Irony on the rocks with a twist...

“Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it.” -Satayana

At midnight on January 16th 1920, the 18th Amendment, also known as the Volstead Act, went into effect, making the manufacture, distribution, sale, and consumption of intoxicating alcohol illegal in the United States of America. What followed was a decade of explosive criminality, a black market of illegal booze flowed from every border, port, and bathtub. Illegal “speakeasies” sprung up overnight. Violent clashes between rival gangs of bootleggers, the mafia, and police caused unimaginable dangers far greater than the imbibing of alcohol. Despite its good intentions to protect public health, and well-being, the “…Cure proved far more dangerous than the disease.” After 13 years of abysmal failure, the 18th Amendment was repealed by the 21st allowing those suffering from the woes of The Great Depression the right once more to legally drown their sorrows.

Despite the rather obvious lessons learned from the “grand experiment” of the 18th Amendment, the U.S. has consistently failed to apply these lessons to developing a sane and rational approach to drug policy. Prohibition has demonstratively proven that it doesn’t work. By rendering the production, distribution, sale, and consumption of certain substances, illegal, the U.S. government has merely driven them underground, promoting the formation of a criminal black market, drastically inflated their profit potential, and done absolutely nothing to prevent the same set of tragic consequences that go along with failures to learn from the past.

As of 2003, the affects of continued prohibition of drugs in the U.S. results in the average annual arrest of 1.5 million citizens, and another 400,000 incarcerated, for non-violent drug crimes; still another 1 million citizens remain on probation. The annual cost of drug prohibition at the federal level is nearly 20 billion dollars a year. The combined costs of U.S. drug policy on state and local governments, as-well-as the loss of tax revenue due to non-regulation, is easily in the billions of dollars per year.

U.S. drug prohibition law consumes 50% of all trial court time and requires the full time efforts of about 400,000 law enforcement officers, despite the fact that their efforts could be better utilized policing violent crimes and terrorism. The one-time cost to secure U.S. ports from smuggled nuclear weapons is estimated to be 2 billion dollars. The amount the U.S. has allocated to this vital security need: 93 million dollars. The amount of money the United States government spends annually to “protect us” from just marijuana: 4 billion dollars.

The United Nations currently values the international drug trade at approximately 400 billion dollars. It makes up about 8% of all international commerce. Far from inhibiting drug trafficking, current U.S. drug policies actually encourage the production, distribution, and sale, of illegal drugs. Estimates on the return-on-investment for involvement in the illegal drug trade, ranges anywhere from 5,000-20,000%. The U.S. led prohibition on global drug trafficking has made it so profitable that criminal cartels, impoverished nations, and even terrorist organizations, have all used them to provide funding for their various operations.

U.S. policy makers go so far to distort the truth concerning drug use in the U.S. to promote their wasteful tactics that it is unethical, immoral, and unconscionable. Anti-drug programs promote the belief that the “casual user” is a myth, and that all users regardless of choice, or consumption, should be considered “criminal addicts,” and treated as such. There have been no studies backed by the U.S. government which have ever honestly addressed the differences between those who freely choose to occasionally use mind-altering substances and those whose addiction leaves them little choice but to use them. The prevailing assumption seems to be there is no rational division between responsible casual use in the privacy of one’s own home, and abuse that constitutes a threat to public health and safety.

The highly encouraged perception that all drug users are “junkies,” is so widely accepted as truth that no other distinctions need be applied. If caught, so-called “mythical” casual users can expect to suffer far more harsh consequences than do addicts (because at least addiction is viewed upon as a “disease”). Cigarettes and alcohol, both of which are highly addictive, have no known medicinal purposes, yet they continue to enjoy broad legal government sanction, whereas marijuana, a non-addictive plant that is widely considered to have at least some medicinal benefits, does not.

The prohibition of alcohol turned many responsible adults, who occasionally enjoyed a few drinks, into “dangerous criminals.” Current drug policy in the U.S. revisits the same nightmare upon millions of responsible adults, who risk having their homes raided by police, their property seized, pay hefty fines, the loss of employment, face incarceration, and wind up with a criminal record, just to enjoy a few hours of a pleasure that doesn’t give them a headache the next morning. Worse still, people suffering from debilitating chronic pain, nausea, and terminal illnesses are denied the opportunity to increase the quality of their lives by the same irrational standards.

The continued stance of the U.S. with regards to drug policy is made even more farcical by the legal regulation and sale of alcohol and tobacco products, both highly addictive and proven to be dangerous to overall public health (the ultimate irony is that polls of high school age children demonstrate they have far greater access to marijuana than they do alcohol and tobacco precisely because it is regulated). Throughout the 20th Century, U.S. drug policy has never been guided by anything resembling rational sense, and it has gotten worse since the 21st. Government officials and anti-drug organizations continue to ignore the facts by continuing to try and legislate a change of attitude, wasting hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars, ruining countless lives, straining our legal system, and providing profit-motives for thugs, impoverished nations, and terrorists, the world over.

The facts so many refuse to face is that continued drug prohibition has proven itself an irrational boondoggle that has served as a drain upon scarce resources at every level of our government. The only sane course is legalization, regulation, and taxation of most currently illegal drugs. This would provide additional funding to promote social change, education, and treatment for drug addition, while allowing those who would choose to use drugs privately, safely, and responsibly, the right to do so without fears of prosecution. Legalization would also undercut the efforts of criminal organizations, impoverished nations, and terrorist organizations, seeking to use drug smuggling as a means of profit.

The lessons we have learned from history and economics concerning smuggling of illegal substances demonstrates quite clearly that, as long as there is a demand, there will be a supply. By driving up the risks associated with the drug trade, all drug prohibition will ever succeed in doing is increasing its profitability at the expense of the people. The time is long overdue for a sane drug policy; one that does not promote a criminal underground, one that does not provide huge profit motives encouraging its proliferation, and one that clearly separates responsible drug use in the privacy of one’s own home from irresponsible drug use that constitutes a danger to others.

For more up-to-date information on how much of your money is being spent and more on the "War on Drugs," click here

Some factual data on the "drug war" paraphrased from The End of Faith, by Sam Harris

TANSTAAFL!

©J.S.Brown 2004-2007

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I’m tired. I’m tired of watching the lockstep two-party three-ring circus spectacle that is American politics. I’m tired of watching the fraudulent show played out for the benefit of keeping people hopelessly divided, while those in power seem more interested only in their own enrichment than they do in the people they supposedly serve.

I’m tired of the “same old new direction” in Iraq, a questionable invasion and occupation, that has gotten us more than three thousand dead, tens of thousands wounded (and who really knows how many Iraqi civilians killed and maimed). Most of all, I’m tired of everyone putting up with the callous indifference of George W. Bush and his supporters. The decision to go ahead and make the total blunder in Iraq bigger than it already is, despite the advice from seasoned statesmen, career military strategists, members of Congress from both sides of the aisle, and the referendum this past November from the American people, demonstrates there is far more than merely a lack of competent leadership in the White House, it demonstrates that these people just don’t give a damn what anyone else thinks.

I’m also tired of hearing the same spineless talk from Democrats, who seem determined to demonstrate their “November mandate” through their sudden willingness to do “The will of the people,” simply because enough folk finally realized that the Neocon dominated GOP wasn’t the least bit interested in what they wanted. If they haven’t always been so, it is obvious that the majority of American politicians have become little more than whores, selling their love and affections to anyone with enough money to pay their rates, unfortunately, lower and middle class Americans simply can’t afford them, so they get ignored. A promise from a politician is of no greater or lesser value, than love from a prostitute.

If the Democrats in Congress truly wanted to show the American people they mean business, they will jettison all their self-serving platitudes, which probably have greater chance of inflicting vicious paper cuts, than in changing the long ago made decisions concerning White House policy. It should be noted that the U.S. Constitution gives Congress the authority to make war, fund war, and in instances where it is necessary, charge the Executive Branch with “High Crimes and Misdemeanors,” of which this citizen holds both Bush and Cheney to be guilty
“…Beyond a reasonable doubt.”

There comes a time when the only way to repair a damaged, or faulty structure, is first to dismantle it and then rebuild it. Failing in this, such a structure will inevitably collapse in on itself. This structure and fabric that has held this nation together through 230 years is sagging, and no matter how many times they are repeated, denials will not keep it from falling. It is up to all of us to either unite against those who would ruin this nation for their own gain, or remain divided, only to watch it fall.

When the “political sharks” on the Right smell blood, they don’t make empty postures, flailing about like helpless minnows, touting “non-binding resolutions.” They do not plead with their opposition to stand still, so they can more easily rend the flesh from their bones, they charge in with the precision of thousands of years of absolute instinct, and they show no mercy. The time will come when it will be too late for action, and any who survive the slaughter will be looking around for someone to blame. The inevitable frenzy of finger pointing will not make any difference, for reality will not change; the dead will still be dead, the missing limbs blown off by roadside bombs will still be gone, and the only place the guilt and shame will be evident is in the mirror.

Let the ideals set forth and signed by our forefathers on July 4^th, 1776 be read and spoken aloud once more with pride, passion, and enthusiasm, as a testament to the indomitable will, and spirit, that bore a nation. For if Congress proves itself unequal to the task of reminding the President and Vice-President to whom they are accountable, it becomes the duty of the American people to remind Congress of that very same notion; otherwise, it may as well serve as our only epitaph:

“…We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. --That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government…”

TANSTAAFL!

©J.S.Brown 2004-2007
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In a nationally televised address to the American people, President George W. Bush proved beyond a shadow of a doubt the sheer depth of his ineptitude by announcing plans to send a “force surge” of 20,000 more troops to Iraq. This completely predictable decision not only defies logic, but Bush’s own military advisors don’t support it; most troops already on the ground in Iraq don’t support it, the democrats do not support it, even members of his own party are divided over it. If this wasn’t enough to give the President pause for consideration, perhaps the fact that he doesn’t even have the support of the majority of the American People, for whom he supposedly “serves.” Alas, never to be the one who caves into advice, nor political pressures, not even the demands of the people he serves, nothing shall deter Bush from his self-anointed role as: “The Decider.” Had all those mindless drones who voted for him (many twice) bothered to check his credentials before 2000, they would probably be puking from the irony that W’s only true talent in life lies in his absolute inability to make an intelligent, well-reasoned, and cohesive, decision on his own, (although he does seem to show skill in the area of running up debts and getting people killed).

The U.S. invasion Iraq was a complete failure even before it began. It does not bode well for politicians to base an unprovoked military invasion of a sovereign nation upon a series of ethical blunders predicated by a deep seeded obsession to morph the invasion and occupation of Iraq into the greater “War on Terror,” such as: “cooking prewar intelligence,” telling a complete pack of lies, and the absolute failure to properly plan for the inevitable chaos that occurs when one topples a government. These vast failures have gotten Americans and Iraqis killed folks. Bush’s justifications for the Iraq incursion was focused solely upon spinning a relentless succession of phantom fears and menaces, and the American people bought it. We have nothing to show for our dead, and the Iraqis have at least as many graves to dig as they did before we invaded.

It should be noted that basic military strategy dictates that an invading military and occupation force must do everything in its power to win the hearts and minds of the people in the country they invade, otherwise, all they are doing is inviting partisans, counter-insurgents, and anyone else in the neighborhood that may have a grudge, to start attacking them by any and all means necessary (note the striking similarities between this scenario and what’s been happening in Iraq). A failure to win the hearts and minds of the people isn’t going to be corrected by adding troops; it’s only going to make the enemy that much more determined to make remaining in place unbearable for the troops on the ground, and the families at home watching them on TV. Thanks to the policies of President Bush, not only is our nation less safe than it was six years ago, but the world at large is far less safe. When a leader makes poor decisions that affect the lives of millions of people and nobody , it is bad enough, when that leader continues to make poor decisions after just about everyone around him has advised against it, that’s downright dangerous.

For far too long, it seems, Bush has surrounded himself with “yes-men,” who have told him only what he wanted to hear and did not bother him with any “troublesome facts.” People who voiced dissent, or wouldn’t “play ball,” were ever-so-quietly shown the door. Objecting or voicing opinions concerning policy decisions seems to be frowned upon in the Bush Administration. Bush himself admitted he didn’t bother watching the news, or reading the newspaper, because his staff told him all he needed to know. This is the beginning of the kind self-deceptive denial that can cause even great men to become megalomaniacs, imagine what this does to a not-even mediocre man, whose only claim to fame is having been born into a prosperous, powerful, and influential family with a checkered past? It is not difficult to see that not only was Bush the wrong person for the job seven years ago, but he has demonstrated a serious lack of leadership, class, and style, since then. Bush has permitted Iraq to become his “Political albatross,” and he seems determined to hang himself with it. So be it.

In essence, Bush’s failure in Iraq is part of a much larger historical misconception that has plagued U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East for nearly 50 years: political expediency and military strategy are totally incompatible with one another. In order to successfully invade another nation, one must “Win the hearts and minds of the people.” This is impossible when the politicians in charge don’t take into account the consequences of cultural, tribal, and religious differences in the battle plan before they order the invasion. Most troubling is the fact that most of our elected officials haven’t troubled themselves to discover the difference between a Sunni and Shiite. It also doesn’t take any sort of military genius to figure out that occupying another nation is bound to breed the kind of insurgency we’re experiencing in Iraq; if nothing else, the insurgency our troops faced in Vietnam should have taught us this lesson (oops, I forgot, Bush “skipped” that war).

The more I consider just how stark and dismal Bush’s failures have been, the more his willingness to buck everyone who believes more troops can’t solve this problem troubles me. The situation in Iraq started out bad and has never gotten better. Giving our enemy more targets to shoot at and blow up seems ludicrous to any right-thinking human being. My greatest fear is that this asshole may just be willing to sacrifice more American lives in a vain attempt to stave off the inevitable withdrawal from Iraq until 2008, so he can dump the problems he created on his predecessor. Bush’s invasion of Iraq was not only illegal, but his justifications were pure fabrications. Our subsequent occupation of Iraq has degenerated into a civil war with our troops caught in the crossfire. Bush’s latest strategy in Iraq has little chance of doing anything but getting more of our people killed. It is time to pull our troops out of harm’s way and let the Iraqi people settle their differences the way they’ve been doing it for thousands of years. It is time for Congress to stand up and remind George W. Bush that being President does not give him unlimited powers, that he is answerable to the other branches of government, and ultimately, the American people, for his continued poor judgment in Iraq.

TANSTAAFL!

©J.S.Brown 2004-2007
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This has been bothering me for some time, and while we wait with breathless anticipation for Bush to announce his “new/old/same” plan for cleaning up his mess in Iraq, I thought I’d take a moment to ask a question: Do the warnings of possible side-effects provided during all those annoyingly wholesome and carefree prescription drug commercials make anyone else (besides me) cringe?

They promise the world, everything from lowering the bad cholesterol (while maintaining the good), managing those pesky genital herpes outbreaks, growing back your lost hair, stopping indigestion (while healing the damage), diminishing seasonal allergies, not letting asthma ruin your day, and even giving you and your partner up to 36 hours to get your groove on. It sounds too good to be true when they play that upbeat music and show those images of people having so much fun. See all the people who are getting back to doing the things they used to do before they got older and you could be one of them! Then of course they have to go and ruin the ride (thanks to the U.S. Government, no doubt) by mentioning a few “rare-but-potentially-serious” side-effects:

"Common side-effects are generally mild, and may include: headache, stomach pain, dizziness, sweats, vomiting, and diarrhea, and in rare cases: insomnia, halitosis, unusually colored discharge during sexual activity, shingles, hives, and may produce a slight tendency to drool (they don't show anyone suffering from these "common-but-rare" side-effects in the commercials, so I guess I'm probably safe, right?)"

"Women who are pregnant, or may become pregnant should not handle [prescription name here] as they have been associated with a rare birth defect (yeah, like this makes a person feel real good about taking that pill)."

"Seek immediate medical attention if you experience an erection lasting more than four hours (by which time, most men will have become completely addled by a nearly complete lack of oxygen to their brains)."You shouldn't drink in excess with [insert prescription name here] (as your brain may swell up like a watermelon, and reality may start to be a real downer)."

"Tell your doctor about any liver or kidney problems you may have (as this may increase your risk of these organs exploding and causing severe hemorrhaging, even death)."

"Tell your doctor if you have high blood pressure, or are taking nitrates for chest pains, as taking [prescription name here] could lead to a sudden drop in blood pressure (which could really ruin your whole day)."
"Do not drive, or operate heavy machinery, until you know how taking [prescription name here] will affect you (and of course most people are likely to pop a few pills, before they drive in a NASCAR race, play with a backhoe in their back yard, or take their space shuttle for a spin). "

Personally, I believe these commercials were far better before the Feds started mandating all the risks and side-effects be mentioned. Let people have that moment of hope and delusion that some biochemical concoction will cure whatever ails them, let their doctor be the one who gets to whack them over the head by telling them all the potential risks and side-effects (somehow I’m sure Big Pharma would agree).

It seems to me that the cures are as bad as the diseases. Rather than hassle with all those doctors and prescription pills, I say take 3 bong hits, suck down a half-dozen raw oysters, chase it with a shot of top-shelf bourbon, and top the whole thing off by eating a few cloves of garlic (if there's anything still wrong with you after that, you're pretty much beyond any hope).Oh, and don’t call me in the morning (‘cause I’ll be out doing all those things I used to do before I got all those things I needed all those fancy prescriptions for).

TANSTAAFL!

©J.S.Brown 2004-2007

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I admit it; I’ve made mistakes in my life. Not only have I made multiple blunders, but I’ve actually tried very hard to learn from them and not make the same mistakes twice. Even Bill Clinton admits to fucking up, and perhaps this is the only redeeming quality of his presidential legacy, such that it is. In contrast to this, Bush and his pals seem convinced that they don’t make any mistakes. It makes me wonder how they could learn anything useful about fixing the myriad of problems this country faces when they can’t even admit to the fact that they are the primary cause for leading this country to its ultimate ruination.

My father is of the opinion that the only “legacy” of the Bush Administration will be cutting taxes for the wealthy and getting people killed. Perhaps if only they could kill the wealthy, we might have an outside chance of balancing the budget with the still in-place estate tax.

Honestly, no president has truly addressed the horrid welfare problem we have in this country. The government, in our name, has given more of our tax dollars to corporations who don’t need it; and foreign powers just so they’ll pretend to be our friends (most of who have laughed all the way to the bank and stabbed us in the back when we weren’t looking). If even half this money was turned back over to WE THE PEOPLE, maybe the U.S. wouldn’t still be an economic sinkhole of debt owed to China, and other dubious sources.

Bush and most of his closest cronies have truly never known want; they’ve always been members of the “haves.” They probably see the “have-nots” as a flock of weak sheep that need a shepherd, and they know just the men for the job. As Hunter S. Thompson probably would have said: “This is politics Bubba, and politicians don’t give a damn about anyone but themselves.” The Bushites have demonstrated that incompetence in government is a great way to keep the people occupied whilst they rape and pillage the euphemistic “American Dream,” and nobody really wants to know the full nature of the greed, corruption, and power mongering, that goes on behind the scenes. We all pretend that it doesn’t matter, and that somehow we’ll manage to get our own little “sliver” of that “American pie.”

Most of us go through our daily grinds oblivious to what’s really going on. We watch “the show” in the peripheral of the daily news, which meticulously sifts and filters what we get to see most carefully, so we never get a “true picture” of the filth we wallow in like pigs in shit. Perhaps they do it because they are in league with the politicians, perhaps they do it because calculated misery on local and national news gains more attention than an obscene animal sex show at a Tijuana titty bar (more than likely its a little of both and then some). Whatever the reasons, the spectacle is like driving by a bad car accident and feeling that irresistible urge to gawk at the carnage.

Folks, these people don’t give a rat’s ass about us. They feed us lines that appeal to our political leanings like snake oil salesmen selling “cure alls.” They would lie to their mothers, steal their stockings, and sell them to someone else’s mom, if it would get them just one more vote. They make dirty deals with the lowest forms of life (usually fellow lawyers like themselves) and at the end of the day, they count themselves lucky not to worry about social security, medical insurance, or whether or not they have a hot meal and a place to lay their heads at night. Most of these jokers don’t know what it is like to have virtually nothing in their savings accounts and live from paycheck-to-paycheck. How can they hope to solve problems they know nothing about, and why do we let them fool us over and over again? Because we desperately want to believe them; anything else would lead to anarchy, lord kows we just can't have that.

I have always believed that Politics is the show produced by economics. I wonder when it was that politicians realized it was far more rewarding to cater to the smaller portions of our society who actually have money, than it ever was to cater to the people that the U.S. Constitution says they are supposed to serve. Perhaps this was the gig all along, and the most of us were always just along for the ride. Who knows? What we do know is that the Bush administration legacy is one mostly of failure to listen, failure to work with all levels of society, and failure to admit that they’ve even failed.

TANSTAAFL!

©J.S.Brown 2004-2007
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I think we can put to rest any lingering doubts we may have that George W. Bush is completely delusional. Apparently, the mid-term elections were a loud and clear message to everyone else except the President, so let me be crystal clear:

Mr. President, the 9/11 attacks happened on YOUR watch. You and your people failed to respond to credible intelligence indicating an attack was imminent. You bear the responsibility of this failure. Unfortunately, it was only the first of many failures perpetrated by you and your administration.

Mr. President, the American people do not want another “new direction” for Iraq, we want OUT of Iraq. There was never any threat there, and you’ve botched everything since.

Mr. President, the American people are not happy with your flagrant disregard for the laws and Constitution of this nation. We are not happy that you broke the law multiple times to spy on Americans, we are not happy that you have granted yourself the authority to use signing statements that determine what laws you will follow and how you will follow them. This is not a dictatorship, it is a representative democratic-republic, and you are not above the law.

Mr. President, the American people are not happy with your handling of the economy. We are not happy with corporate welfare, we are not happy with jobs leaving to go elsewhere, we are not happy with wage increases that are still far below what they were before you took office. We are not happy that you, and your cronies, have catered to Big Oil, Big Pharma, and other corporate interests, to the determent of the American people.

Mr. President, the American people are not happy that you continue to ignore the signs of global warming all around us. Whether because you are bowing to the short-term profiteering of your Big Oil friends or whether there is some other ulterior motives involved, we want something done to protect the future of our world, our nation, our children, and our race.

Mr. President, if you cannot face the truth and act accordingly, then you do not deserve to serve as our President and should immediately resign and take your pack of lying dogs with you. The American people have spoken, and once again, you have failed to listen.

TANSTAAFL!

©J.S.Brown 2004-2006

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The latest revelations of Representative Foley’s sexual desires for young boys is really nothing new in a country that seems constantly in search of new ways to shock and disgust itself. If history has taught us anything, its that the mindless accumulation of power has the same sorry outcome in every case, no exceptions: sooner or later, those who become powerful begin to feel that they are no longer bound by the same ethics, morals, and laws, which most of us follow as a matter of conscience. Lord Acton said it best: “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

First of all, the whole gay/pedophile misnomer will obviously get some unnecessary reinforcement from the fallout, and it is very likely that Speaker of the House, Dennis Hastert will more than likely have to step down, but amidst all the good news for Democrats concerning the rabid, power-mad, GOP's in Congress, we must remember that far worse has already gone on and it's barely made a ripple among the staunch loyalists on the right, who will sell their own grandmothers to the devil in order to keep believing in the "righteousness" of their cause. No matter what happens, no matter how many scandals rock the right, they still have a position, they still have a message, and they can still make the politicians on the left look like a bunch of divided, indecisive losers, who are so afraid of their own shadows that they can’t even come up with anything resembling viable alternatives to counter them.

What it comes down to is whether or not your loyalties are to We The People of The United States, or to a political party based upon unrestrained corporate greed, lust for power, and, above all, money. The latter brings out the worst in people, just as Rep. Foley has clearly demonstrated. These people have gotten so used to having so much power for so long, that they have come to think of themselves as "untouchables." It is up to all of us as citizens of this nation, to set this right, and I harbor serious doubts as to whether or not we're up to the challenge. Most Americans will accept the simplest, easiest-to-swallow, explanation that allow them to continue to function as they always have, and to keep believing what they want to believe, for as long as they can, because the alternative, to change their points-of-view and take a stand against tyranny, is too much for many of them to bear (what I wouldn’t give to be wrong in my beliefs).

Yet I find myself thinking that this is just another in a long line of "distractions" that comes at such an opportune moment, it makes me question whether or not there is an ulterior motive involved (I have long since come to conclude that there is no such thing as coincidence in politics). This scandal may well be intended to give those of us who despise the Bushites, and everything they stand for, a sense of false hope; or at least keep us from having a far deeper debate on the really important issues affecting this nation: the economy, jobs with lower pay and no benefits, the disastrous war in Iraq, the totally phony “War on Terror," and the continued willingness of so many, both in and out of our government, to sanction the absolute criminal behavior emanating from the White House itself. Dare I say that Karl Rove probably loves this sort of spectacle for the very reason that it will keep the focus away from the disastrous failures of our "Puppet-in-Chief," and those around him?

These guys are every bit as slick as they are smooth, if we're not careful, they'll find a way to "spin" this to their advantage. We must not allow ourselves to lose sight of this fact. We must be wary, we must be vigilant, or they could very easily steal yet another election out from under us. Anyone who attains the level of power these folks have will never give it up willingly, they must be forced to do so, or everything our beloved republic stands for will continue to be for sale to only those who can afford the price of admission, and most of us aren’t in that club, and we never will be.

Now is the time for us to put aside our anger, our thoughts of revenge, our various single-issues, and stand united against a common foe, a foe that has proven itself quite capable of changing the facts to fit their agenda, shuffling the issues to drive us apart, using fear to build support, and above all, ruthlessly suppressing any notions that there are alternatives to their points of view. Now is the time for us to act, before it is too late to save our nation from the ever rising tide of right-wing fascism that threatens to engulf it.

TANSTAAFL!

©J.S.Brown 2004-2006

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