MIXING SEX AND POLITICS

At first blush it would seem that politics and sex wouldn't mix, but we Americans are so obsessed with both subjects that we find it next to impossible to keep them separated. I think a good argument can be made that our country suffers greatly because of that failure. While we as a nation focus on who slept with whom, unsolved economic and political problems fester and grow worse by the day.

Take Herman Cain, for example, a G.O.P. presidential candidate. Multiple women have alleged that he groped and sexually harassed them during his tenure as president of the National Restaurant Association. Recently, an Atlanta woman confessed to carrying on a 13-year affair with Cain. The result of those revelations is that millions of Americans are now riveted to the titillating details of Cain's sexual dalliances instead of discussing the merit, or lack thereof, to his political and economic proposals. Unfortunately, at the end of the day, we're no closer to any solutions for our national problems.

Back when Bill Clinton was president and I was arguing against the appropriateness of Impeachment over his sexual indiscretions, my conservative friends denounced that position with the argument that sexual morality was a necessary character trait for America's highest office holder. I still think that's a load of crap. Historians credit George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Franklin Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower and John Kennedy with carrying on extra-marital affairs and all those Presidents are viewed as having served extraordinary presidencies. The most morally pious president in my lifetime, Jimmy Carter, is roundly viewed as somewhat a bust. Americans would do well to remember that we're not electing a pope; we're electing a president!

Homosexual rights, abortion and contraceptive freedom are all about sex, but the stances that politicians take on those issues frequently holds sway over how individual Americans vote. That's why right-wing G.O.P. politicians can advocate policies that result in poverty and hunger and death for many, and yet be seen as champions of the right to life. It's also why those same politicians can stonewall necessary economic solutions, like increasing taxation of the rich, without suffering voter backlash from their constituency. In American politics, positions on sex-related issues trump all other positions…and we're paying a steep price for that foolishness.

INCLUDING EX-CONS ON CITY COUNCIL

Voters in the City of York recently elected Michael Helfrich, a candidate with a prior felony drug conviction, to city council. Some have asked whether Mr. Helfrich should be disqualified because of his past criminal behavior. This is my response:

Fourteen percent of York County's registered voters went to the polls two weeks ago, which means that eighty-six percent of those registered couldn't be bothered and chose to stay home. The overwhelming number of those stay-at-home individuals didn't have a prior felony drug conviction, but they exhibited no interest in participating in the democratic process or working to improve the quality of life in their local community. Michael Helfrich, on the other hand, did have a felony drug record. He also exhibited a drive and determination to make the City of York a better place to live. He invested a great deal of time and energy in his community by campaigning for a city council slot. I find it impossible to ignore the will of those voters who participated in the election process and were aware of Helfrich's record before entering the voting booth.

In a republic such as ours, where the right to self-governance is the linchpin to our freedom, if voters choose to place their trust in the hands of an individual with a prior felony drug record, I say "so be it." Those opposed can always get up off their butts and vote.

A BLOODY START TO THE CHRISTMAS SEASON

A guy dropped over dead at a Target and nobody batted an eyelash. A woman pepper-sprayed twenty fellow shoppers in a Wal-Mart to make sure she got first-dibs on an X-box game console. Robbers shot a guy in a mall parking lot over a few lousy dollars and two women came to blows in North Carolina over towels on sale in a department store. Such were the notable incidents of violence in America as shoppers hit the stores on Black Friday, the beginning of the shopping season dedicated to remembering the birth of the Prince of Peace.

So much for Peace on Earth!

PLATTS ACKNOWLEDGES HIS OWN FAILURE

I read Todd Platts' piece in last week's edition of The York Sunday News regarding the proposed balanced budget constitutional amendment, and quite frankly, I'm a bit surprised that Todd would publicly admit to his own failure as a congressional representative a mere twelve months before he stands for reelection. You see, the logic behind the balanced budget measure is that leaders like Platts are totally inept when it comes to reaching sound fiscal decisions about government spending and taxation, so they want a balanced budget amendment to do the work for them. Never mind that we're paying Todd and his colleagues $174,000 per year to make the tough choices; now he wants those taken off his plate too.

I'm not against the principle of a balanced budget, but there are times other than wartime when the government needs to step in to stimulate economic growth and those steps frequently require periods of deficit spending. The proposed amendment Platts is sponsoring does not address those situations and effectively hamstrings our Nation's ability to address future economic crises.

What our country needs today is not another constitutional amendment. What our country needs are leaders; men and women with integrity who are not afraid to bear witness to the inequities that exist in this nation and are steadfast in demanding sacrifices from every sector of our population, including their own constituents. If Todd Platts is unwilling or unable to be one of those leaders, it's time we take our $174,000 and look for one elsewhere.

THE HUMAN VALUE OF PALESTINIANS LIVING IN GAZA

Last month, Israel secured the release of Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier who had been held captive for five years in an unknown location within Gaza by Hamas leaders who control the Palestinians living in that narrow strip of land. To secure Shalit's release, the Israeli government had to release 1,000 Palestinian prisoners who were incarcerated in Israeli jails and allow their return to Gaza. It was a bitter pill for the Israeli government to swallow, but public opinion in Israel favored the deal to win Shalit's release from captivity and the government capitulated to that sentiment.

Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu is no doubt troubled by the high price his government paid to secure Shalit's release, because he knows that many of those Palestinian prisoners who were released from Israeli jails will immediately take up arms again and renew their attacks on the Jewish state. That knowledge has prompted the Israeli government to review its internal process for deciding how, when and under what circumstances will the government bargain for the return of Israeli citizens.

Meanwhile, Palestinians in Gaza are ecstatic about the release of so many of their men from Israel and are celebrating the homecoming of their compatriots.

The Israeli government feels like it paid too high a price for Shalit's release. The Palestinians feel like they drove a hard bargain and came out the real winner in the exchange. Personally, I think the Palestinians got the short end of the bargain.

Ask yourself, what is the value of a Palestinian life? Hamas has set the value at 1/1000th the value of an Israeli life. Palestinians ought to be mad about the massive devaluation of their lives by their own leaders. Instead, they are celebrating. Go figure!

A UNIVERSAL LAMENT

Joe Paterno, the former football coach at Penn State University has been quoted as saying, "I wish I had done more" regarding his failure to follow-up on the reports that his former assistant football coach, Jerry Sandusky, had raped a ten year-old boy in the University football team's shower room. From reports that have been released thus far, when Paterno was informed of Sandusky's actions by a graduate student who observed the incident, Paterno reported the incident to his boss, the University's Director of Athletics, but did nothing to alert the police about the rape or to locate the young victim to insure he received treatment and counseling for the horrifying trauma the young boy experienced. Only now, after the whole sordid affair has hit the fan, does Joe recognize that he should have done more. Unfortunately, now is too late and Joe will spend the rest of his days lamenting about what he might have done differently - SHOULD have done differently.

We all lament our mistakes; at least we should. We reflect on our past and wish we had done this or that differently, and hopefully feel remorse over the bad choices we've made. The bigger our mistakes the more we should lament them, but it's useful to remember that none of our lamenting can change the past. The past is now set in stone. The real value of lamenting is its potential to affect change in the person we are today, so that tomorrow we become a better person.

WEIGHING IN ON PROPOSED RED LIGHT CAMERAS

Pennsylvania is on the verge of granting cities the option to install red light cameras at dangerous intersections. The cameras would record the license plates of vehicles that run a red light and a traffic citation would be sent to the registered owner(s) of that vehicle. No points would be assessed to the vehicle owner(s) driving record because the camera would not identify the actual driver of the vehicle when the violation occurred. Residents in this state are of varied opinions regarding the wisdom of installing red light cameras at dangerous intersections. Here is mine.

I've had the displeasure of having my vehicle struck by a motorist running a red light in the City of York. Luckily, nobody was injured, but I've witnessed plenty of drivers pull similar stunts at various York intersections and recognize that it's a serious problem. If red light cameras reduce accidents and save lives, I'm all for them.

Most folks at some point in their driving careers have been late for work or an appointment and been tempted to step on the gas when the stoplight turned yellow in order to beat the red light. I know I have, and occasionally, I've also been guilty of giving into that temptation. Since the accident I mentioned, I've become more vigilant about stopping on yellow lights, but my track record in that regard hasn't been perfect. If there's a red light camera out there with my name on it, so be it!

Liberty conscious individuals might view the proposed cameras as unwelcomed government intrusion into their lives and their concern is understandable. However, let's not forget that running a red light deprives waiting drivers of their right to use the intersection, so red light cameras can help protect driver's rights too.

DELIVERING RELIGIOUS CHOW IN THE MANNER TO WHICH THEY ARE ACCUSTOMED

You remember the Crystal Cathedral, don't you? That's the ostentatious mega-church built by televangelist, Rev. Robert Shuler out in Orange County, California. The cathedral and its ministry are now in bankruptcy court because the Schulers and cathedral administrators quit paying on the tens of millions of dollars worth of debt the cathedral racked up over the years to support the Schulers' lavish lifestyle, the ministry's television empire and the Cathedral building itself. After having bilked millions of dollars from the ministries' Sunday morning viewers, you'd think that the Schulers would go searching for a proverbial rock to hide under, but you'd be wrong.

Last week, Rev. Schuler and his wife, Arvella had Crystal Cathedral personnel send e-mails to church members and ministry donors soliciting prepared meals and other food stuff for their own family table. Once more, the Schulers arranged for the expected food donations to be transported to their home in one of their family limousines. Is that chutzpah, or what?

For years I've been railing against televangelists and their ministries for being nothing more than charitable scams, but seldom have I witnessed such blatantly outrageous conduct being conducted for all the public to see. Usually, such fraud only happens behind closed doors. In any case, I wish a Crystal Cathedral member would bake a crow pie and have it chauffeured to the Schuler residence. That's one meal the Schulers deserve to eat.

OVERLOOKING A TREE IN A DEAD MIDDLE EAT FOREST

It's all the rage in the European and Israeli media – an overheard private conversation between French President Nicholas Sarkozy and our President Obama wherein Sarkozy told Obama that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu was a liar and Obama lamented that at least Sarkozy didn't have to deal with Netanyahu every day like Obama did. Sarkozy and Obama may have thought their private conversation was beyond snooping ears as they attended the G20 Summit in France last week, but in these days of technological wizardry, that's not always the case. At least one microphone in the room was still turned on and picked up the exchange. Oops!

As the story of Obama and Sarkozy's exchange goes viral, especially among this country's Obama-hating Republican crowd, who will no doubt rejoice in our President's embarrassing moment, I can't help but reflect on the irony of the conversation and the situation the two leaders were discussing. You see, the two leaders were discussing the recent United Nations vote on the Palestinian request for full membership status in UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Israel and the United States voted against the Palestinian request for admission, but France voted yes, and the Palestinians were ultimately successful in their bid.

France has a long history of defending the concept of liberty for all people, and although we here in the United States like to claim we're just as zealous in defending the concept, the truth is we're not – at least not where the Palestinians are concerned. When it comes to the subject of Palestine, our Nation's chief concern is to do the bidding of Israel and its pro-Israel lobby here in the U.S., not to promote the goal of Palestinian freedom. We Americans should be ashamed of ourselves. That's the real story here, not the idle chatter of two politicians having what they thought was a private moment.

HAPPY VALLEY NOT A HAPPY PLACE

Penn State University officials appear to be taking a page from the Vatican playbook on dealing with sexual abuse scandals. They're hunkering down behind legal shields and boasting of eventual vindication with a pass-the-buck strategy, but nobody was fooled by the Vatican's play calling and my guess is that folks won't fall for Penn State's either. Whether or not University officials were required by state law to report the raping of a child on campus property is beside the point. The fact is, University officials knew that a rape of a child occurred on their campus and took no action to alert the police to bring the perpetrator to justice or to prevent other children from being victimized by that same perpetrator. Penn State officials may not have violated our penal code for their failure to report the incident, but they violated every civil code of decency that this world has ever known.

And what about the perjury charges? What is Happy Valley's excuse for two of their high-ranking officials lying to the grand jury investigating the incidents? The President of the University claims that he has the utmost confidence in those officials and denies their wrongdoing. Does that mean Penn State University now condones lying under oath? Is academic fraud or cheating now permissible on campus? It seems unfair to hold students to a higher standard than the administration officials.

Stay tuned…no doubt things will get much uglier before campus officials come to their senses.

SHOULD PENNSYLVANIA REALLOCATE ITS ELECTORAL VOTES?

I do not support the effort of Pennsylvania Republicans to rig next year's presidential election, and make no mistake; the proposal in question seeks to do just that. You don't see legislatures in states that Republicans figure to carry next year, like Texas, Florida and the southern tier states proposing to toss partial votes to President Obama. Nope, it's only in swing states where Republicans want to rig the game in their favor. You don't have to be a Democrat or an Independent to recognize what an affront to democracy this G.O.P. proposal actually represents.

If Pennsylvania Republicans were honest in their claim of seeking democracy in its purest sense, they would propose an amendment to the Federal Constitution abolishing the Electoral College in favor of a presidential election by straight national popular vote. We all know that won't happen, because that's not a game Republicans believe they can win. Otherwise, they wouldn't be trying to rig the system.

SHOULD PEOPLE WITH ALTZHEIMERS & DEMENTIAL OWN GUNS?

There are always times in our lives when we need to be protected from ourselves. A wise person recognizes those times and does something about it. People suffering from Altzheimers and dementia frequently don't.

On the other hand, there's not much more threatening to an individual than the prospect of losing control over their mind. For an Altzheimers sufferer who finds security in the ownership of a firearm, being deprived of that sense of security would be a difficult burden to accept. Their concerns for personal safety are very real and their anguish deserves validation and respect.

Our society already prohibits felons and certain persons with mental health hospitalizations from owning firearms. Those prohibitions are based on the notion that certain groups of individuals are incapable of safe and responsible firearm ownership. Adding Altzheimers and dementia sufferers to the list of people prohibited from owning a firearm makes sense from a safety standpoint, but let's not lose sight of the fact that we'd be negatively impacting the lives of some of those patients in the process.

MEXICAN DRUG SMUGGLING GOES "Old School"

According to a spokesperson for the Mexican Army, some of that country's soldiers recently confiscated two old-fashioned catapults that the soldiers claimed were being employed by members of a drug cartel to fling bundles of marijuana across the U.S. – Mexican border into the state of Arizona. This is the kind of news item that makes you want to shake your head in disbelief, but it underscores the fact that no matter what this nation does to fortify its southern border, drug smugglers will continue using creative ways to outmaneuver our defenses; even going "old school" if they have to do so.

Everyone in law enforcement who fights drug trafficking in the United States will tell you that as soon as one dealer or drug supplier is taken off the streets, another will immediately step in and take their place. The stream appears unending, and our constantly rising prison population offers all the proof anybody should need.

I find it maddening that, even in our current economic downturn, new prisons are being built in this country while funding for drug prevention and drug rehabilitation programs is being drastically reduced. That approach is doomed to failure.

Illegal drugs are subject to the same forces of supply and demand as any other commodity. If the demand for drugs continues, smugglers will find a way to meet that demand. American will only rid itself of the scourge of illegal drugs when its primary effort in the war on drugs focuses on preventing drug use. I know that sounds "old school", but even smugglers know that sometimes "old school" works.

GREEK PROTESTS

Many leaders of countries in the European Union (EU) are understandably miffed at Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou's on-again, off-again plan to put the EU's financial bailout bill to a public referendum vote in Greece instead of ramming the austerity measure through the Greek Parliament, but the EU ministers are not walking in Papandreou's shoes.

Papandreou is a shrewd politician who recognizes that the measure has absolutely no chance of being approved in a public referendum vote, and to try to force the draconian austerity measure upon the Greek citizenry by a parliamentary vote would be sheer political suicide for him. Papandreou might ultimately cave into his opposition in the Greek government to keep his government from falling, but he'll be putting his own career above the interests of the Greek people if does and the Greek voters will take out their anger on him during the next Greek election.

The people of Greece have been protesting the proposed austerity measures for months now, and some of their protests have even turned violent. I'm not condoning the violence, but it's not hard to understand why everyday Greeks are raving mad about what EU ministers and officials in their own government are asking them to do, which is basically to give up jobs, forfeit all benefits and starve.

Once more, the current Greek financial crisis was not of their making. It was caused by a corrupt Greek government that allowed the country's wealthy and affluent members to escape paying taxes necessary to fund the government and its public servants and pensioners. Now that Greece is awash in government debt and cannot meet its financial obligations, EU ministers and their Greek counterparts are demanding that Greece's retirees, working class and poor shoulder the overwhelming majority of the burden of dealing with the financial crisis instead of the people who caused the crisis. That's just not fair!

European Union ministers have been smug in pretending they played no role in Greece's current predicament, but they too bear a measure of responsibility for the Greek crisis. EU member banks have provided the wealthy and merchant class of Greece with safe haven for their assets with full knowledge that said funds were being held outside Greece to protect those funds from taxation. EU ministers have long recognized that Greek government spending could not be sustained given the massive amount of tax evasion that was permitted by the Greek government, but did nothing to stop those practices because their own member banks were profiting from Greek funds deposited in their banks.

One could hardly blame the Greek people for not giving support to the EU's call for austerity measures. Let Greece's wealthy and EU member banks do the suffering. They caused the problem. They should fix it.

HERMAN CAIN'S "XXX" PAST RISES AGAIN

Sex sells just about anything these days, so it's not surprising that G.O.P. presidential hopeful Herman Cain is making even greater inroads with his party's faithful after reports surfaced that he'd been previously accused of sexually harassing two women and the organization he headed (the National Restaurant Association) paid the women to keep their mouths shut about the matter. Nothing inflames the rabid right like a juicy sexual harassment expose.

It's kind of ironic that Republican die-hards would flock to Cain, as they did to Clarence Thomas decades ago under similar circumstances, yet crucify Bill Clinton for his inappropriate sexual dalliance with Monica Lewinsky, but the G.O.P. faithful have never been known for giving equal treatment when it comes to sex.

The fact is Cain's sexual harassing past is of no moment to me. I've listened to him speak. I've read his political platform and I've digested as much of his political rhetoric as my stomach can handle. In my book, he's not presidential material. He's not even worthy of being in the presidential ballpark, but the fact that Republicans think he is shows just how intellectually weak and dishonest the Republican Party is these days.

RMS TITANIC - THEN AND NOW

When the RMS Titanic departed Southampton, England on April 10, 1912, two thousand two hundred and twenty-three (2,223) people set sail on a vessel carrying lifeboats designed to hold one thousand one hundred and seventy-eight (1,178) individuals. When the Titanic sunk, those lifeboats carried only 705 people to safety. Everyone knows that Titanic's massive casualty list resulted from the absence of sufficient lifeboats, but frequently ignored is the fact that 473 passengers who perished could have been save, but were not, because many of the lifeboats were lowered into the sea with less than a full load of passengers. One boat, meant to hold forty people, departed Titanic holding only twelve. Once in the water, many occupants of those lifeboats refused to pick up passengers who dove into the icy waters of the North Atlantic to escape the sinking ship. The overwhelming majority of those swimmers eventually succumbed to hypothermia and drowned.

The tragic sinking of the Titanic is not unlike today's tragic sinking of our Nation's economy, or the world's for that matter, but history is sadly repeating itself as those fortunate to occupy economic lifeboats callously refuse to offer assistance to those swimming for their very lives.

A case in point was the recent killing of the President's job creation bill by Republicans in Congress. Those Republicans were sitting comfortably in jobs that pay $174,000 per year, with free health care, a generous pension package and as many free lobbyist-funded lunches as their bellies can hold. Is it any wonder that none of them would jeopardize their own safe seat by reaching out to those drowning in the sea around them? I guess not. Little has changed since the Titanic went down.

I'm sure that some will read this piece and cast my opinion aside as just another call for class warfare, but warfare presumes a level of power on the part each combatant that was not present with the swimmers in the waters around the Titanic, and is not present with millions of drowning unemployed Americans today. Titanic swimmers lasted no longer than 15 minutes in the icy North Atlantic. Help didn’t arrive until four hours after Titanic sank. Today's jobless have UC benefits, but those benefits will expire long before good jobs ever replace them. Lifeboats like the President's job creation bill are their only hope.

I admire the President's attempt at job creation. He knows that in trying to pull more people into the lifeboat, his own political ship of state will likely be swamped and sink, but at least he'll know that he went down as a man who sacrificed in an effort to save the drowning, and not as a person who survived by callously rowing away.

PENNSYLVANIA G.O.P. GOVERNOR PROPOSES HOG WILD SPENDING ON SCHOOL VOUCHERS

For the second time in as many weeks Pennsylvania's G.O.P. Governor, Tom Corbett proposes a new tax using a label meant to disguise that tax as something other than a tax. Last week, it was the Marcellus shale gas drilling impact fee. This week, it's the education reform voucher payment. Either way, we taxpayers lose. The voucher payment program is touted as a way to allow parents of children in failing schools to seek a better education for their children, but funds used to pay for those vouchers will be deducted from the state's share of education payments made to school districts. To make up for that loss of revenue, school districts will be forced to raise their local school tax rate. In today's lagging economy, the people in this Commonwealth do not need another tax, whatever its fancy label.

Public education benefits everyone and all should shoulder responsibility for maintaining that system. Parents who are dissatisfied with the quality of their child's education should either work within their district to improve that quality or move to a different district. Increasing taxes so that parents can have the luxury of choosing what school their child will attend is not something taxpayers can afford. You'd think a Republican Governor would understand that. Apparently not!

PALIN SAYS "NO THANKS" TOO!

Today, Sarah Palin made it official. She's not running for President next year. Good riddance!

CHRISTIE SAYS "NO THANKS!"

New Jersey governor,

A FEW THOUGHTS ABOUT THE DEATH PENALTY

One man's immorality is another man's justifiable act. The Amish community across the river from my mine considers the death penalty immoral. Most people in my middle-class neighborhood think differently. I gravitate toward the belief that morality is not as set in stone as people would like to think, so I understand and appreciate both points of view.

There's no disputing that some killers deserve the death penalty. I just don't think that we as a society should stoop to their level by returning violence for violence. That's never been a positive proposition, and given all the inequities that exist within our justice system when it comes to applying the death penalty, it appears highly unlikely that attempts at reform will achieve a positive end either.

Wanting an eye for an eye is an understandable sentiment, as is seeking a sense of closure for a victim's family and friends who want to move on with their lives. Striving for justice is certainly a must, but perhaps our society would benefit from examining all that is lost by maintaining a form of punishment so filled with inequity and uncertainty. Putting a prisoner to death costs more than a lifetime of incarceration and holds no possibility of correcting any injustice once carried out. Our money and time seem better spent elsewhere.

Then, there's the alternative. Pearl Buck once wrote, "To eat bread without hope is still slowly to starve to death." Pearl recognized that a life without hope holds little measurable value, which is why I tend to think that a life sentence without the possibility of parole or pardon, a sentence with no hope, is a much harsher punishment than a lethal injection.

PULPITS NO FRIEND TO THE POOR

Yesterday's New York Times on-line edition carried a story by Stephanie Strom about a planned protest being staged in pulpits across the nation this morning by hundreds of right-wing Christian pastors itching for a fight against the Internal Revenue Service. The pastors intend to deliver openly political sermons that endorse certain candidates and denounce others in direct violation of IRS regulations that prohibit churches who want their members to be able to deduct church contributions on their tax returns from engaging in political activity. Once more, those pastors who are participating in the event plan to tape their sermons and forward them to the IRS – a direct "double dog dare" aimed at the government's tax collection arm in hopes of provoking a court fight with the government.

The whole effort shows how low Christian fundamentalism has sunk. Somewhere, even Christ is shaking His head in disbelief.

When the G.O.P. attacks government efforts to feed the poor via the food stamp program, right-wing Christian Pastors remain mute.

When the G.O.P. attacks government efforts to house the poor via section eight housing and federal rent assistance programs, right-wing Christian Pastors remain mute.

When the G.O.P. attacks government efforts to keep the poor warm during winter months via the federal emergency heating assistance program, right-wing Christian Pastors remain mute.

When the G.O.P. attacks government efforts to provide health care to the poor via the Medicaid program, right-wing Christian Pastors remain mute.

BUT…when the government threatens to disallow a tax deduction for mostly G.O.P. contributors to those right-wing Christian Pastors, well, that's what sends those Pastors into a rage, itching for a fight.

It's sad, but it's telling that a group of right-wing Christian Pastors finds it more necessary to battle for tax deductions for the wealthy than benefits for the poor. I thought Christ's message was the other way around.

SANTA CLAUS THINKING IS NOT THE SOLUTION

Santa Claus is a wonderful fiction. He allows people to see the world as they'd want it to be, but there comes a time in life when that fiction no longer works and folks have to face reality. Facing reality though is not an easy task. Fictions like Santa Claus may not be true, but oftentimes people become so comfortable with their fictions that they cannot distinguish what is real from what is not. Fictions can also blind people from the true nature of things, and that's not good, especially in times of peril when recognizing reality is most critical.

Today, America faces a severe economic crisis. Tens of millions of Americans are out of work, many for so long that their unemployment benefits have expired. Millions more have given up hope of ever finding meaningful jobs. For those individuals and the families who depend on them, the peril is here today, and now is not the time for wishful thinking or wonderful fictions.

Behind the jobs debate in America is a fiction peddled by a number of our politicians. It's a fiction that plays like Santa Claus, and it goes like this: If you lower taxes on the wealthy and reduce government regulation on businesses, jobs will flow like the Biblical land of milk and honey. It's an attractive fiction, and many have heard it repeated so often they've come to believe it as Gospel truth, but belief doesn't equal reality. Here's why.

During each of the eight year of the last Bush Administration, federal taxes on the wealthy and corporations declined. Government agencies headed by Republican appointees of President Bush systematically dismantled many regulatory structures so that on the day Bush left office, there were less federal regulations than the day he took office. How did business respond to this reduction of taxation and regulation? They responded by cutting their workforces and shipping tens of millions of American jobs overseas. How did wealthy investors respond to lower taxation? They responded by investing in those same companies that were reducing workforces and shipping jobs overseas. If it sounds like I'm criticizing businesses and wealthy investors, that's not my intention. In reality, both were acting prudently. Let's consider why that's so.

A business operates to generate profits. If job creation enables a company to generate higher profits - great, but companies do not create jobs in a vacuum. They create jobs when demand for their products or services increase. Conversely, companies shed jobs when those demands decrease. Take The Bon Ton stores, for example. In response to the 2008 economic downturn, Bon Ton executives laid off 1,150 employees in the beginning of 2009. In order to remain viable, the company took the prudent and necessary step of reducing its workforce. The move wasn't popular, but it was a good business decision.

If it were true that cutting taxes and regulations produce jobs, the Bon Ton would have been hiring workers in January of 2009 instead of laying them off, because the lower taxes and regulations they were enjoying would have convinced them to hire more workers. But that's not what happened. The executives at The Bon Ton saw a drop off in demand for their products and they wisely cut workers so their company would survive. The Bon Ton will start hiring again when demand for their products goes up – probably at the start of the Christmas buying season. Lower taxes and less business regulations did not prevent Bon Ton layoffs. The drop in consumer demand was the driving force.

Next, consider a wealthy investor. The goal of an investor is to make money. Typically, that means investing in companies that are posting profits, paying dividends and/or gaining value. In difficult economic times, the majority of those companies are like The Bon Ton, companies that have significantly cut their workforce to remain viable. If it were true that cutting taxes and regulations produce jobs, as soon as word spread that The Bon Ton was cutting its workforce, investors would have deserted that company because the fiction says that investors create jobs, but that's not what happened. When The Bon Ton executives dramatically cut the number of its employees, Bon Ton stock, which in November of 2008 was as low as ninety cents per share, started an upward run that eventually climbed to over seventeen dollars per share in April of 2010. Those lucky enough to ride that investment wave made a substantial profit, but they didn't create any jobs.

Bank of America is another good example. It's one of the largest, if not the largest of all U.S. banking corporations. Its profits have plummeted over the past several years and pulled its share price down along with them. Investors have shied away from buying Bank of America stock. A week or so ago, news that the banking giant is undertaking a massive layoff of 30,000 employees immediately boosted the bank's share price, and no doubt its bottom line, and investors once again signaled a willingness to purchase Bank of America shares. That's because prudent investors invest where the profits are, and in this economic era, that means buying into companies that are downsizing, not hiring.

A corollary to the fiction that investors create jobs is the notion that if we reduce taxes on wealthy investors, besides investing, they will spend more on products and services. Supposedly, that increased spending will create the need for more jobs. On the surface, this notion sounds plausible, but the reality is just the opposite. Consumer surveys conducted during the current economic downturn have consistently shown that America's wealthy investors did not reduce their level of spending. That's not a knock on the wealthy. They had sufficient money to maintain their standard of living and they did so, which in all honesty probably kept the economy from getting worse than it is. However, because wealthy spending never dropped off, there's no reason to believe that wealthy American investors are itching to embark on a major shopping spree, if only their taxes were lowered. Few people become wealthy by spending foolishly. The wealthy invest their money instead of foolishly spending it, and as I've shown earlier, they invest in companies that are making money, not creating jobs.

If businesses and the wealthy aren't creating jobs, what's left? Another fiction– evil government spending!

The arguments against government funded job creation are essentially twofold: (1) it invites waste and fraud, and (2) it adds to the national debt. Both arguments contain a measure of truth. Government spending does expose taxpayer dollars to a degree of waste and fraud. Where money is involved, those predisposed to manipulation and greed will follow. There's also no denying that increased government spending today would add to America's national debt, which is a serious problem that needs to be addressed. Neither argument, however, justifies our government sitting on the sideline doing nothing.

Imagine for a moment that you are the captain of the Titanic. The boat is sinking. You issue an order to have all staff report to the lifeboat stations to assist with boarding passengers. The first mate turns to you and complains, "But Captain, if all the staff reports to the lifeboat stations, there will be nobody left to prevent third class passengers from stealing the gold utensils in the first class dining room. And if we order staff that are off-duty to report now, we'll have to pay overtime and the company is already in financial trouble." Do you suddenly countermand your order? Of course not! The urgency of the situation demands extraordinary intervention.

The same applies to America's economy. Government funded job creation is the only viable choice for placing our nation's economic engine back on the road to recovery. We cannot rely on the fiction that wealthy investors and businesses will do it instead, if only their taxes and regulations are lowered. It never worked that way in the past. There's no reason to think it would in the future, unless of course, you believe in Santa Claus.

THE VACATION IS OVER

September, 2011 is in the past and the vacation is over. America's most under-read liberal blogger is back on track!

TEA PARTY NUMBERS TANK

They may be unlikeable, but there's no denying Tea Party clout in the Republican Party. Let's hope that the light of day finally exposes the Tea Party for the hoax that it is before any more political damage is done.

Last week, the New York Times revealed the results of a poll conducted by Harvard Professor Robert Putnam and Notre Dame political scientist David Campbell. In the Putnam/Campbell poll, Tea Party followers were found to be less popular than atheists and Muslims. I realize that the results of the poll represents a slight to atheists and Muslims, which is totally unjustified, but the fact that the Tea Party image is held in such poor esteem definitely says something about that movement's core philosophy. Manure might be more useful.

Democracies thrive when cooperation rules the day, and the Tea Party's obstructionist ways add nothing positive toward solving our nation's woes. Let's hope their polling numbers continue to fall.

IGNORING THE OBVIOUS IN TEXAS

It's hotter than ever in Texas, with its record breaking streak of days with 100+ degree temperatures as proof, but Texas governor/presidential candidate Rick Perry says that global warming is a bunch of hooey and his adoring fans keep nodding. Texas is also suffering from one of the longest droughts ever recorded in the region, but Texas governor/presidential candidate Rick Perry says that climate change is just a bunch of hooey, and all his adoring fans keep nodding at that one too. The same goes for melting polar ice caps and the large increase of tornadoes in America. According to Perry, it's all a fluke!

I understand the notion that everything's bigger in Texas, which includes the tales of Texas politicians, but what I can't understand is why Texans suffering under the relentless heat tout Perry as some kind of hero and think all he says is gospel truth. Perhaps the heat has fried their brains and mass dehydration has set in. I hear that both cause hallucinations, which might account for some of the hero worship, but, come on. Perry's education hasn't included a single science class on the environment, so it's not like the guy has any legitimate scientific credentials – unless taking in tens of thousands of dollars of fossil fuel industry donations counts for anything.

Climatologists warn that melting sea ice will raise the height of our oceans by three feet over the next twenty years, but few in the political arena seem to want to confront exactly what that will mean for the tens of millions of folks who live within a few miles of shorelines. Much of that area will be inundated with water, and if folks think that barriers will keep the rising oceans at bay, they are seriously underestimating the power of Mother Nature. Perry's pandering will not hold back high tide, let alone a storm surge, nor will sticking heads in the sand keep folks dry.

Global warming is already here, whether the good folks in Texas want to acknowledge it or not. The proof is right outside their front door.

SCAMMING YOUR WAY INTO A FIRST CLASS SEAT

The headline on a Comcast Internet article I saw this morning read, "Trick Your Way On To First Class". An airliner was pictured in the background with a note that indicated the article contained tips on how airline passengers could finagle their way into a first class seat. Flying somewhere is not in my foreseeable future, so I didn't read the article, but the headline made me think about a topic I've been mulling over for some time – our society's affinity for get-rich-quick schemes.

At a time when our nation is experiencing severe economic distress, lotteries have grown more popular by the day. Games with the highest payouts attract the most players despite the fact that the odds of any given individual winning are infinitesimal at best. Casinos and gaming parlors are spreading like wildfires with promises of new found wealth and riches. Almost daily, our newspapers reveal that another Ponzi scheme has been uncovered. What do they all have in common? The promise of riches for next to nothing in return!

Whatever happened to making money the old-fashioned way – by working for it?

I remember the first time I stepped into a jet airplane and started walking down the aisle toward my seat in the rear of the plane. I glanced at the "suits" sitting in the first class section and wondered what kind of work each of those passengers did to earn the kind of money necessary to afford a first-class seat. It didn't occur to me to scam my way into first class or think such a seat would fall into my lap. No, I wondered how much work it would take to earn my way there.

It's not like that anymore. It seems like a lot of people are more interested in the scam than the work, which is regrettable, because society suffers when a day's worth of labor is ignored and devalued. The truth is a nation of workers can become wealthy quicker than a nation of scammers, but it takes effort and appreciation of labor to do so. Those things have been in short supply lately, and unfortunately, our nation has produced little fruit because of it.

DRAFTING SUSAN IN 2012

I've tried to convince my wife, Susan to run for the Republican presidential nomination. I know she's not particularly interested in spending the next fifteen months traipsing around the country on the campaign trail, and I'm positive she's not keen on the idea of moving from our humble abode into the White House, but after watching all the hoopla surrounding Michele Bachman's so-called victory in the Iowa straw poll last week, I know Susan would be a contender! Here's why:

Bachman laid claim to a resounding victory in Iowa's Republican presidential candidate straw poll after collecting only 4,823 votes from across the entire state of Iowa. That's one vote for every 2,073 hogs Iowa produced last year, but who's counting? In 2009, when my wife ran for judge here in York County, she garnered 3,869 votes in the Republican primary. Granted, that number is approximately a thousand less votes than Bachman registered in Iowa, but Susan's votes were just from this county (Pennsylvania has 56 counties) and Bachman's votes were from an entire state.

Put in another perspective, while Bachman took first place with 4,823 state-wide votes and Ron Paul took second place with 4,671 statewide votes, the third-place finished (Tim Pawlenty) drew only 2,293 votes, which means that Susan would have been the third place finisher with 3,869 votes – ahead of Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, Mitt Romney, Huntsman, Cain and Rick Perry…not a bad showing since she never campaigned in Iowa.

I know what you're thinking. You're thinking that Susan couldn't have duplicated that show in Iowa. Au contraire!

Like Bachman, Susan was born in Iowa – Clinton, to be exact. Like Bachman, Susan grew up in the Iowa. Unlike Bachman, Susan attended high school (Clinton High) and college in Iowa (Cornell College in Mount Vernon) and visits relatives in the state on a frequent basis, not just when an election rolls around. Susan's late mother, Doctor Margaret Smythe Emmons, was a well-known philanthropist in the state who supported many local and state organizations and educational institutions. I realize one shouldn't rest on the laurels of their parents, but Susan's generosity and sense of obligation to her community doesn't fall far from her mother's tree. People in Iowa appreciate that kind of thing.

Susan has a proven record of public service accomplishments that far outshines anything that Bachman has achieved in her brief congressional career. That matters to Iowa voters too. Plus, on any given Saturday in the fall, Susan wears a Hawkeye sweatshirt. You won't be seeing Bachman wearing one (She's a Golden Gopher fan)!

So, to any Bachman fans out there who might accidentally come upon this liberal blog, you can thank your lucky stars that Susan is married to a guy with more skeletons in his closet than a Wal-Mart superstore could hold. Otherwise, you wouldn't have such silly grins on your faces and Bachman would be looking up in the polls at a much more qualified candidate.

Maybe it's a good thing that Susan has no interest in running for the Republican nomination. As her liberal Democratic husband, I have a vested interest in keeping peace in this household.

RANGER RICK MOUTHS OFF

The Republican's newest presidential candidate, Rick Perry of Texas told a radio talk-show audience the other day that Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke was guilty of committing treason for carrying out the Federal Reserve plan known as "quantitative easing". The plan entailed the Federal Reserve printing extra dollars and using those funds to purchase municipal bonds on behalf of the federal government. The plan's intent was to add more liquidity to our nation's money supply and promote investment and job growth by making more cash available for businesses to borrow. How much success the plan garnered is a debatable question, but doing nothing – as Hoover did, which caused the Great Depression – was not an option and the Federal Reserve was trying to achieve a public good.

Unfortunately, for Tea Party folk like Perry who hate the Federal Reserve and see it as a front-man for "big government", anything the Federal Reserve does to stabilize financial markets and promote job growth is treasonous. Ordinarily, I'd pass Perry's comment off as just another wing-nut rant, but Perry is the guy who, earlier this year, said that Texas should secede from the Union. Perry calling Bernanke a traitor sounds a lot like hypocrisy to me. Then again, Perry is no stranger to hypocrisy.

And then there's Perry second comment about Bernanke. Perry said that if Bernanke came down to Texas, they'd treat him ugly. You know, that's what the Taliban in Southern Afghanistan say about American troops, and we all know what the Taliban mean. That's what white Southerners said about Black people, and we all know what the Southerners meant. That's what Perry meant too.

A politician threatening American citizens with death over political differences does not belong on American soil, so it's time for guys like Rick Perry to be soundly rejected by everyone. Dictators and brutal regimes do that kind of stuff. Americans should never tolerate it, no matter what party the politician represents.

FALK ON THE WAR IN AFGHANISTAN

Richard Falk, the Albert G. Milbank Professor Emeritus of International Law at Princeton University recently wrote a powerful essay for Aljazeera entitled, Why the Afghanistan War Wont End Soon. Falk's piece details America's collective lack of understanding regarding the dynamics of Afghanistan and our failure to recognize that military intervention is not the answer for achieving a lasting piece in that region and other places around the globe. It's a very thought-provoking piece and I'd urge everyone to read it. The article can be found at the following web address:

http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/08/201181592644232878.html

ASSAD'S KILLING MACHINE CONTINUES

Syrian President Bashar Assad apparently didn't get the Koran memo about not killing his own people during the Muslim holy month of Ramadam. He's ordered his military to lay siege to the Syrian city of Latakia where his regime's opponents have seized control of the local government and inspired other anti-Assad protests around Syria. For a guy like Assad, that's not the kind of protest a brutal dictator can tolerate. After all, look what happened to Mubarak in Egypt. Mubarak allowed Egyptian protests to take hold and he ended up in jail facing trial and calls for his death. Assad read the tea leaves. He's opted to use violence to quash the rebellion and the Syrian military is only too happy to comply.

Syrian navy vessels have bombarded the city of Latakia from coastal waters with rockets and scores of Syrian tanks have attacked the city from the east with a constant stream of mortar fire. Innocent civilians, whose only crime is their desire for freedom from tyranny and oppression, are caught in the middle of an unmerciful assault intended to level their city.

We've seen this story countless times before, in places like Iran and Libya and Bosnia, where brutal totalitarian regimes resort to senseless violence to hold onto power, and are willing to sacrifice any number of innocent civilians in the course of doing so.

I wish political would come to appreciate that killing is not the answer. Dare I dream?

GOOD NEWS FROM THE WORLD OF SMALL FINANCE

Every now and again, I like to sit down and examine my "investment portfolio" and pretend I'm a hedge fund manager surveying a vast financial empire from my corner office on the seventeenth floor of a Wall Street office building. In reality, my office is a converted bedroom on the second floor of my home. My window looks out over our two-car garage and the view is mostly of my neighbors' house across the street. The portfolio I mentioned doesn't really qualify as a vast financial empire, but that's okay too. It's still a treasure in my book.

You see, my portfolio is a KIVA portfolio, a roster of micro-lending loans I've made to individuals around the world. KIVA [found at www.KIVA.org] is a micro-lending organization that matches individuals and groups of lenders with individuals and groups of borrowers in third world and developing countries who seeking to provide a more fruitful life for their families. Many KIVA borrowers live in regions where obtaining traditional financial backing to improve their lives is impossible, even though the sums of money requested are quite small by Western standards. That's why KIVA has stepped in and filled the void. You can too! Visit the KIVA website and join the crowd of micro-lenders.

I'm amazed at the fact that not a single one of the borrowers I helped fund has ever defaulted. The big-wigs on Wall Street can't match that record, nor can they really appreciate having made the difference in an ordinary person's life the way KIVA lenders can.

As I survey my own portfolio, I can see that Ramadan's zoo in Palestine is up and running again and turning a profit. Rahmeh in Jordan purchased more goats for her family dairy and cheese sales have expanded. The clothing inventory Eleazar from Mexico bought for her clothing shop has been selling well and 90% of her loan has been repaid. Karabek from Tajikistan just harvested the crops from the hector of new land he purchased and now he can pay for his children to get schooling this coming fall. The coffee bean plants that Edward from Costa Rica purchased are now in the ground and the additional livestock that Kadyrzhan from Kyrgyzstan bought are living happily in his barn. I could go on, but you get the picture.

You can lend as little as $25 through KIVA and make a difference in the lives of people you might never meet. Check out the KIVA website. www.kiva.org

AND THEN THERE WERE EIGHT

America's political version of a World Wrestling Federation free-for-all, the G.O.P's field of 2012 presidential candidates, just booted its first contestant from the ring, former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty. Apparently, coming in third out of a group of eight candidates who campaigned in Iowa (Perry only joined the crowd on the day of the Iowa straw poll) wasn't a good enough showing for Pawlenty to continue fighting, so he bowed out of the ring the next day and packed his bags for Minnesota. Cheer up, governor, the good citizens of Iowa might have done you a favor – they saved your soul!

I don't agree with a majority of the positions Pawlenty takes on political issues, but he's the only genuine individual in that field of presidential pretenders, including Perry, who truly understands the plight of common ordinary Americans. The other Republicans are great with the rhetoric, and Perry or Romney might even beat Obama in the voting booth, but none of the remaining G.O.P. candidates are in the same league with Pawlenty when it comes to authenticity.

Political pundits will assign blame for the failure of Pawlenty's campaign on any number of items, but something tells me that Tim's authenticity is what proved to be his undoing. He's not the angry, frothing at the mouth warrior that Tea Party followers and evangelical extremists are looking for in a presidential candidate. He's just a very intelligent, level-headed, respectful kind of man who'd have to sell his soul to garner the Republican nomination. It's a good thing for him that it never came to that.

WHY I'M NOT A TEA PARTY MEMBER

Last Sunday, Doctor Pandelidis, posed a rhetorical question in his [8/7 York Sunday News] column: Why aren't you a Tea Party member? I'd like to respond to the good Doctor's question in terms he will understand. I am not a Tea Party member because I am not a narcissist, I am not delusional and I am not afraid to check my reality and take responsibility for my actions. Plus, I believe in compromise and the notion that every person's voice and opinion has merit.

Pandelidis pointed out that our $14 trillion national debt now equals our national GDP (gross domestic product), that forty percent of this year's federal spending is borrowed money, and that the 2011 federal budget deficit equals 11 percent of our GDP. He's right. Those are the facts. He also asserts that those figures are the result of "destructive government policy." That's his opinion, and one that I also happen to share.

Where Pandelidis and I part company is over the question of which government policies are destructive and which policies promote the general health and welfare of our entire population. Doctor Pandelidis thinks that having social programs is the destructive policy. I think the destructive policy is not paying for them when we as a nation have the ability to do so.

Pandelidis suggests that Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, unemployment compensation, food stamps and guaranteeing health care and medicine for every citizen are destructive government policies that run afoul of our traditional American economic principles, among which he lists individual freedom and the responsibility to take care of one's self. He calls those economic principles healthy and holds them up as an American ideal. I call them self-centered and narcissistic – and want no part of the notion that I am not my brother's keeper. That's a Tea Party's belief. It's not mine.

The God I worship is not the God of American capitalism, it's the God who instructed us to love and look out for our neighbors.

I'm not delusional either. I don't pretend that cutting government waste will magically make the deficit disappear. I don't pretend that you can fight two wars without paying for them. I don't pretend that the wealthiest one percent in this nation, that controls forty percent of our nation's wealth, are overburdened by taxes and cannot afford to pay more toward reducing the national debt. I don't pretend that our corporate CEO's, many of whom pay less in taxes than their secretaries, deserve the tax loopholes they enjoy. I don't pretend that corporations who earn billions in profits should pay no taxes. I don't pretend that by laying-off tens of thousands of government workers from their jobs, our nation's unemployment epidemic will suddenly be cured, and I don't pretend that sacrifice on the part of all Americans is not a necessity. Those are Tea Party beliefs, not mine.

I'm also not afraid to check my reality and take responsibility for my actions. I owe a great debt to this country. Government grants and guaranteed student loans helped me secure an undergraduate degree and a law degree. When I could not work and had no insurance to cover the medical services I required, the government helped fund that too. Now that I'm productive again, it's my obligation to help shoulder the load for others who find themselves similarly in need.

Doctor Pandelidis, on the other hand, shows great disdain for the very entity that helped educate and continues to feed him. You see, the good Doctor received his medical degree at the Penn State University College of Medicine in Hershey, a state-owned institution that invested more taxpayer dollars in Doctor Pendelidis' medical degree than he paid himself. Oh yes, he paid tuition, but the actual cost of that degree far exceeded the tuition he paid. We taxpayers picked up that tab. Plus, many of the insurance providers that Doctor Pandelidis accepts in his practice are government-funded, so he's eating from the same government trough he routinely vilifies. That's the Tea Party way. It's not mine.

Finally, I believe in the need for compromise in order for a republic such as ours to flourish. I believe that the concerns of every political party are entitled to be considered and reflected in all actions taken by our government. I do not subscribe to the "it's my way or the highway" approach to democratic government. That's the Tea Party way. It's not mine.

FOR SALE : Crystal Cathedral

The bankruptcy sale of Reverend Robert Schuller's Crystal Cathedral has all the drama of a genuine holy war, but the entire mess boils down to who's going to get the "Almighty Dollar" – actually, dollar should be pluralized. Schuller's mega-church is $50 million in debt and the church's creditors are tired of waiting for their payments. Earlier this year the creditors forced the Crystal Cathedral into bankruptcy after the ministry defaulted on its debts. Ministry assets, including the Crystal Cathedral are currently being liquidated in a court-ordered sale to satisfy the ministry's obligations, but the church's ministry is still fighting to prevent the sale.

Here's where the Catholic Church entered the fray. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange County wants to build a Cathedral. By their own estimates, building such a Cathedral would cost the Diocese well over $100 million dollars. On the other hand, buying the Crystal Cathedral at a liquidation sale would save the Diocese over $50 million, and they wouldn't have to deal with all the hassles of a construction project. So, the Catholics have submitted a $53.6 million bid.

Not so fast, you papists! Officials at Chapman University, a university with ties to the Disciples of Christ – a Protestant denomination, want the Crystal Cathedral too. They've only bid $50 million for the building, but they're sweetening the deal by agreeing to lease the building back to the Crystal Cathedral ministries. I'm sure the Pope is crying foul.

David Green, an evangelical CEO reportedly filed a bid of over $50 million too.

Finally, the Cathedral Ministry has put out its own call for a miracle…asking listeners to show that God is on their side by forking over donations so the ministry can pay off its debts and avoid the sale.

It's hard to figure out which party will get God's endorsement, but there's one thing for sure – the endorsement is going to cost over fifty million dollars. I hope God's good for it!

QUASHING SPEECH IN THE CITY BY THE BAY

The lyrics to the old Tony Bennett tune, "I left My Heart in San Francisco" will have to changed, now that San Francisco's Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) authority has started playing foot-loose and fancy-free with our Nation's constitutional free speech rights. This past Thursday, BART officials shut down cell phone communication services at the downtown rail stations to prevent people from coordinating a protest rally. The planned rally was intended to protest against the actions of BART police officers who shot a man on a station platform on July 3rd of this year.

I appreciate that BART officials are tasked with the job of facilitating travel by citizens from point A to point B, but that's no justification for engaging in Gestapo-type free-speech suppression that typically happens in third world countries and dictatorial regimes. And just because England recently stooped to such low-level behavior doesn't mean BART officials have to follow suit. I thought America was supposed to be above all that; apparently, I was wrong!

When our government agencies start interfering with the right of citizens to communicate with one another, and to peacefully assemble, our long-cherished First Amendment right to freedom of speech is placed in serious jeopardy.

Tony Bennett may have left something in San Francisco, but it wasn't his cell phone!

RIOTOUS LONDON MOBS - A SPARK THAT BECAME A WILDFIRE

In London, and in other cities in England, crowds of angry, restless youth have taken to the streets during recent nights to riot, loot and create social unrest and disorder. They've burned down homes and businesses, demolished automobiles and looted shops of all merchandise. Whole neighborhoods lie in ruin.

As British officials seek to quell the disturbances, many are painting the rioters as a band of outlaws in need of swift and unmerciful justice, but that type attitude does nothing to solve the discontent of England's youth that underlies that which sparked the riots in the first place.

Let's not forget that mobs have a mind of their own. People in mobs frequently do things they'd never consider doing on their own. Mobs provide a kind of release from the constraints that normally keep people on the path of acceptable social behavior and a mob's occupants often get swept up in the tide. I'm not suggesting that mob behavior is necessarily justifiable. I'm just acknowledging the reality of the situation.

In many respects, a riotous mob is like a wildfire. With a wildfire, a single spark can touch off a blaze that quickly erupts into an unstoppable inferno. The wildfire spreads, engulfing and destroying tens of thousands of acres in its path. Riotous mobs frequently carry the same kind of destructive force. After a wildfire has been brought under control, efforts are undertaken to determine the spark that touched off the blaze, but lost in the shuffle and often suppressed is the question of why the wildfire spread. The same goes for rioting mobs.

In England, they know what sparked the riots. The police in Tottenham killed a black man and a crowd gathered at the Tottenham police station demanding an explanation to what happened. The police were not forthright in their explanation and the crowd's anger reached a boil. Okay, that was the spark, but what has kept the fires burning? That's the question people everywhere should be discussing, because I believe the answers to that question are not answers that are unique to England. They apply everywhere social unrest boils over into riotous mobs.

On the whole, youth in England suffer from extremely high poverty and unemployment rates. Large segments of their generation feel that hope for the future is gone because of severe cutting of government funding for education and other social programs. The resulting anxiety has lead to restlessness and anger – dry tinder waiting for a spark. It doesn't justify the rioters' behavior, but it does help explain why their behavior has spread. Societies that ignore those answers do so at their own peril.

RAPIST WARREN JEFFS SENTENCED TO LIFE IN PRISON

Yesterday, a jury in Texas sentenced rapist Warren Jeffs to a sentence of life in prison. Jeffs raped 12 and 14-year old girls and demonstrated no remorse for his monstrous actions. In fact, he claimed that he was entitled to do so as the leader of a Utah-based Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Warren Jeffs is not a spiritual man. He's a cult leader. He's a scumbag. He's a rapist, and now he's a prisoner with a life sentence too. Good riddance!

VOTERS SHOULD TAKE A LOOK IN THE MIRROR

Congress has sunk to a new low. According to a CNN poll released last week, eighty-four percent of the population disapproves of the job Congress is doing. With those abysmal numbers floating around, you'd think our Congressional delegation would be worried about their prospects of being re-elected during the next campaign cycle, but that's not necessarily true because they know those numbers don't mean squat. What matters is a politician's approval rating in his or her own district.

Disapproving of the way Congress is handling matters is as old as this Republic, but returning our same representatives to Congress year after year is a tradition of almost equal age. That means that while the majority of the public disapproves of the job other Congressmen are doing, they're happy with the job performance of their own representatives. The only conclusion that can be drawn from those facts is that our Congressmen are not responsible for their abysmal job performance – we are. If we elect representatives who pledge to adhere to strict ideological stances and refuse to engage in negotiations or compromise with representatives of folks with opposing viewpoints, we are, in essence, voting for failure. That's our fault, not Congress.

THE MASTERS OF SHILLING

The ink on the debt ceiling law hasn't even dried and the 2012 Republican presidential candidates are already shilling in unison that the law is bad and that raising the debt ceiling spells disaster for America. I use the word "shilling" [slang term for the act of posing as an innocent bystander at a confidence game but giving aid and assistance to the perpetrators of the scheme as a decoy] because it aptly describes the candidates' collective hoodwinking of American citizens.

The confidence game in question is the Republican policy of fiscal irresponsibility, a flashy carnival game called smaller government that's anything but small and nowhere near as fair as the average layman thinks the game should be. Then again, carnival games never are. The trick to a financially successful carnival game is to offer the contestants the illusion of fairness while rigging the game to maintain an advantage for the house. Republicans have that down to a tee.

In early 2001, President Bush inherited a budget from President Clinton that was producing an income surplus over government expenditures. During Clinton's final years in office, those surpluses were being applied to paying down the national debt. Instead of continuing on the Clinton's path of financial responsibility, Bush and his Congressional backers (which included a majority of the current batch of G.O.P. presidential candidates) switched course and sold Americans on the notion that the budget surplus belonged to hard-working taxpayers and the government should give the money back. Republicans were silent about the national debt, but let's be honest here. It wasn't in their interest to be fiscally responsible when there was more political headway to be gained by giving taxpayers a handout.

Then, September 11th happened…and the G.O.P. war machine kicked into high gear…and American soldiers marched off to wars in Iraq and Afghanistan…and anyone who dared to ask, "Who's going to pay for these wars?" was labeled a traitor, unpatriotic, un-American and drowned out by the drum-beats of war. Instead of asking Americans to pay higher taxes to support the war efforts (as was done in every previous war in American history), the G.O.P. urged Americans to borrow more, spend more and demand lower taxes to support the public's endless wave of consumption. Like carnival barkers, G.O.P. politicians told Americans they could have it all, and a gullible public fell for the scam.

For seven full years, the Republican carnival game called smaller government financed our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan by placing all war-related expenditures on our nation's credit card – the national debt. Not a single dime was appropriated out of the normal government budget for the war effort, nor was any attempt made to ask Americans to sacrifice for the war.

Meanwhile, business for American banks, investment houses and insurance companies was booming, thanks in large part to the Republican-led dismantling of banking and securities regulations that were previously instituted to prevent a melt-down of our nation's financial sector. Profits were everywhere. Fortunes were made. The public was happy – until the house of cards began to fall, as will happen with any Ponzi scheme. Suddenly, our country's largest banks, investment house and insurance conglomerates began to fail, and the effect of those failures was so strong, that it threatened to bring about the collapse of our entire banking system and plunge America into another Great Depression.

To prevent another calamitous depression, Congressional Democrats and a reluctant President Bush passed a massive financial package (publicly called "the bailout") just weeks before the completion of the Bush Administration. The "bailout" saved what was left of the common man's retirement account and investment savings, but you'd never realize that fact if you listened to what Republicans were saying. They were doing what they do best – shilling!

What the average American hated about the "bailout" was not that critical financial institutions were saved. People were angry because leaders of those saved institutions, whose shady practices and greed caused the failure of their institution, use government funds to give themselves millions of dollars in bonuses and pay raises, instead of using the money to stabilize their institutions. In essence, the public was hurting while the greedy got rich on the public's dime.

I bring up the subject of Republican shilling because, while Republicans were decrying the government bailout of the financial sector in order to win the approval of angry voters, and fanning the flames of what has become known as Tea Party politics, Republicans were also giving aid and assistance to the perpetrators of the financial sector's scheme. Republican politicians were acting as a decoy – the very definition of shilling. You see, while Congressional Republicans were loud-mouthing the bailout package, they were also opposing all provisions in the bailout package that were designed to prevent government funds from being used for bonuses and raises. Those same G.O.P. politicians were also collecting millions in campaign donations from political action committees controlled by leaders of the financial sector.

For Republican politicians, our nation's financial calamity proved to be a win-win situation. They were able to attract huge numbers of voters by publicly declaring opposition to the bailout package while, behind the scenes, they were able to protect financial sector leaders who contributed millions to G.O.P. campaign coffers. The irony of the situation is that millions of taxpayer dollars were funneled into Republican campaign war chests, and Democrats got the blame. Republicans have truly mastered the art of shilling.

Our recent debt ceiling debate provides another good example. Republicans added trillions to the national debt by not paying for the wars they initiated, but painted Democrats as the party responsible for our burgeoning national debt. Republicans lured the public with the profession of a desire for smaller government, but in actuality, and away from the public's eye, advocated for the public's decreased wealth.

Unfortunately, the public is still mesmerized by the glitzy lights of the G.O.P.'s carnival game and cannot see that the game's been rigged. Good shilling will do that.

GOD'S APPROVAL RATING

You'd think that the world's best-selling book, The Bible, which sings God's praises from cover to cover would help raise God's image in the public relations department, especially in a Nation like America where Christian evangelicals claim that a majority of our citizens want Christianity adopted as our national religion, but you'd be off base if you thought so. According to the results of a poll just released by Public Policy Polling, a North Carolina firm, only fifty-two (52%) of Americans approve of God's job performance. While only nine (9%) flatly disapproved, thirty-eight (38%) percent had no opinion on the matter.

Pundits across the religious and political spectrums will no doubt spin those survey results to support whatever position they champion, but I'm kind of interested in finding what criteria those who answered the poll used to judge God's job performance. Were answered prayers a factor? Was prayer response time taken into consideration? What about assistance with smiting one's enemy? Inquiring minds like mine would like to know.

The one amusing point that emerged from the poll in question is that Americans see God as doing a better job than our politicians. I guess that's a plus for God, but to those of us who see God as being all-wise and understanding, a 52% approval rating seems kind of low.

BOOGITY, BOOGITY, BOOGITY, AMEN

I admit that I'm not a car racing fan, but I was tickled by the reports of Pastor Joe Nelms' pre-race prayer at a racing event in Nashville, Tennessee last Saturday night. During Nelms' invocation, he thanked God for Dodges, Fords and Toyotas. He thanked God for Sunoco racing fuels and for Goodyear tires. And just for good measure, he thanked the Lord for his, and I quote, "smoking hot wife." I've never seen Pastor Nelms' wife, so I'll just have to take him at his word. Nelms finished his prayer with the following words: "In Jesus' name, boogity, boogity, boogity, amen."

Some think the pastor's prayer was blasphemous. Maybe it was. Maybe it wasn't. All I know is that my wife, an ordained pastor, has never referred to me in a public prayer as her "smoking hot husband"…and I feel a bit slighted. Boogity, boogity, boogity, amen!

WORLD NEWS FROM RIGHT-WING EXTREMISTS

Let's start at home with our very own radio talk show host, Glenn Beck. On his Monday broadcast, Beck trashed the government of Norway for running the Utoya Island camp for youth interested in careers in politics. The Utoya island camp was the scene of last week's massacre where a right-wing extremist, Anders Breivik, brutally killed scores of youngsters and camp counselors. Beck suggested that the camp was turning out "Hitler Youth" and said, "Who does a camp for kids that's all about politics? Disturbing."

It sounds like Beck was justifying Breivik's mass murder, at least that's how the Norwegians took his comment, and why not? Breivik's so-called "manifesto" contained the same anti-Muslim immigrant ranting that Beck's been spouting since the day after September eleventh.

Here in the United States, Beck has made a name for himself by touting the Second Amendment as in insurance policy for common citizens to overthrow the government if it doesn't cede to their demands. In the next breath, Beck says the U.S. government isn't listening to its citizen's demand to keep out Islamic immigrants. Breivik said the same about the Norwegian government and he used his firearm to get the government's attention. It's no wonder that Beck focused his indignation on the Norwegian government instead of on Breivik. Deep down, Beck and Breivik are two-of-a-kind…except that now Breivik has a higher body count to his credit.

P.S. My daughter is attending church camp this week. Who does a camp for kids that's all about God?

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Heading East to Africa, over 11 million Somalians face starvation as a result of the worst drought in that country over the past 60 years. In some parts of that country, it hasn't rained for over five years. The United Nations and European Union are trying to arrange airlifts of food supplies to the region, but right-wing extremists (of the Islamic variety) are doing their best to thwart outside assistance from reaching the starving masses.

Of course, that's nothing different from what the Tea Party and the Republican Party are attempting to do here in the United States. I guess starvation is one of those tools that the right-wing finds most effective.

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In Syria, right-wing dictator, Bashar al-Assad continues his bloody and torturous crack-down on anti-government demonstrators in an attempt to keep the "Arab Spring" from flowering in Syria and ousting him from power. Syrian tanks routinely bombard anti-government towns with mortar fire and the Army has carried out systematic executions of known political dissidents in a move to quash criticism of the Assad regime. Plus, the neighboring right-wing theocracy in Iran is lending Assad all the support it can muster. Last year's "Green Revolution" in Iran woke the Ayatollahs to the fact that no rulers in the Middle East were safe from overthrow. That's one problem situation the Ayatollahs are trying to prevent.

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A right-wing Taliban suicide bomber killed the mayor of Kandahar earlier today in Afghanistan. The Mayor, Ghulam Haidar Hameedi, was killed when the bomber detonated a pack of explosives hidden in the bomber's turban. It's just another day of senseless right-wing violence!

I'm guessing we'll see a "ban the turban" bill in Congress in the near future.

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Farther west, China continues its right-wing government led crackdown on Internet users who employ that medium to criticize government policies. Apparently, free speech is alive and well in China, as long as you don't exercise that speech to criticize anybody in power. I doubt Glenn Beck would last five minutes in that environment.

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Let's end this tour back in the United States. FOX news (America's right-wing mouthpiece) continues to tout the claim of Texan Republican Congressman John Culbertson that VA officials at the Houston National Cemetery refuse to allow Christian prayers at military funerals. Culbertson claims he conducted his own undercover operation to confirm his accusation. There's no video or audio recording to back-up the charges…just the word of a Congressman – whatever that's worth.

But let's not be hasty here. After all, this is a FOX news story we're talking about. The last thing you'd expect is 'fair and balanced' coverage…and FOX doesn't disappoint.

At issue is the Veteran's Administration's requirement that military honor guard personnel first receive permission from the widow or family of a fallen soldier before using the word God in remarks at a graveyard service. The regulation was put into place to prevent military personnel from offending any grieving relatives who were atheists or agnostics or did not believe in the same God as the majority of our military personnel. The regulation was not instituted to prevent the mention of God at military funerals or to prevent Christian prayers, as Culbertson and FOX news charge. It was instituted to respect the wishes of grieving relatives.

Buried in the print of the FOX news story was Congressman Culbertson's admission that military honor guard members didn't want to have to bother a grieving widow with such a request. To Culbertson, I guess having the honor guard make such a request is a trite and senseless task. However, if I were an atheist (which I'm not) and I had just sacrificed my son or daughter's life for the benefit of this nation, being asked about my wishes at a graveyard service seems like something I'd be entitled to. If that's too much to ask of the military, FOX news or Congressman Culbertson – tough!

AMERICA'S RIGHT-WING KILLERS

Yesterday, Anders Behring Breivik, a right-wing extremist brought terror and death to scores of people in Oslo, the capital of Norway, via bombs he planted and detonated in government buildings and by shooting innocent youth and counselors on the island of Utoya, a government run youth camp. Breivik's actions were the work of a sadistic individual with no sense of compassion for humanity.

Closer to home, U.S. House of Representative Speaker John Boehner and his henchman, House majority whip Eric Cantor, right-wing extremists of a home-grown sort, planted and detonated their own political bombs by walking out of debt-ceiling talks with President Obama, a move that will trigger a default by the U.S. government on its debts and indirectly cause the death of thousands of people world-wide who depend on assistance from the United States for their very survival.

Boehner and Cantor don't care that they are sending thousands of innocents to their graves. All they care about are the dollars millionaires and billionaires will save when the tax man visits. Their actions are the work of sadistic individuals with no sense of compassion for humanity.

It's maddening to recognize that a man like Breivik could be considered a greater humanitarian than Boehner or Cantor, but Breivik's killing days are over. Boehner or Cantor's have just begun.

PIZZA AND PARTY POLITICS

For all the zeal Republican presidential candidates put into flag waving and other patriotic themes, you'd think they'd be equally zealous about guarding the rights guaranteed by our U.S. Constitution, but you'd be wrong. Only guns and flags are sacrosanct. The other stuff is window dressing.

Take Herman Cain, for example. "Who's Herman Cain," you ask? Well, he just the most recent addition to that pantheon of Republican gladiators vying for an opportunity to slay the Christian Obama in next year's presidential election. Cain first made a name for himself in the pizza business, which everybody knows was very appealing to gladiators with an appetite for dough, tomatoes and cheese, but Cain has found a new calling – laying waste to the U.S. Constitution.

Cain asserts quite forcefully, that communities in this nation, where the First Amendment unequivocally guarantees freedom of religion, nevertheless retain the right to ban Islamic mosques and the practice of Muslim religious traditions within their boundaries. Cain also stated that he would not permit any individual of the Islamic faith to work as part of his Administration; never mind that such a stance is forbidden by Article VI, Clause 3 of the U.S. Constitution and federal statutes which ban discrimination in hiring based upon religious belief.

After hearing Cain speak, it's hard not to imagine him wearing a toga like Caesar, the emperor, because the ideas that he champions belong in a dictatorship, like Rome of yesteryear. It's too bad that Little Caesar pizza chain isn't looking for a new spokesman. Pizza is clearly Cain's forte.

NOT AS SELF-EVIDENT AS PALESTINIANS WOULD HOPE

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness." – The Declaration of Independence (unanimously adopted by the Continental Congress, July 4, 1776)

Every time I read this section of our Declaration of Independence I am filled with a sense of awe by the language contained therein that recognizes the God-given right of every people to self-determination and the right to form their own government. Our Declaration of Independence begins with a profession that those rights are "self-evident", but judging by the United State's current position vis-à-vis the Palestinians living in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, those God-given rights are not as self-evident to America's leaders in 2011 as they were in 1776. If they were, America wouldn't be threatening the Palestinians to prevent them from declaring themselves an independent nation and seeking recognition of that status in the United Nations. We'd be steadfastly backing their bid to self-determination.

Instead, America has chosen to sacrifice our founding principles in favor of maintaining close foreign ties with the Nation of Israel, who by its continued military occupation and annexation of Palestinian territory, denies Palestinians the very right of self-determination we Americans claim is God-given and self-evident to everybody. No wonder people in the Middle East view Americans as hypocrites and hold such distain for our principles. Apparently, we don't think much of our principles either, because we don’t follow them. That's a shame. Thomas Jefferson put a lot of time and effort into drafting the Declaration of Independence and the Continental Congress showed their wisdom by debating and then adopting it. You'd hope that such wisdom would survive the ages. Apparently not.

BACHMANN & RACE-BAITING

When Republican candidate George H.W. Bush unleashed his race-baiting Willie Horton ad against then Democratic candidate, Michael Dukakis during the 1988 presidential contest, politics in America reached a new low in terms of using bigotry and racial hatred to advance a political cause. In doing so, the Republican Bush co-opted the race-baiting mantle of former Dixie Democrat, Governor George Wallace, and used that mantle to secure the White House.

Bush's campaign chairman, the infamous Lee Atwater, confessed in a Life magazine article published a month before he did in 1991 that the Willie Horton ad was "naked cruelty" and apologized to Dukakis for the dishonest tactics Atwater authorized to advance the Bush campaign. Atwater acknowledged that his actions were reprehensible, but he forgot to apologize to the people most hurt by his campaign smear tactics – the Black community at large. Dukakis only lost an election. The Black community lost a measure of equality to which they were absolutely entitled.

I'd like to think that the political race-baiting days of Bush and Atwater were relegated to the dustbin of history, but that is just a pipe dream I have about racism and politics. The reality is that race-baiting still sells in many parts of this country. Just ask GOP presidential candidate, Rep. Michele Bachmann. She promotes race-baiting every day, to thunderous applause.

Here's how it works. Bachmann stirs up her adoring fans, an angry pack of Tea Party followers hell-bent on the elimination of the federal government, with claims of oppressive taxation and regulatory burdens that would make living under Stalin's thumb a Sunday school picnic. Then, she further enrages the crowd with a litany of government expenditures that she characterizes as government theft of an honest man's wages. The crowd claps and chants with adoring approval. Then, Bachmann goes for the jugular. She angrily charges that the President (who we all know is Black) authorized $1.2 billion in payments to Black farmers and the payments were waste.

What Bachmann doesn't say is more telling. She doesn't mention that Congress, in a bi-partisan measure, approved the payments first. The President simply authorized the payment of the checks, under Court supervision that required verification of claims. She doesn't mention that the Black farmers were entitled to that compensation for official discrimination committed by agents of the federal government over a period that spanned 40 years. She also doesn't mention that in 2010, she voted to provide over $20 billion in farm subsidies to corporate farms, largely owned by whites, not to grow crops.

Candidate Backmann's message is clear. It's not okay to subsidize Black farmers for decades of government discrimination because it's wasteful. It is, however, not wasteful to pay $20 billion to white farmers to sit on their butts and let their fields stand fallow. If that's not the definition of racism and bigotry, nothing is!

THE LOGIC BEHIND INVESTMENT STRATEGIES OF THE WEALTHY

My wife is a Republican. I'm not. She has an investment counselor. I don't.

Recently, I accompanied my wife when she met with her investment counselor. He's a die-hard Republican. He's also a very good investment counselor. Despite this country's current economic situation, my wife's investments have grown thanks to his guidance. My wife's happy about that. I'm happy about that too!

During the course of the meeting, the investment counselor reviewed my wife's financial holdings with her and explained how each investment was doing in the marketplace. He reviewed the profits, dividends, increases and decreases in stock share price and his company's current view on the likely future rate of return for each of my wife's holdings. The counselor indicated that a few of my wife's stocks were under-performing and he recommended that she sell those securities and move her money elsewhere. All in all, it was a very productive meeting, and I'm very confident that my wife's investments are in very good hands. She is too.

I bring up the topic of my wife's investments not to boast about her good financial situation, but to comment on an observation I made with respect to the stocks and mutual funds recommended to my wife by her investment counselor. My wife's goal is to increase the value of her financial portfolio. I presume that's a pretty standard goal, and my wife's financial adviser tailored his advice toward achieving that objective. Like I said, he's a very good investment counselor.

My observation was this: only one of the twenty-two companies that my wife was advised to purchase or retain in her portfolio were companies seeking to add employees. Ten of those companies have laid off at least 10,000 employees over the past year.

The fact that a company has to lay off workers is not an indictment on a company. In fact, it's frequently an absolutely necessary step to insure that a company remains viable during an economic downturn. Sometimes, trimming payroll is the only way for a company to turn a profit. That's basic economics and I have no beef with that situation. After all, it's helped boost the value of my wife's portfolio.

My beef is with another situation – the refusal of Republicans in Congress to raise taxes on the wealthy (coupled with spending cuts) to bring our national debt under control. Their steadfast opposition to making the wealthy share in our national sacrifice is maddening. It's also based on a bold-faced lie.

The lie goes like this: "We can't tax the wealthy because that money is needed to create jobs."

Bullshit!

The wealthy handle their investment portfolios in the same manner as my wife does. My wife's goal is not to create jobs. She invests her money to create a profit. Wealthy people act in the same manner. My wife invests in companies that turn a profit and pay dividends. The same goes for the wealthy. In bad economic times such as these, the companies that are turning a profit are the ones that are laying-off employees, not the ones hiring them. If you handed a wealthy man a million dollars, he wouldn't invest it in a company that was not turning a profit. He'd pour the money into a company that was profitable. It's a lie to say otherwise.

The truth is the wealthy do not create jobs. They create more profit for their own benefit. That's called capitalism.

Jobs are created by demand for a good or service which are not currently available. When large sectors of the population are unemployed or have no money to pay for a good or service, there is no demand to fill and wealthy individuals will not invest to create a job where there is no demand, and hence, no profit to be made. That's capitalism too.

The only national strategy for job creation that has ever worked has been a government-funded job creation program wherein the government itself has hired millions of individuals to work on our nation's infra-structure. The demand for products and services created by millions of those new working individuals then fueled the potential for profits that lured the wealthy into investing in companies that would hire more workers.

With Congress unwilling to increase the debt ceiling or tax the wealthy to enable the government to create more jobs, America is further miring itself in the mud, and wealthy investors won't be offering a shovel anytime soon.

HATRED IN ACTION

There are few words in any language that can adequately describe the horrible nature of Afghan Taliban fighters whose recent execution-style killing of sixteen Pakistani policemen has lit up the Internet across the Middle East. The Taliban fighters in question filmed the killings and the subsequent abuses committed to the corpses, and posted a video of the massacre on the Internet, no doubt meant as a generator of fear to all who would oppose them. Instead, the video exposes the Taliban as the vilest form of evil that anyone could become. Their acts are all the more repugnant since they claim to be acting on behalf of God.

This recent massacre hasn't been the first such evil performed in the name of God, nor will it be the last. It does, however, give me pause to consider how men could commit such atrocities in the name of a deity. What fuels their lust for killing? What drives their thirst for blood? I surmise it is hate…and the more the world encourages hatred, the more atrocities will be committed.

THE YELLOW PRESS OF THE 21st CENTURY

FOX news aficionados here in the United States pay little regard to the power of the network's owner, Rupert Murdoch and the media empire he controls. Murdoch can use his media power to disseminate as much right-wing propaganda as he chooses and FOX news viewers eagerly feast at the trough of misinformation he provides. That's why over 90% of FOX viewers favored the decisions to go to war in Iraq and Afghanistan, and over 60% of non-FOX viewers didn't. But that's old hat!

In England, folks are wising up to the ways of Murdoch and his propaganda machine, and they're getting a good lesson in just how far the media mogul and his machine are willing to go to spread a pack of lies. You see, News of the World, Murdoch's flag-ship newspaper in England, has been, by reported accounts, hacking into the telephone lines of relatives of dead UK soldiers. It's been surmised that the hacking was prompted by efforts of the newspaper to discredit the individuals in question and/or stifle dissent against British participation in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

British citizens have raised a cry of outrage over Murdoch's hacking scandal and efforts are underway in that nation to deny Murdoch's request to take control of Britain's large entertainment broadcaster BSkyB. I'm glad the people of Britain have come to their senses. I wish my fellow citizens here would wise-up too. Murdoch is a dangerous man and our democracy suffers greatly as a result of his propaganda.