Insanity in every corner in these times of needless war

We have reached unprecedented levels of dysfunction on both the political right and the political left. I agree with each of these conclusions by Glenn Greenwald of The Intercept:

1. New wars will always strengthen Trump: as they do for every leader. 2. Democrats’ jingoistic rhetoric has left them no ability – or desire – to oppose Trump’s wars. 3. In wartime, US television instantly converts into state media. 4. Trump’s bombing is illegal, but presidents are now omnipotent. 5. How can those who view Trump as an Inept Fascist now trust him to wage war? 6. Like all good conspiracy theories, no evidence can kill the Kremlin-controls-Trump tale. 7. The fraud of humanitarianism works every time for (and on) American elites. 8. Support for Trump’s Bombing Shows Two Toxic U.S. Conceits: “Do Something” and “Look Strong” 9. Obama’s refusal to bomb Assad hovers over everything. 10. None of this disproves, obviously, that Hillary Clinton was also a dangerous hawk.

Continue ReadingInsanity in every corner in these times of needless war

In Light of the GOP’s new Health Care Proposal, it’s Time to Rename the GOP as the “Social Darwinist Party.”

In light of the GOP's "solution" to the "problem" of Obamacare, it's time to simply and clearly declare that the GOP has become (and should be renamed) the "Social Darwinist Party." Addressing the cries of the Super Rich ("I want even more money") is no solution at all to the medical crises many of us face. I realize and recognize the frustration of the GOP that people who are lazy and/or who repeatedly make bad decisions resulting in being poor should not be able to mooch off the rest of us. But what about those who have worked hard and have been laid off by downsizing, and now earn $10/hour? What about people who are doing their best after being raised by dysfunctional families and/or "taught" at dysfunctional schools? Should they really be told that health care is totally out of their reach? I'm lucky that I am a 60 year old man who can afford to pay the market rate of $900/month for a $6,000 deductible ("Bronze") health care policy with Anthem for me and my teenage daughter. It was the best deal I could find this year. But there are good hearted hard-working people who are paid minimum wage, meaning that they gross about $1,500 a month for full time work. After Social Security taxes, if they were to pay $900/month for health insurance (and then all the co-pays and deductible) they would have NOTHING left on which to live. NOTHING. The GOP solution, I assume, is to have these people (many of whom voted for Trump) begging for health care at hospital doors, with many of them eventually dying in the streets. Is the GOP then going offer block grants to cities to help clean up the bodies of sick and dying people on the sides of streets? Obamacare was an flawed attempt to balance the many competing interests at play. But it was an attempt. It was far better than the GOP proposal, which is essentially, "If you can't come up with a LOT more money than minimum wage will pay you, then into society's scrap heap you go!" We can do better than Obamacare. We can do a LOT better than the current GOP proposal. It's time for single payor, a solution used by almost every other industrialized country.

Continue ReadingIn Light of the GOP’s new Health Care Proposal, it’s Time to Rename the GOP as the “Social Darwinist Party.”

GOP can’t afford $75B/year to provide public college to everyone, but CAN afford handing $600B tax cuts to top 1%

When Bernie Sanders proposed that the US spend $75 Billion per year to eliminate tuition to those attending public colleges and universities, the GOP scoffed and said that this money wasn't available and that Sanders' plan was irresponsible. For example, see the criticisms by Betsy DeVos, President Trumps's Head of the Department of Education. Now we hear that we can make America great again by handing the highest earning taxpayers (mostly the top 1%) a giant tax cut of $600 Billion stretching into 2026. And that $600 Billion tax cut also buys the horror of throwing tens of millions of Americans into the status of lacking health insurance. Therefore, we can't afford $75 Billion per year to give young Americans a college education, but we can afford to threaten the health and lives of tens of millions of Americans in order to hand the 1% $600 Billion in tax cuts. It's time to rename the GOP for what it is: The Social Darwinist Party.

Continue ReadingGOP can’t afford $75B/year to provide public college to everyone, but CAN afford handing $600B tax cuts to top 1%

David Frum discusses the era of Trump

Fascinating conversation: I just listened to a discussion on Donald Trump involving long time conservative David Frum and Sam Harris. What did Trump do that resonated deeply, according to Frum? A) The pain felt by rural America, B) That America's trade policy is not working well for most Americans, and C) Immigration does impose often invisible economic and cultural costs on many Americans in the bottom 30-40% of Americans. None of this suggests that Trump should be President. He is massively incompetent and disorganized, and has failed to make appointments. The U.S. has great power to end human life through it's nuclear arsenal. Trump is erratic and therefore dangerous. It's like being in a car with a hopelessly drunk driver. Trump is not a strategic visionary. He makes impulsive bad decisions, and digging out of his messes by blaming others. Trump is not Hitler. He is filled with bitterness and rage. His advisors are filled with rage--none of them are fully functioning people. Millions of people filled with rage are delighted to see Trump be rude to the snobs out there. His followers don't care about detrimental effects to themselves.

Continue ReadingDavid Frum discusses the era of Trump

Lee Camp: U.S. Prepares to Attack Iran to Assure Dominance of the U.S. Dollar

There are many illegitimate reasons for the U.S. to have begun killing people in the Middle East.  They include bigotry, control of oil and a Middle East country's resistance to U.S. imperialism.   Lee Camp offers another reason, the dominance of the U.S. dollar.  He argues that this factor has been behind the U.S. attacks of Libya and Iraq, and it is the reason the U.S. is now posturing to attack Iran.  See the first 11 minutes of a recent episode of Lee Camp's Redacted Tonight. One might wonder how difficult it would be to drum up a fake excuse to start a war in the U.S. It's not difficult, once the President decides to go to war behind closed doors.  This is a time-tested prescription, addressed in the video "War Made Easy." Chris Hedges discusses the intoxicating attraction of war:

The enduring attraction of war is this: Even with its destruction and carnage it can give us what we long for in life. It can give us purpose, meaning, a reason for living. Only when we are in the midst of conflict does the shallowness and vapidness of much of our lives become apparent. Trivia dominates our conversations and increasingly our airwaves. And war is an enticing elixir. It gives us resolve, a cause. It allows us to be noble.

Therefore, it's not going to be difficult for the U.S. to publicly justify a war with Iran, especially given the detached electorate, given the U.S. public's distaste for all things Muslim and the warmongers President Trump has gathered as his primary advisors.

Continue ReadingLee Camp: U.S. Prepares to Attack Iran to Assure Dominance of the U.S. Dollar