The Return of Imperialism/Tryanny to U.S from Within

How do you feel, my fellow Americans, as you watch the Congress refuse, over and over, to truly serve US, the people of this Republic, while they consistently polish the fat rumps of their Corporate Masters?  I fear we may be watching the beginning of the end of Democracy in the “land of the brave and the home of the free.” If we lose our Power as a People, if we are so easily fooled, if a runaway governor in Wisconsin can dictate radical, radio-active policies and get away with it despite the wishes of the bulk of his constituency, doesn’t that border on Tyranny?  If there are peaceful demonstrations being shut down violently in this country that gives us a right to them, what have we become?

The Republicans have not accepted that going against the will of the people is a very bad idea.  They favor the Imperial style of Leadership, the “my way or the high way” style of rule.  The kind of rule that likes surveillance tools, power in faraway places, and sneak policy attacks in various states that have stripped the working class of people of rights traditional to states such as Wisconsin, and for no reason that would ultimately serve the people.  

That move was part of a Karl Rovian strategy to keep tightening the GOP’s constant attempt to make this a permanently Republican nation.  The further moves to suppress traditionally Democratic (the young, the "other" and the senior citizens) voters threaten our Democracy -- and yet the GOP seems intent upon absolute rule.

Fortunately, it seems as though the people's eyes have opened and a rising tide of  "Oh NO you will NOT!!" may wipe Scott Walker out of his Governor's mansion, and not a minute too soon.

The GOP won the last election by speaking of jobs and “true fiscal conservatism.”  I don't object to  fiscal conservatism as long as it is not drained from the blood of the poor and middle classes.  The neo-cons and Mitt Romney-style businessmen who espouse this philosophy and are elected on the basis of it should not be able to serve in Congress as the lackeys of the rich, either during or after their terms are finished.  The revolving door among between Congressional employment and lobbying is way too porous, and integrity is in short supply. 

  

Congress people are obviously a commodity up for sale – Democrat and Republican, and so obviously.

After throwing all their weight behind the infamous, unnecessary tax break for the rich, Republicans are suddenly moving as one to strip the American Worker of the right to bargain with dignity for wages, hours, etc.  I was amazed that these men could argue so righteously that we must ALL share the pain of balancing the budgets!!  Nothing, said they, could be more important than that. But – wait!! WTF about that tax cut for the rich you bozos passed last year?

  
How, HOW could the richest among us possibly want more when more and more of our children are homeless, wandering the street, gathering at the various Occupy Movements because they have no other place to sleep, among other reasons, of course.

After giving this wretched tax cut to those who didn’t need it – Boehner and Mitchell fought furiously for their own, and now seek to attack entitlements – let the middle class and poor pay the price -- the American people are sinking into a less gracious and conscious form of living.  There have been one million foreclosures last year; so many  more since then -- and yet these heartless people want to place even more stress on the groaning many for the sake of the mighty few.  In such a terrible time as these years have been, the only possible reason is corruption. The latest news is that the unholy GOP voted down the middle class tax extensions, and in so doing are pushing people like me into a lifestyle where "daily bread" is now questionable.

If the GOP continues to stifle our NATURAL FREEDOMS including the right of free assembly, the right to be properly educated, to vote on the matters that concern us, to have a voice on these matters -- and continues to promote the growth of a vast underclass, stripping us of various Rights won in the past -- they will be electorally wiped out at some point—unless they can make good on the next step in their plan, which has to do with making it more difficult for folks in the Democratic demographics, i.e. students and the elderly, who typically vote the Democratic ticket, to vote.

How does that make you feel – to know that this is a nationwide effort by GOP politicos to restrain the Democratic voter-turnout, to destroy collective bargaining, to strip the Unions of all power and to make the United States of America into a dreary banana republic where only one party CAN EVER attain power? 

But who benefits?  Who would have the most to gain, however bizarre, and for what reasons?  In my opinion we are witnessing the struggle between Plutocracy and Democracy in America the Beautiful, and it is an awful sight to witness.  Somehow the de-volution of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire comes to mind.  Only we're the Roman Empire on crack, and on a quick downward slide.

In my opinion – and this is an opinion piece -- the GOP is trying to create a "new peasantry" -- a modern  breed of children raised as ready cannon fodder (“meet the new boss; same as the old Boss”), for our Orwellian cycle of endless war.  These kids are inheriting the results of our specifically human passion for unchecked arrogance/violence/blood-lust.

Failed by local schools and pre-trained by vicious games, they’ll be snatched up by the Masters of War. As educational systems begin to fail our children the culture becomes more brutal and violent.  Kids spend way too much time fascinated by blood-soaked games put out by the Military – just a little basic training, pre-high school basic training – there are so many army games out there!

How purposeful is the creation of a class of the citizenry more suited for soldiering than the manufacturing jobs we no longer have?  So many of our kids have felt and feel that a life in the military was the only option.  They go because they have to.  They are our modern-day blood sacrifice.  The high and sustained rate of unemployment has made and will continue to make great use of the “feeder pond” of kids with no hope.  These young American heroes go off to serve and fight and die.

And then the heroes come back, but they come back changed, many of them broken, some shattered beyond our help.  Because of the underlying philosophy that sends these people off to war, there’s not enough help for them when they get back --  not for current veterans, nor for the rest of the recycled vets of our many wars; there are so few options. 
 

They deserve everything from us, yet to the GOP that elite 2% is somehow more deserving than our veterans. Our veterans come home, and they have certain particular warlike skill sets.  The folks that aren’t too psychologically or physically damaged have to make a living, and naturally they will look into the U.S. prison and jail systems.  

Some go for the shadowy world of the mercenary; some readjust, go back to school and shake the traumas of War.  Some blow themselves away, too traumatized to go on. Many of them will make excellent tools of any police state, including one right here.  We watch as the armed forces busily militarize our police, and that knowledge scares the hell out of me.

I was disgusted by the presence of Blackwater/Wackenhut security forces patrolling the streets of Wisconsin while the police are on strike.  I was horrified when the peaceful Occupy Oakland protest turned violent.  Who looks like the "land of the free" now? What a bitter joke.

It is important, essential to know that right in front of our eyes we are watching an entire reshuffling of the American Opportunity, a purposeful re-sizing of the American Dream, a casual toss away of our pretense to Excellence.  This fundamental dumbing down of the culture can't be strategic, it just can't be.  Can it?  Again, who benefits?

Fascism is the union of the Military-Industrial-Congressional complex (wonderful choice of words by President Eisenhower), who told us to beware of such a government.  It is my deepest fear that our beloved country is changing in front of our eyes into a collective of little states/tyrannies run by out-of-control, power-mad governors who seem to feel Absolute Power is their Right.  I don’t understand why the GOP members of Congress don’t value their “worthy opposition” and why they seem to be trying to destroy us utterly -- electorally, militarily, and financially -- and we are the 99%!

Union Busting in Wisconsin

There have always been "robber barons" among us.  They morph from century to century, wearing different disguises to suit the times.  They are lackeys of the truly wealthy,  though many of course fall into money.  That's their job, isn't it?  My big question is - why do they want to keep the rest of us from having it?

The situation in Wisconsin is our primary national example of this constant societal theme.  This is a moment of national Truth.  It has to do with the bottom line, and whether the Rich really do get richer while the Poor stay poor.  I thought we as a society had decided to be "A Great Society" and "A City on a Hill" -- or even, as George W. Bush said, an "Ownership Society?"  I never dreamed that one lousy Presidency could bring us to the brink of losing, precipitously, the American Dream.  The numbers of people that have crowded the streets of Wisconsin say I am not wrong.

The workers in Wisconsin fight for a voice at the bargaining table, as is the American way.  This  movement,  to protect the rights of workers in America, began in the great state of Wisconsin.  Why now do the Republicans want to take these rights away? Why did this upstart new Governor do the unthinkable, by threatening violence the moment this issue arose? Why do the city streets in the Madison, WI look like a dictatorship on lock-down? The hubris involved in both Governor Walker's initial threat to call out the National Guard and his statement that he could imprison and expel the Democratic Senators with the use of force is shocking.

The Democratic Senators, the Wisconsin 14, while currently in the minority fight to save the rights of the majority. The Governor has illegally ordered that the Democratic Senators be brought home whether or not force is involved.   My God, you don't go around threatening to use force on your Senators!!

That's absolutely unconstitutional -- many of the policies that Governor Walker propose are blatantly unconstitutional under Wisconsin law.  Why are these few, brash, mostly young white males in various states, newly elected -- why are they imperiously insulting the fine working people of our country while they undermine our national traditions of protecting the working class?  What's up with this?

Governor Walker in Wisconsin is an arrogant, slick, cruel piece of work.  He's in league with the Koch Brother Billionaires in this class war -- watch him roll.  His belief in himself is utter, despite the tens of thousands of people protesting his choices. When trouble began, he mentioned calling in the National Guard, but that didn't go down well.  According  to Rachel Maddow, the Governor has instead called upon private contractors -- scabs --from Blackwater/XE/Wackenhut  to do his dirty "security" work. 

This despicable jerk of a new Governor, who prides himself on "not budging" wants to force pink slips upon the teachers and firefighters, the police and the service workers -- he insults the people that are the bedrock of American society.  If they are shut out of health care, jobs, dignity -- eventually there will be a reckoning, and perhaps a swift one.

By cutting the taxes for the rich, they have ginned up a clear cut case of a false fiscal crisis with an ulterior motive -- to destroy a time honored democratic tradition (or small r republican -- as collective bargaining is an excellent tool for our Republic as well).

What is this new breed of Republican, these servants of the Mighty?  Who are they?  What do they stand for?  Of more importance -- what is it that they want?  I want to see where folks will stand on this hugely important issue of collective bargaining.  I know there might be Libertarian and Conservative elements of the GOP that are concerned about the traditional right to organize.

I would hope that some of these folks are not just pumped up tools of various politicians.  I really do think the more Libertarian people, who are upset about the insane parts of big government, could bring integrity to the table. We have seen so many times that politicians and corruption go hand in hand that it is impossible for me to imagine that the Tea Partyers won't get co-opted and horns-waggled,  so to speak, by the GOP proper.

Back to the new-style GOP- men and women -- the guys with Mr. Bean slicked-back hair, dictatorial pride and a fantastic role model in George W. Bush, who did everything he wanted and got away with it.   Who is this guy, this Governor Walker,  and how many other newly elected Governors are dying to bust Unions as well.  Finally, why are the Republicans trying to kill a two party system in this country?

Without Unions, there are no big sources of campaign money for the Democrats, and since the odious Supreme Court:s Citizen United decision  of late, the Unions are the last bastion of large Democratic fundraising.  Kill the unions, the Democrats are dead.  The Democrats die -- suddenly you've got something suspiciously like a dictatorship, with armed guards willing to do anything on the street.  Think it can't happen here?  Look at the streets of Wisconsin -- it already is.

People from Blackwater, as it used to be known, don't have a problem crossing union lines. They answer to a higher power, and it's NOT the government of the United States.  Suddenly Madison, WI has the look of a police state.  How's that for a bleak look into a possible future, America?  If you don't believe me, here's a symbol of their reach into our country - an "emergency response team" badge for the Delaware County Prison that indicates a global reach:

I am longing for principled people of ALL parties to come out for the REAL America.  It's got NOTHING to do with Rambo Governors on a rampage fulfilling private missions funded by secretive Billionaire policy makers backing and backed by a huge shadow army.  Those guys have been planning for years to turn the screws on America in ways you don't even want to imagine.

Yes, it could happen here. Look no further than Wisconsin.  This week a Democratic Assemblyman was tackled on his way to work in the Capital Building. The guy was brought to the ground by a pile of scab "security guards" -- employed by Wackenhut. (Blackwater/XE.)  Anyone getting nervous yet?? 


Now back to that first, primary, and most troubling question: whence come these union busters, and why?  I think they are tools of the GOP;  but they are willing, boot-licking tools, on the make for money and power, the people be damned.   They are useful tools for a subtle cultural revolution, where the rich do indeed get richer and the poor get the shaft.

If the good Governor Walker gets his way and busts those unions in Wisconsin, the folks in that fine state can look forward to police, prison guards, security guys etc., who have possibly seen more depravity in one lifetime than we can hold in our consciousness, and want to spread those Good Vibrations that came from Gitmo through Abu Ghraib straight to you.  I don't much like the sound of this -- hold steady, Brave Wisconsin 14!  As my husband Patrick, an astute student of History said, it's "very near impossible" to regain a Right once you have given it up.

Governor Walker, in my opinion, should be re-called as quickly as is lawfully possible.   He has over-reached beyond all rational thought -- to the point of behaving in a fashion that could be construed as tyrannical.  In MY opinion.  Soooo -- on Wisconsin, on Wisconsin!!
 

There's a cost for choosing to maintain a society at the lower levels of education and poverty.  Its pretty nasty price comes due at the end of that cycle, which we see in the Middle East.  Those people who say there's "no connection" between the events of Egypt and the events of Wisconsin are dead wrong.  If nothing else, the Egyptians taught their American brothers and sisters how to really stand up for ourselves again, even with the threat of violence.  Believe me, those guys from Wackenhut know a thing or two about violence.

I'm horrified that the GOP continues to stifle our natural freedoms including the "pursuit of happiness" by cutting away further at necessary benefits for those in need.  When you consider that our last President, the  Fearless, feckless Leader George W. Bush put us into this bankrupt condition, it is asking a bit much of the average citizen to pay the greatest cost.

That our entire citizenry is being punished after giving the richest 2% a fat, unnecessary tax cut is utterly egregious, a blatant pandering curtsy to wealth.  The stench of Greed lingers on, and it's the worst form of Greed -- Greed whose cost is born by those too fragile to bear it. Symbol -- fat sovereign on thin, starving donkey.   

If the new GOP Governors and Congresspeople don't show some mercy and stop acting like Roman conquerors believing in their own Godhood -- well, they will have their own revolution to deal with, and perhaps rather quickly.  I've heard there are recall procedures already in place for the GOP Senators on the "union busting" side.  They are on the wrong side of the arc of history.

They aren't supposed to be feeding the Greed and Blood Lust of "Jabba the Hutt" -- that grotesque fat thing in the Star Wars cycle - that's my none too subtle metaphor for endless war, depravity, violence and all things that feed that monster in each of us, and in our country as well.  America is not an Imperial Nation for the wealthy few.  We are supposed to be better than that.