Do the Math

In 2000, two former oil men took the top two positions in the US government. We can assume they knew something about oil and oil companies.

Before they began running things, gasoline was under $1.50 per gallon. Seven years of oil company rule, and the price of gasoline is over $4.00 per gallon.

Minding the Country's Doubloons

Somebody was on TV saying something like "we can't trust the government to spend our money." The second half of that is business can be trusted. The rule of profit is somehow the infallible principle that will keep the country upright, and anything else is suicidal.

It is a insipid thought that right-wing pundits use all the time. It is said off-the-cuff, as though it is an obvious point. Everybody knows that the government can't be trusted with our money. Right?

Actually, they are correct: the government really cannot be trusted to spend our money. They recognized half of the problem and assumed they could skip directly to their conclusion. So government can't be trusted.

But neither can unbridled corporations. Businesses don't have any kind of inside dope on how to do things. In fact, if we let them run around with our money, they'll quickly become speculators. The corporation works for the benefit of the corporation. When it does things that benefit workers or consumers, it is because it helps the corporation.

There is no noblesse oblige. At best, it is enlightened self-interest, which is something that requires the head corporate guy to be enlightened.

Neither corporations nor government should be able to squander my money.

The big difference is that the government of a democracy is supposed to debate and decide things in a public forum. That is opposite of a corporation, which does everything it can in secret. When was the last time you were invited into a board of directors of a major corporation?

If our elected representatives make a mess of things (and they will), we can send them packing at the next election. Try that with General Motors or Exxon/Mobile.

I have to remind myself not to fall into the trap of the right-wing special interests. Right now, they control the radio and television networks. They done an awesome job of reshaping the way we think about government.

We can fix illegal immegration once and for all

I have an opinion on what to do with Mexican nationals flooding into the USA, and it fixes much of the unfair practices of dealing with Communist China.

Why can't somebody figure out how to shift some of the money going to the Communists? Shouldn't we be active in trying to create jobs south of our border?

I certainly understand why Mexican nationals try to go north for work. If I were in their position, I'd be doing the same thing. But......

If workers in Mexico can get better jobs in Mexico, they don't need to risk their life and liberty to get into another country.

Cuba and/or China

Why don't we have economic ties to Cuba? They're right next door. Shouldn't we favor Communist countries in our own hemisphere, rather than favoring Communist China halfway around the world?

The answer, of course, is that politicians need to pander to the Cubans now living in Florida. It can't be because Cuba is a communist country, and it can't be because the Cuban government is oppressive. China does the same thing, and shipping from China would take gobs more energy than a little puddle-jump to Cuba.

I went to a store looking for a business card holder and a pen holder. Office Depot did not give me any choice: they tried to force me into doing business with Communist China. Every desk set on the Office Depot shelves was imported from China. That isn't free trade. That's a monopoly.

China is the Saudi Arabia of cheap goods. The Saudis account for more of the world's crude oil than anyone else. China is the "sole source" when a merchant wants cheap.

"W" vs gay marriage

George W Bush is less popular than same-gender marriage among Republicans.

Wow.

Gay marriage and equal rights have long been one of the defining stances of the radical right wing. They now like George W Bush less than gay marriage. (77% to 72%; source:Chris Matthews).

Raging against the Playground Bully

So there was this guy at work, who got through his day by intimidating others. He was the bully of the playground.

One day when I was in his office, he said something about “revealing personal secrets.” It was the way bullies start their game.

I quickly confronted him: “Where you going to tell somebody I'm a faggot?”

It was a move he didn't expect, and he didn't know how to deal with it. I paused for a few seconds to observe my work. It was good.

Then I said, “Let's both get on the same page,” adding a bit of Corporate Jargon to seem like I fit in there.

“The manager who hired me knew I was gay before she hired me. You did know that, didn't you? In fact, most of my department knows I'm gay. The president of the corporation knows I'm gay, for Pete's Sake. My father knows I'm gay. My mother knows I'm gay.”

I added, quickly, “My boyfriend is beginning to suspect that I'm gay.”

This is conversation karate. The bully had nothing to say.

“Just so I know what's going on, who were you going to tell?”

The important thing is that he and I worked at the same place for another 15 years. Not once in that time did he ever treat me with anything but respect. If it wasn't respect, then it was fear that I was unbalanced and likely to go off on him again with the slightest provocation or excuse.

Confronting problems straight-on has always been the easier way, the softer way. (And the way that offers the most entertainment.)

John Selig

The name of this blog came from John Selig. He has done more work as an activist than anyone I know.


John also has a sense of humor that is quite singular and dangerous. Not that John twists the knife of humor after he stabs. Oh, no... John makes sure he uses a knife large enough that no twisting is required.

He also announced that he found the best name for a store that sells used Indian clothing: “Whose Sari Now?”

Oiy.

My absolute favorite John'ism is what he sometimes uses in a fast food restaurant--

Cashier (aka The Innocent Victim):	“Is there for here or to go?”
John (aka The Sniper):	“Which do you recommend?”

From Rev Michael Pfleger

If you took a sound-bite of Jesus saying "You've got to hate your brother and your mother and your sister and your father in order to love me" and loop that around, they'd say Jesus was a mad man. If you did a visual of Jesus turning tables over in the temple and that's all you showed, you'd say he was crazy. You can define people how you want with sound bites. -- Rev Michael Pfleger, St. Sabina Church, Chicago

Is the 2008 race really historical?

I hear that the 2008 race for president of the US is "historic."

True: we have a person of color heading up the Democratic party, and he beat out the woman who blew through any glass ceilings. Plus, I don't think that the final 3 all being senators has never happened.

But for race and gender, it isn't history. Better said: it isn't the real history.

The real history of presidential campaigns won't be reported. It can never be reported.

The real history is when a person of color or a woman or an openly gay person runs for president and nobody notices their race or gender or sexual orientation.

Apologizing for a campaign

The first time I ever saw Bill Clinton was in the early 1970s. He worked in Texas on behalf of George McGovern's campaign for president.

One thing from that campaign stuck with me all these years. I don't know if Bill Clinton said it, but I'm sure he heard it.

We all knew that Dick Nixon was going to win, of course. Here's what somebody said--

Even if we don't win this thing, you're involved in a campaign that you will never have to apologize for.

We didn't do any dirty tricks, so far as I know. We were idealists trying to change the nation.

Fast forward to 2008. I wasn't around for Hillary Clinton's campaign, but I think there is more than idealism. I sense a "win at all costs" attitude... "if I can't win, nobody will win" scorched earth approach.

I don't sense the idealism of the McGovern race, and I wonder if Senator Clinton or her staff will ever feel the need to apologize for it.