Another Town hall

One of the local Congressman left his townhouse in the swamp to brave the sound and fury of the Elitist mob. He stood on an auditorium stage smirking has the Liberals did their best imitation of the Koch backed Tea Party. A political circus short on substance. Long on usable propaganda reinforcing the narrative. What was different happened when it was over. The shouting continued in to the hallways. Empowered Trump supporters confronted the emotional pissed democrats.

Who won?  The Congressman will spin it as he bravely faced the turbulence of the unruly mob. The Liberal and Democrats will stay they exercised their rights to protest in the environment where that right is being curtailed. The Conservative feel all their deeply held beliefs were being attacked. Along with the civility of American democracy. It all makes for great TV. Who loses? Everyone.

I’ve tried very hard to not post or share any of the memes attacking the President directly. Do I agree with of them? For the most part. Those that are based on actual actions or deconstructing Tweets with facts. My attention has been focused on the powerful currents underneath the surface waves. The distraction ideologues live for. These folks operate best in the shadows. Away from the short attention span sound bites that push emotional hot buttons. One commentator called Steve Bannon the most dangerous man in the inner circle. A deep thinker on a crusade to remake America according to his narrow vision. The Neo Con playbook used so effectively to high jack Bush II first term. Undersecretaries in key position to influence policy are the Commissars of today.

Divide. Distract. Conquer. That’s the plan now. What About all the rest of the non Senate appointment he could make? Trump answered why should he. Reagan had the final say on every single one of the 2500 or so. They were notifies with a letter from him. Think about the loyalty that attention to detail engendered. Of course he had been a Governor of the largest state in the US. In spite of the economic poison he and his cohorts injected into the country, he was a very smart man. Reagan finished the job Nixon started with his Southern strategy. Conservative Southern Democrats became the ancestors of the Right wing single issue Republicans. Whose bastard children are the Tea Party and Alt Right.

Two days ago there was a protest at a mosque. A diverse group stood in front of the building. One that outnumbered the five or so small group of open carry white men were going to save America from the Muslim hoards. The difference this time was the third group. Members of the Black Block. A militant sub group of the ANTIFA movement. ANTIFA stands for Anti Fascist. They feel that any hate group of the far right has no right to have their message normalized by the media or politicians. Berkeley. Washington DC. Violence used has a protest against authoritarian or corporate backers of the extreme right. The leaders of the more numerous defenders of the mosque didn’t want them there. They wouldn’t talk to the media. They were there to confront the small group of what they considered white terrorists.

I’ve written before about the echo chambers social media creates and reinforces in our modern world. It has become a major talking point of social culture experts. There is factual data that America is more divided at anytime in our history. Those with economic resources have left the major urban centers. Fueled by a perceived sense of fear. Returning WWII veterans move to Levitt town. The rules blocked those of color with that option. All of the inequality Bernie Sanders railed about was normalized there. Elected officials represent the ones who vote for them.

All the recent remarks about the poor, sick and immigrants by Republicans are in many ways the core beliefs of their districts. Look a North Carolina. America in miniature. My community is becoming more Republican. The Blue wall is becoming a battle field for what America should be. The local town hall reflects the larger state and national politics. Protected districts. Will the smirking Congressman be reelected? Of course he will. Do you want Mob Rule? Remember the town hall where I was shouted down. They are denying your basic right of Free Speech. And he has a valid point.

The first amendment curtails the government from silencing individual dissent. For the citizen it allows you to voice your opinion. But that means everyone else has the same right. The Tea Party bullied that freedom. Liberals loudly criticized them. Turn about is fair play. The Moderates out number the Immoderates. At some point the Moderates will become the Immoderates. When that happens hopefully sanity will return to politics. Unfortunately I think the US will have to survive a national town hall first. It’s a verbal knife fight over fundamental visions of what America will be. In these type of fights, Everyone gets cut. It’s personal. It’s ugly. Which makes for great TV.

 

 

Russian Democracy American Style

America has had two great exports. Democracy and our Culture. That’s why our history is filled with supporting dictators, warlords and rebels against democratically elected governments we didn’t like. The American Empire. For all that the US still had an apparently viable two party system. A counter balance to the totalitarian Communist Soviet Union. The driving  policy of post war lost it way when free market Capitalism won. Democracy spend across the former Warsaw countries.

Great we won. America won the gold medal. But just like on D-Day and Gulf War 1, there was no plan for after. The British had these weird attachments or specially designed vehicle to defeat the hedgerows. The American generals rejected them. They actually put all the bolts and cables on their purposely built dock extending out for supplies. The Americans had one. Because they didn’t. The Get it done and get it now mentality got it was destroyed in the first Atlantic storm. . The Gulf War? But my country is so large, we must have helicopters to get around. Please? Ask the Kurds how that worked out.

Then those ungrateful countries created Democracies that reflected their historic and cultural past. Filled with sectarian or religious prejudices. Tribal alliances at there worst. The baby steps of democratic institutions corrupted before they could become strong enough to resist. The CIA was instrumental in bring the Shah to power in Iran. The former Persian Empire of Xerxes reborn in the modern world. That conflict between modern and ancient directly caused the 1979 Revolution. The birth of the Islamic Republic of Iran. A limited Democratic Theocracy.  One supported client groups to fight the Saudi backed Sunni factions. All the while export a very conservative form of Islam, Wahhabism, with America never challenged. Gotta keep the oil flowing.

Both branches of Islam hate the Kurds. History lesson. Sal al-din, proper spelling, was a Shia ethic Kurd whose crowning achievement was the capture of Jerusalem in 1187.He had the personality to  juggle all the various factions of his combined polyglot force to achieve that goal. Guess what fell apart afterwards?  Following WWI, Kurdish land was split between three countries. Eastern Turkey, Iran and Iraq. All majority Sunni. the Brits have a long memory. Lesson done.

Americans tend to forget that we considered ourselves British until the Revolution. Even then many still did. Economic status. The colonist carried in their DNA English Common Law. A Parliamentary government. the Magna Carta. The privilege of Empire that didn’t include them. Democracy meant for the landed gentry. The last two are alive and well in the former Soviet states. Ukraine is the current example of our revolution without the institutions to support it.

Now a slim minority has elected an inexperienced Con man whose claim to fame is his self supported Cult of Personality. A man who brands everything in GOLD LETTERS. A self aggrandizing brand that rode an angry populist wave to the most powerful position in the world. And who does he admire? A second rate Authoritarian former KGB officer who played a part in scamming Reagan during his visit to Russia. A modern Czar in all but name. These events didn’t magically appear. They have been decades in the making. Nameless unelected political operatives for both parties whose only purpose was winning have brought us to this point. Party over Country. Any difference in basic party motivation is a smoke screen for a desire to win. By winning they have power. Absolute power is the theme of this President.

The genie in Aladdin got it right. “Absolute power. Itty bitty living space.” In this case its the Constitution and our bodies of laws. The Bill of Rights enshrine individual rights. Not limit them. That is still unique in the world. Demanded by the people to ensure Governments couldn’t run roughshod over individuals or groups. It’s taken a century or decades for those ideals to be fully realized. The struggle still continues for many. And one election puts it all in peril. Luckily Trump can’t throw his opposition in jail just cause. His lack of mandate and general thin skin works to unite the 3/4 of America who didn’t vote for him.

Start working towards 2018. Replace his single party majority in Congress. Or put a serious dent in it. That’s America Democracy in action.

The Founding Fathers

Watching Stephen Frye on the Rubin Report focus many random thoughts bouncing around my head this past few days. The printing press spread the ideas of the Rennaiise. with was fueled by the Reconquest of Spain. the Muslims valued knowledge. Their libraries and street of book sellers thrive while Europe slept through the nightmare of the Dark Ages. The wisdom of the Greek and Romans was protected. And available to all. The growth of Mercantilism allowed the space for the leisure class to expand. The  Enlightenment followed. That was the culture into which the Founding Fathers grew up in. An elite Class in a new country without the baggage of history.

William the Conqueror ruled England in the truest form of Feudalism. He won control of an island without the conflicting oaths so common in Europe. The original framers of the Revolution didn’t want a King. George Washington could have been President for Life. His conviction to the ideals of Philadelphia and the trails of the Constitutional convention guided the choice to serve only two terms. Frye made the comment that the most open societies today have Constitutional Monarchies complete with a state backed religion. A rational of twisted logical thought that has serve them well. Odd that. Then there’s the Bill of Rights.

The added enshrinement that groups demanded to keep a centralized government they distrusted from becoming what they feared. Ten statements that where written to protect the rights of the minority. Today the majority use certain articles to bash the other side. but only the chosen few. Forget the rest. the Electoral College was a compromise. Political parties were thought of has a slow poison to the budding democracy by many of the original framers. Partisanship. Rancer. Gridlock. The Senate was the remedy to the populism of the House. Again experience from the Articles of Confederation. All of which prepared the groundwork for the Civil War.

An armed dispute of catastrophic damage due to the inability for a peaceful shift in economic systems. A loss of power and influence for one group of  Elites to another. We are in another type of Civil War. The country has been for past twenty years. The Eisenhower Republicans balanced out the Southern Jim Crow democrats. Til they aged out. Reagan was the zenith of that age. the Class of 68. Progressive/liberal democrats has reached it’s peak. Hillary. Now is the age of extreme Populism. Trump, the Alt-Right of Bannon and the coming out of the narrow intolerant so called Christian zealots of the Republican party.

America has always had been isolationist. Xenophobic. Intolerant of the newest arrivals. Any non Protestant religion. My contention has always been my country was settled for these reasons, Gold, Glory and God. In that order. Royal courtiers and men of influence where given vast tracts of land in return to clear debts owed. The colonies also acted has a safety valve for a restless elements in society. Only the extremest would chose the wilds of the colonies to separate themselves because of deeply held religious beliefs. The various religious orders inside the Catholic acted in the same way until Luther. He only wanted a public discourse to address those 95 flaws in the church. Not cause a break.

The American colonies became a way to clear out the jails.Exactly what Castro did during the Cuba boat lift. Let someone else deal with them. We were an extension of British Common Law and identity. A third of our population still considered themselves British during the Revolution. Fear of losing economic power. Another third was waiting to back the winner while selling supplies to both sides. History isn’t cut and dry has the textbooks make it out to be. It also shaping future debate of who and what we are in very subtle ways. Ideas take a very long time to take hold before the conditions are right to burst forth into the light of days. Reap what you sow.

I have always studied the underlying why of how a small dedicated group of individuals can cause fundamental changes in the overall society. It only takes 3 players to rig a soccer game. The same number can subvert a police district. Not a conspiracy. A band of fellow travelers looking to enlarge themselves. All of which is driven by greed. They gather those other groups looking to push an ideological agenda close to theirs. The noise hiding the guiding hand. A guiding hand that is flexible enough to change tactics when needed. Trump is the noise. Pence is the Savior when he fails. A Savior in every sense of the word. With Bannon at his side.

Exactly what the Founding Fathers feared most.

Three Card Monty.

The President elect communicates in 140 characters. His childish feuds and 3 am tweets capture the headlines. Daily. Russian hacking. Conflicts of interest in his world wide business brand driven empire. Recently admitted during his victory lap tour that “Drain the Swamp” was a good phrase. One he didn’t like until he saw the rection. Then he threw his slick carny sideshow barker soul into it. Keep poking the media to have them react the way he wants. All giving cover to the serious business of confirmation hearings for the people who will push fake science, anti regulation or ideologically driven attacks on their long hated targets.

One commentary  before the election talked about brand of Trump’s candidacy. He stated that Trump is a shallow thinker ruled by emotions who trust family over outsiders. Unless he could use them to help sell the Brand or achieve his narcissistic goals. Those supporting him are deep thinkers. Of a narrow extremist bent. Their America. Not yours or mine. Not the one of the people who voted for him live in. Then there’s Mike Pence. A Conservative’s Conservative. The True Believer. Question. Who was leader of Germany when Hitler came to power? Not Hitler.  He controlled the largest block of elected representatives in the Bundestag. Appeasement of a radical group for support of a weak leader in crisis.

The illusion of a free and liberal Germany helped elect the very ones bent on its destruction. A National Socialist is a non starter in the US. Cold War propaganda ensured that. Being a newish small “s” socialist in a extremely Capitalist society, I have argued that the color red is a hindrance. Forget the history. It closes the mind to any reasonable thing we could point out. So Mike Pence is waiting on deck. Calm. Sure of himself. Out of the eye of the storm. The favorite guy in the the clubhouse. While the multimillionaire star is an arrogant ass no one willing to have a beer with.

So the question is, who will spring the trap? The ones set by the Democrats are clearly marked to keep the innocent kids away. Safety first. Measures pushed by certain vocal factions. Here’s your signs, police tape and noise makers. Shut Up. We’re hunting here. How’s that gonna turn out? Who’s waiting in the tall grass with the elephant guns? The more extreme portions of the party in power. Those that fell for the biggest lies told by their savior from anything Obama.

I like puzzles. Not the detective story type. More the Sherlock Holmes kind. Clues hidden in plain sight by criminals operating from their basest instincts. The criminal Mastermind is always the ones closest to the mark. Theirs is a high level con. Simply look at the ones surrounding Trump has advisers.  Reminds me of South American strongmen and dictators rather than the European model of democracy. Trevor Noah of the Daily Show found the best comparison. South Africa. The country he was born and raised in. One he knows intimately. The pieces are all there on the table. Edges done in Red State 2010. Just that little bit in the center to go.

The table everyone has studied. Talked about in quiet conversations. A one time chance. Don’t screw this up. Then there that one guy. Listening. Watching. Looking at the human pieces. 3D chess Master. Just my thoughts based on all the speculative fiction I’ve read since my teen years. It clicked with the way my brain works. I truly hope I’m wrong.

Tribalism Part 2

Jon Stewart in a post election interview explained about what is so exceptional about America. Our democratic institution has lifted us above the natural tribalism other countries haven’t risen above. That is what November’s election did. Brought us closer to the countries the US held morally accountable for their actions.  Since 9/11 the sides have become more regressive in their rhetoric. Refusing to supply the buoys to mark the rocky shoals that could rip the bottom out of the American experiment.

Politically correct speech that discourages open exchange of diverse ideas. Safe zones and trigger warning are the extreme evolution of that. Carlin was right about soft fuzzy words. They hide the hard truths of the original reason for finding language in order to describe new thoughts in need a vocal component. The Liberal Left.

Attacking political correctness on college campuses. Conservatives afraid to voice a contradictory point of view to the mob. Candidates using more radical xenophobic terms in order to get their base to vote for them. Openly racist comments re-tweeted without comment or condemnation. Statements disavowing them a week after the fact. A post election spike in hate crimes. The Values faction and Tea Party  Right.

Both Tribes throwing bombs at the pillars supporting the very democracy that allows them to have that freedom. Freedom from arrest for voting the way they did. Paramilitary forces of the winning factions burn down their neighborhood in the middle of the night. Bullets, machetes and rape. A third world response.

Then there’s the vast majority holding more complex nuanced opposing views. Those willing to have a more open conversation about the small difference in our basic beliefs. An unspoken realization that some subjects are for private moments. Not public neighborhood events where the more radical want to disrupt such understanding. Tyranny of the One. Fifty percent of 300 million+ did not vote. Spun by the winner has a mandate to impose his vision of America. They are so dispirited at the morass of politics of usual, they stopped caring. Why should they?

The Elites and corporation have bought the election process. They watched has the one candidate with a positive populist message was sabotaged by the controlling interest of the party who’s nomination he was seeking. The wall to wall coverage of a reality star demagogue. Personality not policy. Great rating. Advertising money rolling in to the coffers of corporate media. The apologists stay is was good campaign strategy. Worked didn’t it. Eight years of No while their roads get worse. Echo chambers reinforcing the tribalism of the hardliners. No Compromise. EVER.

One reformed Islamist put it best. It the Voldemort Theory. One based strictly on Fear. Denial he was alive. No we killed him. Has to be another explanation. Followed by the absolute refusal to use his name. He who must not be named. The ultimate controlling fear. Deny the facts. Hysteria. How does a Brit who was spokesman for a group that first called for a Caliph understand what has happened in America?

My opinion is he was part of an Empire that broke apart into tribalism. Look at former British Africa. The way the India Subcontinent happened. Warlords. Rulers for life. Hindu Nationalism. The very strength of our founding principals have become a weakness a small minority have exploited for their own gain. Extreme Tribal ideas that discounted or rejected by the majority of the past have been championed by zealots. Repacked through new branding. The outliers of civil society found the wellspring to nurture a narrow vision of what is right for all. Forget logic. Who needs independent facts. Except the ones we can twist to support our agreement. Pure emotional reaction for the scapegoating of the Other. It’s not you. They did it.

While the vast majority of us were struggling with shrinking wages to pay ever increasing bills. Worrying about our kids futures. Hoping we can get one more year out of the car. while watching neither party talk to our hopes and fears or reality. We’re on our own. Wait. What did you say? Say that makes sense.

Our greatest challenge is America will wake up. The president elect cabinet selections, . Appointees are the stuff of nightmares. They will be confirmed in spite of past transgressions that made them leave public service. Or past records contrary to the good of the nation. My greatest hope is the mission creep that the bureaucracy is know for. Four thousand appointees out of 2 million civil servants doing the day to day work. Gatekeepers of inertia. Another hope is that the Democrats take up the mantle of NO. Not on all issues. But for the most damaging to the country has a whole.

Trump got 1 out of 4 votes to win. Tribalism on open display. All his actions so far in his Palatial gold plated digs show his disregard for the past dignity for the Presidency. What’s the line from Aladdin. Great power. Ityy Bitty Living space. The White House is a step down. What happens next? Can the silent majority defeat our natural tribalism or fall victim to worse? I don’t know the answer outside of my own limited space. Gandhi first request of a dispirited group was the ask them to sit not to where they were told to. He knew they would take no other action. History shows us he won.

India is the largest democracy in the world. Starting to be racked by Tribalism fueled by religion. European countries are dealing with their own National Populist movements. All these countries have a more engaged population reflected in their voter turnout. What does that say about the Original country to try this form of government?

If it to Good to true…

Those people who thought Trump was any different, welcome to Business as usual. Repel Obamacare? Let’s not be to quick about that. Newt Gingrich wants to bring back HUAC. Not Nazi or Communist this time. Not political Ideologues that are a danger to a free and open world. Muslims. I was became politically aware of Newt Gingrich, the Speaker of the House, has he pushed his Contract with America. Pulling the list from the coat pocket closest to his heart to check off each line item. All in front of the cameras. The base went into orgasmic spasms. No one of those We’ll Make America Great Again theater tricks passed the Senate.

So what does the Back Bench attack dog bomb thrower do. Recruits house members to run for Senate seats. I’ve never underestimated his intelligence in pursuit of his vision for a roll back the clock Conservative convert or die agenda. Or the ignorance of that segment of the American population that shared that dream. Impeach Clinton for infidelity? YES. While he has an affair while still Speaker? YES. I HAVE THE POWER. I AM ABOVE THE LAW. Divorce. Ethics violations by Congress. Marriage. Another affair. Another divorce. Marry that one. So much for the sanctity of marriage. Possible Secretary of State? The President’s voice has leader in the Free World.

At one point I tried to understand the mind of the conservative movement. My personal status has a non believer is very focus on the social and values intolerance on the Right. Convert or Die. The small minority voicing beliefs of a Christian Nation. The vast majority of believers are much more tolerant. Their churches care about the communities in which they are part of. The Liberals fell for the trap of debating on the oppositions terms. They come across has weak. In Europe I would be a Democratic Socialist. How does that translate in America? A moderate Republican who is fiscally aware. Having an  understanding that the social safety net has to be strong. The more people fall through the gaps, the more expensive they become. The inequality of wealth is a dangerous threat to the country. The Libertarians push the gas pedal on the Capitalist car while talking on their cell phone. Socialism control the brakes and try to steer away from the crowds walking. A delicate balance forgotten in my country.

You can spend $7.00 a day on a free lunch programs, rent and food assistance in order to shape a future contributor to the economy. Or $40 a day sent to a private prison contractor for the inmate not receiving proper medical or training then thrown back on the street. Back to the neighborhoods mired in deep poverty with high unemployment where the only growth industry is illegal. Parole violation. Back to prison. To fill a quota written into the contract by the private contractor in order to have a prison built in your town. Yes that is an actual clause. Add $40 to the sea anchor holding back the economic recovery.

Ben Carson, Mr. Mumbles, to head the educational future of America’s future generation. A creationist proponent. A surgeon whose livelihood was based on science. not faith healing. God first before reason. Plays great to the values base who think Choice and punishing teachers makes sense. Look at the test scores. Bring god back. Don’t believe the same test scores in the choice schools.  Mike Pence. Let’s roll back every social equality gain since 1970? If Trump is impeached because of past acts that would have disqualified him from running, guess who runs the country? Mr 1950 was a great year. My state says so. Supreme court to the right. To the Right. That enough of the Cupid Shuffle.

History is am evolving continuum. Where the particular culture starts determines how far they have come. Indiana was the heart of the Upper Midwest racist movement. Any group different from the majority is looked on with distrust. They represent, in a concentrated form, the Other we natural fear. A function of the fight or flight trigger from our development has early  humans.  What will last longer the water or the rock? Go to a beach. That sand started has big boulders. Even granite.

Trump is a businessman thinking he can negotiate with other countries. The cold realities of Nation state bare no resemblance to I want a hotel here. Pay you for work and material according the terms of this contract? No. There is no lawsuit available for that. But hey, he won’t take his salary. I’m a Billionaire. Being an armchair political junkie without cable, my news come from numerous sources. DW. BBC. The French. NPR. China and Japan world service. Occasional RT. The first three have a slight culture slant in the stories they chose. Contrary to the Rights claim. NPR invites their views on the political shows. Then doesn’t talk over them. The world’s reaction is shock. Except for Putin and those warlord countries with Democratic in their name.

There were voices in the wilderness that predicted a Trump victory. Based on their contrarian  data points are the now dissecting the how and why for the half of the country in shock. Hillary wasn’t a candidate. She was an incumbent. The ultimate insider. Understanding social media was the key. It’s influence and immediate reactions. “People will believe a large lie sooner than a little one.” The tsunami driven by the anger of the unheard can’t be seen when one side has it backs to the wall of glass windows in the million dollar coastal third home. Hope that chardonnay was good.

Pat Buchanan wrote a book about how the Neo Cons high jacked Bush II first term. I can’t wrap my head around his brand of conservationism. His insights as a leading voice of the intellectual component are incisive. The case laid out was with a lawyer’s logic. A point by point indictment of a group of ideologues hell bent of turning back the clock. A crusade to change the very fabric of American standing in the world. That is what I see clustered around a vastly more inexperienced Trump. One of those voices in the wilderness says he will be impeached if the lawsuit on Trump University happens. Those same supporters want a postponement in order to claim Executive Privilege. Above the Law until they rewrite it.