GILDED CHATTER by The Cosmic Messenger

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OP/ED NEWS

"Look, if you think any American official is going to tell you the truth, then you're stupid. Did you hear that - stupid ?" ... Arthur Sylvester, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, 1965

The Iowa caucus's are rapidly drawing near and as they arrive Presidential candidates from both national political parties are busy locking up endorsements from proponents whom they think will be instrumental in helping them win the general election next Fall.

The latest advocates to issue proclamations of support are Pat Robertson who came out of the closet to direct fundamental Christian legions to throw the weight of their sect behind former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani while Kansas Senator Sam Brownback released his constituency to fellow Congressman John McCain.

Although Robertson's shocking announcement may have seemed morally repugnant it was modest by comparison to the approval Hillary Clinton has reaped from President Bush, Newt Gingrich and the national media during the past year. These protagonists, the Holy Trinity of right wing neocon enactment have in essence tacitly suggested she will be the Democratic nominee.

Every time bold, emphatic assertions like this publicly surface my incredulous traits instinctively take command and I begin to search for clues which substantiate such arrogant predictions. I find myself asking questions like what is the basis for their claims ? Why are they so adamant about picking a candidate from the opposing Party to compete against ? Do they know something about Hillary which has yet to be revealed in public ?

Much of the voting population has yet to begin considering who might best represent them beginning in 2009 even though the first primary ballots will be cast in January. Many will go to the polls and judge a Presidential contender based on how they've been conditioned to think by Party operatives or the national media. Thus far the dominant theme has been to promote Clinton whether you like her or not irregardless of political affiliation.

On the Democratic side the message is don't blow this election even if you think she is unpresidential. Vote for Hillary because she represents the best chance to place a female in the White House since the birth of our nation and Americans must join other democratic countries who have selected women to to lead them.

In contrast to this rationale, conservative centrists are encouraging their supporters to follow the Rovian election philosophy of the recent past and crossover to vote for Clinton in the primaries because they believe she will be the easiest to defeat in the the Fall general contest. This is the type of logic being employed by both Bush and Gingrich in their declarations about her.

The commercial media's loyalty goes exclusively to the candidate they think will spend the most advertising dollars in their quest for the Presidency. Gender isn't a factor for them. Money is their only concern and who has the biggest pot of gold. Want to speculate about who the leader of the pack is ? Do the initials HRC sound familiar and if so what sort of emotions do they arouse within you ?

My reaction to Hillary headlining the Democratic 2008 ticket is probably unlike what you've read by other editorialists from daily news sources elsewhere. The expectation she will be nominated at the behest of the DLC, RNC and MSM is indicative of the broad influence among the alphabet set she commands. Aside from her ability to magnetize a wide cross-section of soothsayers across the political/media spectrums, Clinton's fabricated appeal is a reflection of how significant the common mood of the country has shifted since the regressive changes of the Reagan legacy began their death grip on our nation's liberty.

Twenty seven years ago the citizenry had become enamored by Yoko Ono and John Lennon vocalizing melodic phrases which encouraged us to create a better world through peace, love and understanding of one another. Inherent within this subliminal message was their belief these ideals could be achieved by rejecting our materialistic desires. In doing so, the instant karma evolving from these actions would determine a better fate for each of us during the remainder of our lives. Lyrical themes such as Imagine, Give Peace A Chance, Power To The People, Working Class Hero and Mind Games were meant to inspire as much as warn people about the dysfunctional inequities caused by industrial hegemony.

Now on the eve of the 2008 primary caucuses an entirely different double fantasy has emerged to bewitch Americans with. The tunes being sung by Hillary and Bill Clinton diametrically reject pacifist solutions even while they coyly state this is their utmost ambition. This 21st century couple is willing to restore power to the people and give peace a chance as long as it doesn't conflict with their pursuit of globalist laissez-faire policies. Inherent in their disingenuous grandiosity are the same failed guidelines enacted by our present criminal White House regime.

Like Bush/Cheney and her husband before them, Hillary articulates slick motifs designed to both persuade while deceiving us at the same time. For example she has no reservations about accepting campaign contributions from Washington insiders such as the health care, telecommunication, defense and trade industries. How can she stand before the electorate and expect them to seriously believe her assertions about changing the direction of our country if she's bought/paid for in advance of the 2009 coronation ?

Clinton doesn't feel pressured to propose major alterations in the top down method used to manage national government recently because the wealth generated by this scam is flowing into her campaign to perpetuate the status quo. Besides, GOP Presidential wannabees are too busy torturing one another in a macho attempt to convince the 20 percent of voters still listening to them they're the toughest candidates on terror.

When considering a 2008 primary candidate I'll be voting for the individual who has presented me with the best plan to restore democracy to America. The first year agenda must include the prosecution of Bush/Cheney for war crimes, reinstate citizens' privacy rights, suspend international trade agreements, criminalize offshore banking, close loopholes in campaign finance laws, reverse the deregulatory policies of the present Administration and withdraw from unwarranted international engagement so our tax dollars can pay for the needs of our own people.

Media debate moderators have dutifully avoided substantive matters such as these the past six months since explictness would nullify the political brawl they're setting the public up for next summer. They've projected Hillary to be the Democratic winner because it's assumed she's the candidate with the most vulnerable character flaws who will spend vast amounts of advertising dollars to defend herself against attacks from the Republican opposition.

Expect them to portray her as a tax and spend liberal married to a person with a deviant sexual compulsion. The airwaves in the Fall of '08 will be deluged with media clips of Bill Clinton emphatically denying he had sex with Monica, imply Hillary is guilty of equivocating herself and spice up the negatives with embarassing First Lady quotes from sealed transcipts in the White House archives.

Has the Presidential election become so compromised by special interest megabucks the will of the people is no longer germane ? Perhaps the only way to salvage American democracy for the future is eliminate corporate contributions to candidates completely and finance the selection process with public tax dollars from individuals. Then the only ones an elected official will be indebted to upon taking office are people like you and me. If so, the truth might begin to prevail again rather than the art of plausible definability and smell of tainted influence pedaling which is the system we have now.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO EVERYONE

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Not Ready to Make Nice by Enigma4ever

I've been rereading the posts written here the past two months and there's a striking thread that in America, "WE THE PEOPLE" know there are problems, BIG PROBLEMS. We are Living through the Darkest Times in America's History. The posts have been written without shame or pity and with stunning clarity and detail.

This Blog also reflects many others in Blogatopia (and I say that not to deny any originality or to embrace Commonality but to highlight that this Issue is Something many of us are trying to document.) I know we write because some of these issues are getting short-thrift by "MSM" and not honestly documented or properly investigated.

Watching the Democratic Debates and the Iowa Dinner Speeches last weekend I reflected on the posts here and the threads of other blogs in .... And I kept hearing the Song "Not Ready to Make Nice" by the Dixie Chicks in my head, and realized that it is so true, I am NOT ready to Make Nice. I am tired, fed up, and tired of being fed up and angry at the way WE THE PEOPLE have been treated and mistreated by THIS Government, OUR Government.

Millions have been neglected, and lied to about Everything from WMD, 9-11, VET Care and Treatment,Valerie Plame, Plamegate, Scooter Libby left off, The Iraqi's and their Plight which America Caused,Homlessness and Joblessness through the Roof, VETS without jobs or Homes,Disabled PTSD Sufferers Over 150,000, HealthCare, Katrina, Torture,Illegal Eavesdropping, Gitmo, Spying on Americans, NO FLY LISTS,Blackwater Contracts here and Iraq,Illegal Halliburton, 300,000 Americans Labeled" Terrorists", 49 Million without Healthcare, and Millions More without Proper Care, and Children without Healthcare, People having to choose between Food and Meds.

This LIST doesn't even include The Lies, the Corruption and Scandels we have been watching Daily, especially in the Republican Party and the GOP. From Missing Money, Illegal Contracts, to Sex Scandels.

I actually have lost Faith in WHAT and WHO is In DC Working For US, We the People. And I realized WHY my faith is in shambles, because last year we all went to the polls, and it was Important, and we felt that with OUR Votes there would be Change, Real Change. We felt that if we worked Hard we could get NEW People into Office and we could by doing that, END the "War" and Bring the Troops Home and also Bring about this Era of Corruption, and that means also putting Impeachment On the Table. None of us Ever compromised on these issues, we blogged it with a fever in 2006, and the three monthes before the Election we worked to make Change Happen.

I also know it isn't just me One Mom, one Nurse it's everywhere. I see it at the Bus Stop, Grocery Store and Gas Pump. Millions of us are struggling day by day. We are no Longer the Middle Class. We've become Invisible.

Then came 2007 and it has been a giant Deflated Ballon on the floor after the Celebration Party. We all keep stepping on it and in it and seeing its consequence everyday. The Deflated Dreams of Change. It all really came to the surface the first time that Ms Pelosi said " Impeachment is off the table" . Excuse me but have We The People ever been given Reason for That Statement ? We have been living under a Criminal Corrupt Presidency, basically by someone that stole our Government and shredded OUR Constitution. And we are not even allowed to ask for Redress for High Crimes and Misdemeanors ? Or even Investigations? So after this past year of many monthes of being very let down by the newly elected Changed Leadership.

Now comes the Presidential Candidates .... prelude to the 08' Elections.

I realized as I tuned in to the Last Debate and the Iowa Dinner Speeches last weekend I am Not Ready to make Nice. I don't want to hear about "Moving Forward", or "Prosperity" or "Reuniting the People". As far as I am concerned, OUR Country was Broken by a Bunch of Corrupt Criminals who Broke the Laws after Stealing TWO Elections, I have NO Urge to break bread with them, or the People who enabled them. None. I want Someone to Speak Up, Someone that will Recognize The Damage, that Millions of Us Feel Like Refugees In Our Own Country. And it is Time for it to End.

I want to HEAR about Justice, I want to see Someone that is NOT going to take IT Anymore. I want to Hear Impeachment, I want to Hear Bring the Troops Home NOW, I want to hear that ALL CRIMES will be investigated and prosecuted,even the White House. That there will be JUSTICE AGAIN. And the Rest of the World is Watching and Waiting too. Just like in the 1930's People waited for the Germans to Rise Up. We Need to Rise Up. We are running out of Time. And yes, I will send this post to the Democratic Candiates......

I am Not Ready to Make Nice. Are you ?

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Please do rent " Shut Up and Sing", it is the Story of Our Times about what happened to the Dixie Chicks for Voicing the Truth, but also what happened to Our Country. It is Powerful and yes, please do listen to their song, "Not Ready to Make Nice."

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The photo is from WWI , a Belgian woman as a refugee is leaving her Country. I look at her and Wonder, How long did she know that she had to leave ? How long was she a Refugee in her Own Country.

Middle Class ET's by Cheyanne

It was all right, Okie Dokie Artichokie when the working poor were ranting and raving about not getting their fair share of the American Pie.That's what working poor and underclass people do. They moan, bitch and complain and ramble on endlessly about stuff nobody cares about. They're lazy and no good and want something for nothing.Everybody knows it. They want welfare and socialized medicine and socialized everything. That's just how they are and how they think and.... well... you know how they are. Like little ET strangers in a strange world.

It is obvious these stupid snivelling little whiny poor working people, belly aching all the time have no concept of how the U.S. economic system works, how to budget their money, how to use a credit card, how to buy a house, how to accrue equity, how to save, how to get ahead to the next class, what sweat equity is, how to move up and elevate themselves to the next class level ...nothing..nada...zilch..zero....clueless.

They might as well be all little Dennis Kucinich's who admitted to seeing a UFO. Shirley MacClainlike type people, the godmother of Kucinch's daughter no less. They're all koo koo.Everybody knows it.

For all of you who haven't heard yet or don't care about american politics, or are reading this from another worldplanet...like say Canada, let me fill you in. Dennis Kucinch, a U.S. presidential candidate was asked on National American T.V. if he had ever seen a UFO, to which he answered "yes" he had seen a UFO. As Mr. Kucinch proceeded to retell the UFO sighting incident, the moderator, Tim Russert began to overtalk Kuchinch giving him no time to explain, similar to a lawyer in a courtroom shooting questions at a prosecutor at a defendant. "That's all Mr Kucinch. That's all I wanted to hear you say. You said it. It's the I gotcha moment...Now shutup!"

Man, do these Corporate Ass kissing, Big Biz moderators know how to discredit somebody or what? Inject the UFO sighting and wella. Instant weirdo! He's a visitor from another planet. He's outta here. Who's gonna take him seriously now?

Russert's next question to Kucinch should have been "How much money do you have Mr. Kucinch? How much money have you raised for your campaign? To which Kucinch would have answered rationally and logically, "What does that have to do thing anything this debate is about"? And of course Russert would've answered "EVERYTHING." When all the money facts were revealed that Dennis Kucinch was not amongst the top fundraisers for his bid in the Presidency, Russert could've concluded, "That proves it Mr. Kucinch, nobody likes you. Now get outta here." It's pretty simple really.

See in America, no credit=discredit. Believability, honesty, integrity..it's all in there. Hence the koo koo connection.

We laughed at President Carter for also seeing a UFO. He was derided as a kook, not just because of the UFO sighting, but because of his equally insane views on alternative energy, civil rights, foreign relations, the Arab-Israeli Conflict, and human rights in general. Corporate conservative arrogance was prevalent in society then and it allowed for the ignorant to taunt the enlightened. A reversal of Carter’s progressive policies took place with Reagan and have continued to this very day. We now know that Carter wasn’t crazy. It was America and his political opposition who were irrational.

None of the Democrats on that stage last week, with the exception of Dennis, are worthy of being called progressives. By the time the Democratic Party realizes that Kucinich was also right, despite his uncommon idiosyncrasies, our country won’t exist anymore. Democrats have regressed into conservatives in their ignorance, arrogance, and greed. Another “loony” UFO watcher is exactly what we need in the White House. Hell, Kucinich could be an alien himself for all I care. Perhaps we should outsource our political positions to extraterrestrials. Intelligent life on Earth seems to be in short supply.(Taken from the blog THE LARGEST MINORITY)

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So what does all this UFOlogy have to do with people and their money or lack of it showing up on The Cosmic Messenger's blog of all places you may ask?

Well, early on the underclass people noticed that the trickle down economics theory was not working for them and not tricklin' their way they knew it. They all shouted in unison "Hey"! You're pissing all over me, that ain't rain, that's fn' piss."

Then the Middle Class start noticing a disparaging seperation between them and their hard earned money...namely......less of it. They were working longer and harder hours to get the same amount of money. Hmmmm...they thought. "Is it just me, or is that pee trickling down on my head"? (the middle class have a more refined language system and would never say the word piss, they'd prefer the more polite word pee or urine.)

"Houston, we have a problem........the government said,"All these Middle Class people are starting to rant and scream and rave and have noticed the piss on you problem we have."

"Well," said mission control, "the pee ons had to discover sometime." This is A Brave New Economic World that we are living in. Slavelike labor is the key to this New World.The cheaper the better. And we got a billion or two new slaves, I mean people willing to work for peanuts that we can use and abuse. But the thing is, they are happy as clams in mud at high tide to be able to do so. So it's really not exploitation at all you see. It's a win-win for everybody."

"They really are all like ET's aren't they" Mission Control concluded. "Strangers in a Strange Land and all. Just like Middle Class ET's."

Violence Epidemic By CeeJay

When I was in high school, I belonged to the rifle team. We went to the National Guard armory a few blocks from our high school after school to shoot. Some of the students brought their 22 rifles to school, so they didn’t have to run home to get them. I don’t know if they kept them in their locker or in their car. No one really worried about it. No one thought that we might shoot anything but targets at the armory. That was 1965.

As a child growing up, I knew that the elderly lady who lived behind our house committed suicide. She was a sweet old lady, and after the suicide we learned that she had terminal cancer. I never heard of a classmate committing suicide and it never crossed my mind that one might do so. Most of my classmates were poor by today’s standards but we never thought of ourselves as poor. We lived in a working class neighborhood but people often left their doors unlocked. No one had a security system.

The old people in the neighborhood gave us candy or cookies sometimes and talked with us when we came by; our parents didn’t worry that they were sexual predators. They also watched over us and scolded us when we weren’t behaving; our parents didn’t object to that. The world I grew up in might not have been as rosy as I pictured it. There were priests sexually abusing kids and no one talked about it. There were dangers out there, but I was watching “Leave it to Beaver” and the “Mickey Mouse Club”, not “Law and Order”, so I was unaware of the adult world of sex and violence. Today’s children grow up with fear but there is much more to fear. Why? Why has our country changed so drastically in the last 40 years?

To quote from a CDC report online, “During 1950-1993, the overall annual death rate for U.S. children aged less than 15 years declined substantially (1), primarily reflecting decreases in deaths associated with unintentional injuries, pneumonia, influenza, cancer, and congenital anomalies. However, during the same period, childhood homicide rates tripled, and suicide rates quadrupled (2). In 1994, among children aged 1-4 years, homicide was the fourth leading cause of death; among children aged 5-14 years, homicide was the third leading cause of death, and suicide was the sixth,” (3) The report goes on to compare homicides and suicide rates of American children with those of children in other industrialized countries of the world. Here is a chart showing the comparisons.

Statistics on a chart only tell a small part of the story. They don’t tell us about the young people who died and the potential that was lost. They don’t tell about the heartache loved ones will live with for the rest of their lives.

I live near Cleveland, and our news broadcasts have been covering violence involving children far too often in the past few weeks. Asteve' "Cookie" Thomas, a twelve year old was killed Sept. 1 by a stray bullet during a shootout as she walked home from the store. On Oct.14^th, 14 year old, Asa H. Coon shot two teachers and two students at his school then killed himself. Demesha Sharp 15 was knifed to death by a 17 year old bully while the murder’s relatives kept those who might have helped her at bay using a stun gun and knives. October 20^th, a sixteen year old boy killed his mother and seriously wounded his minister father in Wellington, a small town close to Cleveland. On Halloween, a thirteen year old was shot in the thigh after he threw eggs at a car. That story didn’t even make the front page; he didn’t die.

The day after the school shooting in Cleveland, I attended a forum on gun violence in Akron sponsored by our church with the support of other faith based organizations in our area. It was held in the auditorium at the downtown library. It included a speaker, Toby Hoover from the Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence, and a panel of concerned people from the community. Below is the list of speakers and sponsors:

Toby Hoover - Executive Director of The Ohio Coalition Against Gun
Violence (OCAGV)
Judge Linda Tucci Teodosio - Judge of The Summit County Juvenile Court
Officer Don Schismenos - Head of The Akron Police Gang Unit
Judy Joyce, LISW - President of The Greenleaf Family Center
Pete Crossland - Summit County Councilman
Professor N. J. Brown, PhD - University of Akron School of
Communication
Sponsors:Akron Area Association of Churches, Akron Area Interfaith Council,
Akron Hadassah.American Friends Service Committee.Catholic Commission,
Coalition for a Safe Community,Unitarian Universalist Church of Akron

One might think that this would be a topic that would have drawn a crowd, but the total audience wasn’t over 40. Half were there ushering, shooting the video to broadcast on community access cable, or handing out literature. There were also about three men who came to argue with the speaker in support of the concealed carry law in Ohio. They were adamant that no one was going to take away their guns, even after everyone on the panel and the speaker tried to reassure them that abolition of guns was not their agenda.

If a disease was killing our young people at an ever increasing rate, and the rate of death from the disease in the U.S. was much higher than in any other industrial nation, we would demand a response from our government! We would attend meetings designed to stop it from spreading and protect the people in our community. The news would be filled with discussion about the latest research to solve the problem, not the tear-filled eyes of the grieving relatives as the news broadcasters asked insanely stupid questions. “How are you coping?” “What was it like when you learned that this had happened?”

If our citizens were spreading such a disease to other nations, they would take steps to quarantine the products that were spreading it. Well, we are spreading the disease of violence throughout the world. We are one of the leading producers and buyers of weapons of all types. We produce some of the most violent films, TV shows and video games in the world and market them aggressively. By comparison with other nations, we have a huge military budget that not only pays for our own defense and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but provides weapons to our allies and others we wish to arm in conflicts throughout the world. While we protest the development of nuclear weapons by Iran and North Korea, we maintain the largest nuclear arsenal in the world with the capability of annihilating everyone not just once, but multiple times. Yet we live in fear, not only in the world community, but in our own homes. We are people surrounded weapons just waiting for someone to attack us. We think we are arming ourselves against the disease of violence, but we are the leading carriers of the virus.

I don’t have the answer as to why the violence in our society has increased so rapidly in the 40 years since my youth, but I do know that it has no simple answer. It is a complex problem that requires us to open our eyes and get involved in solving it before the violence disease overcomes us and our children. There is no place for party politics in this. We need to confront this enemy with all the weapons at our disposal; effective gun regulation, social programs that support healthy families and neighborhoods, education, drug and alcohol prevention and treatment, and changing our cultural fascination with violence as entertainment. I want to hear the candidates for office address the problem. I want to hear them offer solutions, not slogans.