You can make your loan just a little longer,
All you got to do is share the wealth.
Oh no, don't you keep your good luck to yourself...
You know, with the exception of a short post a couple of weeks ago, I don't think I've posted anything at all on the election. It's not that it hasn't been an interesting time...In fact, maybe it's been a little too interesting. It's just too time-consuming to write about every little thing that has puzzled and infuriated me about this race. But consider these points...
We have Sarah Palin, the one-time "maverick" turned "rogue" who is now unofficially campaigning for the top spot in the 2012 Republican Presidential ticket. Assisting Palin is the right-wing fembot Elizabeth Hasselbeck. Good luck with that one, ladies. Five bucks says Palin and Hasselback end up co-hosting an afternoon talk show on Fox News once The View drops Hasselback's contract. Looking forward to that.
Then you have John McCain, who is slowly unravelling more and more each day right before the eyes of the American public. I think people are still showing up at his rallies for the same reasons that most folks go to NASCAR races: They're hoping to see a big time crack-up. And somehow Bill Ayers has become the major villain of this campaign. How exactly did that happen? Ten bucks says the bombs that McCain & company dropped on the Vietnamese during Operation Rolling Thunder killed and injured more innocent people than all of the Weather Underground's bombs combined.
But Joe McCarthy is the real winner in this election cycle. "Socialism" and "communism" haven't received so much press since 1992. Whether we're talking about Barack Obama's "spread the wealth" comment or the $700 billion Wall Street bailout, the American public is all to happy to return to the wily red-baiting, blacklisting days of the 1950's by invoking all kinds of anti-left harangues. Even the so-called "liberal" media is along for the ride. In case you missed it, a Florida anchorwoman actually quoted Marx's Critique of the Gotha Program to Joe Biden the other day (here's the video). Now that's not something you expect to see when you turn on the television. Unless you live in Cuba, I guess.
I have yet to see any serious debate in America on state ownership, healthcare and bank nationalization, and redistribution of wealth through taxation. What exactly is wrong with spreading the wealth around, anyway? Of course, I don't think many folks are interested in that here in America no matter the explanation. The dogma from both parties basically follows that the aforementioned concepts amount to "socialism" which is "bad" because it's "unamerican." (By the way, which kind of fallacious argument is that? I vote for "appeal to consequences of a belief," but I would also consider "circumstantial ad hominem.") Anyway, it seems that allowing uninsured Americans to suffer and die from preventable medical conditions while we spend billions to feed the military-industrial complex so we can kill thousands in other countries is apparently the more desirable path for our nation according to our current and future leaders. You see, when we're talking about money, there are just some things we won't consider. But when it comes to killing folks, nothing is off the table. Go back and watch the town hall debate and you'll see what I mean.
Twenty bucks says that come November 5th, we'll still be in a very tough spot as we decide the best way forward, not just for our future and the future of our children but for the sake of the entire planet. Based on our collective failure to address substantive issues and our resistance toward a struggle for radical change, I would say it's a long and winding road ahead. If I'm wrong, you can have my twenty bucks. But please -- by all means -- spread that wealth around.
Related Reading from greeklish.org
Life in these United States 07 Mar 2006
Life in these United States, continued 12 Aug 2008
The second coming of Joseph McCarthy 6 Feb 2006
All you got to do is share the wealth.
Oh no, don't you keep your good luck to yourself...
-- From the Audioslave song “Hypnotize”
off the 2002 album Audioslave
off the 2002 album Audioslave
You know, with the exception of a short post a couple of weeks ago, I don't think I've posted anything at all on the election. It's not that it hasn't been an interesting time...In fact, maybe it's been a little too interesting. It's just too time-consuming to write about every little thing that has puzzled and infuriated me about this race. But consider these points...
We have Sarah Palin, the one-time "maverick" turned "rogue" who is now unofficially campaigning for the top spot in the 2012 Republican Presidential ticket. Assisting Palin is the right-wing fembot Elizabeth Hasselbeck. Good luck with that one, ladies. Five bucks says Palin and Hasselback end up co-hosting an afternoon talk show on Fox News once The View drops Hasselback's contract. Looking forward to that.
 |
| "Please, George...Make that awful Palin woman go away!" |
But Joe McCarthy is the real winner in this election cycle. "Socialism" and "communism" haven't received so much press since 1992. Whether we're talking about Barack Obama's "spread the wealth" comment or the $700 billion Wall Street bailout, the American public is all to happy to return to the wily red-baiting, blacklisting days of the 1950's by invoking all kinds of anti-left harangues. Even the so-called "liberal" media is along for the ride. In case you missed it, a Florida anchorwoman actually quoted Marx's Critique of the Gotha Program to Joe Biden the other day (here's the video). Now that's not something you expect to see when you turn on the television. Unless you live in Cuba, I guess.
I have yet to see any serious debate in America on state ownership, healthcare and bank nationalization, and redistribution of wealth through taxation. What exactly is wrong with spreading the wealth around, anyway? Of course, I don't think many folks are interested in that here in America no matter the explanation. The dogma from both parties basically follows that the aforementioned concepts amount to "socialism" which is "bad" because it's "unamerican." (By the way, which kind of fallacious argument is that? I vote for "appeal to consequences of a belief," but I would also consider "circumstantial ad hominem.") Anyway, it seems that allowing uninsured Americans to suffer and die from preventable medical conditions while we spend billions to feed the military-industrial complex so we can kill thousands in other countries is apparently the more desirable path for our nation according to our current and future leaders. You see, when we're talking about money, there are just some things we won't consider. But when it comes to killing folks, nothing is off the table. Go back and watch the town hall debate and you'll see what I mean.
Twenty bucks says that come November 5th, we'll still be in a very tough spot as we decide the best way forward, not just for our future and the future of our children but for the sake of the entire planet. Based on our collective failure to address substantive issues and our resistance toward a struggle for radical change, I would say it's a long and winding road ahead. If I'm wrong, you can have my twenty bucks. But please -- by all means -- spread that wealth around.
Related Reading from greeklish.org
Life in these United States 07 Mar 2006
Life in these United States, continued 12 Aug 2008
The second coming of Joseph McCarthy 6 Feb 2006
