Republican Role Models

Posted on June 23, 2011 by Arlen Grossman

There are dozens of examples of countries that govern by Republican Party ideals, i.e. low taxes, small government with few regulations on business, a strong military, a weak labor movement,  with  emphasis on religion and traditional values.  There is a label to categorize such countries: “developing” (alternately called “third-world”). Burma (Myanmar) , Tanzania, Ethiopia, Honduras, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Liberia, Uganda, Honduras, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, and Senegal are among those countries.

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Osama Bin Dead?

Posted on May 20, 2011 by Arlen Grossman

I am pretty sure that Osama bin Laden is dead. But I’m not fully convinced that he was killed May 1, 2011 by Navy Seals in Pakistan. The hurried disposal of his body at sea was suspicious.

As you are probably aware, there have been many claims of his death over the years, and one of them might be true.

From CNN, January 18, 2002: “Pakistan’s president says he thinks Osama bin Laden is most likely dead because the suspected terrorist has been unable to get treatment for his kidney disease. ‘I think now, frankly, he is dead for the reason he is a … kidney patient,’ Gen. Pervez Musharraf said on Friday in an interview with CNN. Musharraf said Pakistan knew bin Laden took two dialysis machines into Afghanistan. ‘One was specifically for his own personal use,’ he said.”

Benazir Bhutto, the former prime minister of Pakistan, told David Frost in a November 2, 2007 Al-Jazeera interview, that Omar Sheikh, a former military officer convicted for the death of reporter Daniel Pearl, was “the man who murdered Osama bin Laden.” Perhaps she misspoke. We can’t be sure, as she was assassinated less than two months later.

I’m not saying Osama bin Laden wasn’t killed May 1st in Pakistan. But based on the numerous lies and deception by the American government over the years, my mind is open to the possibility that the May 1 killing of bin Laden was a hoax.

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Fascist America?

Posted on May 14, 2011 by Arlen Grossman

I am concerned, and worried. Hell, I’m scared. The political scene is this country is as bad as I’ve ever seen it, and rapidly getting worse. The Republican Party is obstructing everything that President Obama and the Democrats want to accomplish. The GOP has decided the more this country suffers, the better their chances of winning the 2012 elections. If they succeed this way, and win the presidency and both houses of Congress, then my nightmares of a fascist America may come to pass.

 Too big a leap? Consider this: the Republican Party has been taken over by extremist right-wing ideologues.  What would have been considered tinfoil hat crazy ten or twenty years ago is now mainstream Republicanism. The GOP brand promotes big business and militarism, and distrusts minorities and secular culture. Fascism believes in private business, militarism, and persecution of minorities. In historical terms, fascism differs slightly from country to country, and it would be stretching it to say the Republican ideology represents full-blown fascism. But frankly, it’s damn close enough to worry me.

A Republican president would tip an already conservative Supreme Court into a harder right ally of the Republican belief in decisions favoring corporate power,  police power, authoritarian rule, and conservative social issues. Goodbye abortion, labor unions, and civil liberties. Hello executive power, laissez-faire capitalism, unfettered gun rights, and church power. Farewell U.S. Constitution, at least as we’ve known it.


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Are You Paranoid? You Should Be.

Posted on May 1, 2011 by Arlen Grossman

If someone tells you the government can listen in on you from your cell phone even when it is turned off, you’d probably be inclined to run off in the opposite direction. But the “crackpot” would be right.

From several sources, including the ABC News website:  “Cell phone users, beware.  The FBI can listen to everything you say, even when the cell phone is turned off. A recent court ruling in a case against the Genovese crime family revealed that the FBI has the ability from a remote location to activate a cell phone and turn its microphone into a listening device that transmits to an FBI listening post, a method known as a “roving bug.”  Experts say the only way to defeat it is to remove the cell phone battery… According to the recent court ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan, ‘The device functioned whether the phone was powered on or off, intercepting conversations within its range wherever it happened to be.”

If this doesn’t worry you, you don’t understand or appreciate what our Founding Fathers were trying to protect us from.

ABC News: Can You Hear Me Now?

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Why Can’t He Fudge the Facts Like Everyone Else?

Posted on April 7, 2011 by Arlen Grossman

It’s fascinating to hear the vitriolic attacks against Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder.  His group’s crime, apparently, is publishing leaked–yet accurate—documents for the world to see. These documents originated from agencies and organizations with long histories of lies and cover-ups, including our own government, and often reveal serious crimes and abuse of power. The attacks against Assange and his site show how scary and threatening the truth can be. They also demonstrate how much we lack and need aggressive independent journalism, so we won’t have to rely solely on WikiLeaks.

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Obama/Clinton

Posted on March 23, 2011 by Arlen Grossman

The left can’t figure out why President Obama is so quick to give in or compromise to Republicans. This is what I think–and worry about: Obama is working a calculated strategy, but I’m not referring to the “he’s playing chess while the other side is playing checkers” game plan his supporters always hoped Obama was playing.

President Obama, like President Clinton, is positioning himself squarely between the left and the right, which he and his advisors believe is the ideal place to be to win re-election. This is their primary focus. It worked for Clinton–remember “triangulation”?– and  he easily won a second term.

But there was a serious cost to Clinton’s strategy, paid by the Democratic Party and the American people. If you recall, Clinton rolled over on financial reform, welfare, communications, trade, and other Republican-oriented policies.  But he always stayed closer to the center than Republicans, which was politically advantageous. Because of his timidity and because of the consequences of these policies, the Democrats kept losing seats and eventually, control of Congress. The American working class lost their jobs, financial security, and government safety net.

The Obama administration is moving in that direction. They understand that by staying just slightly left of the Republican Party (quite easy to do these days) and just right of his progressive Democratic base, he will be in his best position to win a second term.  If that is the most important goal, then sacrifices have to be made, and it is once again the Democratic Party and working class Americans who will sacrifice the most.  Just like during the Clinton years, the Republican party is gaining ground and hoping for total control of Congress.  The American lower and middle classes struggle as the upper classes expand their share of the economic pie, while the president, afraid to challenge the system and those who really wield the power, is content only to mitigate the damage.

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Which Party Controls Congress?

Posted on January 11, 2011 by Arlen Grossman

America’s wealthiest taxpayers couldn’t be happier. The top 2% got their Bush tax cuts extended for at least two more years AND got an even better deal on their estate taxes, getting the first $10 million tax free, and only 35% after that.  All that with Democrats in charge of the executive branch and both houses of Congress. The rich must be licking their chops at what they will be getting now, with Republicans having a stronger presence  in Congress.  I guess the federal deficit isn’t so important anymore. In fairness, we must note that the middle class received a few crumbs.

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Dollar or Sense?

Posted on December 28, 2010 by Arlen Grossman

Time magazine, in an article about the growing success of dollar stores (“The Buck Stops Here,” Dec.20, 2010) makes it clear that everyone loves a bargain. But there is a hidden cost that few Americans think about. How is it we can buy so much that only costs a dollar? Because so many of our manufacturing jobs have been shipped overseas—largely because of free trade and corporate tax benefits—to places where workers struggle with miniscule wages and lax labor and environmental laws.

With our jobs disappearing and wages declining, Americans are understandably attracted to cheap prices. But it’s a vicious cycle. Unless we make some  major changes in our laws to keep jobs here and our wages stable, those dollar price tags will become even more enticing. Consumers will continue to seek the cheapest prices, while businesses will continue looking for the cheapest wages. It’s a race to the bottom and most of us will be losers. Those cheap Dollar Store and Walmart prices cost a lot more than the typical shopper realizes.

 

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