9/11 Redux . . . Almost

So, the CIA strikes again. Remember 9/11 . . . that momentous event brought to us by Al Qaida, and the CIA? And remember also the reaction of the Republican's Bush Administration to the failures of the CIA and the FBI to prevent the attack? They created the Department of Homeland Security. When in doubt, reorganize seems to be a classic Republican approach to problems that they wish not to deal with.

The central issue then was the incompetence of our intelligence agencies, principally the CIA and the FBI. They failed both on their intelligence analysis and on their willingness to share information. Had they been competent, and had we then had competent leadership in the White House, 9/11 would never have happened. So Bush created this huge department, but, guess what? It did not include the two agencies most responsible for the failures that led to 9/11. We have two incompetent agencies, and in response we create a department to coordinate all the other agencies, except the two most at fault. Huh?

So, now, we have a second example. A Nigerian linked to Al Qaida and known to the CIA as a potential terrorist, was allowed to board a US airline with explosive devices strapped to his leg. Two failures here: first the CIA failed to add two and two and get four. Second, the airline security system is more concerned with preventing breast milk and perfume from getting on board than explosive devices.

Ok, what’s next? Well, I guess if the Republicans were in charge we would create an even bigger department, maybe the Department of Global Security, which would fold Homeland Security into a larger department that folds all remaining federal agencies into one big department, except of course the CIA and the FBI. Can’t have anyone fussing with them, can we? Actually, the CIA seems to be a quintessential republican agency—it is both incompetent and arrogant. No wonder Poppy Bush ran the place.

Now the republicans are declaiming the Democrats, claiming that they are “soft on National Security.” Huh . . . the guys who allowed 9/11 to occur on their watch yelling about being soft on security. Now, that’s funny . . .

And elsewhere Janet Napolitano allowed as how she may have misspoken. She says that she was misunderstood, and that she really meant that the system worked in the case of the Nobel Peace Prize Committee.

Christmas Greetings

It has been a difficult year to send out messages of unalloyed joy and blessings to all. Many Americans lie in harm’s way in several foreign and hostile places around the globe. We need to think of them as we toast one another in Christmas Greetings.


And as the senate pats itself on its collective back for passing a health care insurance bill that may . . . may . . . cover the 30-40 million people in this country currently uninsured, we do need to give some thanks that Democrats at least were capable of considering the plight of the 40 million people who are currently without regular access to this fine health care system—you know the system . . . the one that is routinely available to members of Congress, rich republicans and fat cat bankers, even as they plot how best to squeeze more millions out of our dry, dry collective national piggy bank. I guess we will have to await another day to hope for some actual reform.

And as I think about health care, I am drawn inevitably to thinking of our daughter Kathleen. She has been told that she has a cancer in one of her breasts. It is susceptible to treatment, thankfully, and we believe that she will come out of this experience even stronger than she was, and she was very strong. We are thankful both that Kathleen has insurance to help protect her, and that she avails herself of the insurance coverage by seeing her doctors regularly for extensive health examinations. We are all thinking of you my dear.

Our year is not yet at an end. Hopefully, it may close on a quiet and hopeful note.

So, Merry Christmas to all , , , and to all, a good night.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all of our loyal readership.
And a happy New Year to boot.

Man of the Year

So, Time anointed Ben Bernanke as Time Man of the Year for 2009. I guess a case could be made for him. After all, he was one of the participants in the economic meltdown of the Nation, although, to be fair, he was but one of many.
Frank Rich, NY Times Columnist, makes a fair case for Tiger. His case rests not so much on the simple fact of his headline dominance for the past few weeks. No, Rich’s case is that Tiger represents a peculiar class of personages in the country—the iconic human—perfect in all respects, except of course in reality. Tiger was/is very much a creation of the media and a fawning, and fairly gullible public. He’s one of a class, like Eliot Spitzer. Rich’s case is fairly convincing, but perhaps I might go one step beyond Tiger (anyway, I’m really tired of Tiger-News).
I would nominate as Person of the Year – Publicus Americanus, PA for short, a new class of humans residing in North America. PA is recognizable by the following characteristics:
1. Gullibility –PA will believe anything fed to him by the media, especially by the Faux News Network—anything that is, so long as it does not resemble reality. Reality is to be avoided.
2. Anti-Government – PA resembles nothing short of an anarchist, since he believes that anything undertaken by Government is necessarily evil, and probably incompetent. The odd exception to this ironclad rule seems to be our military killing machines. So long as it is engaged in blowing up things foreign, Government is fine.
3. Anti-European – PA seems to believe that all of Europe is hopelessly socialist, immoral, and elitist. They think they’re better than we are, just because they’re better educated, so they’re, ya’know, hoity toity.
4. Anti-Liberal – Since all members of the Democratic Party are either Liberals or Socialists, or Fascists, (PA has trouble keeping these disparate ideas separated)) they are not to be trusted on any subject. So, anything they propose—anything—is cause for alarm, and a tea party of some kind.
Now the other dominant characteristic of PA’s is that they don’t actually live in the real world. Instead, they reside permanently in a state of Altered Reality, mostly manufactured by FAUX News anchors and assorted other political bimbos (see Sarah Palin). They love TV shows like American Idol, the reality shows, and the survivor shows, mainly because they bear no resemblance to anything real. The reason George Bush was able to sell the Iraq War was because PAs were eager to believe his line of untruths and half truths. The only thing they cannot tolerate is reality, or perhaps, The Truth. They want, nay need to be lied to. And curiously, they mostly aren’t even on drugs. Remember that old joke—in the 1960s, people took acid to make the world weird. Now they take Prozac to make the weird world normal. PA seems hooked on the drug of FAUX News Altered Reality Shout-Outs. They can’t resist.
So, PA, you’re the Real Person(s) of the Year for 2009.
Time, eat your heart out.

Looking to Our Future

I read that the President’s popularity has fallen to the point where almost half of the Americans who respond to polls claim they would prefer having Bush back in office.
Huh?
Who are these people being polled? Fox News bimbos? Now, whatever my disappointments at what I see occurring in his country, over the past year especially, having George Bush returning to run the Nation would fall into the set called ultimate nightmares. Worse even than having Sarah Barbie in that office, or John McCain, caught smiling recently as he plays with the people’s health care business.
Actual, real people would prefer Shrub back in office? It gives me great pause in thinking that this Nation, which possesses the means to blow up the entire world, has actual sentient human beings who think that the guy who gave us not one but two wars, the greatest financial disaster since the Great Depression, Katrina-gate, and other assorted disasters, is somehow preferred to once again preside over the people’s business.
It is, I guess, a sign of the times. These are presumably, the same people who are so desperate to appear on American Idol that they will do anything to achieve their 15 minutes of fame. How, I wonder, did we fall into this state of ungrace? We used to be a people with some ethical side. We once sided with the world against Nazi Fascism, and went to war to defeat the truly bad guys. Now, all we want is our bonus, and damn the consequences.
I continue to think, despite the evidence to the contrary, that we will once again return to a moral society, one that at least pauses before firing the guns, and that thinks twice before proceeding with Ponzi schemes to defraud friends and family. But my hopes now lie with our grandchildren. Somehow, we “adults” seem beyond caring about “doing the right thing.” But my grandchildren still seem to know the difference. Perhaps yours do too. In this season of joy and hope, maybe we should all begin hoping, or praying, for a return to sanity and ethical behavior, once our grandkids take over this weary old planet.
And let’s leave poor old George to whatever his demons have in mind for him, and whatever hell awaits him and his cronies. We have better things in mind for this country and this world.

Deals that Ain't

So, now we have a climate deal that is so unambitious that all the participating nations might actually sign it. That’s kind of like reaching an agreement on health care reform that both republicans and democrats would sign. I’m guessing that the only ones popping bottles of champagne at the prospect would be the energy companies, and the health insurance companies. So, after these triumphs, our political leaders around the globe are probably next going to turn their limited attention span to financial reform—you know some really tough new regulations that the “too-big-to-fail banks“ and Ponzi investment houses like Salamon Smith Barney would welcome. Congratulations Big Guys. All those lobby bank checks have really paid off, huh?
And elsewhere, there is unrest among the several hundred thousand civilian contractors who perform tasks in war zones (think of Iraq and Afghanistan as real war zones) that our military used to perform—like peeling potatoes on KP duty, and shooting civilians in the middle of traffic jams. Turns out there are at least as many civilian contractors in these war zones as we have actual troops. So much for the “all-volunteer” army. When Blackwater was being chastised for gunning down Iraqi civilians, I started wondering just why Shrub & Co decided to privatize the war. But then, they really tried to privatize everything government does, including the warrior thing. Anything for a buck, I guess.
But it seems to me that this mess over there is a grand argument for bringing back the draft, and flushing the “all-volunteer” army idea. Only this time, we might consider no draft deferments for any reason. No Dick Cheney (“I had other priorities”) five deferments. There could be jobs for everyone, including people physically challenged. Hmmm . . . maybe a universal draft could solve our 10 - 20% unemployment rate. Oh, and then there’s the other advantage of a universal draft. It might get in the way of our moronic political leaders who are always rushing us into a war, so long as they or their kids can sit on the sidelines. Oh, and a really wonderful side effect. All the Fox News bimbos like Laura Ingraham would first have to go to Iraq in uniform and dodge explosions before they could resume their acting careers as faux-news people.

Happy Birthday

So, today I close out my 75th year. I am thinking about my mom, laying in some bed in Brooklyn on December 17th, 1934, hoping I’d quit fooling around and get my tushie into the real world. She probably had no anesthetic to help her, as she probably had no money to pay for the hospital bill. Nobody had health insurance in those days. You either had money, or you didn’t. If you didn’t, and you had to bring a new kid into the world, you either did it yourself, at home, or you went into some charity hospital. She opted for the latter.
And then, I opened the morning’s newspaper to read that any chance of a government-operated health insurance plan was now officially dead, thanks to that little shit Joe Lieberman. Joe is in the pocket of his Connecticut insurance companies, so of course he is against the “public option”, the only thing that made reform real. And then I thought about all the people, like my mom 75 years ago, who may have to continue scrambling to get their kids decent health care. Thanks again, Joe. We’ll all remember you for a long time.
And elsewhere, the rest of the world’s little shits have officially decided that global warming is something for their grandkids to worry about. Copenhagen will close without results.