What To Permit or What Not to Permit -- That is the Question

Social deviance and anomie was one of the first phrases I learned in freshman sociology class.  In short, it means that social disorder or crime is linked to a feeling of personal alienation or anomie from the culture.  I thought it a good segué as to how I might express the profundity of what I think has gone wrong in our nation.  Why am I even bothered by this question?  I am bothered because I believe it matters and, yes, I am bothered that I sometimes am seduced by the anger of our new age.

I am a fervent protector of the First Amendment BUT as Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.'s opinion stated in the famous case of Schenck v. United States, 249 US 47 (1919), when, quoting Wikipedia, the Supreme Court explored the limits of the First Amendment protection of free speech.  Justice Holmes said:

The most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man in falsely shouting fire in a theater and causing a panic.

I aver there is a panic in our crowded theater because there are no limits, no boundaries and no behavioral brakes in our nation's system any longer.  I stand in utter disbelief at the filth that passes as art and the violence that passes as entertainment in our nation. There is no sense of decorum and there is no fear of the consequences of one’s actions or speech.  There is a sexual and violent anarchy of greed in our land that makes this so.  

What is permissible to do and say and what is not that is the question.  At long last, paraphrasing Joseph Welch at the Army McCarthy hearings, have we no sense of decency?   

Kathy Griffin on New Years Eve with the supposed journalist Anderson Cooper spoke things and did things on CNN during the New Year's Eve celebration that I might read on a bathroom wall so the entire world (including children) could see. It was utterly embarrassing and monumentally profane.  Anderson Cooper is supposed to be better than that or so I thought.   

Two evenings ago I happened see part of the film "Reservoir Dogs."  I had heard it was violent but I wanted to see for myself if it was as difficult to watch as some had said and it was so much so I could not watch it as torture and mayhem were visited upon human beings in utterly sickening blood drenched detail.  

Then I happened upon a film called "Good Time Max" about two brothers both of whom were drug addicted.  Do I know that the behavior of addicts can be profane? Yes, of course, I do.  But this film depicted a confrontation between brothers that took the word filth to a new low actually filming and showing one brother's own excrement to exact revenge on the other. The camera cannot simply allude to it but it must show it directly.  I exploded in incredulity.

We are a nation adrift caring little for one another.  Our films show it, our TV news shows it, our books, newspapers and magazines show it, our advertisements show it and the cacophonic decibels of shock jock radio sound it.  Our Congress shows it when one member of status can use the most profane word in disrespect to his colleague so others can hear it or when some in Congress seek the best way to ruin the most vulnerable among us by stripping Medicare or Social Security. When is enough enough?

Is it any wonder we have a murderous Newtown or a theater in Aurora or a Virginia Tech when we have so much vicious violence directed at children and an NRA that thinks more guns carried by teachers armed to the teeth in schools is the answer to the devastating problem of the murder of innocents? What could possibly go wrong?   Is it any wonder we have 300 MILLION guns in our closets?  Is it any wonder we have ad infinitum war conducted by a country supposedly known for its democratic due process exceptionalism but one which has committed abominable atrocities and conducted a war based on lies?  We are a nation that has gone wild and knows no boundaries for its wildness whether at home or abroad.  Worse, most of it has been done for the money it earns.

The Kathy Griffin/Anderson Cooper spectacle was done for ratings which means money and how big an audience can something attain. How much money can the latest violent video game or violent movie make?  How far can sexualized cable TV go to get those ratings and money through its unbridled vulgarity and lasciviousness?  

Who would tune in on New Years Eve to a Guy Lombardo orchestra any more? Okay, so who wants to go back to that?  But Kathy Griffin's profanity with a clearly embarrassed Anderson Cooper is UNACCEPTABLE and is an example of how low we have culturally gone.  Those media events are mere microcosms of how many examples of cultural mayhem there are. Where are the boundaries of vulgarity, violence and greed? There are none and that is sad because of the social deviance and anomie it produces for generations to come.

One More Short IMPORTANT ITEM

When they said that the fiscal so called cliff scenario was only the first part of the fiscal legislation they were right. The Boston Globe quote explains the rest and WHY we must hold Washington’s feat to the fire NOT NOT NOT to destroy Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid. Write, call or send smoke signals to all of Washington and anyone else you know. It said:

“The fiscal patch creates extraordinary pressure to make cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, and Social Security,” said Ethan Rome, executive director of Health Care for America Now, a grassroots organization that helped pass the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. “These protections are vital to the health and economic security of America’s middle class and those working their way into it. Supporters of these programs need to make clear right now that they will not agree to beneficiary cuts in the future. “

“This deal was only a first step toward tax fairness,” Rome said in a statement Wednesday.“We need comprehensive tax reform that makes the wealthiest Americans and corporations pay their fair share and raises revenue for investments in health care, education, and jobs.”

“Instead of cutting benefits, Washington should be looking for responsible solutions that address the long-term challenges facing Social Security and Medicare — like reducing health care costs throughout the system, not just shifting costs onto seniors,” said Nancy LeaMond, AARP’s executive vice president.

YET AGAIN WHY DEMOCRATS MUST BE ELECTED. CAN YOU IMAGINE WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED TO US IF SOCIAL SECURITY WERE NOT THERE DURING THE GREAT RECESSION? WELL WE ARE NOT TOTALLY OUT OF THAT AND MOST IMPORTANTLY OUR CURRENT ECONOMIC SYSTEM IS GUARANTEED TO HAVE MORE AS IT HAS THROUGHOUT OUR HISTORY. BOOMS, BUSTS, PANICS, RECESSIONS AND DEPRESSIONS ARE PART OF OUR ECONOMIC LANDSCAPE FROM THE BEGINNING! THE REPUBLICAN PARTY HAS BEEN TRYING TO RID US OF MEDICARE AND SOCIAL SECURITY FOR DECADES. FDR'S NEW DEAL SAVED THE REPUBLIC DO NOT LET REPUBLICANS TURN IT INTO MORE OF THE NEAR OLIGARCHY IT ALREADY IN MANY WAYS IS.
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Best Explanation of tax cuts and increases I have found

Nope, I surely am not Einstein and when a number or the word tax is in a sentence. My brain spasms.   CNN explained last evening why EVERYONE was going to see some kind of tax increase.  I did not get it as I thought the president ensured 99% would not.  What I was not understanding was the PAYROLL tax for those who are working.   I prefer to call a "holiday" and it was in place for only two years by Obama.   The PAYROLL tax is different from the rest of the tax increases where those making under 400,000 will NOT see an increase at all but if you are rich you will.     As I understand it the Payroll Tax was ONLY a TWO year holiday anyway.  NOTE BENE:  Payroll taxes SUPPORT Social Security!.  Everyone especially the middle class and working class SHOULD want that if you want any kind of retirement short of the street.  

The following is in the publication "The Blaze."  I thought it the best explanation yet of the fiscal cliff deal.  This is how they explain it for those whose synapses are short circuiting about the dry subject of  taxes:

“For most people, [the increase for wage earners] is just the payroll tax,” said Roberton Williams, a senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center.

The tax increases could be a lot higher. A huge package of tax cuts first enacted under President George W. Bush was scheduled to expire Tuesday as part of the “fiscal cliff.” The Bush-era tax cuts lowered taxes for families at every income level, reduced investment taxes and the estate tax, and enhanced a number of tax credits, including a $1,000-per-child credit.

The package passed Tuesday by the Senate and House extends most the Bush-era tax cuts for individuals making less than $400,000 and married couples making less than $450,000.

Obama said the deal “protects 98 percent of Americans and 97 percent of small business owners from a middle-class tax hike. While neither Democrats nor Republicans got everything they wanted, this agreement is the right thing to do for our country.”

The income threshold covers more than 99 percent of all households, exceeding Obama’s claim, according to the Tax Policy Center. However, the increase in payroll taxes will hit nearly every wage earner.

Social Security is financed by a 12.4 percent tax on wages (payroll) up to $113,700, with employers paying half and workers paying the other half. Obama and Congress reduced the share paid by workers from 6.2 percent to 4.2 percent for 2011 and 2012, saving a typical family about $1,000 a year.

***Obama pushed hard to enact the payroll tax cut for 2011 and to extend it through 2012. But it was never fully embraced by either party, and this time around, there was general agreement to let it expire.

The new tax package would increase the income tax rate from 35 percent to 39.6 percent on income above $400,000 for individuals and $450,000 for married couples. Investment taxes would increase for people who fall in the new top tax bracket.

High-income families will also pay higher taxes this year as part of Obama’s 2010 health care law. As part of that law, a new 3.8 percent tax is being imposed on investment income for individuals making more than $200,000 a year and couples making more than $250,000.

Together, the new tax package and Obama’s health care law will produce significant tax increases for many high-income families.

For 2013, households making between $500,000 and $1 million would get an average tax increase of $14,812, according to the Tax Policy Center analysis. Households making more than $1 million would get an average tax increase of $170,341. [THEY SHOULD!]

“If you’re rich, you’re almost certain to get a big tax increase,” Williams said. [I SAY GOOD and remember to separate the PAYROLL TAX from everything else!]

IT IS CLEAR WHY THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY SHOULD BE SUPPORTED AND WHY WE MUST ELECT DEMOCRATS ACROSS THE BOARD.  THE REPUBLICAN PARTY IS NOT ABOUT MOST ANYONE EXCEPT THE TOP 2% IN WEALTH! AND THEY DO NOT NOT NOT CREATE JOBS.  THEY SINK AN ECONOMY AS THEY DID DURING THE PAST 30 YEARS!!

Short Reflection After the Cliff

I STILL support the president! I do NOT think he lied as some on the left and, of course, the right do. I still think if he could have done what he truly wanted he would have but the Republican block does one thing well - it blocks. They still have a majority in the House and blocking numbers in the Senate.

Again, emphasis must, I think, be placed on this obstructionist Republican Party which plays appeasement with their racist tea baggie extreme. They are intractable and blocked what the president originally wanted. A large part of the threatening Republican base still cannot see a black man and his black family in the oh so White House. I believe that is the springboard for Republican imperviousness.

It does seem the payroll tax holiday is done BUT it may come back with the new Congress which has shed some virus as the Dems increased in the Senate and some wingnuts in the House were booted. The Dems got many other things too numerous to list. 

 
The media is saying, a huge fight about spending and the so called "entitlements" or as I like to call them benefits of Medicare and Social Security is going to ensue. This "debate" will make the fiscal cliff, they say, look small. I hope that is media hype to get you to watch them is wrong. My advice -- like I have credibility on this -- is DON'T watch.

More tax reform, spending cuts, and other fiscal fights must ensue including the potentially devastating blow up on the debt ceiling. I am fastening my seat belt which I hate to do so I will fasten it not too tightly but realizing there may be a bump ride ahead.

The solution: give Republicans in local, state and national elections the boot so something can finally be done for the nation.

Short of the cliff what we get IF the House complies -- IF

I support the president and Democrats should too! IF he could have done the best liberals wanted he SURELY would have. No president ever with the exception of perhaps Lincoln had to deal with the most obstructionist opposition in the history of this nation. They are utterly intractable and every absolutely every cent Democrats raise should be to the purpose of unseating Republicans at both the national and most importantly at the state level in 2014. Republican especially Tea Bags would rather see people die than government help those who through no fault of their own cannot help themselves .

Our president is light years better than a Mitt Romney ever would have been. Count your blessings. Democrats and other progressive independents too do NOT betray a president that has worked his hardest for us under HUGELY difficult circumstances and often racist animus. He is, in my view, a SAINT and has the patience of Job!

Yes, I often see things as other critical progressives do BUT I am also a pragmatist.  I want the best we can do playing the ball where it lies.  

Now we must hope the part horrible House says aye.  I will believe it when I see it but it may happen.  Here's hoping it does!

Here is also what one blogger iterated explaining what we got.  I believe his assessment at least for now is correct and YES, of course I worry about the House accepting it.  It is not law until it does.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!!  I hope it stays happy. 

WHAT COMPROMISE LOOKS LIKE

The GOP did not want to raise income taxes on anyone.
The GOP wanted to tie deep spending cuts into any deal.
The GOP did not want to see extensions in key Democratic favored programs.
It did not get what it wanted.


It did get $150,000 increase in the tax ceiling, and it joined the democrats in supporting several tax credit extensions, 

The Dems did very well indeed (read on to find out how)..

Here is what the deal does:

A) All wage earners will see their payroll taxes return to 6.2 percent on earnings up to $113,700 in order to return the funding stream to Social Security and Medicare.

B) Individuals who earn more than $400,000 and couples who make more than $450,000 will see income tax rates increase from 35% to 39.6% For people at those income levels, tax rates on capital gains and dividends are expected to rise to 20%, up from 15%. In addition to the capital gain and dividend rates, health care reform will levy a new surtax of 3.8%  on capital gains for wealthy Americans, pushing up the top capital gains rate to 23.8%.

C) Estate tax rates are poised to rise from 35% to 40% for estates valued at more than $5 million.

D) Creation of  a permanent inflation "patch" that would shield millions of middle class taxpayers from the AMT (Alternative Minimum Tax that is supposed to guarantee that wealthy taxpayers pay a minimum amount of federal income tax, regardless of deductions, credits or exemptions. In essence, it is a flat tax with two brackets -- 26% and 28%)

E) Extended Measures/Programs:
- Unemployment extended for one year, preserving benefits for 2 million Americans who were at risk for losing benefits at year's end.

- The Child Tax Credit, Earned Income Tax Credit and Obama Opportunity Tax Credit (college tuition credits) will all be extended for five more years.

- One-year extension of the Research and Experimentation Tax Credit and Production Tax Credit, Alternative Energy Credits, along with an extension of the 50 percent Bonus Depreciation for businesses' capital expenditures.

- One-year extension of the DocFix current Medicare reimbursement rates, shielding participating doctors from a potential 27% cut in reimbursements.

AND...It would also temporarily delay the sequester -- i.e., billions of dollars in across-the-board spending cuts -- for another two months....when the debt ceiling debate will be a full force.

It will pass the Senate in a bipartisan vote and Boehner is going to have accept Democratic support in the House (which will weaken him). Not Bad.

A Final View From the Cliff

Mr. Ross Douthat in his December 30, 2012 NYT editorial entitled “How to Read in 2013”  linked here or below, suggests we should all read a variety of publications opposite to one’s point of view.  Yes, this is what a fair-minded member of the electorate should do. I have dedicated decades to at least trying to look at both sides of issues from both sides of the political spectrum but I had come to an age where I had to form core beliefs or forever be politically wandering and weightlessly floundering in endless space looking for a place to sit. I have read alternative right wing points of view over years.  I came to the conclusion if that part of the political spectrum gains immense power I fear for the viability of our nation. 

Therefore, reading more right wing ideology is impossible for me to endure. In the end I believe we are all in this together; that we either sink or swim together or we die alone. No matter what Ayn Rand, Paul Ryan, the Heritage Foundation, Wall Street Journal, National Review, etc. says I believe they are not only fundamentally wrong in their basic points of view but threatening to the our republic. I believe the right could be responsible for the death of those who through no fault of their own and for a variety of reasons need the help of the nation for which they have worked hard and to which they have pledged their allegiance. 

I fear the right's cruel belief system. Without safety nets, healthcare and other government benefits earned over a lifetime many will die who should not. I will stick to Paul Krugman, the NYT in general, the Nation Magazine and some of the best sites on the left Democracy Now and the Real. They speak truth no matter how difficult to hear and advocate for a more humane world.

  

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/30/opinion/sunday/douthat-how-to-read-in-2013.html?hp&_r=0

 

 

Philosophical Cliff Notes

I am breaking my New Year's resolution before New Year’s is even upon us. I promised I would turn many cheeks, that I would temper my temper and know that I could not change many things but that, at least, I would possess, as the Serenity Prayer states, the wisdom to change the things I can. I promised I would keep my anger in check against those politically imperfect whom I perceive to be the enemy of the good.
I advocate for the poor, the disabled and the dispossessed; for the hungry, for the middle class; for those who lost their jobs; for those who lost their homes; for those who could not seek medical attention and for those for whom most of the great wise men in centuries past say they cared.

Much of Christian philosophical thought appeals to me. Jesus said the first shall be last and the last first. He bestowed hope on the hopeless and eased guilt for one's station in life. It is easier, he said, for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. He fed the hungry, healed the sick and preached love not hate. He said if a man smite you on one cheek turn to him the other also and he, of course, said to love even one's enemies. Following his commands is difficult but I love what he is alleged to have taught. I am neither a Christian nor even a theist but I am a human being who wants to help even when helping seems a distant hope. Ted Kennedy eulogized his brother Robert and said his brother "saw wrong and tried to right it, saw suffering and tried to heal it, saw war and tried to stop it." To that I say bravo.

Alas, I am human. Yet again, I shake my fist in anger at a Republican Party which claims to believe in their Christian faith but who acts the antithesis of it. My heart burns with rage as the so called "fiscal cliff" draws near. Danger lurks in the distance but the opposition will not compromise. Republicans advocate for those who need no advocate. They care nothing for those who get so little but suffer so much as the merciless weapons of Wall Street have killed middle class hope. My anger knows no softening as the Republican position against the middle class turns to cement in the sands of cruelty. My fury is cultivated when compromise is eschewed but ignorance and racist thought is championed.

I want to turn the other cheek and run from my fiery rage but when one possesses no more cheeks to turn revenge is the only fire escape. I urge you to exact your pound of Shakespearean flesh by contacting your elected officials. Tell them to tax the rich and by saving the middle class save the nation. If that fails the ballot box in 2014 is available to throw the Tea Bag Republican Party overboard and rid our land of this intractable plague and terrible uncompromising scourge.

That is my hope and that is my prayer. There will, however, be an end to our imperial power if our nation offers no safety net for our poor and our sick. There will be no imperial power if our middle class fails. There WILL be an end to this American exceptional experiment as the angel of death shows its ugly face in the halls of Congress. There WILL be a high price to pay if a fiscal compromise is not reached. Falling off the cliff awaits and gives rise to the fear in me that the meek will not inherit the earth as Jesus said they would because man continually sows the wind and reaps the whirlwind!

THERE IS NO NEED ANYMORE TO SAY THAT THIS IS WHY WE MUST ELECT DEMOCRATS IN EVERY YEAR, IN EVERY STATE AND IN THE NATION AS WELL. OUR LIVES DEPEND THAT WE DO!

Out of Many ONE! Scroll down and listen

his is SO beautiful it made me cry!  Scroll down

 to begin 

 

Start your day with this…enjoy!
 

 

 

 

 

 

Flash mob Italian style.

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=GBaHPND2QJg&feature=youtu.be
 

 

My Take

Michael Kranish's December 23, Sunday Globe article "The candidate who never really let voters in" link here or below analyzed many aspects of the Romney campaign that failed and allowed the president a commanding victory and Romney a stunning loss. The blame ranged from people who controlled his campaign, the GOP primaries that hurt the candidate himself, to the over abundant minority vote and less abundant white vote.

Romney's son Tagg's revealing that Romney wanted the presidency less than any other was perhaps the most stunning admission of all. If true that served to reinforce for me that the REAL blame for Romney's loss is that Romney tried to fit a round peg into a square hole. I believe it was not Romney the man but Romney the snake oil salesman he was commanded to be by the Republican base which demanded radical right ideological purity that lost the election for him. Romney had to cast aside groups which in Massachusetts he courted -- women, pro-choice voters and gays. Heck he even sent an emissary to the gay pride parade in Massachusetts when he was running for governor. It was not Mitt Romney himself who lost the election but the Romney base that lost it for him as it demanded something which was not who he was. When he and others are finally nominated by Republican base and need to run nationally they lose. 

The nation is centrist in nature sometimes a little right and sometimes a little left but what they are NOT is extreme. No matter how good the Republican bench is their candidates may lie to appeal to the Republican base but the lie of who they are is not lost by the general electorate and they reject it. Republicans if they do not carve out a better brand -- which they seem not inclined to do -- will lose every time!

http://epaper.bostonglobe.com/epaper/viewer.aspx

Love, Help and Hope

The opinion below written by Michael Moore is one of the best pieces I have ever read explaining our national nightmare of violence. Michael Moore not only creates wonderful documentaries, is a humanitarian at heart but writes ever-so-well too.

I urge you to read "Celebrating the Prince of Peace in the Land of Guns -- a letter from Michael Moore" in its entirety and paste it below for you to do so. I hope in our hour of dismay that its content is heard throughout the land. I suspect Christ's response to Newtown would not be to get more guns. It is just my suspicion though.

Yes, I am a Jew and Jewish theology does not recognize the divinity of Christ. I am not a believer in religious orthodoxy of any type but I have always loved the philosophic message of Christianity as I see it. I have adopted some of its important tenets as I carved out, decades ago, my political thought. Its message to me is simple -- love, help and hope. Yes, love for your fellow man, help one another, and through both of these things hope for the reality of a better way to live.

To my Christian friends Merry Christmas and to all the others from whatever faith or no faith one springs I wish you all happy holidays and hope for

PEACE in our time!


Natalie

"Celebrating the Prince of Peace in the Land of Guns -- a letter from Michael Moore"

Monday, December 24th, 2012

Friends,

After watching the deranged, delusional National Rifle Association press conference on Friday, it was clear that the Mayan prophecy had come true. Except the only world that was ending was the NRA's. Their bullying power to set gun policy in this country is over. The nation is repulsed by the massacre in Connecticut, and the signs are everywhere: a basketball coach at a post-game press conference; the Republican Joe Scarborough; a pawn shop owner in Florida; a gun buy-back program in New Jersey; a singing contest show on TV, and the conservative gun-owning judge who sentenced Jared Loughner.

So here's my little bit of holiday cheer for you:

These gun massacres aren't going to end any time soon.

I'm sorry to say this. But deep down we both know it's true. That doesn't mean we shouldn't keep pushing forward – after all, the momentum is on our side. I know all of us – including me – would love to see the president and Congress enact stronger gun laws. We need a ban on automatic AND semiautomatic weapons and magazine clips that hold more than 7 bullets. We need better background checks and more mental health services. We need to regulate the ammo, too.

But, friends, I would like to propose that while all of the above will certainly reduce gun deaths (ask Mayor Bloomberg – it is virtually impossible to buy a handgun in New York City and the result is the number of murders per year has gone from 2,200 to under 400), it won't really bring about an end to these mass slayings and it will not address the core problem we have. Connecticut had one of the strongest gun laws in the country. That did nothing to prevent the murders of 20 small children on December 14th.

In fact, let's be clear about Newtown: the killer had no criminal record so he would never have shown up on a background check. All of the guns he used were legally purchased. None fit the legal description of an "assault" weapon. The killer seemed to have mental problems and his mother had him seek help, but that was worthless. As for security measures, the Sandy Hook school was locked down and buttoned up BEFORE the killer showed up that morning. Drills had been held for just such an incident. A lot of good that did.

And here's the dirty little fact none of us liberals want to discuss: The killer only ceased his slaughter when he saw that cops were swarming onto the school grounds – i.e, the men with the guns. When he saw the guns a-coming, he stopped the bloodshed and killed himself. Guns on police officers prevented another 20 or 40 or 100 deaths from happening. Guns sometimes work. (Then again, there was an armed deputy sheriff at Columbine High School the day of that massacre and he couldn't/didn't stop it.)

I am sorry to offer this reality check on our much-needed march toward a bunch of well-intended, necessary – but ultimately, mostly cosmetic – changes to our gun laws. The sad facts are these: Other countries that have guns (like Canada, which has 7 million guns – mostly hunting guns – in their 12 million households) have a low murder rate. Kids in Japan watch the same violent movies and kids in Australia play the same violent video games (Grand Theft Auto was created by a British company; the UK had 58 gun murders last year in a nation of 63 million people). They simply don't kill each other at the rate that we do. Why is that? THAT is the question we should be exploring while we are banning and restricting guns: Who are we?

I'd like to try to answer that question.

We are a country whose leaders officially sanction and carry out acts of violence as a means to often an immoral end. We invade countries who didn't attack us. We're currently using drones in a half-dozen countries, often killing civilians.

This probably shouldn't come as a surprise to us as we are a nation founded on genocide and built on the backs of slaves. We slaughtered 600,000 of each other in a civil war. We "tamed the Wild West with a six-shooter," and we rape and beat and kill our women without mercy and at a staggering rate: every three hours a women is murdered in the USA (half the time by an ex or a current); every three minutes a woman is raped in the USA; and every 15 seconds a woman is beaten in the USA.

We belong to an illustrious group of nations that still have the death penalty (North Korea, Saudi Arabia, China, Iran). We think nothing of letting tens of thousands of our own citizens die each year because they are uninsured and thus don't see a doctor until it's too late.

Why do we do this? One theory is simply "because we can." There is a level of arrogance in the otherwise friendly American spirit, conning ourselves into believing there's something exceptional about us that separates us from all those "other" countries (there are indeed many good things about us; the same could also be said of Belgium, New Zealand, France, Germany, etc.). We think we're #1 in everything when the truth is our students are 17th in science and 25th in math, and we're 35th in life expectancy. We believe we have the greatest democracy but we have the lowest voting turnout of any western democracy. We're biggest and the best at everything and we demand and take what we want.

And sometimes we have to be violent [beasts] to get it. But if one of us goes off-message and shows the utterly psychotic nature and brutal results of violence in a Newtown or an Aurora or a Virginia Tech, then we get all "sad" and "our hearts go out to the families" and presidents promise to take "meaningful action." Well, maybe this president means it this time. He'd better. An angry mob of millions is not going to let this drop.While we are discussing and demanding what to do, may I respectfully ask that we stop and take a look at what I believe are the three extenuating factors that may answer the question of why we Americans have more violence than most anyone else:

1. POVERTY. If there's one thing that separates us from the rest of the developed world, it's this. 50 million of our people live in poverty. One in five Americans goes hungry at some point during the year. The majority of those who aren't poor are living from paycheck to paycheck. There's no doubt this creates more crime. Middle class jobs prevent crime and violence. (If you don't believe that, ask yourself this: If your neighbor has a job and is making $50,000/year, what are the chances he's going to break into your home, shoot you and take your TV? Nil.)

2. FEAR/RACISM. We're an awfully fearful country considering that, unlike most nations, we've never been invaded. (No, 1812 wasn't an invasion. We started it.) Why on earth would we need 300 million guns in our homes? I get why the Russians might be a little spooked (over 20 million of them died in World War II). But what's our excuse? Worried that the Indians from the casino may go on the warpath? Concerned that the Canadians seem to be amassing too many Tim Horton's donut shops on both sides of the border?

No. It's because too many white people are afraid of black people. Period. The vast majority of the guns in the U.S. are sold to white people who live in the suburbs or the country. When we fantasize about being mugged or home invaded, what's the image of the perpetrator in our heads? Is it the freckled-face kid from down the street – or is it someone who is, if not black, at least poor?

I think it would be worth it to a) do our best to eradicate poverty and re-create the middle class we used to have, and b) stop promoting the image of the black man as the boogeyman out to hurt you. Calm down, white people, and put away your guns.

3. THE "ME" SOCIETY. I think it's the every-man-for-himself ethos of this country that has put us in this mess and I believe it's been our undoing. Pull yourself up by your bootstraps! You're not my problem! This is mine!Clearly, we are no longer our brother's and sister's keeper. You get sick and can't afford the operation? Not my problem. The bank has foreclosed on your home? Not my problem. Can't afford to go to college? Not my problem.
And yet, it all sooner or later becomes our problem, doesn't it? Take away too many safety nets and everyone starts to feel the impact. Do you want to live in that kind of society, one where you will then have a legitimate reason to be in fear? I don't.

I'm not saying it's perfect anywhere else, but I have noticed, in my travels, that other civilized countries see a national benefit to taking care of each other. Free medical care, free or low-cost college, mental health help. And I wonder – why can't we do that? I think it's because in many other countries people see each other not as separate and alone but rather together, on the path of life, with each person existing as an integral part of the whole. And you help them when they're in need, not punish them because they've had some misfortune or bad break. I have to believe one of the reasons gun murders in other countries are so rare is because there's less of the lone wolf mentality amongst their citizens. Most are raised with a sense of connection, if not outright solidarity. And that makes it harder to kill one another.Well, there's some food for thought as we head home for the holidays. Don't forget to say hi to your conservative brother-in-law for me. Even he will tell you that, if you can't nail a deer in three shots – and claim you need a clip of 30 rounds – you're not a hunter my friend, and you have no business owning a gun.

Have a wonderful Christmas or a beautiful December 25th!

Yours,
Michael Moore
MMFlint@MichaelMoore.com
@MMFlint
MichaelMoore.com

The Drone of Local Drones

The writer of this piece, Naomi Wolf of the Guardian, writes in the end it will be local governments which will act against this oh-so-invasive civil libertarian egregious assault of localized drones.  She seems to indicate our own doorstep is where our government's war on terror is headed and the only way to protest these actions is to work against it at the state and local level.

IF we have become the United States of Fear Everything then how could Naomi Wolf not fear the essence of what she not only wrote but published?

As for me, I do not, have not ever and WILL not fear my government.  Perhaps this is an ontogenic left over from my fourth grade appearance at Flag Day ceremonies where I was given the honor of carrying the flag.  The little patriot on that day was very proud and loved her country with unquestioning allegiance.   When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became an adult, I put away childish things. 1 Corinthians 13:11. As a solid progressive today I will criticize policy when necessary and sometimes vituperatively but NO ONE is going to make me  shake in fear that a knock at the door from the US government in the wee hours of the morning will occur and sweep me away or that a government drone the size of a hornet will take a picture of my smiling face.  

Ever vigilant is my motto and until I see otherwise my government is NOT my enemy.  It is still,  I think, no matter how much critical analysis I levy against it, the freest government I always thought it was!

I post the link here or below for you to make your own assessment.

Reader Supported News | 22 December 12 It's Live on the HomePage Now: Reader Supported News FOCUS: Naomi Wolf | The Coming Drone Attack on America Naomi Wolf, Guardian UK Wolf writes: "Drones on domestic surveillance duties are already deployed by police and corporations. In time, they will likely be weaponized." READ MORE

Remember the Victims, Reject the Violence By Bill Moyers, PLEASE READ

If you want to see the Bill Moyers video click here or on the link below OR simply read his opinion I pasted below this.  It is brilliant.  I love Bill Moyers and nearly always share his opinion.  He says it, though, so much better than I ever could.  I urge you to read or view it.  

It is at least in part a solution for our time to the horrific gun violence and puts an addendum on my own opinion which I thought incomplete, posted yesterday.  Please give Mr. Moyers's opinion at least one read or viewing.  It is important for you, for your children and grandchildren if you have them and for our democracy whose roots are withering.  We have a chance to do the right thing.  Do it and be glad you did. Scroll down.

BILL MOYERS: Welcome. The bells rang for the lost: Charlotte Bacon, Olivia Engel, Ana Marquez-Greene, Dylan Hockley, Madeline Hsu, Catherine Hubbard, Jesse Lewis, James Mattioli, Emilie Parker, Jack Pinto, Noah Pozner, Caroline Previdi, Jessica Rekos, Avielle Richman, Benjamin Wheeler, and Allison Wyatt. All were six years old.

Daniel Barden, Josephine Gay, Chase Kowalski, and Grace McDonnell were 7.

Six adults died with them: Mary Sherlach, Anne Marie Murphy, Dawn Hochsprung, Lauren Rousseau, Rachel D'Avino, Victoria Soto.

It helps to say their names, to rescue them from the statistical anonymity that always settles over these awful events. It helps those of us distanced from the loss to imagine, even grieve, the emptiness in the homes and hearts of those who loved them. They will never forget. We mourn, move on, and too soon forget. And then it will happen again one day, and we will scratch our heads and ask ourselves, "Was the last time Newtown? Or Columbine? Was it Aurora? Or that college in Virginia?" And once again we will mourn, move on, and too soon forget.

There is an old Hassidic saying that, "In remembrance is the secret of redemption." But America forgets quickly, and gives no lasting indication it seeks redemption from its fetish with guns, its romance with the free market of violence. With the sport of it all. The show must go on. It's our right. At any price. What were their names again? Oh, yes, Charlotte, Daniel, Olivia, Dylan, Allison, Dawn. Poor things, such a tragedy. Praise the Lord, and pass the ammunition.

And so we make our peace with violence. And make ourselves over in its image. A state senator in Missouri, a life-time member of the National Rifle Association, is pushing a bill to require that all first graders be enrolled in the NRA's gun safety course. First-graders. Six and seven years old. Pledge Allegiance to the flag. Lock and Load. Our new Head Start.

A state senator in Tennessee's Republican legislature says he will introduce a bill that would allow the state to pay for secretly armed teachers in classrooms. Saintly Miss Simpson, packing heat. Hey, Mr. Russell, it's show and tell, can we see your Glock 9? After the Newtown killings, a sixth-grader at an elementary school near Salt Lake City brought a gun to school, saying he wanted to protect himself and his friends. Instead, allegedly, he used it to threaten some classmates. As The Good Book says, get with it, "Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it." Ready. Aim. Fire.

And for the child who has everything this season, how about body armor? A Utah company named Amendment II offers a new line of it for kids. Mother Jones Magazine reports sales have tripled in one week. A Massachusetts company is promoting The Bullet Blocker, a "rugged computer backpack designed for work or play." Made of the same materials used in bullet-proof police vests, currently on sale for the holidays for $199.99. And on Facebook, an outfit called Black Dragon Tactical that sells vests and other combat gear sent this message: "Arm the teachers, in the meantime, bulletproof the kids."

This market never closes. America's turned violence into a profit center. And if you haven't finished your Christmas shopping, no need to wait for Santa; his sleigh couldn't even hold the heavy weapons. Step this way. Black Friday is every day. And we have something for everyone, from cradle to grave. From cradle to grave.

Surely this can't go on. This spilling of innocent blood, this bleeding of democracy's soul. We're losing faith in ourselves, acting as subjects, not citizens, no longer believing that it is in our power to do the right thing. We Americans are not smarter than other people, and certainly no more virtuous. Our exceptionalism is our capacity for self-correction. To reach the bridge of the ship, point to the iceberg dead ahead, and demand of the captain a change of course before it's too late. "They," the gun industry, its profiteers, zealots and apologists, its political stooges, fabulists, and constitutional originalists, who would have us think the "well-regulated militia" of a sparsely-populated frontier nation in the 18th century really means tolerating a perpetual wild west here in the 21st century. "They" say, "don't tread on us, get off our well-armed backs, there's nothing you can do."

Of course there is. Register all guns. License all gun owners. Require stringent background checks. Get tough on assault weapons of any kind. Crack down on high-capacity ammunition as the President has now proposed. And then, enforce the laws. Yes, I know, determined killers will always find a way. But we can minimize the opportunities, and scale back the scope of destruction. Why do we accept the need for driver's licenses? Or submit to the sometimes humiliating body scans at airports? Because it's the law, and deep down we know we're safer for the inconvenience of the law.

Good laws are hard to come by. Civilization, just as hard. The rough and tumble of politics makes them so. But democracy aims for a moral order as just as humanly possible, which means laws that protect the weak and not just the strong. Lest we forget.

If you want to hear the above video espousing his views or read it below.

http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/436-2nd-amendment-rights/15158-remember-the-victims-reject-the-violence

The Genie is Out of the Bottle – a reaction to Wayne LaPierre’s NRA response to the Newtown violence:

Mr. LaPierre said that we should arm teachers, we should arm principles and we should think about armed security in our schools in answer to the Newtown slaughter of 26 young innocents. What could possibly go wrong? I am incredulous at the words Mr. LaPierre spoke. They stun my imagination.

I am capable, though, of selecting the axioms about which he talked and agreeing at least in part, to some. He addressed his speech to the culture of violence in the nation and I agree with many of his points. Video games, talk radio, film, television's all pervasive saturated culture of violence is out there for all to see and companies make billions from it. Little violence or sexual licentiousness is prohibited nay more is encouraged and accentuated. There are FEW boundaries any longer. The late iconic intellectual of the 1950’s, Steve Allen, once said in the title of his book "Vulgarians at the Gate" that the culture has become saturated with vulgarity and we are comfortable with that vulgarity. Left and right; red state or blue we are comfortable with it. I ask why.

As a young adult in the late 60's I protested against war and worked for a more permissive culture with respect to women, sexual mores, and free speech but I ask now where did our message go askew and what did we unleash? There is no insult now that is too profane, there is no decibel utterance too loud and there is no limit to the expression of hate. Our boundaries of what is permissible and what is not have been erased. There is, as I call it, an anarchy of the human essence.

I fear the culture of violence, I fear a culture of irrational thought, I fear the culture of unbridled greed, I fear a culture of hate and I fear a cultural garb rent with division. I was not asking for this world I worry I helped shape. I know I am as guilty as any of political thought and speech permeated with emotional passion, uncompromising and immutable. For that I, singularly, can hope only to do better.

I fear though the genie has been let out of the bottle decades ago. I suspect it cannot be returned and THAT is my biggest fear of all!

Represenative Chaffetz -- a Judas in Our Time

Representative Jason Chaffetz (R) from Utah went on The Today Show and said he was against gun control and thought that the slaughter at Newtown was a mental health problem rather than a gun control issue. Funny how Republicans are against the president’s Affordable Health Care Act which includes treatment for mental health but think further horrific killings like the one at Newtown should be treated as a mental health problem.

Representative Chaffetz’s views on the Today Show were an abomination. Republican Representative Chaffetz is willing to trade 16 pieces of silver to give to the corporate gun lobbyists their pound of flesh rather than eliminate the weapons of war used solely for mass killings in a civilian population. Representative Chaffetz wants PSYCHOLOGISTS to pick out every deranged person rather than ridding the nation of guns used solely to kill massive numbers of people.

Most youth and others if troubled, especially males, will not seek psychological help for their mental health problems. Taking assault weaponry, extended bullet clips OFF the market and making background checks mandatory for ALL private gun show transactions is asking little to save a life. Would Representative Chaffetz not think that IF his own family was at risk and he had the chance to save them by enacting stricter gun control laws?

The issue of wholesale slaughter of children by guns is both a mental health issue AND a gun issue. Perhaps Representative Chaffetz fears the NRA gun lobby will boot him from office. Indeed, who donates to Representative Chaffetz’s election coffers? My guess is corporate gun manufacturers do. That means he does NOT care a whit about innocent life but cares more about the bucks he gets for his next campaign from the corporate behemoths who fill his coffers with money.

Representative Chaffetz and the Republican Party are part of the problem not the solution. I will do everything I can to expose those who oppose strict gun control legislation and label them as those who stand against humanity and not for it; as those who stand against children and not for them; as those who stand against the survival of our nation and not for it.

I hope the 16 pieces of silver Representative Chaffetz and other Republicans trade for the lives of our people makes them MISERABLE and that he and his cronies of corporate gun greed think twice about the death they have inflicted on all of us. THEY WILL LOSE AS THIS TIME THIS GUN VIOLENCE IS DIFFERENT -- 20 children were the lambs slaughtered by a mentally disturbed person with access to an assault rifle pumping 11 shots into one of them. MAYBE it will take this tragedy for our country to come to its senses and support those who support sane restrictions on the lethality of guns rather than Congresspersons who look for the next lobbying position to make them millions at our expense!

Purge

Newtown, more than anything else, offers us a reason why in 2014 Democrats MUST take it all.  The other party is devoid of humanness and probably will STILL try even in view of this horrific tragedy to play into the ugly corporate hands of the gun industry.  That this should be EVEN a possibility that this Republican party, devoid of human compassion, could do this makes our task CRYSTAL clear   

This Republican Party as it exists today MUST be purged from the House, must be purged from the Senate and must NEVER occupy the presidency.  For this purpose I have committed my life so that these innocent children gunned down by a sickening assault rifle, the ban of which Republican President George W. Bush lifted, will not have died in vain.

Hebrew Prayer of Mourning

Rabbi Shaul Praver, as stated in The Jewish Daily Forward "moved many to tears when he recited El Maleh Rachamim, a prayer of mourning."  I post it here and below for you to hear if you did not hear it last evening or to hear it again if you did.

 

It is a gorgeous chant sung magnificently by Rabbi Praver.  Judaism is my heritage.  Despite all the doubts I may have, in the final analysis, tears streamed down my face as the familiar sound of the chant, like many chants in the Jewish tradition, was sung in a sad minor key which found its way to pierce my heart.  It is a plaintive cry as we beg God to protect our loved one and, for me, offers a wish that a higher power somewhere hears our cry and heals our collectively broken hearts.

 

As a Jewish symbol of loss of the closest relatives we rent part of our clothing.  It is a representation that a piece of them was torn from us.  I symbolically do that to reflect that a part of OUR national family has been torn from us as well.

 

As was so beautifully said by all the clergy and so many others in Newtown, the nation and around the world we mourn those innocent dead as our own.

Read more: http://blogs.forward.com/forward-thinking/167820/newtown-rabbis-prayer-for-the-fallen/#ixzz2FLLGNXZO

 

Gun Violence in America

I am attaching a document here written by a relative of mine which is about gun violence in America. I believe it is nearly perfect. I will post it but one wonders if those to who view this blog will take the time to read it. It says it all and says it well. One SHOULD read it.

The ONLY thing on which we differ -- and ONLY because I am a pragmatist -- is that I advocate within the parts of the system that can, I think, work for progressive views. I believe the best way to do that since there are NO third parties nor will there be any of consequence at least in my lifetime is through one of the two parties within our electoral system -- The Democratic Party.

At this moment the Democratic Party is the ONLY party whose membership reflects realistically the hue of the nation and at least gives credence to most of my views. Therefore I want to use that to advocate for the most humane progressive policies I can. I am a 100% non violent advocate for change.

Stephen does not agree with my sentiments about the Democratic Party but I think he errs on that point. He and I see things differently on other policies as well but on gun violence we agree. I believe we can do only what we can do now and use the vehicles available to us to do them. Otherwise I agree with this article 99.999999% -- it is EXCELLENTLY written and EVERYONE SHOULD read it in these most terrible times.

If Not Now When?

The nation has suffered a near 9/11 emotional loss.  The impact of 20 young children in an elementary school being slaughtered senselessly by insanity carrying guns and assault weapons is, for me, too much to bear.  

 

In my opinion three changes in the gun laws, at the least, should be mandated:

 

1.  Banning of all assault rifles and other military style assault weapons that are more than weaponry used for hunting and are intended only for the taking of massive numbers of innocent human life.

 

2.  Banning high-capacity semi-automatic-weapon magazines such as that used by the shooter in the Arizona rampage critically wounding Congresswoman Gabby Giffords.

 

3.  The registration, background checks and waiting periods for ALL gun purchases not only applying to registered gun dealers but also to private gun shows where a gun can now be purchased no questions asked.  

 

It is true not every killer will be stopped by stringent gun laws but we know many will. The Bush administration with Congress allowed the ban that was in force against assault weapons to expire.  The ban and the aforementioned restrictions MUST be reinstated.

 

This shooting should break the camel's back.  If the overrated power of the NRA gun lobby through their massive money buyout of mostly Republican but some Democratic Congressmen too must be shown as the paper tiger it is.  Most in this country approve of sane gun restrictions. This does NOT mean banning the beloved-by-some (not me) Second Amendment but ensuring that the Second Amendment mean something different than it did in 1776.  Our Founders presided over 13 colonies that numbered around 2 million people in a mostly agrarian society.  Our country is comprised now of 50 states numbering about 350 MILLION people.  There are nearly 300 MILLION guns in the nation today -- nearly one gun per person in the US. 

 

The Second Amendment:  A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

 

The first graders of Sandy Brook School hardly fell into the well regulated militia category.  The Founders wanted to prevent the tyranny they had seen and experienced in Europewhere power had all the weaponry and the citizens had none.  They did NOT envision high powered Bushwacker military assault weapons saturating a technologically sophisticated democratic nation and one which is beyond anything they ever could have imagined.  I believe they would be appalled at the tragedy that occurred Friday in Newtown, CT taking the lives of so many innocent children.  

 

I urge you to write your senator, write your representative, write Republican representatives as well and write the president.  Unlike what Press Secretary Jay Carney said now IS the time to make changes in the gun laws.  If not NOW when?

 

A Few Words When There are No Words to be Found

I still have no words for the killing yesterday of 20 children and 6 adults in Newtown, CT. I am stunned, I am overwhelmed, sickened, and sad. I do not know what has happened to my country one that I knew to be so safe, so secure, so benevolent and the one which saved Europe from tyranny. I walked, as a child all around my neighborhood. I went everywhere with no fear. School was a blessing, a sanctuary of learning surprising me even then that I felt so free.

Now schools are locked and one enters at one's own risk even in an elementary school. Where did we go so askew, how did we come to be so violent, and what has happened to this nation?

I am sad today and mourn with Newtown. Newtown -- a Dickensian name for a town. It is anything but new now -- it has grown old fast, sad, and stunned as I am. I am sorry for you Newtown and wish I could make the horror go away.

I WILL pray today and work for gun control tomorrow because there is nothing else I can do. The many are with you, Newtown, more than you can ever know!

My Hero

Yet again my hero Paul Krugman gets it right.  I link his NYT editorial  here or below. I was elated until the very last paragraph which says:

"The G.O.P. is lost and rudderless, bitter and angry, but it still controls the House and, therefore, retains the ability to do a lot of harm, as it lashes out in the death throes of the conservative dream. Our best hope is that business interests will use their influence to limit the damage. But the odds are that the next few years will be very, very ugly."

How long must I wait for those "few years" to pass? I have been waiting since 1968! I want to see the death of the Republican right wing religious fascistic Party and I want to see it NOW!!!  NEVER vote Republican for ANY office -- not even dog catcher --
ANYWHERE in the nation. 

Pass this around to encourage others to do the same i.e NOT vote RepuGlican!! The ONLY way the Republican Party will learn is to put this Party of know nothing racists in the corner for a BIG permanent time out!

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/14/opinion/krugman-the-gops-existential-crisis.html?hp&_r=0