Must be my own perverse nature. You see, some of my biggest heroes have been the guys who f*cked up, but then went on to perform monumental acts of contrition, and in the process redeeming not only themselves but the whole world. From the (now lapsed) Roman Catholicism of childhood I still can remember St. Colmcille, whose penance for instigating a bloody war was exile and a mission to non-violently preach the love of Jesus Christ to the people of early Scotland. But I also learned about guys like Robert Kennedy, who started his political career as a stooge for the Red-baiting Joe McCarthy but ended it campaigning against the Vietnam War and racisim.
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| Oedipus Rex, mad with grief |
Metaphorically (not literally—don’t get me wrong here), America seems doomed to a kind of Hell. Something like the third-world collapse it brought upon Mexico via NAFTA. Here is my list of unexpiated sins that are hastening our doom:
1. Vietnam: Thank you, Mr. Johnson! (D-TX)
2. Watergate: Nixon (R-CA) abandons morality for power in a naked criminal break-in that wasn't even necessary to win the 1972 election.
3. Culture of greed: Couldn’t done it without you and your Laffer-Curve inspiration, Uncle Dutch (i.e., Ronald Reagan, R-CA)!
4. NAFTA: By undermining the agriculture, industry and tax base of the sovereign state of Mexico, Bill Clinton (D-ARK) established a nearly uncheckable transnational powerbase for corporations to set political policy, without regards of the needs or interest of the electorate.
5. Repeal of Glass-Steagall : Yup, Bill Clinton (D-ARK) again. Demolished the prohibition of retail banks engaging in risky speculative games that bloated the M3 money supply to 15 trillion dollars (i.e., 2,000% of the 1960 balance), creating a false illusion of economic prosperity through financial gamesmanship.
6. Sarbanes Oxley: In the wake of Enron, another cowboy, George W. Bush (R-TX), signs the ultimate in worthlessly gameable financial “regulation” by requiring highly subjective reviews of internal controls to ensure the integrity of financial reporting. In 2009 it is revealed that the collapse of Lehman Brothers, which is widely regarded as the first real harbinger of the current economic doom, committed exactly the same type of reporting chickanery that was the subject of Enron’s fraud, despite getting a clear bill of health re: Sarbanes Oxley. Awesome.
7. Iraq: After clearly trumping up the evidence, our favorite cowboy (G.W. Bush, R-TX) unilaterally commits the nation, and the world, to an unending meat grinder based primarily on a drug-addled paid informant code name of "Curve Ball." Coincidence that both Cheney and Bush were long-time oil men and that Iraq has the largest proven-but-untapped oil reserves in the world? I'm sure.
8. Afghanistan: After 8 years of the previous administration's inept execution of this war, and despite mounting evidence that there is no way to achieve any worthwhile political goals here, Obama (D-IL) extends the meat grinder indefinitely.
9. 2010’s Millionaire Tax Giveaway: After months of citing CBO and JCT reports to the effect that he “just didn’t have the math” to make these tax cuts fiscally responsible, Obama (D-IL) engineers a secret deal to enact these cuts behind the backs of his own legislators in congress. Trust fund babies need not pay any Estate Tax for the next 2 years. And how will this be paid for in times of unprecedented deficit? Through reductions in the benefits of the poor and old age pensioners.
1. Vietnam: Thank you, Mr. Johnson! (D-TX)
2. Watergate: Nixon (R-CA) abandons morality for power in a naked criminal break-in that wasn't even necessary to win the 1972 election.
3. Culture of greed: Couldn’t done it without you and your Laffer-Curve inspiration, Uncle Dutch (i.e., Ronald Reagan, R-CA)!
4. NAFTA: By undermining the agriculture, industry and tax base of the sovereign state of Mexico, Bill Clinton (D-ARK) established a nearly uncheckable transnational powerbase for corporations to set political policy, without regards of the needs or interest of the electorate.
5. Repeal of Glass-Steagall : Yup, Bill Clinton (D-ARK) again. Demolished the prohibition of retail banks engaging in risky speculative games that bloated the M3 money supply to 15 trillion dollars (i.e., 2,000% of the 1960 balance), creating a false illusion of economic prosperity through financial gamesmanship.
6. Sarbanes Oxley: In the wake of Enron, another cowboy, George W. Bush (R-TX), signs the ultimate in worthlessly gameable financial “regulation” by requiring highly subjective reviews of internal controls to ensure the integrity of financial reporting. In 2009 it is revealed that the collapse of Lehman Brothers, which is widely regarded as the first real harbinger of the current economic doom, committed exactly the same type of reporting chickanery that was the subject of Enron’s fraud, despite getting a clear bill of health re: Sarbanes Oxley. Awesome.
7. Iraq: After clearly trumping up the evidence, our favorite cowboy (G.W. Bush, R-TX) unilaterally commits the nation, and the world, to an unending meat grinder based primarily on a drug-addled paid informant code name of "Curve Ball." Coincidence that both Cheney and Bush were long-time oil men and that Iraq has the largest proven-but-untapped oil reserves in the world? I'm sure.
8. Afghanistan: After 8 years of the previous administration's inept execution of this war, and despite mounting evidence that there is no way to achieve any worthwhile political goals here, Obama (D-IL) extends the meat grinder indefinitely.
9. 2010’s Millionaire Tax Giveaway: After months of citing CBO and JCT reports to the effect that he “just didn’t have the math” to make these tax cuts fiscally responsible, Obama (D-IL) engineers a secret deal to enact these cuts behind the backs of his own legislators in congress. Trust fund babies need not pay any Estate Tax for the next 2 years. And how will this be paid for in times of unprecedented deficit? Through reductions in the benefits of the poor and old age pensioners.
Astute observations. As someone else pointed out (I think on disinfo), you could make a list of more than ten, but this gets the point across well.
ReplyDeleteAlso wanted to say that I very much enjoy your posts on disinfo, and invite you to visit my podcast, The Secret Frequency
Thanks, Scooter. I'm kind of a Luddite here, so I don't know how to directly follow a Wordpres blog from a Google account. Until I figure that out, or cave in and get a Wordpress account, I decided to link to you on my media page.
ReplyDeletehttp://dystopiadiaries.blogspot.com/p/favorite-media.html
Brilliant and true... conspiracies around us or no, those stated bungles are completely destroying our once great nation. The question is what to do about it. Our founding fathers (whom were not perfect either) are spinning in their graves like turbine engines. :'(
ReplyDelete