Deniers!

Deniers

The conservative deny machine is running at break neck speed.

Two areas of denial are particularly galling, dangerous and pathetically sad:

1. In the past weeks we have witnessed tornadoes in the midwest and south of Biblical proportions. The storms are massive in size and scope, killing scores and destroying billions of dollars in homes, businesses, farms; etc.

Climate Scientists, because of the "deniers" have been slow to blame climate change for this catastrophe because of the political power of climate change deniers.

If one actually reads the science, the overwhelming majority of articles predict the exact extreme weather we are experiencing.

Tornadoes are not totally understood by science. However, the ability to predict them and warn the public has increased greatly in the past twenty years due to computer models, radar improvement and satellite imagery.

This statement sounds exactly like why climate change scientists have improved their projections over the years. Computer models and the speed of computations (crunching numbers) has enabled scientists to be more accurate in predicting the tragic impact of the damage man has done to his environment.

The facts are overwhelming that climate change is driving these "killer tornadoes" Last week temperatures in Texas were well over 100 degrees (in May!) and wind shear and cold air coming down across the great plains were huge. When these two temperature masses clash, the effects are tornadoes and bizarre, extreme weather (hail the size of baseballs; etc).

This hits the heartland of America, where most climate deniers live. Oklahoma is a hot-bed of those who think global warming is a "liberal plot", and today they tremble in fear of a climate change catastrophe. Ironic and tragic!

The deep south is treading water as the Mississippi River floods at a one in 500 years flood, while conservative deniers call it "just crazy weather". Huh? C02 attracts H2O molecules (every high school biology student knows this) resulting in a "greenhouse effect" that retains water in the atmosphere. Add heat to this and you get more rain. More rain means more water, leading to floods. Oh, I forget, this is all just a liberal plot!

And still they deny that which is killing them!

2. On the tax front, Orville Norquist (what a name for a political operative) is visiting the California Legislature trying to get all Republicans to sign his NO TAX INCREASE EVER PLEDGE.

This comes a day after the Supreme Court in a split vote declared California's prison system "cruel and unusual punishment" in that it is hopelessly overcrowded with Turkish Prison like conditions. In fact, the conditions are worse than Turkish prisons!

These conditions resulted from when Californians passing a host of punitive, stupid conservative laws in a paranoid "law and order-crack down on crime" reactionary spending spree that expanded the California prison population way past the revenue income to pay for it.

California, shudder, spent more money than it had! And conservatives led the way!

Anyone can get elected if they promise to cut taxes AND raise spending: George W. Bush, Ronald Reagan; et al. The problem is the bill for this foolish denying does not go away!

Because Orville is running around scaring Republicans to death with his no tax increase hammer, California has a prison system that jails far too many and pays for less, resulting in overcrowding and an unconstitutional system. The resulting budget deficits are chronic and forever.

And what do the deniers say? Cut schools, cut mental health, cut, cut, cut to pay for more prisons.

The deniers take absolute no responsibility for passing laws that were completely underfunded. They never do!

California led the nation into the cut taxes fervor, led by Ronald Reagan. An ideology has grown up that is so out of touch with reality, that it continues to create social and economic disasters, just like global warming, everywhere.

The nation is running a ruinous deficit caused by a President who started two wars, and a war on terror, while massively cutting taxes. And now, the deniers blame the current President who inherited it all. And what do they now want to cut?

Medicare and Social Security are the targets, blaming seniors for the deficit that their "entitlement" programs had nothing to do creating!

What did President George W. Bush want to "reform" and raid for funds to pay for his deficit; Social Security! Does anyone remember the famous "use my political capital" that attacked social security, trying to privatize it and pour money into a Wall Street that led us into financial disaster in 2007! Have you ever wondered where we would be today if your social security funds had been invested in Wall Street!

The "Little Hoover Commission" churns out conservative denier propaganda attacking everything public and unions in particular, saying they are the cause of the deficit, while denying the impact of mindless tax cuts.

It's the revenue stupid! Tax cuts, reduce money to government. If you spend at record levels, while cutting taxes, you get a.........DEFICIT!

And the deniers do the same thing they are doing with global warming, they look right into the camera and DENY that tax cuts are causing the deficit....it is all progressive program spending that causes the problem, they say. This is not only a denial, it is a LIE!

Today, I mean right now, people are DYING in the midwest, being chewed up by killer, monster storms fed by the engine of global warming. Today, I mean right now, children are starving in America fed by the engine of tax cutter conservatives, who don't give a damn who gets hurt with their maniacal ideology.

This denier mentality is nothing new for the conservative movement in the United States.

In 1940, conservative leaders were denying the threat of Hitler AFTER Germany attacked Poland and even Russia. Cons attacked and almost blocked the Draft, which passed the House of Representatives by ONE vote! This was in 1940!

Herbert Hoover, remember Hoovervilles, denied to the day of his death that Roosevelt had anything to do with ending the Great Depression, and helped establish the Little Hoover Commission, that has been denying reality ever since.

What is the matter with these people? I would never wish tragedy on anyone, but it is ironic that the areas of the country that house the core of the conservative deniers, is now getting destroyed by the very thing they deny. People are dying, being flooded into oblivion, and still they deny!

The problem is nature does not lie. When conservatives put their heads in the sand and denied the threat of Adolph Hitler, history could not be denied. Nature does not deny. Nature is nature, it is simply there, and if you pay any attention at all, it is showing you every day what is real, and becoming more threatening to man's very existence every day.

History does not deny it is there for all to see if only you read and think!

Oh, one last comment: Today I read in the N.Y. Times that deniers in Arizona (go figure) now are claiming the tragic shooting of the Democratic Congresswoman was all a government plot to build support for the President. The shooting victims apparently were all actors, the whole thing was staged. I suppose the killing of the nine year old little girl, the funeral; etc., is all deniable. These people are sick! And still they deny...

Character?

Character

Recently a "hit piece" of television "journalism" purported to expose the sins and personal lives of the Kennedy's.

The show was so controversial, it was produced by a right wing fanatic, that most mainstream cable shows would not touch it.

Rumors about the Kennedy's have gone on forever. The conservatives have loved to pound away at the alleged infidelities of the Kennedy's, especially President Kennedy.

Conservatives have harped on the need for "family values" in a holier than thou attempt to gain the high ground for elections.

Truth, of course, is not a value, because those who are being accused are all dead and cannot defend themselves.

Then there is Arnold. Gray Davis, was recalled as California's governor because of the "sin" of not balancing the budget and for the energy crisis of 2001. Both of these "crises" were not his fault, but the recall proceeded nonetheless.

In probably the worst case of political injustice and cynicism in the nation's history, Gray Davis was recalled successfully and Arnold was elected.

So, we got the man who promised to "blow up the boxes", to reform government, to add character to governing.

Meanwhile he was groping and screwing everything that walked. He impregnated one of his household staff, grabbed everything within reach, and even admitted to being in an orgy or two. He also admitted using steroids when he was winning bodybuilding contests.

And Gray Davis? Well, his biggest sin was than he was "bland". He was boring. He just was a governor.

If anyone believes Arnold's "story" that he had nothing to do with the recall, they also believe that Arnold is a moral man. He was in on the con; discrediting a sitting governor, to feed his endless ego.

Eight years later California is broke, its government is a mess. Arnold, true to form, played with the government, some would say fondled it, and ruined it.

And his reward? Well, he recently announced even more movies he will make, as the "governator".

And his conservative cronies, who engineered the whole thing? Why they are busy on hatchet jobs on dead liberal politicians whose indiscretions are at the very least fifty years old!

Character indeed!

Shoot Your Foot Off/Fox Commands It

Shooting One's Foot Off

Today, on the way to Mother's Day Brunch, I casually picked up a Tea Party Newsletter in our local restaurant. As I read it briefly, my wife warned me to, "Put it down, it will only make you mad."

I read a couple articles briefly. One was lamenting the "true cause" of the economic recession we are in.

The other lamented the huge tax burden Americans are laboring under.

Both topics are standard stuff for the tea party crowd.

But, I know both authors. They are regular working class people; not store owners, nor are they "professionals".

Redding, my home town, is a small city, very conservative since about 1970, and home to quite a large tea party contingent. Currently a big news item concerns a tea party member who was handing out leaflets at the city library. Some citizens protested, wanting to be left alone when they visited the public library. The ACLU and the Tea Party are both arguing that it is free speech, and cannot be restricted. I suppose they will win out, First Amendment and all.

I digress; the topics of the two articles in the newsletter was what most caught my eye; and ire!

The reason for the Great Recession is (are you ready?) THE UNIONS!

In spite of the fact that union membership is at its lowest point in fifty years, unions caused the Great Recession.

Of course this is utter nonsense. But, it echoes the propaganda of Fox News right down the line.

The other article lambasted the size of government, calling for immediate and deep spending cuts to "balance the budget".

Nowhere was there any mention of the true cause of the "deficit". Of course, it all is Obama and the Democrat's fault.

Wrong again. Over 70% of the federal deficit was developed during the Bush Presidency because of the tax cuts, and fighting two wars at the same time (plus spending like there was no tomorrow, giving tax benefits to every corporation on earth, deregulation of the financial sector; etc.).

Without wasting time refuting the same old garbage that Fox regurgitates every day, something else is really bothersome.

The people who wrote these articles are regular people like me, except not college graduates. They are parroting what they hear on Fox News almost like robots.

This robotic allegiance to untruth and lies is alarming. I see it everyday, when I approach conservatives they are united in their allegiance to Fox News talking points.

The power of propaganda is amazing.

These people are arguing exactly against their own self interest. Redding used to be a union town. Wages were good. In the last twenty years unions have been broken, poverty has exploded, unemployment is over twenty percent, and the tea party blames the unions?

There are no unions to blame!

And, what is worse, is a total misunderstanding of the tax burden in California and the nation. All statistics point to the current tax burden in the United States as being the LOWEST IN SIXTY YEARS!

You would never know that if you listen to Fox News, or the the tea party. California's overall tax burden is something like fifteenth in the U.S., remarkable since California is the most populous state. A conservative legislative minority, thanks to the 2/3 requirement to raise taxes, is right now stopping all constructive efforts to deal with the state's deficit, leaving only huge spending cuts as a remedy.

All of this will dramatically and negatively affect Redding, California, since state government and education are a mainstay of the economy. Hundreds of teachers have received pink slips. If that payroll is reduced, the effect on the local economy will be devastating.

In a very real sense, the tea party is shooting its members' feet off to spite their faces.

They are so brainwashed that they are literally working against themselves. And, they are working very hard, water carriers for the rich (who they detest by the way). But, they trust Fox News implicitly.

Which, of course, is exactly what Fox News works for. Fool all the people all the time, get them to vote against themselves, and the rich will get richer.

Pathetic!

A Great Day For America

A great day for America

I was called by my wife as I traveled to a golf tournament Sunday night. I could barely make out what she said. I finally got it; that Bin Laden had been killed. Then, I tried in vain to get F.M. radio for details. I happened to be in a mountainous area and could not get much in the way of updates.

The next morning, in the motel before the tournament, I was able to get Fox News and was stunned to see a commentary that George W. Bush deserved the lion's share of the credit for killing Bin Ladan because "water boarding" had been used to gain intelligence that led to the successful operation in Pakistan.

I tuned it to ABC news, since I am not a fan of Fox News. I wanted information, not politics at that point.

None of the other news channels mentioned anything about the intelligence that led to the operation. This was Monday morning, remember, and the story was still very fresh. All the channels were alive with news of the operation, who was killed, how long it took; etc.

As it has turned out, the first reports from the scene were contradictory; as is always the case in the "fog of war". Details are still being adjusted, as de-briefings proceed.

But, the Fox News thing that I originally discounted, is as usual taking a life of its own.

I played golf Wednesday when I returned home from the trip. I have several conservative friends, and could not resist but gloat a bit that the President (who they hate) got Bin Laden.

I did not say anything about the years of frustration of President Bush, who made the "Dead or Alive" statements, sent troops to Afghanistan, and never came close to Bin Laden. I never said anything negative about President Bush at all.

Their response was astonishing. The first thing out of their mouths was what I had heard on Monday in that 1/2 minute viewing of Fox News: that President Bush should get credit for getting Bin Laden due to the "water boarding" interrogation techniques used to get "vital" intelligence.

So, I got on the internet and started getting some facts. I discovered that President Bush stopped the practice of "enhanced interrogation" at least five years ago. I also listened to reports that described the vital intelligence that finally led us to where Bin Laden was hiding.

These facts contradict what Fox News so slyly started. The facts are that enhanced interrogation techniques stopped years ago. The "courier" whose name led us to discover Bin Laden's lair, was discovered by the denials of two terrorist captives, information that came from non-enhanced interrogation about a year ago.

Besides, President Bush stopped being President in January 2009. It is May 2011. That is over two years ago by my math.

How in the world can there be a connection?

Moreover, further reading shows that President Bush had it wrong, like all of us, believing that Bin Laden was in Afghanistan in a remote region, hiding in caves. That is what Bin Laden wanted us to believe. And that is what the intelligence community believed until about a year ago, when new intelligence led us to the all important courier (who was killed in the attack).

This is no slam on President Bush. He was operating with the intelligence at the time (not the contrived intelligence that led us into Iraq; which I don't forgive him for by the way).

There was NO effort by President Bush to go after Bin Laden in Pakistan. There were plenty of searches in remote areas, but none in Pakistan. The reason for this is because he had no reason to think Bin Laden was in Pakistan. That information came way AFTER Bush ceased to be President.

It is interesting to note that President Obama during the election, said that if Bin Laden was found to possibly be in Pakistan, he would order operations regardless of what Pakistan said.

And that is EXACTLY what happened.

And then there is Fox News or propaganda inc. Fox News are experts at planting the little lie in their viewer's minds, then building it into fact. My golfing buddies were adamant that water boarding was THE reason why Bin Laden was found and killed.

This contradicts facts and common sense; but is the "talking point" of conservatives who must be mortified that the "Muslim President" was successful in getting the most dastardly villain in American History since Hitler.

What is so disturbing is I was on the DEFENSIVE not the offensive immediately because of Fox New's propaganda. I had to dispel the lie. I had to do the research. They just mouthed the propaganda, the lie, and believed it.

This is the "fascist" threat I have been talking about in prior blogs. Political movements that deal in propaganda, lies and half-truths in an highly organized fashion, pushing a right wing agenda are fascist.

Fox News is a fascist organization. Now, this is not to say, they are Nazis. What I am saying is their political agenda and techniques are fascist in the classic political science definition.

This movement runs counter to liberal democracy. Fascism ultimately is the deadly enemy of democracy.

Fox News is a clever, highly motivate political organization, that deals in propaganda, not news, that feeds the fascist agenda in the United States.

They took what should have been and great day for America, and turned it into yet another twist of the truth for fascist political advantage.