. (Celibate gays were already admitted to the ministry.) The Lutherans reached this decision after studying and pondering it for eight years. Only a few weeks ago, the Episcopalian Church in the U.S. endorsed an identical policy. Apparently the Presbyterians are leaning this direction also. But not the Methodists, who are strongly on record against this.

Naturally, the move has been roundly condemned by the conservatives in the church. Not a surprise. People have threatened to split off from the church and form their own. Not a surprise there either. Episcopalians have already done the same over the installation of an openly gay "married" bishop several months ago.

Just a couple of observations: No matter what, the Christians, supposedly followers of Jesus by any name, can always find any number of issues to squabble and fight about. But this particular issue is certainly not an issue to be splitting up churches over.* Somehow I don't see the Jesus of the gospels getting too overwrought about this issue . . . certainly not with major wars and civil wars raging all over the planet, when millions of people are starving, when unmet human needs across the globe are crying out for his attention. I seriously doubt he's going to get concerned about two people living in fidelity with each other in a committed relationship of love. And if this is the case, why should we be concerned?

*If a person is genetically hard-wired to be a homosexual, what's the issue? But then that's a whole 'nother post.

A Thread of Hope?

OK. Did you find yesterday's post a bit too gloomy? Never say that I don't consider the feelings of my few but loyal readers. In the spirit of lifting the black pall of gloom over the prospects for healthcare reform, I'm willing to give equal time to something I wish I had more of around me: an optimist. The piece is by Robert Borosage and it appeared in The Huffington Post a couple of days ago. Basically what Borosage argues is that the real sticking point for the Democrats on health care is not the nut cases out in the town meetings. It's certainly not Republicans. Reminding us once again that by the numbers, the Democrats do not need GOP votes in the Senate or House, he focuses instead on what he describes as a truly attenuated minority of Democrats in the Senate, the so-called blue dogs. And despite what they say, he contends, these guys are not going to sink Obama's healthcare effort simply to make a point.

Why would a handful of Blue Dogs get in the way of a unified position? A government plan as an option isn't a difficult political vote. The hard choice is voting for any comprehensive reform -- and they will pay a much higher political price for failing to produce than for voting for a public option. The only reason to block a plan is either ideological rigidity, or the corrupting influence of insurance company contributions. In this circumstance, citizen mobilization can help educate the recalcitrant on the need to join the president and the majority of the party.

Well, before we break out the champagne over the unassailable cogency of this argument, mark "the corrupting influence of insurance company contributions" well. As well as "citizen mobilization." Moreover, there is a very strong possibility that the Democrats will not have the votes of either 91-year-old Robert Byrd (WV) or ailing Ted Kennedy (MA), old warhorses who have been too sick to be present throughout the debate till now. Which means, of course, that they will have to scrape up two Republican votes for their health care reform plan. How comfortable are you with this notion? I'm not very. In short, much as I would like to embrace it, this argument still hangs on threads.

Please Make It Stop

Oh, how I dearly wish this healthcare nightmare were over and done with. I'm sick of it. Tired of it. I wish that Obama would get his little meaningless legislation passed now and have his little signing ceremony in the Rose Garden surrounded by all the smiling tools of Pharma, insurance, and hospital companies. You know, those people whose interests are going to be protected through our "reform" of healthcare.

This whole thing is going worse than I thought possible. Worse because the president refuses to get out there and fight for something he promised us. This is the most devastating attack on Obama by a Democrat that I've yet encountered. And, sad to say, I found myself reading it and agreeing. In fact, there was nothing in this fairly lengthy piece that I can honestly say I disagree with, from "Obama is turning to be a disastrous president," to

Suffice it to say that both the insurance and pharmaceutical industries are now spending hundreds of millions of dollars running ads on television in favor of healthcare "reform". I can hardly think of a handier or more pure litmus test for determining whether this is good legislation or not. If those guys are for it, and especially if they're spending millions to make it happen, it's a very safe bet that I'm against it. And if those industries are for it, it's a very safe bet that the deal is they get rich and we get nothing. Except maybe poor. And sick.

to

In exchange for their political support, our 'socialist' president secretly promised the pharmaceutical and insurance industries that their costs under any new legislation would be capped at $80 and $155 billion, respectively, over ten years time. In short - nickels and dimes.

I truly, truly want to be focused on something else besides this absurd charade of reform effort, where the guy who promised us reform is curled up in bed with Republicans and the corporations. Am I to assume that Obama and all those smart people around him are suddenly going to decide they are actually going to deliver what they promised? That would get me to stop going on about this. But every day seems to bring anger and frustration by another progressive before my eyes.

Or something else, like this, that simply confirms all over for me that the American people are deluded and ignorant people. Hey I've got an idea, let's bar Republicans from the reforms. They have such a great problem with reform, screw 'em and their families too. Let's pass the law so it only applies to people who aren't Republicans. How does that sound?

Gone Missing: Spine

I was all set to write a tirade about the perfidy of the Obama administration on health care reform, when the position the administration staked out over the weekend seemed to dissolve today. For those of you not paying attention, the President, his press secretary, and the secretary of health and human affairs all put out distinct signals that the administration was willing to scuttle the so-called "public option," on health care reform. Faced with an outcry from the progressive Democrats in the House, not to mention a similar howl of outrage from the progressives in the party at large, the administration beat a hasty retreat. All the signals today were that "nothing has changed," a patently false assertion. For the moment, the president and his troops can't stand the heat from their own party. Don't worry, that will change soon enough.

I still have not changed my expectations about the final outcome of this imbroglio: Obama will cave on health care reform. He will do anything to get some kind of bill passed, which means he's prepared to give up public option, no matter what he and his people are saying today. He is willing to embrace any kind of legislation he can slap the "reform" label on, including health care cooperatives, an idea that's been bruited about for months, which, I guarantee you, not one in five hundred Americans, if that many, understand. (I sure as hell don't.) Which, by the way, the Republicans will not support either. This whole thing has become a freaking nightmare.

Here's an email I sent to a friend today. This was before I learned about Obama's reversal of field on the public option. But this pretty much an accurate description of my basic sentiments, and my basic sentiments about this are not going to change. All that's not here is my utter loathing for the Republicans, every single one of them, who are going to vote their corporate masters' interests and to hell with the American people. I have not heard a single one of them condemn the outrages their crazies out in the country are doing at the town meetings.

I'm thoroughly pissed. If Obama drops the public option, I'm finished with him. The guy is a frigging trimmer, and I'm beginning to suspect a liar as well. What's being bruited about now is NOT what 71 percent of the US people want. He seems willing to do just about anything just to get a bill. It was the progressive votes that got this guy into office, and all we've gotten since he took over is the back of his hand. This country needs a third party in the worst way, but I don't think it's going to happen without millions on the streets.

What's obvious to me is that single-payer health care system is what we need, but Obama took that off the table before we even got started. He told the insurance companies and hospitals, look, if you don't tear me new asshole like you did Clinton, I'll see that single-payer doesn't get considered. So the bastards said OK, and you see what's happened. The brownshirts are out in the town meetings scuttling the whole effort.

This kind of time will not come again soon. Obama has majorities in both houses. Do you think for a second he's going to have them after the mid-terms? The Republicans are making complete hash out of this feckless, half-hearted attempt at a reform that is crying out to be made.

I'm very close to abandoning this president. Very close. He's smart, charismatic, and inspiring. All this helped get him into office. But since then he's shown his true self. He's way too enamored of the idea that you can actually work with the jackals of the Republican party. Plus he's not kicking the sorry asses of the Republicans' allies in his own party, the miserable blue dogs, who in the final analysis are the true villains of the piece. So where's the presidential spine it takes to get the job done here? Sorry, our guy's got no spine.